Hildegard described nutmegs in 1150, 

 and Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) de- 

 scribed, the tree and fruit. Not until 

 about 1500 did European writers learn 

 the home of the nutmeg. Ludovico 

 Barthema designates the island Banda 

 as its habitat. 



The Portuguese monopolized the 

 spice trade, including nutmegs, for 

 a time, but as stated in a previous paper 

 they were driven out by the Dutch, who 

 regulated the nutmeg trade as they did 

 the clove trade. That is, they destroyed 

 all nutmeg trees not under the control 

 of the government and burned all nut- 

 megs which could not be sold. The 

 government nutmeg plantations were 

 in charge of army officials and worked 

 by slaves. In 1769 the French suc- 

 ceeded in transplanting the nutmeg to 

 the Isle de France. From 1796 to 1802 

 the spice islands were under the con- 

 trol of the English, who transplanted the 

 nutmeg to Bencoolen, Penang,and, later, 

 to Singapore. In i860 the Singapore 

 plantations were destroyed by a disease 

 of the tree. The nutmeg is now culti- 

 vated in the Philippines, West Indies, 

 South America, and other tropical 

 islands and countries. The botanic 

 gardens have been largely instrumental 

 in extending nutmeg cultivation in the 

 tropical English possessions. Besides 

 Myristica fragrans there are several 

 other species which are found useful. 

 M. Otoba of the U. S. of Colombia 

 yields an edible article known as Santa 

 F6 nutmeg. The seeds of the tropical 

 M. sebifera (tallow nutmeg) yield a 

 fixed oil or fat used in making soap and 

 candles. This oil is also known as 

 American nutmeg oil. 



The trees are produced from seeds. 

 After sprouting the plants are trans- 

 ferred to pots, in which they are kept 

 until ready for the nutmeg plantation. 

 Transferring from the pots to the soil 

 must be done carefully, as any consid- 

 erable injury to the terminal rootlets 

 kills the plants. A rich, loamy soil 

 with considerable moisture is required 

 for the favorable and rapid growth of 

 the plants. They thrive best in river 

 valleys, from sea-level to 300 and 400 

 feet or even to an elevation of 2,000 

 feet. The trees are usually planted 

 twenty-five or thirty feet apart, in pro- 



tected situations, so as to shelter them 

 from strong winds and excessive sun- 

 light. 



The trees do not yield a crop until 

 about the ninth year and continue pro- 

 ductive for seventy or eighty years. 

 Each tree yields on an average about 

 ten pounds of nutmegs and about one 

 pound of mace annually. If the trees 

 are well cared for and the soil well fer- 

 tilized, the yield is much greater, even 

 tenfold. 



As already stated the nutmeg plant 

 is dioecious. A seed may therefore de- 

 velop into a male or female plant; if a 

 male plant it will of course not produce 

 nutmegs. The only way to learn 

 whether it is one or the other is to wait 

 until the first flowers are formed during 

 the fifth or sixth year. The planter 

 does, however, not sit by and wait; he 

 simply grafts the young shoots with 

 branches of the female tree. Some 

 male trees, about one to twenty female 

 trees, are allowed to mature in order 

 that pollination, by insects, may be 

 possible, as without pollination and 

 subsequent fertilization the seed could 

 not develop. 



The tree bears fruit all the year round, 

 so that nutmegs may be collected at 

 all times. It is, however, customary to 

 collect two principal crops, one during 

 October, November, and December, 

 and another during April, May, and 

 June. The nuts are picked by hand 

 or gathered by means of long hooks 

 and the thick pericarp removed. The 

 red arillus is also carefully removed 

 and flattened between blocks of wood 

 so as to reduce the danger of breaking" 

 as much as possible. Mace and nuts 

 are then dried separately. The nuts 

 are placed upon hurdles for several 

 weeks until the kernels, nutmegs, rat- 

 tle inside of the thin, tasteless, and odor- 

 less hard shell. This shell is now care- 

 fully broken and removed; the worm- 

 eaten nutmegs are thrown away and the 

 sound ones are rolled in powdered lime 

 and again dried for several weeks. Gen- 

 erally the drying is done over a smol- 

 dering fire so that the nuts are really 

 smoke dried. For shipment they are 

 packed in air-tight boxes which have 

 been smoked and dusted with lime on 

 the inside. Liming gives the nuts a 



146 



