The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-02-04
The Spices of Commerce.
rht NO. v. cr A'1r
NUTMEGS AND MACE.

W. aromatica, Lam; -M oficindlis,
Lin; native Of the Moluccas. The
tree attairs height of 20 to 80 feet
and greatly resembles our pear tree.
The fruit, which is singularly beauti-
full, is pear shaped, about the size of
an apricot. As it ripens, the pulp,
which is nearly half an inch thick,
and OF a whitish color, opens and
displays the nutmeg in its black and
shining shell, encircled by a network
OF mace.
The tree begins TO bear when, ten
years old, and goes on improving
during the space of century. The
fruit is gathered two or three times
year. Three sorts OF nutmegs are
distinguished, namely, the male or
barren, the royal, and the queen. The
last, which are small and round, are
preferred to the others, which are
large and oval.
In 1880 the duty on nutmegs was
Is, Cd. per pound on British grown,
and IS. Cd. on foreign, and the con.
sumption was 121, 260 lbs, which had
increased in 1887 to 134,115 lbs. In
1886. wild nutmegs were admitted
at Is. duty. In 1916, the rates Tor
British and foreign We're equalized TO
Is. 3D., and for wild lowered to Sd.
per pound. In lS47, distinction
was made between wild in the shell
and ''not in the SHE'LL" the former be-
ing charged Sd. and the latter sd. per
pound. The home consumption, in
1859 was 265, 7S3 lbs. The duty on
all spices has long since been abol.
ished
The nutmeg is propagated from
fresh seeds (nutmegs) and these vary
greatly in size and shape, Just as ap.
pies and pears do raised from seeds.
There can hardly be more profta-
BILE crop than the nutmeg at present
prices. The annual yield of tree
OF sixteen or eighteen years growth,
and covering about 600 square feet
Of surface, is about 10 lbs, which. at
an average of IS. per pound gives a
value OF produce per acre, per an
mum, over $40, exclusive of the
yield of mace, Id. each tree, which
at As. is equal to e10 more. The
fruit ofthe nutmeg takes nine months
to mature.
In the year 1919, the Dutch took
possession Of the Spice Islands, and
while encouraging to the utmost of
their power the culture of the nut
meg tree in few of them, ruthlessly
destroyed all the trees in the sur
rounding islands. Two years after
the occupation of the Moluccas by
the. British in 1876, the nutmeg tree
was planted at Bencoolen, in Suma-
ira, and shortly afterwards the cul-
ture was undertaken in the Straits
Settlements.
The Banda islands, where nutmeg
culture is carried on by the Dutch,
are Great Banda or Lonthoir, Neira
and Ay. The annual production
there III the fifteen years. ending in
1854, was 1921 lbs. of nutmegs.
and 1877 1892 lbs of mace. There are
about thirty-tour nutmeg gardens
there. These differ in size, the mum.
Der OF trees varying from 1000 10
$4,000, and the produce is from 5000
to $4,000 of nutmegs. These are
classed into medium, inferior, and
broken nuts, and the mace into good
and chips. AS the consumption
would seem to be increasing, and the
production does not keep pace, the
value is likely to rise, although the
price has doubled in the last two
years. In 1868, the combined ship
ments OF nutmegs and mace from
Java were 100000 lbs. In 1870, the
shipment OF nutmegs alone was 5,931
piculs; and in 1871, S,107 piculs, of
which more than a fourth went to
the United States.
The British production in the
Straights Settlements twenty years
ago exceeded the Dutch crop, the
total yield of the Bandas in 1855:
being but 4,O32 piculs OF nutmegs
and 1000 of mace.
There were, in 1860, 14,502 acres
under culture with spices Of all kinds,
namely, 1888 in Pinang, and 1,349
IN Province Wellesley. Pinang nut
megs are always shipped in the natu.
raj state, and not lined. u
In 1S4S, there were 1,190 acres un-
der nutmeg trees in Singapore, con.
tanning II 400 trees, which produced
ga cwts. OF nutmegs and 1856 cwts.
ofmace. In 1855, there were2, 500 nut.
meg trees bearing, and $4,000 young
-. L. q