Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-11-14
NUTMECS.
.,.,.,-e and How They Are Raised and Pre-
pared for Market.


90 the Grocers Association of
I'm recently by w. ID. Bennett of
IN, York. from which we condense
he following interesting particulars
concerning the nutmeg.
Xrtmegs grow on small trees re-
milling pear trees, cut down to about
s,,.ntv Feet in height The flowers are
w. much like those of the lily Of the
,.,Iiay. they are pale yellow and very
s-,rront. The leaves stand alternate
l.. IN short foot-stalks; are oblong,
-;,;ntod entire bright green, and some
iIrbat GLOSSY on their upper surface,
,,Eitish beneath. and of an aromatic
.,.te The fruit, which appears on
,Lo tree mingled with the flowers, is
,,,nd ar oval, of the size of a small
nesch. smooth, at first pale green, but
FOLLOW when ripe, and marked with a
LONGITUDINAL furrow. The external
c,yprino. which is ut first thick and
9e.by and abounds in an austere as
trinGent. afterward becomes dry and
leat6erv. and, separating into two
rolye, from the apex, discloseS scar
1ar nct-Gke membrane, commonly called
mace closely investing thin brown
shining shell. which contains the kernel
~ nutmeg. The nutmeg tree is ma
tive of the Moluccas and other neigh
borinr Islands. and abounds especially
in flat small cluster distinguished by
tbe name of Banda. whence the chief
s.pi,lir. of nutmegs were long derived.
But the plant is now cultivated in
Sumatra Java, Singapore, Penang,
Ceylon. and other parts of the East
Indies and has been introduced into
tbe isles of France, Bourbon, CAYENNE,
and several of the West India islands.
4 fine tree in Jamaica has over 1000
.nutmeg- on it yearly. The tree begins
10 bear when ten years old, and goes
on improving for 100 years. The fruit
is Gathered two or three times year.
Three sorts of nutmegs are distin-
ylishcd. namely. the male or barren,
heroyal, and the queen, the last of
which is small and round. The nut
MEG is popagated from fresh seeds
uutmeg) and these vary in size and
shape lust us apples and pears do when
raised from seeds There can hardly
be "a more profitable crop than the nut
nj present prices. The annual
via|d of a good tree of sixteen years
growth is about ten pounds covering
about 800 square feet surface, at an
average Of 20 cents per pound. gives a
value oi produce per acre per annum
of over $500 including mace. The
fruit of The nutmeg takes nine months
tomaWa and 100 pounds of nutmeg
produce ON, pound Of mace. 4 good
nutmcl should be round, large and
1eaNN. Ut drab or light brown color
and mnlE marhled i'm the cross section.
it, virtues are extracted by alcohol
and raor Eighteen ounces OF good
sound aumog viii yield four ounces Of
oil. The volatile oil is obtained by
disiIaIim with water. BY pressure
with beau u oily matter is procured
from tu. nlupls which becomes solid
ON cooling. and is commonly, through
nlTuaruu-IE called mace. Numegs
aa'e O.H nuuctWcd and boiled in
oldrtoeN,uc, thoir essential oil and
tar orl.,r UlerWud closed so careful
ly as NOT to be discoycrabe unless by
"yaeiu- the kernel. The fraud may
. '""r.l 1g their lighnos~. The
D1"h were formerly said TO heat them
Iha stove in order to deprive them of
Ms power of terminating, and thus
praFo0t the propagation of the tree.
Tho Dutch used TO have all the nutmeg
traae.H, they owned the Banda islands,
aad conquered the other traders and
DESTROYED the trees to keep the price
mp. lHgF once burned over three piles
%. au' mar1 each Of which was as large