On the Climate, Productions, Sfc. of Singapore. 155 



trench is filled with grass, top soil, manure, &c. as before. The 

 object is to get the manure near to the ends of the roots, and this 

 is effectually accomplished by this plan. One might think that 

 the tree would be injured by wounding the roots, but constant 

 experience shows that nothing tends so much to the health and 

 vigor of the tree as this manuring. When digging the trench, in 

 case they discover signs of disease in the root they do not hesitate 

 to cut in to within a foot of the trunk even of a large tree, cut- 

 ting off in so doing, roots two or three inches in diameter. This 

 is frequently done also in getting out the roots of a species of 

 grass which is the pest of the agriculturist in that part of the 

 world. It is called by the Malays "sallang," (Andropogon cari- 

 cosum, Lin.) It is a long grass, sometimes four feet or more high. 

 It frequently covers whole fields, rendering them comparatively 

 valueless from the difficulty and expense which it would cost to 

 get out this grass. In the rich' beds of the nutmeg it grows with 

 great rapidity and must therefore be got out at all hazards. Its 

 tenacity of life is so great that there is no security against its 

 growing again, but by burning every piece of the root. Expo- 

 sure of the root to the sun for months seems not to destroy its 

 vitality entirely. And I have known it to come up through a 

 layer of earth and gravel four feet deep, thrown out in digging a 

 a cellar. 



The foliage of the nutmeg being thick and of a dark rich 

 green color, it is quite an ornamental tree. The brilliant colors 

 of the ripe fruit, as the bright scarlet of the mace and the glossy 

 black of the shell under the mace are seen through the bursting 

 rind which evinces the maturity of the fruit, make it one of the 

 most beautiful products of the vegetable world. 



There is no particular season for gathering the fruit, though I 

 have seen the contrary stated in some works on botany. The 

 usual practice is to go around the plantation every day to exam- 

 ine each tree in quest of ripe nuts. Almost every good tree will 

 exhibit more or less of ripe or unripe nuts, as well as buds and 

 blossoms, nearly every day of the year. It is nevertheless true, 

 that at certain times particular trees will bear more than at other 

 times, and even particular plantations more than other plantations 

 in the same neighborhood, but as far as I could learn from obser- 

 vation or by enquiring of those practically engaged in the busi- 

 ness, there is no such thing as a nutmeg season. 



