Chapter XXXIII: Section III (1)

SPICES, AROMATIC CONDIMENTS, FRAGRANT WOODS, &c.

The various spices and condiments which form so large an item in our commercial imports, are obtained from the barks, the dried seeds, the fruit, flower-buds, and root-stocks, of different plants. The chief aromatic barks comprise the cinnamon, cassia lignea, cascarilla, and canella alba. The medicinal barks will be noticed elsewhere. The seeds and fruits include pepper, pimento, cardamoms, anise, nutmegs, chillies. The flower-buds of some furnish cloves and cassia buds; the roots supply ginger, galangale, turmeric, and ginseng. A few other useful substances, such as vanilla, the costus, or putchuk, mace, soy, and some of the odoriferous woods I have included under this section.

CINNAMON.

The true cinnamon of commerce is obtained from the inner bark of _Cinnamonum verum_, R. Brown; or _C. zeylanicum_; the _Laurus cinnamonum_, of Linnæus, a handsome looking tree, native of the East Indies. The island of Ceylon is the chief seat of its cultivation, and for a long time the Dutch depended solely for their supply of this bark for the home market on the produce of the wild cinnamon trees in the King of Kandy's territories there. At last, from the increasing demand, they resorted to the growth and more careful culture of the tree themselves. About the year 1794, the cultivation had succeeded so well that they were enabled to meet the demand for the spice from trees of their own growth, independent of any supplies from the Kandian monarch's territory.

In 1796, when this island fell into our hands, the local government endeavoured, after the former fashion of the Dutch, to restrain the production of this article of commerce within due bounds, by destroying all above a certain quantity.

General Maitland, in 1805, and his successors in the government, seeing the folly of such a ridiculous policy, very wisely fostered and promoted the extended cultivation of cinnamon plantations.

In the island of Java, and in Cochin-China, cinnamon culture has within the last few years made considerable progress.

The leaves of the cinnamon tree are more or less acuminated, from five to eight inches long, by about three broad, growing in pairs opposite each other. They have three principal ribs, which come in contact at its base, but do not unite. The leaves, when first developed, are of a bright red hue, then of a pale yellow, and lastly of a dark shining green; when mature, they emit a strong aromatic odor if broken or rubbed in the hands, and have the pungent taste of cloves. The young twigs of the true cinnamon tree are not downy, like those of the cassia bark. The plant blooms in January and February, and the seeds ripen in July and August.

The blossoms grow on slender foot-stalks, of a pale yellow color, from the axillæ of the leaves and the extremity of the branches. They are numerous clusters of small white flowers, having a brownish shade in the centre, about the same size as the lilac, which it resembles. The fruit is a drupe, about the size of a small hedge strawberry, containing one seed, and of the shape of an acorn, which when ripe is soft and of a dark purple color.

The roots are fibrous, hard, and tough, covered with an odoriferous bark; on the outside of a greyish brown, and on the inside of a reddish hue. They strike about three feet into the earth, and spread to a considerable distance. Many of them smell strongly of camphor, which is sometimes extracted from them.

The trees in their wild state will grow ordinarily to the height of 30 feet. The trunk is about three feet in circumference, and throws out a great number of large spreading horizontal branches, clothed with thick foliage. When cultivated for their bark, the trees are not permitted to rise above the height of ten feet.

The true cinnamon tree (according to Mr. Crawfurd) is not a native of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago; but Marshall, in his description and history of the tree ("Annals of Philos," vol. x.) assigns very extensive limits to its cultivation. He asserts that it is found on the Malabar coast, in Cochin-China, and Tonquin, Sumatra, the Soolo Archipelago, Borneo, Timor, the Nicobar and Philippine Islands. It has been transplanted, and grows well in the Mauritius, Bourbon and the eastern coast of Africa; in the Brazils, Guiana, in South America, and Guadaloupe, Martinique, Tobago, and Jamaica; but produces in the West a bark of very inferior quality to the Oriental.

Rumphius has remarked, that the trees which yield cinnamon, cassia, and clove bark (_Cinnamonum Culilaban_), though so much alike, are hardly ever found in the same countries.

The term clove bark has been applied to the barks of two different trees belonging to the natural order _Laurineæ_. One of these barks is frequently called "Culilaban bark." It consists of almost flat pieces, and is obtained from _Cinnamonum Culilaban_, a tree growing in Amboyna, and probably other parts of the Moluccas.

The other bark, known as clove bark, occurs in quills, which are imported from South America. Murray says it is produced by the _Myrtus carophyllata_, a tree termed by Decandolle _Syzgium carophyllæum_. It appears, however, that this is an error, for both Nees and Von Martius declare it to be the produce of _Dicypellium caryophyllatum_; and the last quoted authority states that this tree is the noblest of all the laurels found in the Brazils, where it is called "Pao Cravo." It grows at Para and Rio Negro.

Cinnamon may be propagated by seeds, plants, or layers; roots also, if carefully transplanted, will thrive in favorable localities, and yield useful shoots in twelve months. It is usually cultivated from suckers, which should not have more than three or four leaves, and require continual watering. If raised from seed, the young plants are kept in a nursery for a year or two, and then transplanted; but the trees from seeds are longer arriving at maturity. The plants are kept well earthed about the roots to retain the moisture, and coco-nut husks are placed above them, which in time form an excellent compost.

A cinnamon plantation, even in a favorable locality, seldom yields much return until eight or nine years have elapsed.

