738 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1882. 
leaves and mouldering trunks of trees ; and next to these 
are to be ranked the open plains. Declivities are ob- 
jectionable from the risk of the precipitation of the 
mould and, manure into the subsequent ravines by the 
heavy torrents of rain that occasionally deluge the country. 
Above all, the plantation must be protected from the 
southerly and northerly winds by a skirting of lofty trees, 
and if nature has not already made this provision, no 
time should be lost in belting the ground with a double 
row of the casuarina littorea and cerbera manghas, 
which are well adapted for this purpose. This precau- 
tionary measure will not only secure the planter against 
eventual loss from the falling-off of the blossom and 
young fruit in heavy gales, but will prevent the uproot- 
ing of the trees, a contingency to which they are liable 
from the slender hold then- roots have of the soil. If 
the plantation is extensive, subsidiary rows of these trees 
may be planted at convenient distances. No large trees 
whatever should be suffered to grow among the spice 
trees, for these exclude the vivifying rays of the sun, 
and arrest the descent of the salutary night dews, both 
of which are essential to the quality and quantity of 
the produce. They further rob the soil of its fecundity, 
and mteniungle their roots with those of the spice trees. 
It is true that by the protection they afford they pre- 
vent frequently the premature bursting of the husk 
occasioned by the sudden action of a hot sun upon it 
when saturated with rain; but the loss sustained in 
this way is not equal to the damage that spice trees 
suffer from these intruders. Extensive tracts of land 
are to be met with in the interior of the country well 
adapted for the cultivation of the nutmegs and cloves, 
and to these undoubted preference is due. 
'9. In originating a nutmeg plantation, the first care 
of the cultivator is to select ripe nuts and to set them 
at the distance of a foot apart in a rich soil, merely 
covering them very lightly with mould. They are to be 
protected from the heat of the sun, occasionally weeded, 
a. I watered in dry weather every other day. The seed- 
lings may be expected to appear in from 30 to 60 days, 
and when f our feet high, the healthiest and most luxuri- 
ant, consisting of 3 or 4 verticels are to be removed 
in the commencement of the rains to the plantation 
previously cleared of trees and underwood by burning 
and grubbing up their roots, and placed in holes dug 
for their reception at the distance of 30 feet from each 
other, screening them from the heat of the sun and viol- 
ence of the winds. It is a matter of essential import- 
ance that the ground be well opened and its cohesion 
broken, in order to admit of the free expansion of the 
roots of the tender plants, and that it be intimately 
mixed with burnt earth and cow manure, in the pro- 
portion of two-thirds of the former to one-third of the 
latter. The plants are to be set in rows as well for 
tuo sake of regularity, as for the more convenient tra- 
versing of the plough, which is now to be employed 
in clearing the intermediate spaces of lallang and othet 
noxious grasses, carefully avoiding to trespass on the 
beds of the trees. They must be watered every other 
day in sultry weather, manured annually during the 
rains with four garden baskets full of the above- 
mentioned composts to each tree, and protected from the 
sun until they attain the age of five years. They will 
now be sufficiently hardy to bear the sun, and from 
that ago until then fifteenth year, the compost should 
consist of equal parts of cowdung and burnt earth, 
and from 8 to 12 baskets full will be required for each 
bearing tree, a lesser proportion being distributed to the 
males. From the power of habit the trees will after 
the 15th year require a more stimulating nutriment ; 
1 1 M dung ought not therefore to be more than two or 
three months old, and the mixture should consist of 
two parts of it to one of burnt earth, of which the 
suitable proportion will bo from 12 to 16 baskets to 
each trco biennially. In all cases the prepared com- 
post must bo spread out in the sun for 3 or 4 days 
previously to its application, in order to destroy grubs 
and worms that may have lodged in it, and which might 
injure the roots of the plants. 
10. In all plantations, whether situated in forest land 
or in the plains, the necessity of manuring at stated 
intervals has not been found indispensable, and is in- 
deed identified with then - prosperity. The proper mode 
of applying it is in a circular furrow in immediate 
contract with the extremities of the fibrous roots which 
may be called the absorbents of the plant. Where there 
is a scarcity of dung recourse may be had to the dregs 
remaining after the preparation of the oil from the 
fruit of the Arachis Hypogora in mixture with burnt 
earth, which is a very 1 stimulating manure ; or composts 
may be formed from the decomposition of leaves or 
vegetable matter of any description. A very fertilizing 
and highly annualized liqtiid nutriment for plants is 
obtained by macerating human ordure in water in pro- 
per pits for 4 or 5 months, and applying the fluid to the 
radical absorbents of the plants. Seaweeds and many other 
articles may also be resorted to, which will readily 
occur to the intelligent agriculturist. 
11. During the progressive growth of the plantation, 
the beds of the trees are to be regularly weeded and 
the roots kept properly cevered with the mould, for 
these have a constant tendency to seek the surface ; 
the growth of the lateral branches alone to be encour- 
aged, and all suckers or dead and unproductive branches 
are to be removed by the pruning knife, so as to thin 
the trees considerably, and to admit of the descent of 
the night dews which are greatly contributive to their 
well being, especially during the dry and sultry wea- 
ther ; creepers are to be dislodged, and the lower vert- 
icels lopped off, with the view of establishing an unim- 
peded circulation of air. The conclusion of the great 
annual harvest is the fittest time for priming the trees. 
After the eradication of the lallang, the growth of in- 
noxious grasses is to be encouraged in the intervals 
between the trees, which will give the plantation the 
appearance of a park, and the plough is now to be 
abandoned. 
12. The nutmeg tree is monoecious as well as di- 
oecious, but no means of discovering the sexes before the 
period of inflorescence are as yet known. The relative 
proportion of male and female trees to each other is 
also undefined, and is indeed the result of chance. 
Setting aside however all pretensions to mathematical 
precision, the number of productive trees may be roundly 
estimated at two-thirds of the whole cultivation. How- 
ever presumptuous it may appear to arraign the oper- 
ations of nature, I cannot but think that, with refer- 
ence to the genus Myristica, she has made a most 
unnecessary provision in the creation of so many male 
trees, since the monoecious plants are fully as suscept- 
ible of the rapturous impulse of connubial bliss, and 
equally competent for the purposes of ardent and suc- 
cessful love. The number of male trees therefore necess- 
ary to be retained will depend entirely on that of the 
monoecious kind ; all above this number being considered 
as superfluous should be cut down, and other trees 
planted in their stead. Were I indeed to originate a 
nutmeg plantation now, I should either attempt to pro- 
cure grafts on male stocks from such trees as produce 
the largest and best fruit, by the process of inarching, 
notwithstanding the speculative hypothesis of the graft 
partaking of the gradual and progressive decay of the 
parent tree, leaving a branch or two of the stock for 
the purpose of establishing a regular polygamy, by which 
means the plantation would consist of monoecious trees 
only, or I should place the young plants in the nursery 
at the distance of four feet from each other, and force 
them to an early discovery of their sex, by lifting them 
out of then - beds once a year and replacing them in the 
same spot, so as to check the growth of wood and vivi- 
parous branches. The sex might thus be ascertained on 
an average within the fourth year, and the trees removed 
