CARRIBEAN NUTMEGS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 9, 24 March 1947, Page 5

CARRIBEAN NUTMEGS

OUSTING EAST INDIES TRADE GRENADA WORLD’S LEADING PRODUCER Nutmegs, like most spices are small, but they’ve earned a place in the news by making a Caribbean island the world’s leading producer. The nutmeg industry is bringing new prosperity to Grenada in the British West Indies, and is affording that island an opportunity for an experiment in co-operative monopoly. These Grenada nutmegs are real and edible, not the wooden variety which New England clipper captains were accused of carrying to barter in the China trade during sailing days. When Japanese aggression cut off normal supplies of nutmeg products from the East Indies, a somnolent industry in the Caribbean was awakened by unprecedented demand. The nearness of the United States market, and its unparalleled purchasing power in wartime, assured the .financial success of any expansion.

In the war preceding the outbreak of World War 11, the tiny Windward isle just north of Trinidad produced one-sixth of the world’s supply of the fragrant nut. During the war it achieved a production level of 40 per cent, of the world’s supply.

Even when other areas resume nutmeg trade, Grenade will probably continue to supply a “substantial proportion” of the nutmeg requirements of the United States, according to Charles H. Whitaker, United States Vice-Consul at t, St. George’s, the island’s port. Origin of Industry

Grenade got its first nutmeg tree in 1943 from a Dutch ship calling en route to Holland from the Dutch East Indies, where seeds were obtained. By 1865, Grenade nutmegs began to reach world outlet's in noticeable quantities. Latest figures, for 1945, show that 2341 tons were produced, practically all for export. The United States received its usual proportion of five sevenths, with' most of the rest going to the United Kingdom and Canada.

A principal by-product is mace, an aromatic spice made from the lace-covering of the nutmeg shell. Distribution of the 338 tons produced in 1945 generally followed the nutmeg pattern. Nutmeg oil, another by-product, is a pungent substance used 'as a stabiliser for perfumes and also for making commercial perfumes and toilet soaps. Only one still renders oil in Grenade at present. Official plans call for more still capacity so that a waste product, the shell, can be used for oil. Culled or inferior nutmegs themselves also are used as “grinders” fo£ oil.