150 
SPICES 
CHAP, 
Dr. Oxley says they are packed in wooden bins filled up 
with lime and water to the consistency of mortar. The 
nutmegs remain in the bins, which are carefully closed, 
for three months. After this they are taken out, sorted 
into grades, and packed in the teak casks. In the Malay 
Peninsula liming has never, I believe, been resorted to, 
and indeed with reasonable care to keep the store-rooms 
free of the godown pests, it is hardly necessary. 
There are a number of beetles which attack nutmegs 
when stored in the godown. These beetles deposit 
their eggs in the seed, and the larvae bore holes in it, 
destroying it or at least reducing its value considerably. 
Mr. Hart, in a circular note published in Trinidad, gives 
a list of those found in godowns there destroying the 
nutmegs. They are all very small, the largest, Trogosita 
mauritanica^ being only f in. long. They are — 
Trogosita mauritanica, Lam. 
Triholium ferrugineum, Fahr. 
Carpophilus sp. 
LoemopJiloes sp. 
Hypothemenus sp. 
Lasio derma sp., near if not identical with L. testaceum, the 
too well known cigar-beetle. 
Mr. Blandford, who identified them, thinks that the 
first two are probably the really injurious kinds. All 
are well-known godown pests, destroying flour, meal, and 
all kinds of warehouse goods. In the account given by 
Mr. Hart, he states that imported horse and cattle food 
had been stored in a room which adjoined the one in 
which the nutmegs were kept, and the beetles were 
probably brought in with this food. 
Grain and beans are very liable to the attacks of 
these little pests, and should be kept away from the 
nutmegs as much as possible. 
Should the godown be infested with these insects, 
it should be thoroughly cleaned, and white - washed 
internally to get rid of them. 
Sorting . — Nutmegs are valued according to size. 
The largest are about 1 in. long and | in. in diameter. 
