Ill 
NUTMEGS AND MACE 
133 
Termites. — Dr. Oxley mentions white ants or termites 
as being troublesome to the nutmeg trees in the Straits 
Settlements in 1848, but says they only attack weak 
plants. “ It is only upon the first symptoms of decay 
that they commence their depredations.” “ Every 
planter must lay his account to losing occasional trees 
by them, but he who has his ground clearest and most 
free of old roots and stumps of trees will lose fewest.” 
I cannot say I have ever seen nutmeg trees really 
attacked by any kind of termites. At present in the 
East Indies there is only one species out of a very large 
number which attacks living trees, and that is Termes 
gestroi^ the well-known species which does occasional 
damage on rubber estates. This species might certainly 
attack nutmeg trees, if it happened to be in the ground 
near the trees. I gather from the description that Dr. 
Oxley does not refer to this insect, but rather to one of 
the common dead-wood eating species. These frequently 
may be seen attacking the outer bark, coating it with 
mud and nibbling the dry bark layers off, and occasion- 
ally tunnelling up the centre of any small trees. The 
occurrence of such an accident is a clear and certain 
sign that the plant is dying from some other cause, and 
the termites are merely devouring already dead portions. 
It is, indeed, usually in very bad soil that this attack of 
termites is seen, and it may be taken as evidence that 
the ground is unsuited for cultivation. 
Dr. Oxley recommends the use of pig’s dung in 
solution for driving them off ; any putrefying animal 
matter will have this effect, and night-soil or urine will 
soon cause them to go away. 
Parasitic Plants . — The mistletoe, Loranihus, is 
sometimes very troublesome to the planter. The seeds 
are brought by birds which pass them on the boughs, 
where they germinate and push their roots into the 
host- plant. If neglected the whole bough on which the 
parasite is growing dies and falls off, and eventually 
the whole tree may be killed. 
It is of no use to merely pull off the branches of the 