The mode of cultivation pursued by the natives differs from that followed in the plantations of the Europeans. The native system is to allow the cinnamon to grow large before cutting; the European practice is to cut it young. The result is that the native produces quantity, but coarse; the European produces quality, but less in quantity. I have found, in conversation with the native growers, that they consider the bush or tree decidedly weakened by its being kept down by constant cutting twice a year; and that their plants are stronger and better. It is not absolutely an original opinion, but I think the two systems might be judiciously blended. In cutting the cinnamon sticks for peeling, as the Europeans do it twice a year, there is always risk of losing much valuable young wood, which is destroyed in slashing into the bushes with _catties_ (bill-hooks) to take out that which is in a fit state for peeling, all of which is so much loss from the next cutting; and on this ground I should be inclined to advocate cutting once a year. There are, I know, other considerations than the mere growth of the sticks to be taken into account. Of these may be named the time when the bark peels best from the stick, which of course must depend upon age as well as season, the excited or unexcited state of the shoots, and their several effects upon the quality of the spice.

Weeding the plantations does not seem to be of so much consequence, if the shrub gets plenty of free air all round it.

Cinnamon land continues to yield abundantly crop after crop, not for years, but for scores of years. The greater portion of the late preserved plantations in Ceylon were planted by the Dutch, one hundred years ago, and the bushes are stated to be as vigorous as ever, and quite likely to go on yielding crops till the year 2000. This productiveness can only be accounted for on Liebig's principle of returning to the soil a portion of what we take from it. In the operation of peeling cinnamon, the tops and lateral branches are cut off, and left by the peelers on the ground close to the bushes. These, no doubt, furnish a considerable quantity of manure to the plants.

The general appearance of the plantation is that of a copse, with laurel leaves and stems, about the thickness of hazel; occasionally a tree may be seen which, having been allowed to grow for seed, has reached a height of forty or fifty feet, with a trunk eighteen inches in diameter. When in full bloom, the cinnamon bushes have a very beautiful appearance, the small white petals affording a most agreeable contrast with the flame-colored extremities of the upper, and the dark green of the inferior foliage, with the blossoms of various lovely parasitical plants.

The cinnamon tree flourishes only in a small portion of the island of Ceylon. It is chiefly confined to the south-west angle, formed by the sea coast, from Tangalle in the south to Chilaw on the west. It is in a climate of agreeable temperature, which is at once hot and moist; hot from its tropical position, and moist from the frequency and plentifulness of rains. The general level of the country is low, in the midst of fresh-water lakes, divided from the sea by a narrow riband of land. And the water in the soil of the cinnamon gardens is of extraordinary purity, so as to be for that reason much in request in the neighbouring city as a beverage. This exact combination of influences does not occur anywhere else in the island, at least not in the same degree.

The cultivation principally centres round Colombo, the capital and principal port.

On the hills and valleys, in the neighbourhood of Kandy, which have a temperate climate, the tree flourishes well; a rather elevated situation, with shelter, contributing to the luxuriance of the plants. The best soil for it appears to be a pure quartz sand, which in some places rests on black moss or mould. From the surface to the depth of a few inches, this sand is as fine in its nature and as pearly white in its appearance as the best table salt; but below that depth, and near the roots of the bushes, the sand is greyish.

A specimen of this soil being carefully dried by Dr. Davy, was found to consist of 98.5 silicious sand, 0.5 vegetable matter, and 1.1 water--in 100 parts. This circumstance impresses one very strongly on visiting the cinnamon gardens; it seems so strange to see a plain of pure quartz sand whitened in the sun, and yet covered over with a luxuriant growth of trees. In richer soils the aroma does not seem to develop itself in the same concentrated form.

A mixture of loam and peat, with sand, is said, however, to form a good soil in some localities. These plantations may well suggest a doubt as to the truth of the proposition so unqualifiedly laid down by some authors, that "earth destitute of organic matter cannot sustain vegetation." Certainly it is not organic matter which supports the cinnamon trees of Colombo.

_Peeling_.--The best cinnamon is obtained from the stalks or twigs, which shoot up in a cluster of eight or ten together from the roots, after the parent bush or tree has been cut down. These shoots are cut once in about three years, close to the ground. Great care is requisite, both as to the exact size and age; for if the bark is too young, it has a green taste, if too old it is rough and gritty. These shoots yield an incomparably fine cinnamon bark. When cut for peeling they are of various sizes and lengths, depending on the texture of the bark. These rods afford the hazel-like walking-sticks so much esteemed by strangers, and which, though difficult to be procured during the prevalence of the oppressive cinnamon regulations, may now be very easily obtained from proprietors of grounds producing that spice. Cinnamon is barked at two periods of the year, between April and December. Those suckers which are considered fit for cutting, are usually about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and five feet or more long. The first operation is to strip them of the outside pellicle of bark. The twigs are then ripped up lengthwise with the point of a knife, and the liber or inner bark gradually loosened, till it can be entirely taken off. While drying they are cut up into long narrow rolls, called "quills," then stuck into one another, so as to form pipes about three or four feet long, which are afterwards made up in round bundles.

During the first day the cinnamon is suspended under shelter upon open platforms, and on the second day it is placed on wicker-work shelves, and exposed to the sun until sufficiently dry to be examined and sorted for shipment.

It is brought home in bags or bales of 80 or 90 lbs. weight, and classed before export into three sorts; first, second, and third quality. The different kinds of cinnamon bark may be thus classified, according to quality--

1. That which ranks above all others in quality, is known by the Singhalese name of _penne_ or _rasse kuroondu_, sharp sweet, or honey cinnamon.

