TMF TROPJCAL AORICULTURIST. [November i, 1890. 
iag the coaet to themselves. Since the advent of the 
British North Borneo Company, however, these maran- 
ders have had to retire or become peaceful subjects, 
or suffer the penalty of their misdeeds. At the present 
moment there is not a pirate in our coast, trade is 
entirely free, and the Company i.s entirely free to open 
np and develop industries on land or by sea. Regard- 
ing pearling (I refer to mother o’pearl). Government 
are prepared to give encouragement and special advan- 
tages to pioneers in those industries. 
IPermits and Licenses. — A permit er license would 
be required from the Government, the fee for which 
would he nominal : a monopoly for a certain lime would 
be granted to the discoverer of now pearl banks. 
Rules and Regulations. — We have no rules or re- 
gulations in force, but in the event of tho pearl fishing 
becoming important, rules and regulations such ns aro 
in force in Australia would probahlj' be adopted, with 
the modification necessary to such circumstances. 
Tariff of Imports anp Exports. — With this letter 
I am sending you a copy of the Herald, official gazette 
for March, which contains these, together with Har- 
bouv, Custom and Quarantine Regulations. It will 
be observed that the export duty on mother-o’-poRvl- 
shell is 10 per cent, ad valorem. The advalorem dnty 
is calculated on the local va.\\x<i.— Singapore Free Frees 
# 
CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT. 
Practical Information on “Nutmegs. ” 
NUTMEG culture — MANURING NUTMEGS — NUTMEGS VS. 
CACAO — MODE 01? CULTIVATION IN THE LOWCOUNTRYAND 
ON THE HILLS — YIELD OF HALP-AN-ACRE — INCOME 
PROM A SINGLE NUTMEG TREE — PRICES IN LONDON 
FOR NUTMEGS AND MACE. 
Got. 6th. 
Periodically, with longer or shorter distances of 
time between, there is a rage for nutmeg culture 
in Ceylon. The last “ boom ” was some six or seven 
years ago, and there is another “ boom ” on again. 
People can get very enthusiastic about the nut- 
meg, especially during the initial stages ; and, 
having no certain data to go on as to what might 
be expected in the way of returns, hazard wild 
enough guesses, touching in some cases, as it did 
the other day, the munificent figure of R60 a tree I 
But the man who would grow the nutmeg must 
be a mau with a good stock of patience ; and as 
Europeans in Ceylon are, as a rule, impatient 
for returns, they are not all suited for the culti- 
vation of this spice. Hence it is that the regularly 
recurring nutmeg excitement burns itself out long 
before the tree has had any chance of showing 
what it really can do; and the plants which had 
been put out amid great expectations are, after 
a longer or shorter time thought nothing of and 
perish from neglect. I can remember of one mau 
who even forestalled this : so disgusted was he with 
the slow growth of the young plants that he put 
an end to their existence and his own hopes by 
pulling— what he called — “ the wretched things ” 
up, and closed his experiment in that violent way. 
Those who know the nutmeg are too well aware 
that it is not likely to overgrow itself, or hurry 
into bearing, and the pauses between each recur- 
ring pair of new leaves are trying oven to a 
patient spirit. The grower in the o'd days was 
afraid to stimulate the plant in any way : — “Manure 
it, and it dies,” was tho scientific dictum, believed 
in and acted up to ; and tho young nutmeg was 
left to pick up what nourishment it could from an 
already worn-out soil. The failure of the nutmegs 
in the Straits - -brought about we were told by 
high manuring— was what paralysed anything like 
culture here. 
Wo are getting over this, and the successful ex- 
periment in tho lowcountry — which is tho result of 
an intelligent patience, and manure applied from 
the first year of the nutmeg’s life— is likely to 
inaugurate a new era in the production of this 
valuable spice in Ceylon, and add to the 
tropical products which the planter may suc- 
cessfully grow, and on which he may 
depend. We have learnt that the dying out 
in the Straits was much more likely to have been 
the effect of the cutting down of the shade and 
forcing the trees to overbear than the fact that 
they were well-manured. Even although no special 
cause can with certainty be assigned for the 
catastrophe, it must always be remembered that 
a wave of blight is liable to pass over any product 
which is extensively cultivated and artificially 
forced, and that the nutmeg has not been an ex- 
ception to this rule. It is the waiting for returns 
which staggers moat people, but if one considers how 
long a cacao plant takes before it is in full bearing — 
the supplies got up, and everything else in order — 
the extension of time which the nutmeg demands 
dwindles into very little. One cacao planter whose 
place is a credit and has been for a long time in 
the front rank, told me that it was nearly ten 
years before his estate had been what he called 
complete, and the vacancies regularly filled up. 
The culture of the nutmeg in the lowcountry 
differs somewhat from those on the hills, in this 
way : th-at in the warm, sweaty, low elevations, 
shade is demanded. One who has now a good show 
of nutmegs in a low place, and has given much 
thought and attention to the growing of the 
spice, gives me (for the benefit of others who may yet 
try) the following as the outcome of his expetienoe : 
— “ The plants should be raised from selected seed 
in nursery beds, and planted out when about one 
foot high, with a 15-inch ‘ Scowen’s Transplanter,’ 
into holes cut 2 feet deep, and at distances of 
25 to 30 feet. They must be at once carefully 
shaded with cadjans or other suitable shade, and 
this must be renewed, whenever necessary, until the 
young nutmegs are about three years old, and the per- 
manent shade trees (Alhizzia molluccana) sufficiently 
well grown to shade the ground. The young nut- 
megs must be kept free from moss and any parasites. 
Manuring should be commenced when the plants are 
one year old — the manure spread on the surface 
and lightly worked in without injuring the under 
rootlets. When the tices are five or six years old 
they will blossom, but they will not set fruit 
until the seventh year and will afterwards yearly 
increase in production.” On the hills the nut- 
meg wants shade at first but not afterwards ; and 
if the seed is germinated it can be put out 
after having been duly protected, with a fair 
prospect of success. To have any kind of 
decent show of nutmegs one must keep pegging 
at it, and not count the losses of seed and plants 
as anything very serious. As to the nutmeg paying, 
I am in a position to give some figures which 
may be relied on and which are a rough average 
of something like fifteen years’ returns. The nut- 
meg grove is a small one, about half-an-aera in 
extent, contains 58 trees of which 36 are bearers 
and 22 are males. The trees are planted about 
18 ft. apart and are crosvding and crushing each 
other, and the shade below is so dense that no 
weeds whatever oan grow. Tho trees, I fancy, must 
be from 35 to 40 years old. The produce from 
this grove was sold locally, and for the time I 
refer to, the nutmegs fetched in their shell at the 
rate of ?>lh to 50 cents a lb,, and the mace RI a 
lb. on the spot. Tho price today is very much 
better, Rl a hundred for the nuts and Rl-25 per 
lb. for mace, while selected nuts for see. I are R2 
a 100. It takes from 50 to 80 nutmegs with their 
shell, on — I don’t mean the husk — to make up a 
pound. The produce of the above half-acre has 
averoged for these fifteen years about RICO, that 
