114 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
on liot days is excessive, and this must certainly injure 
the roots, the ground being kept scrupulously clean of 
weeds, and so receiving the full and continuous heat of 
the sun. In the Singapore Botanic Gardens a number 
of trees were grown in open ground. The soil (except 
just round the trees, where it was kept clear for con- 
venience in manuring) was covered with grass. No 
shading was used, but two or three trees were close to 
taller trees of the kind known as Tembusu [Fagraea 
fragrans). These two or three trees, shaded from the 
afternoon sun partly or altogether, are much larger, 
more bushy, and produce much more fruit. The 
leaves are of a richer green, and the whole plant much 
more healthy in appearance. In several old gardens in 
Singapore were formerly some old trees which seemed 
to have remained over as relics of the long abandoned 
cultivation here. These had been neglected in many 
cases, and were shaded by old fruit trees. They were 
of large size, with fine and abundant dark-green foliage, 
but I observed that most of them produced very little 
fruit. Probably in these cases the shading was too 
dense, and the plants too much crowded by the other 
trees. I am strongly inclined to think that, in most 
places at least, a good light shade would be very 
beneficial to the growth of the nutmeg. 
In Trinidad the well-known rain-tree (Pithecolohium 
saman) is used for shading, and is, I think, as good a 
shade tree as could be found. It grows readily from 
seed, and is a fast grower. It is not too dense, allowing 
a good quantity of light to pass through its foliage. 
During rain and at night it closes its leaves so as to 
let rain and dew fall on the plants beneath it. The 
saga [AdenantJiera pavonina) is another tree that 
might be used. It is a fast grower from seed, but 
spreads less than the rain-tree, and sheds all its leaves 
during the dry season, which might expose the nutmegs 
to the full heat at the hottest period. The rapid- 
growing Alhizzia moluccana is often used as a shade 
tree for coffee and other plants. It gives a light lattice- 