2. _Naya kuroondu_, snake cinnamon.

3. _Kapoorn kuroondu_, camphorated cinnamon, from the very strong smell of camphor which it possesses. This variety is principally obtained from the plantations of the interior.

4. _Kahate_ or _canalle kuroondu_, astringent cinnamon. In this species the bark peels off very easily, and smells agreeably when fresh, but it has a bitter taste.

5. _Savel kuroondu_, mucilaginous or glutinous cinnamon. This sort acquires a very considerable degree of hardness, which the chewing of it sufficiently proves. It has otherwise little taste, and an ungrateful smell; but the color is very fine, and it is often mixed with the first and best sort; the color being much alike, excepting only that in the good sort some few yellowish spots appear towards the extremities.

6. _Dawool kuroondu_, or drum cinnamon. The wood of this tree, when grown hard, is light and tough, and the natives make some of their vessels and drums of it. The bark is of a pale color.

7. _Nika kuroondu_, wild cinnamon, whose leaf resembles that of the nicasol (_Vitex Negundo_). The bark of this tree has neither taste or smell when peeled, and is made use of by the natives only in physic, and to extract an oil from to anoint their bodies.

8. _Mal kuroondu_, flowering cinnamon, because this tree is always in blossom. The substance of the wood never becomes so solid and weighty in this as in the other named species, which are sometimes nine or ten feet in circumference. If this ever-flowering cinnamon be cut or bored, a limpid water will issue out of the wound; but it is of use only for the leaves and bark.

9. _Toupat kuroondu_, trefoil cinnamon, of which there are three varieties, which grow in the mountains and valleys of the interior about Kandy.

10. _We kuroondu_, white ant's cinnamon.

The first-named four of these are, however, alone varieties of the _Cinnamonum verum_.

Good cinnamon is known by the following properties:--It is thin and rather pliable; it ought to be about the substance of royal paper, or somewhat thicker. It admits of a considerable degree of pressure, and bends before it breaks; the fracture is then splintering. It is of a light color, approaching to yellow, bordering but little upon the brown; it possesses a sweetish taste, at the same time it is not stronger than can be borne without pain, and is not succeeded by any after-taste. The more cinnamon departs from these characteristics, the coarser and less serviceable it is esteemed; and it should be rejected if it be hard, and thick as a half-crown piece; if it be very dark colored or brown; if it be very pungent and hot on the tongue, with a taste bordering upon that of cloves, so that it cannot be suffered without pain. Particular care should be taken that it is not false-packed, or mixed with cinnamon of a common sort.

The following remarks, by Mr. Dunewille, of Malacca, as to the suitability of the Straits' Settlements for cinnamon culture, are interesting, although in some instances a repetition of previous observations:--

It appears, from experience, that the soil of Ceylon is more
favorable to the growth of cinnamon than to that of any other
aromatic plant, and I find the climate of Ceylon, if at all, differs
but in a very slight degree from that of the Straits. I therefore
conclude that the spice, if cultivated in the Straits, will prove
superior to that of Ceylon, if one may judge from the various spices
that grow here almost wild, and it would moreover yield a better
return than in Ceylon. My supposition is confirmed from having seen
the spice which was prepared last year in Pringet by the Honorable
Resident Councillor of Malacca, and which I found to be equally as
good in every respect as that grown and cultivated in the maritime
provinces in Ceylon.

A sandy soil is that which is generally selected for cinnamon, but
other soils may be chosen also, such as a mixture of sandy with red
soil, free from quartz, gravel, or rock, also red and dark brown
soils. Such land in a flat country is preferable to hilly spots,
upon which, however, cinnamon also grows, and are known by the name
of the "Kandyan Mountains." The soil that is rocky and stony under
the surface is bad, and not adapted for the cultivation of cinnamon,
as the trees would neither grow fast, nor yield a remunerative
return.

When a tract of land of the above description is selected, the whole
of the ground should be cleared, leaving a few trees for shade, to
which the laborers might return for rest and relaxation; these may
be from 50 to 60 feet apart. The trees felled should be well lopped,
burnt and cleared away, the stumps should be removed with roots,
after which they may be allowed to remain, in order to save expense
of carriage, merely by observing some degree of order in the
disposition, by forming regular rows, of which the intervening
spaces are planted with cinnamon. The ground being thus cleared,
holes may be dug at eight to ten feet apart, and of one foot square;
the distance from each plant will depend upon the nature of the
soil--that is, the poorer the soil, the nearer to each other should
the trees be planted, and _vice versa_.

When this operation is over, should the holes be intended for
cinnamon roots, or stumps, the latter must be carefully removed with
as much earth as can be carried up with them and placed in the
holes, taking care not to return the earth removed originally in
digging the holes, which are to be filled with the soil scraped from
the surface, which has been previously burnt, exposed, and formed
into manure. Should no rain have fallen after the placing of the
roots in the holes, the stumps should be well covered, and watered
morning and evening, until such time as the sprouts shoot out fresh
buds, which will be in a fortnight or so from the time they were
transplanted, when the watering may be discontinued. In a month the
new shoots will be three or four inches high; this much depends upon
the weather.

If the holes be intended for young plants or seedlings, the plants
must be removed with boles of earth from the nurseries, and placed
in the holes, taking the same care as with the stumps, both in
watering and covering, in the event of its being dry weather. When
the seedlings take root, the coverings should not be removed until
the plants throw out a new pair of leaves from the buds, which is a
sign of their having taken root.

