Thanks you, Chris, for the OK for our nutmeg postings, although I'm sure some of our list friends are getting a bit fed up with it. I'd just remind them that the ratio of Grenada to Jamaica or Grenada to Barbados posts are so small that the odd Grenada thread deserves some leeway. Please, not intended to produce negative comments. >Richard Allicock wrote >Since I have never seen a nutmeg tree, much more a grove of them...... The world "grove" does not describe a nutmeg plantation. At least when I think of a grove I think of grapes or apple trees. Perhaps, though, that name is used. Nutmegs are medium size trees dotted around cool tropical hillsides, with lots of other stuff growing around them. If you're around nutmegs you're usually elevated, cool and tropical, but not desperately humid. >How does the male trees fertilize the female trees? This is uncertain, even today. Opinion in Grenada seems to run the gamut - from wasps, moths to nothing. Theories of which insect does it or doesn't do it are in the literature, but I don't expect that is a general interest topic. >Can one identify male trees from female trees, and differentiate male and female seeds and seedlings? The declaration of sex requires 5 to 8 years of seedling growth, but is critical to production, as only female trees produce fruit. the role of the male trees is still debatable. >Does the fruit require ingestion by an animal to break-down the outer fruit part. No. Seeds drop and germinate. This is a common form of propagation. A pigeon seems to have found its way into the literature, but I'm skeptical. >Do the fruits have to fall and decompose in the shade of the parent tree, and take root and germinate in the shade, or does it have to be propagated by animals passing the seeds out of their gastro-intestinal tract elsewhere to give the seedlings a better chance for survival, (which they would not have in competing with many other seeds), or in the shade of the parents? You can let the seedlings propagate naturally, or graft or some other ways that were used after the Janet disaster. Too botanical to get into. >Is brazing by a forest fire required to burn off the remnants of fruit or part of the outer-surface of the seeds, before germination can begin? No >Do the trees have to [be] planted in valleys, on the side of hills or between other species for shade? The sides of hills seems to be the best, but I'll bet I could find a nutmeg that confounds the generally accepted wisdom. >What kind of soil is required, acidic, neutral, alkaline, clay or loam? What's called moderate clay loam, well drained but with reasonable water retention. The sides of hills is usual, but most of Grenada is the sides of hills. >What kind of irrigation is required? Nutmegs are never irrigated. There is a 1995 report on Grenada nutmegs done by the FAO. You might still be able to find it on the URL below. http://www.fao.org David

I found the nutmeg discussion interesting. As far as I know I have no relatives in Grenada, but I was there for my honeymoon a thousand years ago and saw the nutmeg trees on the way across the island from the old airport, Pearles I think. Each winter the urge to go back and visit the Carribean becomes stronger. This time we'll make it to Jamaica to see where my grandfather was born. Jim Saunders ""David Watson"" <family.watson@utoronto.ca> wrote in message news:MABBKAIOJGAMIENKJCPLKEDOCEAA.family.watson@utoronto.ca... > Thanks you, Chris, for the OK for our nutmeg postings, although I'm sure > some of our list friends are getting a bit fed up with it. > > I'd just remind them that the ratio of Grenada to Jamaica or Grenada to > Barbados posts are so small that the odd Grenada thread deserves some > leeway. Please, not intended to produce negative comments. > > >Richard Allicock wrote > > >Since I have never seen a nutmeg tree, much more a grove of them...... > > The world "grove" does not describe a nutmeg plantation. At least when I > think of a grove I think of grapes or apple trees. Perhaps, though, that > name is used. Nutmegs are medium size trees dotted around cool tropical > hillsides, with lots of other stuff growing around them. If you're around > nutmegs you're usually elevated, cool and tropical, but not desperately > humid. > > >How does the male trees fertilize the female trees? > > This is uncertain, even today. Opinion in Grenada seems to run the gamut - > from wasps, moths to nothing. Theories of which insect does it or doesn't do > it are in the literature, but I don't expect that is a general interest > topic. > > >Can one identify male trees from female trees, and differentiate male and > female seeds and seedlings? > > The declaration of sex requires 5 to 8 years of seedling growth, but is > critical to production, as only female trees produce fruit. the role of the > male trees is still debatable. > > >Does the fruit require ingestion by an animal to break-down the outer fruit > part. > > No. Seeds drop and germinate. This is a common form of propagation. A pigeon > seems to have found its way into the literature, but I'm skeptical. > > >Do the fruits have to fall and decompose in the shade of the parent tree, > and take root and germinate in the shade, or does it have to be propagated > by animals passing the seeds out of their gastro-intestinal tract elsewhere > to give the seedlings a better chance for survival, (which they would not > have in competing with many other seeds), or in the shade of the parents? > > You can let the seedlings propagate naturally, or graft or some other ways > that were used after the Janet disaster. Too botanical to get into. > > >Is brazing by a forest fire required to burn off the remnants of fruit or > part of the outer-surface of the seeds, before germination can begin? > > No > > >Do the trees have to [be] planted in valleys, on the side of hills or > between other species for shade? > > The sides of hills seems to be the best, but I'll bet I could find a nutmeg > that confounds the generally accepted wisdom. > > >What kind of soil is required, acidic, neutral, alkaline, clay or loam? > > What's called moderate clay loam, well drained but with reasonable water > retention. The sides of hills is usual, but most of Grenada is the sides of > hills. > > >What kind of irrigation is required? > > Nutmegs are never irrigated. > > There is a 1995 report on Grenada nutmegs done by the FAO. You might still > be able to find it on the URL below. > > http://www.fao.org > > David >