Ill 
NUTMEGS AND MACE 
123 
Malay Peninsula. ' Not infrequently a planter will 
announce with jubilation that his trees have commenced 
to fruit in the third or fourth year, but this is not a 
matter for congratulation, as trees which commence to 
fruit so early are short-lived, and soon crop themselves 
out. It is much better when they delay fruiting till the 
ninth year. 
The fruits ripen in about six months from the 
flower. When they split and show the seed covered 
with its brilliant red mace, they are ripe. The fruit is 
sometimes allowed to fall, and is then picked up, the 
collector going round the plantation every day and 
collecting the seed and mace in baskets. But it is more 
usually gathered by hand, which is preferable. For 
this a hooked stick is used to pull the fruits off where 
the tree is low, as it is in the Straits Settlements. In 
Banda, where the trees are lofty, the gatherer uses a long 
rod with two deflexed prongs, below which is a small 
bamboo basket. When the nutmeg is grasped between 
the prongs and falls off it is caught in the basket, and so 
does not become bruised by falling to the ground, which 
injures the mace. Modifications of this rod and basket 
are used for all kinds of fruits easily injured by bruising 
all over the Eastern islands. 
The number of nuts a collector can gather in a day 
varies according to the height and propinquity of the 
trees and the amount of crop, but Warburg says a good 
worker can collect in the full season 1000 to 1500 nuts 
in a day. In Singapore one man can collect from 100 
trees in a day. In Menado each worker can pluck 40 
to 50 trees, and in Banda often 2 or 3 trees will keep a 
man employed all day. 
The smaller size of the Malay Peninsula trees is a 
distinct advantage to the gatherer. 
YIELD OF THE TREES 
The actual return in amount of nutmegs given by 
each tree varies considerably. Some trees are very 