When a plantation is formed of old stumps, all the branches should
be cut down within six inches from the ground; this should be done
with one stroke of a sharp instrument, in order to avoid the
splitting of the stem. From these stumps cinnamon may be cut and
peeled within eighteen months from the time of transplanting. Often
this is done after the lapse of twelve months from the time of
transplanting.

From seedlings one cannot expect to gather a crop before two or
three years from the time the plants were transplanted, when there
will be but one or a single tree, which, when cut down as already
shown, four or six inches to the ground, ought to be covered with
fresh earth gathered from the space between the rows, and formed in
a heap round the plant. The next crop will be three or four times as
much as the first, from the number of sprouts the stem will throw
out, and so on every year, the crop increasing according to the
number of sprouts each stem will throw out yearly from the cuttings.
In the course of seven or eight years, the space left between the
rows will only admit the peelers and others to go round the bushes,
weed, clear and remove cuttings, as the branches from each bush will
almost touch each other at their ends.

It is essentially necessary to take every care not to allow any
creepers or other weeds to grow, the former interfere with the
growth of the bushes by entangling, because it not only takes out so
much of the support feeding the cinnamon trees, but interferes with
the peelers during the cutting season, and prevents the branches
growing up straight with a free circulation of air. The plantation
ought to be kept clean and free from weeds; the cinnamon requires no
manuring, but when the plantation is weeding the bushes should be
covered with the surface soil and raising the ground round the bush
by making a heap of the earth, which answers well in lieu of manure.
This operation must be attended to as soon as the cinnamon sticks
are removed for peeling. The plantation requires weeding three or
four times a year during the first two or three years, then twice a
year will answer the purpose; as by that time the trees will form
into bushes and destroy the seeds of the weeds on the ground.

The forming of a nursery is necessary, for which a space of ground,
say an acre, should be selected in a rich bit of soil free from
stones. Clear the whole brushwood, only leaving the large trees for
shade, remove all stones, stumps, and roots, dig the place well six
or eight inches deep, then form into long beds of three or four feet
wide, put the seeds down nine or twelve inches apart, cover them
eight or twelve inches above the ground by a platform, and water
them every other day until the seeds grow up and give one pair of
leaves, then leave off watering (unless great dry weather prevail,
then it ought to be continued) but not uncover until the plants grow
up six or eight inches high, and can bear the sun; these seedlings
will be ready for transplanting after three months from the time
they were sown.

The forming of nurseries is done at the close of the year, before
December. When this is done first, the party commences clearing and
preparing the land during the dry season, which is from the
beginning of December up to the end of March following. April will
set in with heavy rain (it is generally so in Ceylon), and it will
continue wet weather till the end of August, very often till
September and October, and you have the benefit of four or five
months rain.

The cinnamon seeds are to be gathered when they are fully ripe, they
must be heaped up in a shady place, to have the outside red pulp
rotted, when it turns quite black, then have the seeds trampled or
otherwise freed from the decomposed pulp, without injuring the
seeds, and well washed in water (just as is done to cherry coffee,
before they are made into parchment in the whole shell). Finally,
have the seeds[48] well dried in the air without exposing them to
the sun, and then put them in on the ground prepared for their
reception. In washing the seeds, those that float on the surface
should be rejected.

There are five different sorts of cinnamon, viz.:--

1st is called Panny Meers Carundoo.
2nd Tittha " "
3rd Kahatte " "
4th Wallee " "
5th Savell " "

Of these, the first kind is the best of all, the 2nd and 3rd,
although inferior, are peeled likewise, the 4th and 5th are
spurious.

The distinction in the cinnamon can be known both by taste, the
shape of the leaves on the tree, and an experienced "Challya" man
will judge the cinnamon by first sight.

The quality of the bark depends upon its situation in the branch,
that peeled from the middle of the bush or branch being the _most
superior_, and classed as 1st sort, that taken from the upper end is
the 2nd quality, while the bark removed from the base of the branch,
or the thickest end, is the inferior, and called the 3rd sort.

From the cinnamon bark refused in the sorting store of all kinds, in
separating the first, second and third qualities and in making bales
for exportation, the refuse is collected, and by a chemical process
cinnamon oil is extracted, which sells very high, with an export
duty of 3s. or l½ rupees on each ounce, exclusive of the British
duties payable in England for importation, which is at present one
shilling and three pence per pound.[49] Of the cinnamon roots
camphor is made, which sells well both in Ceylon and other parts of
the world.

Cinnamon, as a medicine, is a powerful stimulant, but it is not much used alone. It is generally united with other tonics and stimulants, but its ordinary use is to mask the disagreeable odor and taste of other medicines. The oil of cinnamon is prepared by being grossly powdered and macerated in sea water for two days and two nights, and both are put into the still. A light oil comes over with the water, and floats on its surface; a heavy oil sinks to the bottom of the receiver, four hours before the light oil separates from the water, and whilst the heavy oil continues to be precipitated for ten, twelve, or sometimes fourteen days. The heavy oil, which separates first, is about the same color as the light oil, but sometimes the portion which separates last has a browner shade than the supernatant oil. The same water can be used advantageously in a second distillation. Professor Duncan informs us that 80 lbs. of newly-prepared cinnamon yield about 2½ ozs. of oil, which floats upon the water, and 5½ of heavy oil. The same quantity of cinnamon, if kept in store for many years, yields 2 ozs. of light oil and 5 ozs. of heavy oil.

