CULTIVATION OF NUTMEGS AND CLOVES IN BENCOOLEN. 
53 
In estimating the principal constituents of this ore, the mercury 
was determined as sulphide of mercury, and as metallic mercury 
by distillation with lime. 
Composition of various Cinnabar Ores. 
Californiai 
Ahnaden, Spain. 
Mosclieilandsbf rg. 
WolfsleiD 
l 2. 
3. 
Mean. 
1. 2. 
Mean. 
1. 2. 
Mean- 
Mercury, 
69.36 70.13 
70.23 
69.90 
37.84 37.75 
37.79 
66.60 67.13 
66. m 
18.00 
Sulphur, 
11.38 11.21 
11.29 
16.22 — 
16.22 
11.01 -- 
11.43 
Insol. 
Iron, 
1.23 — 
1.23 
10 .86 
10.36 
residue 17.09 — 
17.09 
73.31 
Lime, 
1.40 — 
1.40 
Alumina, 
0.61 — 
0.61 
Magnesia, 
0.49 
0.49 
Silicic acid and 
Silicic acid, 
14.30 14.52 
14.41 
alumina, 
35.12 
99.33 
99 49 
From these numbers it is evident that, provided the specimens 
represent the average minerals worked, the ore of Calfornia con- 
tains nearly double the amount of mercury found in the Ahnaden 
or»i, and nearly fourfold that of the specimen of Wolfstein, while 
it approaches the composition of pure cinnabar, even more nearly 
than the mineral of Moschellandsberg. 
CULTIVATION OF NUTMEGS AND CLOVES IN BENCOOLEN.* 
By Dr. Lumsdaine. 
The mode of culture adopted in the different nutmeg plantations 
is nearly the same. The beds of the trees are kept free from 
grass and noxious weeds by the hoe, and the plough is occasionally 
run along the adjacent spaces for the purpose of eradicating the 
Lallang (Andropogon caricosum) which proves greatly obstruc- 
tive to the operations of agriculture. The trees are generally 
manured with cow dung and burnt earth once a y .-ar in the rainy 
season, but the preparation of suitable composts and their mode 
of application are but imperfectly understood. The pruning knife 
is too sparingly used ; very f ew of the planters lop off the lower 
*From a Paper in the Proceedings of the Agricultural Society established 
in Sumatra in 1820 ; cited from the Journ. of the Indian Archipelago and 
Eastern Asia, v. p. 78, Jan., 1851. 
5* 
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