NUTMEGS AND MACE. 



485 



had increased in 1837 to 134,115 lbs. In 1836, wild nutmegs were 

 admitted at Is. duty. In 1846, the rates for British and foreign were 

 equalized to 2s. 6ti, and for wild lowered to Sd. per lb. In 1847, a 

 distinction was made between wild in the shell and wild " not in the 

 shell," the former being charged Sd. and the latter 5d. per lb. The 

 home consumption in 1859 was 265,783 lbs. The duty on all spices 

 has long since been abolished. The following figures give the Im- 

 ports of nutmegs into the United Kingdom for a series of years; but 

 they have not been separately specified in the Board of Trade returns 

 for the last six years : — 



Lbs. 1 Lbs. 



1840 113,193 I 1848 336,420 



1841 135,198 i 1849 224,021 



1842 169,241 j 1850 315,126 



1843 209,602 j 1851 358,320 



1844 152,110 i 1852 357,939 



1845 444,706 ! 1853 300,563 



1846 405,679 | 1854 438,312 



1847 367,936 | 1855 335,623 



Year. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Year. 



Quantity. 



Value. 





lbs. 



£ 





lbs. 



£ 



1856 



462,600 



54,602 



1864 



809,095 



48,864 



1857 



462,972 



51,738 



1865 



771,971 



42,621 



1858 



421,785 



39,695 



1866 



563,785 



31,788 



1859 



451,561 



39,176 



1867 



370,193 



23,417 



1860 



532,208 



42,157 



1868 



682,139 



43,245 



1861 



574,164 



33,440 



1869 



809,589 



57,818 



1862 



511,023 



32,223 



1870 



537,978 



32,513 



1863 



551,577 



27,160 







The nutmeg is propagated from fresh seeds (nutmegs) and these 

 vary greatly in size and shape, just as apples and pears do raised from 

 seeds. There can hardly be a more profitable crop than the nutmeg 

 at present prices. The annual yield of a good tree of sixteen or 

 eighteen years' growth, and covering about 600 square feet surface, is 

 about 10 lbs., which, at an average of 2s. per lb., gives a value of 

 produce per acre, per annum, of over 70Z., exclusive of the yield of 

 mace, 1 lb. each tree, which at 4s. is equal to lOZ. more. The fruit 

 of the nutmeg takes nine months to mature. 



In the year 1619, the Dutch took possession of the Spice Islands, 

 and while encouraging to the utmost of their power the culture of the 

 nutmeg tree in a few of them, ruthlessly destroyed all the trees in the 

 surrounding islands. Two years after the occupation of the Moluccas 

 by the British in 1796, the nutmeg tree was planted at Bencoolen^ in 

 Sumatra, and shortly afterwards the culture was undertaken in the 

 Straits Settlements. 



The Banda islands, where nutmeg culture is carried on by the 

 Dutch, are Great Banda or Lonthoir, Neira and Ay. The annual 

 production there in the fifteen years ending 1854, was 579,321 lbs. of 

 nutmegs, and 137,392 lbs, of mace. There are about thii-ty-four nut- 

 meg gardens there. These difi*er in size, the number of trees vary- 

 ing from 4000 to 28,000, and the produce is from 6000 to 32,000 of 