Cinnamon oil is obtained from the fragments of bark which remain after peeling, sorting, and packing. It is distilled over with difficulty, and the process is promoted by the addition of salt water, and the use of a low still. The oil thus obtained by distillation is at first of a yellow color, but soon assumes a reddish brown hue. It has an odor intermediate between that of cinnamon and vanilla, but possesses in a high degree both the sweet burning taste and the agreeable aromatic smell of cinnamon. It is heavier than water, its specific gravity being 1.035.

The ripe fruit of this tree yields a concrete oil called cinnamon suet, which was formerly employed to make candles for the Kandian kings. An oil, called clove oil, is also distilled from the leaf, which is said to be equal in aromatic pungency to that made from the clove at the Moluccas.

The following were the quantities sold, and the average prices realised during the Dutch rule in Ceylon:--

s. d.
1690 3,750 bales sold at 4 8 all round.
1709 3,750 " 4 6 "
1710 3,500 " 4 4 "
1720 5,000 " 4 4 "
1740 4,000 " 9 3 "
1760 5,000 " 8 5 "
1780 2,500 " 12 6 "
1784 2,500 " 17 4 "

The last quotation appears to have been the highest ever obtained for cinnamon, for 17s. 8d. average would give about 22s. for the first sort. In later years we find the deliveries and prices to have been as follows:--

s. d.
1824 5,934 bales sold at 6 6 all round.
1828 3,918 " 6 0 "
1830 5,849 " 7 8 "
1842 1,018 " --- "
1845 3,245 " --- "

The comparative exports of cinnamon from Ceylon in the first six months of 1853, as compared with the same period last year, are as follows:--

1853. 1852.
lbs. lbs.
Quarter ending 5th January 99,778 93,291
" 5th April 73,815 135,248
------- -------
Total 173,593 228,539

The diminished export was caused by the prospective abolition of the export duty, which came into operation on the 1st July last. The quantity that will be sent to the English market by the close of the year (1853) will be something prodigious compared with the average consumption. From October 10, 1852, to July 22, 1853, the shipments were 406,326 lbs.

RETURN OF CINNAMON EXPORTED FROM CEYLON, SHOWING THE QUANTITY AND
VALUE.

Quantity. Value.
Year. lbs. £
1836 724,364 --
1837 558,110 --
1838 398,198 --
1839 596,592 --
1840 389,373 --
1841 317,919 24,857
1842 121,145 15,207
1843 662,704 66,270
1844 1,057,841 105,784
1845 408,211 40,821
1846 491,656 49,165
1847 447,369 44,736
1848 491,688 49,168
1849 733,782 73,378
1850 644,857 64,485
1851 500,518 50,051
1852 427,667 42,766

The question of the export duty on cinnamon has, during the last twenty years, occupied a considerable space in Ceylon correspondence and the Island journals. This duty was first imposed in 1832, on the abolition of the Grovernment monopoly, and was then fixed at the rate of 3s. per lb. on all qualities. From the 19th April, 1835, it was fixed at 3s. per lb. on the best, and 2s. on the second quality. It was reduced in January, 1837, to 2s. 6d. on the first and second sorts, and 2s. on the third; and in June, 1841, to 2s. on all qualities; in 1843, to 1s.; and in September, 1848, to 4d. per lb. Such a rate of export duty could be maintained only on an article for which there was a considerable demand, and which could not be supplied from other places, and this was for a long time the case. The circumstances are now different, and the abolition of the duty, which has so repeatedly been brought under the notice of the Treasury, has at length been determined on. The quantity of cinnamon, &c., taken for consumption in the United Kingdom, scarcely amounts to 2,800 bales per annum. The sale and consumption is nearly stationary, and cinnamon is only in demand for those finer purposes for which cassia, its competitor, cannot be used. Whilst we imported the large amount of 700,095 lbs. in 1850, only 28,347 lbs. went into consumption. The consumption has declined in the last two years to about 21,500 lbs. Cinnamon is now imported into the United Kingdom duty free.

The land under cultivation with cinnamon in Ceylon is about 13,000 acres, principally in the western and southern provinces. The number of gardens being eleven at Kaderane, seven at Ekelli, seven at Morotto, six at Marandham, and two at Willisene. Several enterprising planters have recently commenced the cultivation of this spice at Singapore and Malacca. The plants already promise well. Indeed there can be little doubt of its thriving, as the tree has been long grown in gardens and pleasure grounds in those settlements, as an ornamental plant, and has always flourished.

The Ceylon article is being supplanted in the continental markets by a cheaper one, of China and Malabar growth. The Javanese, tempted by the fatally high prices caused by the excessive duties on our Colonial spice, smuggled a quantity of seed, and with it a cinnamon cultivator, out of the island, and have since paid considerable attention to its growth. The Dutch have at present more than five millions of plants, equal to upwards of 5,000 acres, the greater part of which are in tolerably full bearing.

The cinnamon trees in Java begin to blossom in the month of March. They do not all flower at the same time, but in succession. The fruit begins to ripen in October in the same manner, so that the crop lasts from October to February. In Ceylon the blossom begins to appear in November. The seeds when plucked ought to be fully ripe, and after being separated from the outer pulpy covering, should be dried in the shade. They can be kept for two or three months in dry sand or ashes, but must not be exposed to the sun, as they would split, and thus be rendered useless.

