January i, 1892.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
463 
the variation in tho weight of the wood and lead 
to be of an appreciable extent the whole of the 
chests are turned out ; so that we fail to soa how 
the Government conld possibly make any gam on 
every package imported, and conaeqnently the calcu- 
lation of £25,000, which is baEed upon a percentage 
of the whole of the dnty now paid, is simply erro- 
neous and misleading. „ ■ .v , 
" In turning out teas, grocers often find the tare 
actually more than the Customs have allowed, and 
the weight of tea is less than they pay the duty upon, 
and this is compensated by the liltle over-weight in 
others, so that by taking an average the ont-turn of 
the tea is a lair one as regards the tare. It is rather 
curious that Indiim and Oeylon teas have been selected, 
for they are often bulked in London after the tare 
has been ascertained; and as it is almost impos- 
sible to put as much tea back into a chest when 
ttroedl out, and as teas nre sold on the landing 
weights, the grocer does not get the full weight as 
imported, although he may get the net weight 
invoiced to him. Again, Indian, and especially Ceylon, 
teas sre known to lose some of their flavour by keep- 
ing, and particularly by exposure to the air, and, if 
every chest were turned out, the pressure of work at 
the bonded warehouses wonl 1 be so great that packages 
would be left open longer than necessary, and, al- 
though the importers might not suffer, as it is the 
custom to put teas up to action as soon as possible 
after arrival, yet the buyers would have to bear the 
loss of deterioration by exposure, which in most cases 
would be cot only serious, but quite uncalled for. If 
there is really any loss by the process of taring worth 
consideration, the remedy is in the grower's hands, 
tor he can, if he likes have the packages made of 
more even weight ; the Assam Company do, and have 
done 80 for fome years, and we have heard from 
several buyers that the weight of the wood and lead 
is in many cases so nicely arranged abroad, that the 
gain in weight upon the tare now is fractional, and 
in some cases does not cover the weight of the 
package."— ii. and C. Mail, Nov. 13th. 
^ 
SOME ACCOUNT OP THE NUTMEG AND ITS 
CULTIVATION. 
By Thomas Oxley, Esq., A. B., 
Senior Surgeon of the Settlement of Prince of Wales^ 
Island, Singapore and, Malacca. 
(From the " Journal o f the Indian Archipelago and 
Eastern Asia") 
{Continued from page 446.) 
Forest land, or jungle as we call it in tho3e parts, 
can be cl ared lor about from 2.5 to 30 Uollais per 
ac e by contract, but ihe plmter had bct'or be 
careful to have e'^ery stump aud root of tree 
remove!, ore he ventures to commence pla'iting, or 
the white ants, attracted by the dead wood, will 
crowd into the land, and having" consumed the food 
thus prepared for them, wi'l not be slow iu attack- 
ing the young trees. Whilst tho PUnter is thus 
clearing the ground, he may aivantaaeoQsly a'', the 
Bame time be establishing nurseries : — for these the 
ground ought to be well trenched aud mixed with a 
small quantity of thoroughly decomposed manure and 
burned earth, making up the earlh afterwards into 
beds of about 3 feet wide with paths between them, 
for the convenience of vveedir g and cleaning the young 
plants. Of courso, if the planter can obtain really 
good plants the produce of well selected seed, it will 
be a great p«v,ng of time and expense t ) him, but 
unless the seed be carefully chosen, I wc uld prefer 
beginning my own nur!eriee, and in the (election of 
seed would recommend the most perfec ly ripe and 
spherical nuts Oval long nut-; are to be rejected, 
particularly any of a pale color at one cud. Few 
things tend more to ultimate success thun good seed, 
therefore too much attention cannot be bestowed upon 
it. I sm of opinion that l^lanters have been hitherto 
very careless on this subject, hence we see such varieties 
of the tree, wliicli is hceomiiifj evory day what the 
gardeners ia England CitU more sportive ; this also 
partly arises from continuing to reproduce plants from 
those of the place, whereas were the Planters of Pe- 
nang and Singapore, ffi interchange th^ir seed, it 
would be mutually profitable. We know that the 
Agriculturists of Europe find it to their advant.age to 
obtain seed for their cereal crops from places 
remote, and even the inhabitants of the British Isegs 
find it necessary to make such interchange.'. It is 
not easy to afford a reason for this, but the fact is 
well eptablished, and woul 1 appear to be the fi»t 
of infinite wisdom for some great good, perhaps to 
induce indolent and selfish man by the strong sti- 
mulus of self interest to a mutual reciprocity and 
kindness of feeling, by demonstrating to him in so 
practical a manner that his own good is linked inse- 
parably with that of his neighbour. 
