168 SPICES 



CHAP. 



especially protection from the afternoon sun, suits the 

 tree much better. 



Trees growing in the partial shade given by the 

 tree Fagraea fragrans, in the Botanic Gardens, Singa- 

 pore, were more bushy and well developed, as well as 

 being more free from the red-spot disease, than fully 

 exposed trees, and 'in one case even the boughs of one 

 half of a clove tree accidentally shaded on one side by 

 a near-by tree produced flowers and fruit when the 

 rest of the tree was quite barren. Kumphius pointed 

 out that the shade must not be dense ; under such shade 

 the tree grows tall, and looks well and leafy and, as I 

 have said, is less subject to red- spot, but it will not 

 produce flower buds, and, according to Kumphius, when 

 it does they are less aromatic, and are considered by 

 the natives as wild cloves of little or no value. Trees 

 grown under the shade of and close to a large Para 

 rubber tree, produced no cloves for many years, although 

 remarkably healthy -looking. By selecting a piece of 

 wooded ground and thinning out the trees so as to let 

 in a good amount of light, and planting the cloves among 

 the light wood, gradually thinning away the forest 

 trees as the spice trees develop, an excellent plantation 

 would be obtained. 



According to Rumphius, a walk in the clove wood 

 when the trees are in bud or flower, is said to cause head- 

 ache, but, as he points out, this season in Amboyna, viz. 

 October and November, is a hot one, and this probably 

 is the cause of the discomfort. It does not appear that 

 the clove tree is regularly cultivated under trees any- 

 where except in Amboyna, but it is said that in 

 Zanzibar many are grown by the slaves among fruit 

 trees and other similar plants. 



Pruning. Pruning the trees does not seem to be 

 common in any place where cloves are cultivated, but 

 as the tree has a tendency to throw up its branches 

 very close together, it is often advisable to cut out some 

 of the inner ones. In the Straits Settlements the tree 

 usually attains a height of 12 to 15 ft. only, and it is not 