The plants in nurseries must be well sheltered from the sun and heavy rains, but the plants are strengthened by the covers being removed at night when heavy rains are not expected to fall, and in the day time when only light rains prevail. The mode of planting out, cultivation, preparing the bark, &c., appears to be the same in Java as that practised in Ceylon. The only difference is, that while in Ceylon the cinnamon, when ready for market, is packed in "gunny" or canvass bags, in Java it is put into boxes, made of wood free from any smell or flavor which would injure the spice. The inferior cinnamon, however, is packed in straw mats.

The following is a return of the extent of cinnamon culture in Java :--

In 1840. In 1841.
Residencies in which cinnamon is cultivated 10 10
Number of plantations 48 49
" families devoted to this culture 7,901 9,688
" paid _budjans_ 294 345
Extent of ground occupied by the cultivation,
in _bahus_ of 71 decametres 1,690 1,880
--------- ---------
Cinnamon trees of which the bark can be taken 1,106,566 1,407,213
Young trees in the parks 2,478,427 2,565,774
For renewing 307,000 86,800
--------- ---------
Total 3,891,998 4,059,787
--------- ---------
Cinnamon crop, in Dutch lbs. 57,074 38,219
" refuse 23,283 82,803

The number of trees peeled in 1842 was taken at 1,824,599, and the crop reckoned at 108,905 lbs.

In the residency of Bantam, four trees suffice to produce a pound of cinnamon, whilst in the other residencies eleven trees must generally be stripped to furnish the same quantity; in 1839 one pound could scarcely be obtained from thirteen trees.

This cultivation increases each year, and the quality of the produce improves, whilst the expenses diminish. However, the Dutch Government has judged it proper not to extend it, although the soil of Java appears favorable to this culture.

From 200,000 to 300,000 lbs. of true cinnamon, not freed from its epidermis, is exported annually from Cochin-China.

JAVA CINNAMON SOLD IN HOLLAND.

lbs.
In 1835 2,200
" 1836 1,300
" 1837 1,600
" 1838 2,100
" 1839 4,700
" 1840 7,900
" 1841 23,900
" 1842 13,000
" 1843 23,000
" 1844 101,400
" 1845 134,500
" 1848 250,550

STATISTICS OF PACKAGES IN LONDON.

1842. 1843. 1844. 1845.
Imported 2,196 4,458 9,197 8,909
Exported 3,661 3,964 6,712 6,081
Duty paid 838 738 801 1,012
Stock 2,709 2,622 4,230 5,549

CASSIA BARK.

_Cinnamonum Cassia_, or _aromaticum_, the _Laurus cassia_ of Linnæus, seems to be the chief source of the "cassia lignea" of commerce. It differs from the true cinnamon tree in many particulars. Its leaves are oblong-lanceolate; they have three ribs, which coalesce into one at the base; its young twigs are downy, and its leaves have the taste of cinnamon.

Malabar cassia appears to be the produce of another species of _Cinnamonum_, probably _C. eucalyptoides_, or _Malabatrum_.

Dr. Wight, of the Madras Medical Service, in a report to the East India Company, expresses his belief that the cassia producing plants extend to nearly every species of the genus. "A set of specimens (he observes) submitted for my examination, of the trees furnishing cassia on the Malabar coast, presented no fewer than four distinct species; including among them the genuine cinnamon plant, the bark of the older trees of which, it would appear, are exported from the coast as cassia. Three or four more species are natives of Ceylon, exclusive of the cinnamon proper, all of which greatly resemble the cinnamon plant, and in the woods might easily be mistaken for it and peeled, though the produce would be inferior. Thus we have from Western India and Ceylon alone, probably not less than six plants producing cassia; add to these nearly twice as many more species of _Cinnamonum_, the produce of the more eastern states of Asia, and the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, all remarkable for their striking family likeness; all, I believe, endowed with aromatic properties, and probably the greater part, if not the whole, contributing something towards the general result, and we at once see the impossibility of awarding to any one individual species the credit of being the source whence the _Cassia lignea_ of commerce is derived; and equally the impropriety of applying to any one of them the comprehensive specific appellation of cassia, since all sorts of cinnamon-like plants, yielding bark of a quality unfit to bear the designation of cinnamon in the market, are passed off as cassia."

The cassia tree, according to Mr. Crawfurd, is found in the more northern portion of the Indian isles, as in the Philippines, Majindanao, Sumatra, Borneo, and parts of Celebes. It is also grown on the western coast of Africa. The principal seat of its culture is, however, the Malabar coast, and the provinces of Quantong and Kingse, in China.

The famous cassia of China is incomparably superior in perfume and flavor to any spice of its class. Its native place is unknown, though supposed to be the interior provinces of China. The market price is said to be £5 per lb.

The Malabar sort brought from Bombay is thicker, darker colored, and coarser than that from China, and is more subject to foul packing. A small quantity of cassia is brought from Mauritius and Brazil, and a large amount from the Philippine Islands.

Cassia bark fetches from 80s. to 105s. per cwt. in the London market, according to quality. The imports appear on the decline. In 1843 and 1844 we imported nearly two millions of pounds. The quantity imported and retained for home consumption in the past four years are shown in the following figures:--

Imported. Retained for consumption.
lbs. lbs.
1848 510,247 76,152
1849 472,693 83,500
1850 1,050,008 97,178
1851 267,582 82,467

The cheaper Indian barks, as well as the cinnamon of the East, seemed at one time to be fast driving out of the market the superior class cinnamon of Ceylon.

