THE TROPICAL /WJWItJOLTURTST. 
446 
[December i, 1891. 
some useful hints id those already engaged in sueh 
operations, and a iolerabty eafe guide tot future 
speculators. But I am by no means disposed to 
think tbst I can po i-xLaust the eubjcct as leave 
nothing for future writers, hiin^ Ihlly persuaded in 
my own mind that the enUiyu ion of the untintg 
can still be greatly improved, and that in foot very 
little soienoo has as yet bt^eu etprndod upon it. 
The Nutimg Plauler, to^nso Golonel LoWa expressive 
words, ** must have the bump of porseveranoo my* 
riBtioatiealty developed, and be impervious to 
compunctious feelii g'l on opening his pursc^; the 
combination also of ao enthmiastio U-mporament with 
untiring patience is dorirable. If ho bo in Ineie to 
get rich, let him attend to some other pnrtt^t; but 
lie hag this eonsolaiiou, that uuttneg planting |ii:t>pbr)y 
conducted, although slow, is Mire, and when brought 
to a oertaiu point, safe and euduring ; and he has the 
further foniclation of knowing that nature has bes- 
towed upon him a monopolVt the nutmeg tree 
appears to be confined within comparatiwily narrow 
limits. Whilst its cjpgeucr, the clove, has betnopnad 
over Asia, Africa, aud the West Indies, the nutmeg 
rofuses to flourish out of the Malavao Archipelago 
exebpi: ezdtfo, all attempts hitherto mwde to 
intr<^uco it largely itito other ttropiotl countries Laving 
decidedly failed. 
The Island of Temate, which is in about the Fame 
iatittide- as Bingaporo, Is said to barve been the spot 
where it was truly indigenous, bat no doubt the tree 
is to bo found on most of tho Moluccas. At pre- 
sent the place of its origbi is unproductive of the 
spico, having being robbed of its rich heritage by 
the policy of the Dutch, who at an early period 
removed the plantations to the Banda lalos, for better 
survcillauco, whero they still remaiu and flourish. But 
although care was formerly taken to extirpate the 
tree uii the Moluccas, the mace feeding Pigeons have 
frustratid the maebiuations of man. aud spread it 
widely through the Archipelago of iHlaiuia oxtonding 
from the Moluccaa to New Guinea. Its circle of 
growth exteuda westward as far as Penang, where, 
although an exotic, it has been cultivated as a mercan- 
tile speculation for many yesrs with aticccsa, so much 
so th'it doubtles.H the Penaug Planters think themselves 
more in a situation to give than nceive advice. I 
simll therefore beg any of tho'6 magnates who may 
chance to cast mi eye on this paper, to bear iu 
mind that what they read is more pecnliarly applica‘ lo 
to Siugap(-rfl than any other locality, and that more- 
over the. plans laid down have succeedo)] here, Weat- 
ward of Penang, there are no plaotationa, looking at 
the Biibjeot in a mercantile pomt of view. The tree 
is to be found, indeed, iu Ceylon and tlve WisK’oast 
of India, tut to grow it as a gpccnlation out of ita 
indigenous limits, is ss likely to prove sucoesfful as 
tho pultivation of apples aud piarsin Bengil. 
In tho Bftnda where the tree may be considered 
as iiidigPuuiH, no farfebor attention is paid to its 
cultivation than settiug out tho plants in park under 
ho .•ibade of large funst trees wIUj liorizoutal brniichcH, 
called “Canati” by the natives. Here it attains a 
height of fifty feet and upwards, whtrtas from 20 to 
30 feet may be taken as a fair average of Straits 
trees; but notwitbsianduig our pigmy proportions, 
it dues m t appear from all 1 could over learn, that 
we are relativcdy behind the Banda trees either in 
quantity or onnlity of produce, and I am strongly 
impiesred with the idea that the Isbnd of SingHPore 
cau compete with the Banda group on p<*ifeclly 
even terms. Our climate » qui'o uocxcepti< nabl>j for 
tho growth of the nutmeg, being ncitbor exposed to 
droughts or high winds; aud although wo may lo^'e 
by comparison of soils, we again gaiu by greater 
facilities of seudiog our produce to market, by the 
ability of obtaining abundant suppllos of manure, aud 
any amount of freo and ebuap labour. 
