The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-02-11
The Spices of Commerce.
NO. VI.

III ldVOT Ill CdhoASo. JNoo hN"3 CIV
1000 plants are under propagation
in the Government Botanic Garden
for distribution. A fine nutmeg tree
there is stated to have had upwards
of 1000 unusually large fruit upon
it. The value, calculating ninety
nuts to the pound, would be "A lbs,
worth, at least, 3s., or in all &6, Is.
The Island Botanist reports as fol-
lows on the culture of the nutmeg:
"This plant, l consider, is the most
generally priced, as it is undoubtedly
the most frequently applied for of all
that are under cultivation. Notwith-
standing this, and that the plant has
been introduced into this island some
forty or fifty years, and has yielded
thousands OF fruits annually during
the greater part of that time, there
are, as nearly as I am able to judge,
not more than probably fifty bearing
trees in the whole island; and this,
too, in country where the tree
Yields fruit of the finest quality, and
in the utmost protusion. The great
majority OF the bearing trees are in
the immediate vicinity Of Bath. In
my recent tour throughout a great
part of the island 1 found that nut.
megs were unknown to cultivation,
although large tracts through which
l passed are admirably adapted for
their growth. I consider that the
cultivation of this tree deserves the
utmost encouragement, especially
among the peasantry, as ! am strongly
inclined to think that as remunera-
tive industry even coffee would find
in it very formidable rival.
The nutmeg trees at Castleton are
now beginning to bear, and about
$50 plants have been recently plant
ed, and this number will soon be
augmented. l expect that one acre
of plants will be shortly set out. I
have also made arrangements az the
Bath Garden for bedding all the
seeds obtainable there, and these will
probably amount to 5000 plants a
year, which l purpose offering for
sale at moderate rate per hundred.
This tree succeeds best in a rich,
deep, triable soil, over a gravelly
subsoil forming a natural drainage.
The form OF the ground ought to
be undulating, to assist the running
off OF all superfuous water, as there
is no one thing more injurious to the
plant than water lodging around its
roots although, in order to thrive
well, it requires an atmosphere Of the
most humid kind. This tree begins
to bear about the seventh year; and
few years after the average annual
Weld from each tree may be calculated
at from 1000 to 5000 fruit"
Nutmegs are valued a good deal
according to size, the largest being
the best; thus, those of SO to the
pound will fetch As. 3d.; while very
small, 100 to the pound, will be worth
but only half that price.
The shape OF the nutmeg varies a
good deal, being spherical, oblong
and egg shaped, but the nearer they
approach sphericity Of figure the
more highly they are priced. Those
of good quality ought to be nearly
round, and the largest and finest
weigh, on an average, about quar-.
ter of an ounce each. They should
have an agreeable flavor, but rather
bitter, and when pierced exude an
oily juice.
1t was at one time thought. for a
few years, that the culture would re-
ceive great development in French
Guiana, but at last, either from want
of proper care, or public lntatuation
giving way to complete indifference,
the nutmeg plantations were gradu.
ally given up. Notwithstanding re-
peated trials in various colonies in
the Indian Ocean, West Indies and
America, the nutmeg does not seem
to thrive well, and succeeds only in
theTocalities OF the Indian Archipel-
ago. E
In 1864; there was small export
OF 5000 lbs. OF nutmegs and 9OO lbs.
of mace from Reunion, and in 1871
the shipments were rather larger, but
the production has declined al.
together. 5Trrr ,r6l
A fraud is often practiced in dis
guising worm-eaten nuts by filling up
the holes with mastic. They are
also often first deprived OF their es-
sential oil by distillation, or sleeping
in alcohol. Nutmegs yield, when
distilled with water, volatile or
essential oil OF nutmegs, in the pro.