In 1841 Java exported 400 cwts. of cinnamon; and the quantity of cassia imported into the United Kingdom from India and the Philippine Islands, in the five years ending with 1844, was--

lbs.
1840 329,310
1841 1,261,648
1842 1,312,804
1843 2,470,502
1844 1,278,413

40,000 lbs. were received from India in 1848; and 3,795 arrobas of cassia were exported from Manila in 1847. In 1852, 2,806 cwts. of cassia were received at Singapore from China, and 1,380 cwts. exported from that settlement to the Continent, against 903 cwts. shipped in the previous year.

What the Ceylon spice-grower wants, is an extended field of operation--a larger class of consumers to take off his cinnamon, and this can only be obtained by bringing it within the means of the great mass of cassia buyers.

Look at the quantity of cinnamon exported by the Dutch in the middle of the eighteenth century. Eight or nine thousand bales a year were exported, and now, after a lapse of a hundred years, Ceylon hardly sends away half that quantity. Yet the consumption of spice must have kept pace with the increased population of countries using it, and so it has. But the difference is made up, and more than made up, by cassia from China, Java, Sumatra, Malabar Coast, &c., and though the new article is not equal to the cinnamon of Ceylon, yet the vast difference in the price obtains for it the preference. Now what the Ceylon planter wants, is to be allowed to produce a spice on equal terms, and of a superior quality to cassia, which might be done under an _ad valorem_ export duty of 5 per cent. Spice of this description of course could not afford the high cultivation bestowed on the fine qualities, neither would it be required. In fact little or no cultivation need be given it. At present anything inferior to the third sort is not worth producing, because it cannot stand the shilling export duty. But under a more enlightened system of things, with a low duty such as I suggest, myriads of bushes would spring up on those low, sandy, and at present unprofitable wastes that skirt the sea-coast of the western province, around Negombo and Chilaw.

The difference of duty would be more than made up by the diffusion of capital in planting, the employment of vast numbers of laborers, the purchase from Government of many thousand acres of now valueless flats, and all the attendant benefits arising out of the development of a new field of operation for the colonial industrial resources.[50] The cassia tree grows naturally to the height of 50 or 60 feet, with large, spreading, horizontal branches. The peelers take off the two barks together, and separating the rough outer one, which is of no value, they lay the inner bark to dry, which rolls up and becomes the _Cassia lignea_ of commerce. It resembles cinnamon in taste, smell and appearance. The best is imported from China, either direct from Canton, or through Singapore, in small tubes or quills, sometimes the thickness of the ordinary pipes of cinnamon and of the same length; but usually they are shorter and thicker, and the bark itself coarser. It is of a tolerably smooth surface and brownish color, with some cast of red, but much less so than cinnamon. The exports from China are said to be about five million pounds annually; price about 32s. per cwt. In 1850, 6,509 piculs of cassia lignea (nearly one million pounds), valued at 87,850 dollars, were shipped from the single port of Canton. Cassia bark is of a less fibrous texture, and more brittle, and it is also distinguished from cinnamon by a want of pungency, and by being of a mucilaginous or gelatinous quality.

CASSIA BUDS are the dried flower buds (perianth and ovary) of the cassia tree, and are mostly brought from China. They bear some resemblance to a clove, but are smaller, and when fresh have a rich cinnamon flavor. They should be chosen round, fresh, and free from stalk and dirt. They are used chiefly in confectionery, and have the flavor and pungency of cassia. The exports from Canton in 1844 were 21,500 lbs.; in 1850, 44,140 lbs., valued at 7,400 dollars. The average quantity of cassia buds imported into the United Kingdom, in each of the thirteen years ending with 1842, was 40,231 lbs.; the average quantity entered for home consumption in these years was 6,610 lbs., and the average annual amount of duty received was £312.

Cassia bark yields a yellow volatile oil, called oil of cassia, the finer kind of which differs but little in its properties from that of cinnamon, for which it is generally substituted; it has a specific gravity of 1071. The best is manufactured in China, where the wood, bark, leaves and oil are all in request. The cassia oil is rated at 150 dollars per picul, and the trade in this article reaches about 250,000 dollars.

CANELLA ALBA, or wild cinnamon, is a valuable and ornamental tree, growing about fifteen feet high, which is cultivated in South America and the West Indies for its pungent bark, which is shipped to this country in bales or cases, in long quills and flat pieces, something like cinnamon. Large old cuttings root readily in the sand. It is grown chiefly in the Bahama Islands, from whence we derive our supplies.

By the Caribs, the ancient natives of the West Indies, and the negroes, it was first employed as a condiment. In this country it is chiefly used as an aromatic stimulant and tonic, ranking between cinnamon and cloves. The bark possesses, however, no other quality than its hot spicy flavor and strong aromatic odor when exposed to the action of heat.

CASCARILLA BARK is obtained chiefly from the _Croton cascarilla_, a small shrub growing at St. Domingo, the Bahama Islands, and the Antilles. The chief portion comes from Eleuthera. In Hayti a pleasant kind of tea is made from the leaves. Other species of the family supply some of the bark of commerce.

From its strong and aromatic properties it has been found very efficacious in all febrile diseases, and vies with the Jesuits' bark; as a tonic it has very wholesome qualities, a pleasant and strong bitterness, and was for some time held in considerable repute among the faculty.

About twenty years ago, large shipments were made from the Bahamas. It was found, upon adulteration with hops, to reduce the cost of that article, and for the encouragement of the hop grower a prohibitory impost was laid upon it by the Home Government, consequently it became an unsaleable product.

