214 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, 1898, 
NUTMEG CULTURE NEAR KANDY. 
Ml. J. L. DewaR has replied to our enrjuiry 
regarding nutmegs as follow.'^ :— " 1 don't tliink 
that tliere is a fortune in nutmegs, unless jjerhaps 
the culture were tackled on a big scale- 
"Here, there is jierliaps a cjuar'er to one-tbird 
of an acre planted, but a considerable proportions 
are male trees. A well-cared-for iiutmeg grove 
would have had only a few males ; !)ut as you 
have to wait till the tree flowers before the sex 
can be determined, people who are only idaying 
with the product, di.slike the rooting out and 
re-planting process. Once tiie nutmeg tree is up, 
the co.st of cultivation is almost 7h7. The shade 
becomes so dense, that a run over once in six 
months v.'ould fulfil all that was wanted in the 
Avay of weeding. The trees are very subject to 
parasites, which if not regularly seen to— a 
cleaning out twice a year— spread with consider- 
able rapidity and ruin the trees ; but except 
that, a nutn'ieg estate would cost little be-sides 
superintendence, gathering and drying. It does 
not do to have them growing where there is 
much wind, nob that the tree sull'ers to speak 
of, but the crop is so heavy that in the swaying 
it snaps oii', long before it is ripe. 
"From my experience, about 750 lb. of nutmegs 
—the weight includes the shell- and 120 lb of 
mace, might be got from an acre, and as the 
price of nutmegs is locally from 20 to 30 cents 
a lb.— and at limes a little more— and mace 
about Rl per lb., this would work out, taking 
the nutmegs at 25 cents, and the mace at Rl a 
lb. = Ro07-50 an acre for the gross earnings. 
There is this to be remembered before iam|)ing 
to the conclusion that here is a promising minor 
product, that the trees here are old and well- 
oTOwn, and besides this there is the well-known 
deception of basing a calculation on the outturn 
of a small patch.' We can all remember the kind 
of calculations which were indulged in when cin- 
chona was the vogue. That cinchona tree gave so 
much, there are so many trees to the acre, which 
at that rate works out a goodly sum, add the 
selling price and what a handsome lelurn— a 
fortune in fact ! Rut all the same it was not- 
there. Still all said and done, granted a shel- 
tered piece of goud land, it would seem as if 
there was a possibility of ' striking 'ile.' Reside 
the nutmeg grower on a big scale would ship ta 
London, which might pay better than the locar 
market; but of that I have no experience. 
" If the culture be taken up, no doult the best 
will be done for it. In the old days of the 
East India Company, when, among other things 
dabbled in, there was shipped home, nutmegs 
and mace, the Court of Directors turned^ their 
attention to these spices ; and the result of their- 
deliberations was, that an order was issued, 
directing that for Hie future, they were to grow 
less nutmegs and more mace ! Ceylon wnen it 
tackles a new product in earnest, generally 'gives 
it fits' and everybody connected with it ; and 
althou"-h to follow the instructions of the Court 
of Directors may be beyond the Ceylbn planter 
even at his best, I have no doubt that both 
mace and nutmegs could be piled m to tl-.e 
amazement of the world. It would be wise 
perhaps if nutmeg culture is to become a favourite, 
that too many should not rush in all at once, 
for nob only is the market for spices a limited 
one, anrl the tree can easily be grown m many 
Harts of the East; but even if we did manage to. 
take first place in the Orient, what about the 
American variety— the wooden one 2" 
We do not think there ie mueli chance of a 
rush after a tree tliat at least takes live years 
to bear and from that uu to ten yeais, accord- 
ing to the >-oil, climate, Lc. The best situalioiis 
for nutmegs are said to be about Avisaweila and 
in the Kurunegala district. 
' ♦ 
PLUMBAGO: A FORTUNE IN CEVLON'S 
ONE MINEHAL OF COMMERCIAL 
IMPORTANCE. 
We can recall the day when plumbago was 
RlOO per ton and when R14U was considered a 
handsome figure. A year ago the price .stood at 
liojj and today it is R/UO per ton ! I'lumbago 
is in fact more valuable per lb. than a great 
deal of tea. The foregoing pri-Mi workh out to 
over 31 cents per lb. for plumbago, and 
60 the fortunate owners of " pits "—includ- 
ing our old friend Mr. W. A. Fernando, 
Messrs. N. D. 1'. De Silva & Co. and ollicrs— 
must be making large fortunes. Tlic gieat 
demand, too, is not a temporary one, merely 
caused by the War— though that has given an 
impetus— but is connected with the activity in 
Electrical Engineering and electric bu«ines« 
generally ; and so far as we can judge " plum- 
bago " and "rubber" are going to be t«o 
articles for which tliere will be a full market 
demand for many years to come. 
We can now judge how far-seeing Mr. Tet- 
tenliain was in bringing out his .Mining friend, 
Capt. Tregay, when he did. The I'lumliago 
Mine on Moner-ik.'in Je is now, we learn, lurniDg 
out 5 tons of the valuable mineral e^'eiy week. 
Our exhortation today is to tea planters in suit- 
able distiicts, sucli as, Kaluiaia Kurunegala, 
Kegalla and in some divisions even in the Cen- 
tral Province, if ihey have labjur to i-pHre, to 
go in for a little " Plumbago " prospecting. There 
may be a "fortune" in it— or at any rate a very 
prolkable return. Rut we more especially write 
today, in order to appeal to His Excellency 
the Governor to do all he can Ui get the Indian 
Government to lend ns a Geologist, or failing 
that, to telegraph to England for a competent 
Scientist who will aid us at this crisis iti 
deciding which are likely to be hands with 
plumbago deposits. America and Europe are 
claniouring for " more plumbago." Ceylon is one 
of the very few countries in the world with a 
large reserve — how extensive no one as yet knows ; 
and, if Governor Ridgeway makes the nnjst of 
his opportunity, no one can say how important 
may be the results : — 
There is a tide in the affairs of States 
"Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ! 
PLANTING NOTES. 
The Queensland AGnici'LTur.AL JounNAi,." — 
Vol. III. Pai't ], for July has the following contents:— 
Argiiuitural and Pastoral Conference ; Agriculture — 
Liquid Manure, R±t Harding; The Food ofHoises; 
D?-irying ; Horse- Breeding — Cross-breeJiiig, '' Arab"; 
Viticultaire— Maladies of Vine, E HHaiusford ; Treat- 
ment for Anthracnose ; Tropical Industries — Sugar- 
cane from Childers ; Preparation of iMeat Extrscts ; 
Forestry — Some Timber Trees of Qaeeiisland, No. 4, 
J W Fawcett; General Notes; List of Agricu't.ira!, Her- 
titural and Pastoral Associitions in Qn-ensiand ; The 
Markets — Average Prices for May ; Enoggera S^les ; 
Farm and Garden Notes for .July ; Orchard Notes 
for Jnly ; Cultural Notes for Tropical Queensland ; 
Public Aunouncements. 
