It should be observed that the Bands, method of breaking s,nd liming the nuts, which originated with the Dutch polloy of monopolizingthe culture by destroying the vitality of the exported nuts, is still widely persisted in, and even necessary to suit the prejudices of certain markets. But our planters in Bencoolen adopted a much simpler plan, and one which did not entail the spoiling of a large proportion of the nuts. It consists in exposing the nuts on frames to the gentle heat of a smoul dering fire, with proper ventilation, for 2 months, turning them every 2nd or 3rd day ; the shells aro then cracked by a wooden mallet, and the assorted nuts are rubbed over with dry lime. Even dry liming is aaid to be unnecessary, as the nuts keep well in their shells, and are thus imported into Chinese markets ; but the weight of the shells adds a third to the cost of freight, which is important in long transport.
The Banda Isles remain the chief souroe of nutmegs and mace, despite all attempts to establish tho culture elsewhere, and the figures show a continuous increase iu the exports. The shipments from Java of Banda produce in 1878-9 were :—Nutmegs: 10,475 piculs (of 1351 lb.) and 7 cases to Holland, 266 piculs to America, 302 piculs to Singapore, 78 piculs and 11 cases to Port Said, 54 piculs to France, 9 plods to England ; mace : 2832 piculs and 26 cases to Holland, 18 piculs to England, 14 piculs to Singapore, 10 piculs and 6 cases to Port Said. In 1879-80, the figures were :—Nutmegs : 5216 piculs to Holland, 61 to France, 1130 to America, 31 to Anstralia, 777 to Singapore, total, 7215 ; mace : 1902 piculs to Holland, 103 to America, 4 t,o Australia, 23 to Singapore, total, 2032. The exports from Penang in decennial periods were :-1840,598 piculs (of 1334 lb.) nutmegs, 159 of mace ; 1850,2086 of nutmegs, 656 of mace ; 1860,6421 of nutmegs, 2094 of mace. Penang nutmegs have never been limed. Singapore, in 1848, had 1190 acres under nutmegs, containing 71,400 trees, and producing 624 cwt. of nutmegs and 156 of mace. The whole export from the Straita in 1867 was 485,123 cwt. nutmegs, 50,559/., and 5416 cwt. mace, 7354/. ; the combined total in 1877 was 5323 pkuls (of 133-k lb.); in later years, the figures include all spices except pepper. The nutmeg parks of the Straits have never recovered from the disastrous effects of a blight which attacked them in 1857. The exports from Sumatra were 1952 piculs of nutmegs and 403 of mace in 1872 ; and 2237 of nutmegs and 568 of mace in 1873. The port of Padang alone shipped 284 piculs of nutmegs and 28 of mace in 1874; and a total of 2766 piculs in 1871. The French island of Re'union exported 5000 lb. of nutmegs and 900 of mace in 1864, and more in 1871, but the culture is declining. The tree succeeds well in the W. Indies, snd numbers are to be found under semi cultivation in Jamaica, Dominica, and Grenala.
Our annual imports of nutmegs amount to 400,000-800,000 lb. ; and of mace, 60,000-80,000 lb.
The London market values of nutmegs vary with their size, as follows :-78-60 to the lb., 3s. 5d.-5s. a lb.; 90-80, 2s. 10d.-3s. 7d. ; 132-95, ls. 10d.-2s. 11d. The approximate prie,e of mace is ls.-3s. a lb. for 1st quality, and ls.-1s. 8d. for 2nd and inferior.
The fixed and volatile oils of nutmegs and mace are described respectively on pp. 1396-7, 1424.
Other so-called "nutmegs " which fig-ure very rarely or not at all in commerce are as fellows :— American, Jamaican, or calabash (Monodora Myristica); Brazilian (Cryptocarya moschata); Califor nian or stinking (Torreya Myristica); Madagascar or Clove (Agathophyllum aromaticum); long, male, or wild (Myristka tomentosa and 22: fatua), sometimes imported ; Peruvian (Laurelia sempervirens), used as a spice in Peru ; plume (Atherosperma moschata); Santa Fd (ffyristica Otoba), edible.
Pepper (FE., Poivre ; GER., Pfeffer).—The name " pepper " is somewhat widely applied. The so-called " Cayenne-" or "red pepper " has been described under Capsicums (see p. 1803). Two species of Piper will be found under Drugs, viz. Cubebs (p. 809), and Matico (p. 818) ; a third falls within the range of the articles on Drugs (Kava-kava, p. 815) and Narcotics (Ava, p. 1305); and two others are dealt with under Narcotics—Betel-pepper, p. 1305. There remain for description as spices, the common black pepper, white pepper, long pepper, and Ashautee pepper.
1. Black Pepper. —The plant (Piper nigrum) affording black pepper is a perennial climbing shrub, indigenous to the forests of Travancore and Malabar, and cnitivated also in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, the Philippines, and the W. Indies. Several accounts have been published of the cultivation and harvesting of black pepper ; they differ mainly in minor details, and may be summarized as follows.
Where pepper-vines are found already growing, the forest is cleared of underwood, and sufficient trees only are left to provide shade, while permitting free ventilation, 6 ft. apart being considered a proper distance. The vines are trained up to the nearest trees, which are preferably 8-12 in. diam., for convenience in climbing when harvesting the fruit, all kinds of trees being apparently availed of indiscriminately. The root of the vine is manured with a heap of leaves, and the ahoots are trained up twice annually. The vines live about 30 years, and are then replaced by others found growing wild around, or systematically planted. The pepper obtained from spontaneous plants is said to quite equal that grown in gardens, while the care necessary is almost nominal. A very wasteful plan sometimes adopted for manuring these natural pepper-plantations consists in setting fire to the trunks of very large trees, which are thus killed, and soon devoured by insects, becoming a heap of rotten dust, which gets washed by the rain around the roots of the vines.