404 SPICES AND 1'BAGBANT WOODS. 



planter hag obtained all that he can desire in the ground, and 

 needs only patience and perseverance to secure success. The 

 form of the ground ought to be undulating, to permit the running 

 off of all superfluous water, as there is no one thing more in- 

 jurious to the plant than water lodging around its roots, although, 

 in order to thrive well, it requires an atmosphere of the most 

 humid sort, and rain almost daily. Besides the form of the 

 ground, situation is highly desirable, particularly as regards ex- 

 posure. A spot selected for a nutmeg plantation cannot be too 

 well sheltered, as high winds are most destructive to the tree, 

 independently of the loss occasioned by the blowing off of fruit 

 and flower. 



At present there is abundant choice of land in Singapore, the 

 greater portion of the island being as yet uncultivated, and much 

 answering to the above description. The land can be purchased 

 from Government at the rate of from 10s. to 20s. per acre in 

 perpetuity. I would advise the man who wishes to establish a 

 plantation, to select the virgin forest, and of all things let him 

 avoid deserted gambier plantations, the soil of which is com- 

 pletely exhausted, the Chinese taking good care never to leave a 

 spot until they have taken all they can out of it. A cleared spot 

 has a great attraction for the inexperienced, and it is not easy to 

 convince a man that it is less expensive to attack the primitive 

 forest, than to attempt to clear an old gambier plantation, over- 

 run with lalang grass ; but the cutting down and burning of large 

 forest trees is far less expensive than the extirpation of the 

 lalang, and as the Chinese leave all the stumps of the large trees 

 in the ground, it is almost more difficult to remove them in this 

 state than when you have the powerful lever of the trunk to aid 

 you in tearing up the roots, setting aside the paramount advan- 

 tage that, in the one case you possess a fresh and fertile soil, in 

 the other an effi te and barren one. 



Forest land, or "jungle," as it is called in the East, can bo 

 cleared for about 25 to 30 dollars (5 to 6) per acre, by contract, 

 but the planter had better be careful to have every stump and root 

 of tree removed, ere he ventures to commence planting, or the 

 white ants, attracted by the dead wood, will crowd into the land, 

 and having consumed the food thus prepared for them, will not be 

 slow in attacking the young trees. Whilst the planter is thus 

 clearing the ground, he may advantageously at the same time be 

 establishing nurseries ; for these the ground ought to be well 

 trenched and mixed with a small quantity of thoroughly decom- 

 posed manure and burned earth, making up the earth afterwards 

 into beds of about three feet wide, with paths between them for 

 the convenience of weeding and cleaning the young plants. Of 

 course if the planter can obtain really good plants, the produce 

 of well-selected seed, it will be a great saving of time and expense 

 to him, but unless the seed be carefully chosen, I would prefer 

 beginning my own nurseries, and in the selection of seed would 

 recommend the most perfectly ripe and spherical nuts. Oval 