The planter having selected his seed, which ought 
to be put in the ground within 24 hours of being 
gathered, settini? it about 2 inches deep in the beds 
already prepared, and at the distance of from 12 to 
18 inches apart, the whole nursery ought to be well 
shaded both on top and side', the earth kept moist 
and clear of weeds, and well smoked by burning wot 
grass or weeds in it once a week, to drive away a 
very small moth-hke insect that is apt to infest young 
plants, laying its eggs on the leaf' when they become 
covered with yellow spots, and perish if not attended 
to speedily. Washinar the leaves with a decoction of 
the Tuba root is tho best remedy I know of, but 
where only a few plants are affected, if the spots be 
numerous, I would prefer to pluck up the plant 
altogether rather than run tho risk of the insect 
becoming more numerous, to the total destruction of 
the nursery. The nuts germinate in from a month 
to six weeks and even later, and for many months 
after germination the seed is attached to the young 
plant and may be removed apparently as sound as 
when planted, to the astonishment of the nnlearned, 
who are not aware of the great disproportion in size 
between the ovule and albumen, the former of which 
is alone necessary to form the plant. The plants 
may be kept in nursery with advantage for nearly two 
years. Should thay grow rapidly and the interspaces 
become too small for them, every second p'ant bad better 
be removed to fresh nursery and srt out a distance 
of a couple of feet from each other. When transplanted 
either in this way, or for their u'timate position iu the 
plantation, care should be taken to remove them with 
a good ball of earth secured by the skin of the plantain, 
which prevents the btll of earth falling to pieces. 
The nurseri s being established, the ground cleared 
and ready, the next proceeding- is to lay out and 
dig holes about 26 or 30 feet apart, and as the 
quincunx order has many advantages, it is the form 
I would recommend for adoption. The holes should 
bo at leistGfeot in d ameter and about 4 feet deep, 
and when refilled tho surface soil is to be used and 
not that which is taken out of the hole. Each hole 
shou'd be filled up tbout one foot higher than the 
surrou ding ground, to allow for the settling of the 
siil and sinking of the tree, which planted even at 
this height will iu a few years be found below the 
level. Over each hole thus filled up a shed, closed 
on two sides east and west-, and proportioned to the 
f-ize of the plant, is to be erected. The best substance 
for this purpose is I think the Attap ; — lalang grass and 
bamboo, occasionally used, have their disadvantages, 
the former attracts white ants, the I tter when 
commencing to decay, breeds a black blitht thati is 
soon transferred to the pKnt, injuring it mosi 
m terially. It is not a bad plan to l^ava an open 
space in the centre of the top of each shed about 
12 inches wide, by which the young plant c»ii obtain 
the benefit of the dew and gentle rains, which more 
than compensates for the few rays of sun t'lat can 
only fall upon it whilst that body is vertical. After 
the sheds have been comple'ed, each hole should have 
a Uled to it a couple of baske'iS of well decomposed 
manure, aud an equal quiutity of buroed earth, when 
all is ready for the reception of tho plant whicli, 
having been pet out, it the weather be dry, will 
requiii^ watering- for 10 day.s or a fortnight after, in 
fact until it takes the s.iil. As I have mentioned 
burned varth both tor the use of the uariery as well 
