150 SPICES 



CHAP. 



Dr. Oxley says they are packed in wooden bins filled up 

 with lime and water to the consistency of mortar. The 

 nutmegs remain in the bins, which are carefully closed, 

 for three months. After this they are taken out, sorted 

 into grades, and packed in the teak casks. In the Malay 

 Peninsula liming has never, I believe, been resorted to, 

 and indeed with reasonable care to keep the store-rooms 

 free of the godown pests, it is hardly necessary. 



There are a number of beetles which attack nutmegs 

 when stored in the godown. These beetles deposit 

 their eggs in the seed, and the larvae bore holes in it, 

 destroying it or at least reducing its value considerably. 

 Mr. Hart, in a circular note published in Trinidad, gives 

 a list of those found in godowns there destroying the 

 nutmegs. They are all very small, the largest, Trogosita 

 mauritanica, being only f in. long. They are 



Trogosita mauritanica, Lam. 

 Tribolium ferrugineum, Fabr. 

 Carpopliilus sp. 

 Loemopliloes sp. 

 Hypothemenus sp. 



Lasioderma sp., near if not identical with L. testaceum, the 

 too well known cigar-beetle. 



Mr. Blandford, who identified them, thinks that the 

 first two are probably the really injurious kinds. All 

 are well-known godown pests, destroying flour, meal, and 

 all kinds of warehouse goods. In the account given by 

 Mr. Hart, he states that imported horse and cattle food 

 had been stored in a room which adjoined the one in 

 which the nutmegs were kept, and the beetles- were 

 probably brought in with this food. 



Grain and beans are very liable to the attacks of 

 these little pests, and should be kept away from the 

 nutmegs as much as possible. 



Should the godown be infested with these insects, 

 it should be thoroughly cleaned, and white -washed 

 internally to get rid of them. 



Sorting. Nutmegs are valued according to size. 

 The largest are about 1 in. long and | in. in diameter, 