The sea-side balsam, or sweet wood (_Croton Eleuteria_), from which some cascarilla bark is obtained, grows in the Bahama Islands and Jamaica, but almost all the bark imported comes from Nassau, New Providence. In 1840, 15,000 lbs. were imported for home consumption.

This bark produces the combined effect of an aromatic and of a moderately powerful tonic; but it does not possess any astringency. It has been employed as a substitute for cinchona. When burned it gives out a musky odor, and is often used in pastiles.

The value of this bark ranges, according to quality, from 17s. 6d. to 43 s. per cwt.

CLOVES.

The cloves of commerce are obtained from the flower buds of _Caryophyllus aromaticus (Eugenia caryophyllata_), which was originally a native of the Moluccas, but is now cultivated in several parts of the East and West Indies. They have the form of a nail, and when examined are seen to consist of the tubular calyx with a roundish projection, formed by the unopened petals. It is a very handsome tree, growing to the height of about twenty feet. The trunk is straight, and rises four or five feet before it throws out branches. The bark is smooth, thin, of a grey color, and the wood of the trunk too hard for ordinary cabinet work.

The leaves are opposite, smooth, narrow, pointed, of a rupous color above, and green on the under side. They have a very aromatic odor when bruised between the fingers. The flowers produced in branched peduncles, at the extremity of the bough, are of a delicate peach color. The elongated calyx, forming the seed vessel, first changes to yellow, and, when ripe, red, which is from October to December, and in this state it is fit to gather. If left for a few weeks longer on the trees, they expand, and become what are termed "mother cloves," fit only for seed or for candying. The ground under the tree is first swept clean, or else a mat or cloth is spread. The nearest clusters are taken off with the hand, and the more distant by the aid of crooked sticks. Great care should be taken not to injure the tree, as it would prevent future bearing.

The cloves are then prepared for shipment by smoking them on hurdles near a slow wood fire, to give them a brown color, after which they are further dried in the sun. They may then be cut off from the flower branches with the nails, and will be found to be purple colored within, and fit to be baled for the European market. In some places they are scalded in hot water before being smoked, but this is not common. The tree may be propagated either from layers or seed. Layers will root in five or six months if kept moist.

A strong dark loam, a gravelly, sandy, or clayey soil, but one not retentive of moisture, seems that best suited for its successful culture.

It does not thrive well near the sea, nor in the higher mountains, the spray of the sea and the cold being found injurious. The plants at first require the shade of other trees, such as the mango, coco-nut, &c. Although generally a hardy plant, it suffers from excessive drought. They should be planted about twenty feet apart. In its native country the tree begins to yield fruit in the sixth year, but a crop can seldom be looked for in other quarters under eight years. It is very long lived, sometimes attaining the age of 130 years.

There appears, according to Mr. Crawfurd, to be five varieties of the clove, viz.--the ordinary cultivated clove; a kind called the female clove by the natives, which has a pale stem; the kiri or loory clove; the royal clove, which is very scarce, and the wild clove. The three first are equally valuable as spices, the female clove being considered fittest for the distillation of essential oil. The wild clove, having scarcely any aromatic flavor, is valueless.

The produce which may be expected from the tree seems to be uncertain; it may, however, be averaged at five or six pounds. A clove tree, well weeded and taken care of, will produce from five to twenty pounds. On the other hand, a tree that is neglected will not give above two or three pounds. At intervals of from three to six years they usually produce one extraordinary crop, but then a year now and then intervenes, when they yield none at all; in others they will afford a double harvest.

The clove tree was originally confined to the five principal Molucca islands, and chiefly to Machean. From these it was conveyed to Amboyna, a very short time only before the arrival of the Portuguese. By them the cultivation was strictly restricted to Amboyna, every effort being made to extirpate the plant elsewhere.

It has now, however, spread to Java, Singapore, and the Straits' Settlements, Ceylon, the Mauritius and Seychelles, Bourbon, Zanzibar, Cayenne, Dominica, Martinique, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, and Trinidad.

Cloves contain a volatile oil, associated with resinous, gummy, and astringent matter, which is yielded in larger proportion than by any other plant. Neuman obtained by distillation two ounces and two drachms from sixteen ounces of cloves. On an average cloves yield from 17 to 22 per cent. of oil, including the heavy and light oils. The oil is aromatic and acrid, and has been used as a condiment and a stimulant carminative. It is also extensively used by distillers and soap makers.

It is said that the clove does not thrive well on the soil of Java, the plantations of which trial had been made not having succeeded to the extent expected, although they were directed by skilled persons from Amboyna; the places they made choice of did not differ materially as to soil and climate from those of the Moluccas.

M. Teysman, Director of the Botanical Gardens at Batavia, seems to have bestowed much attention on the subject. The exports however from the island have been considerable. In 1830, there were 803 piculs shipped; in 1835, 4,566; in 1839, 2,334; in 1843, 2,027 piculs of 133 lbs.

M. Buee, who introduced the culture of the clove in the island of Dominica, about 1789, thus describes the results of his experience, which may be useful to other experimental cultivators. He obtained a few plants from Cayenne, and raised 1,600 trees from seed, which, in a year from the first sowing, were transplanted. The seeds were sown at about six inches apart from each other, in beds; over these beds small frames were erected about three feet from the ground, and plantain leaves were spread on the top, in order to shelter the young plants from the sun. The leaves were allowed gradually to decay, and at the end of nine months the young plants, which by that time were strong, were permitted to receive the benefit of the sun; but if not protected from it when very young, they were found to droop and die.