I shall DOW endeavour to lead the Planter rtep by 
step ou his w<ary way, but just to cheer him 
a little, he may have the asburanco that a nutmeg 
plantation well laid out and brought up to perfection, 
IS one of the most pleasing and agreeable properties 
that can be pussosacd. Yieldiug returns more or less 
daily thioughoul the year, there is uncoaoiog intorost, 
bei>ides the usual stimulus to all Agricutlurists 
of a crop time, wlieu his produce iucrea^ea to double 
and quaJraple the ordinary routine. 
Trees bav.ng arrived at 15 >ears growth, there is 
no inoittitude or fear of total failure of crop, only 
iu relativt^ amount of produce, and this, as will be 
Sfen, is greatly in tie Pliiiter’s own power to com- 
mand. It is against reason to suppose that a tree 
always in flower and fruit will not expend itself if 
left to unaided nature; it roust lo supplie I with 
suitable stimuli to moke good the waste ; therefore 
he whe wanti nuts must not be sparing of manure, 
but of this more directly. 
The first requisite for tlio P’antor is choice of 
location. It is true that the lutmeg tree, aided by 
manuse, will grow in almost any soil whero water does 
not ledge, but it makes a vast difference in tho degree 
ofauccoHS, whether the soil be orginslly good, or poor 
and ioipioved bv art. Tho tn e thrives not in white 
or satidy soils, but Inveth the deep rcl and friable 
soils fotinf^d by the decomposilion of granilo rooks 
and tinged wilh irou, and the deeper this tinge the 
better. I am therefore incline I to think (bat iron in 
tbo soil is almnst necessary for the full development 
of 'the p’ant. If under the beforementioiiod soil thore 
bo a rubble of iron-at 'ue at 4 or 5 feet from the 
surface (a very common formation in Ringapore), 
forming a natural draiiiagc, the Plinter has obtained 
all that he can desire in the ground, and needs only 
patience and perseverance to secure succees. The 
form of the ground ought t ) be undulating, to per- 
mit the runnii'g off of aU suporflurm.s water, as there 
is no one thing mure injurious to the pUnt than 
water, lodging around its roots, although in order 
to thrive well it requires an nti]nu>pliere of the most 
humid sort and rain almost daily. Besides the form 
of tho ground, si(u\tiou is highly doFirablo particularly 
as rOijards ezpomre. A Kpot stlcctcd for a nutmeg 
plauhition, rannot be too woll shelterod, sa high winds 
are must destructive to the tree, iudi^pendently of 
the loss oocai-toncd by the blowing off cf Iruitiud 
flower. 
At pre-ent there is ahuudiint choice of land in 
Siugap >re, the greater purt'ou of the Island being as 
yt t unonltivated. aud much niisweriog to the above 
de^oriplioo. The land can be purclmseu from Ouvern- 
meut at the ra'e of from 5 to 10 Unpees poracru 
in perpetuity. 1 would advise the man who wishes 
to inetitute a plautition to aeloofc the virgin forest, 
and of all things let him avoid de-iertod Gambier 
piaulatioua the soil of which is c<inip!etelv exhausted, 
the Cbin'‘8o taking good care never t > leave a spot 
until they have laktm a'l they cnii out of it. A 
cleared f-pot has j^reat aMraetion for tho inexporkuced, 
ami it is **ot ea'y to convince a man tlnit it is lef48 
exponrivo to altack the primitive forest, than to 
att€mipl to clear hu old (iuuibier plantation overrun 
with the Ld’HUg grass; but the cutli ig down 
and borning of largo forest treen is far lo*>8 cxpetisivo 
than the extirpa'ion of the IdUlng, an I as the (Uiincae 
leave nil the stumps of the Urge trees in tlio ground, 
if is also more difficult to remove them in this state, 
than when you have the powerful lever of tlio trunk 
to aid you iu tearing up iheir roots, setting usiiio 
the paramount a lvantnge that iu llio one case yon 
po«sea<i a fresh and fertile s >il, iu the other an t ffete 
and barren one, fur if thore bo any o le pl nl more 
than auotlier c»pibio of impoverishing hud wo^ring 
out latul, it i'* the Gantbi-r plant '* 
{To be continued.) 
A Biq CaCaoLraf. — A correspondent writes : — "Tho 
leaf I send by today’s poat is off an experimental 
tree round tho bungalow, 1 nieasuto it 23 in. by 
7 in. What do you think of it as a specimen? 
The tree is about five years old, healthy and in bear- 
ing under slight shade." The loaf is oortsiuly a 
grand specimen, but the cacao trees arc distin- 
guished (or largo leaves. 
* Any observaut viBitor to Singapore will notice ibis. 
Deserted tobacco tracts in Java alone arc more 
oxhattatod.>-Bp. L, H, 
