Cultivation of Nutmegs and Cloves in Bencoolm. 327 



prevent the admission of air or water. There is no necessity for 

 sorting themj as previously to tlieir sale they are classed into sizes 

 in the Company's warehouses in London. 



The mode generally practised in preparing nutmegs for the 

 market, is to dip them in a mixture of salt water and lime, and to 

 spread them out on mats for four or five days in the shade to dry. 

 I am, however, convinced from much experience that this is a 

 pernicious practice^ not only from the quantity of moisture imbi- 

 bed in this process encouraging the breeding of insects and ren- 

 dering the nuts liable to early decay, but from the heating quality 

 of the mixture producing fissures and occasioning a great loss in 

 the out turn ; whereas by liming them simply in ihe dry way as 

 I have recommended, the loss ought not to exceed S per cent. 

 In May, 1816; I made some exjierimcnts on this subject. I 

 cracked a quantity of nutmegs that had been smoke dried for two 

 months, and distributed them into four equal portions. I prepared 

 the nuts of one parcel with a mixture of lime and salt water; 

 those of the second were rubbed over merely with fine well dried 

 shell lime such as the natives use with their betel, although I 

 have no doubt but that recently prepared and well sifted common 

 h'me would answer equally well ; those of the third parcel were 

 mixed, unlimed, with one-third of their weight of whole black 

 Pepper ; and those of the fourth, also unlimed, with the same pro- 

 portion of cloves. They were then put into separate boxes with 

 sliding tops, and numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, in the order I have 

 mentioned them. At the expiration of the first year they xvere 

 all sound. After that of the second, I found three worm eaten 

 nuts in No. 1, and two in No. 3, but those in Nos. 2 and 4 re- 

 mained untouched. The injured nuts were allowed to remain, 

 and after the lapse of the third vear, five worm eaten ones were 

 discovered in No. 1, three in No. 3, and two in No. 4, those in 

 No. 2 being in their original state. Four years and four months 

 have now elapsed since the commencement of these experiments, 

 and upon examining tlie several parcels the other day, the num- 

 ber of decayed nuts has not increased in Nos, 1, 3 and 4, and 

 those in No. 2 are as good as the day they were put into the box. 

 These experiments not only prove the superiority of liming in the 

 ^^Y way, but also the fact that the progress to general decay in a 

 heap of nutmegs, even after the insect has established itself, must 

 he a work of years. In the shell they will keep for a great length 

 of time. I have myself kept them in this state for six years, and 

 when cracked they were found perfectly sound. From the report 

 ^f the London brokers, however, they will not answer m Em^ope 

 on account of the heavy allowance for shells, which is one-thud 

 of the weight; but the Chinese merchants are in the daily habit 

 of exporting them to Pinang and China, where they arc m xq- 

 q^est. It is stated on the best authority, that unlimed or brown 



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