SECTION III.

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.

When transplanted, the trees were placed at sixteen feet apart from

each other. They grew very luxuriantly, and at the end of fifteen

months after their removal, attained the height of from three to four

feet. The ground wherein they were planted had been a coffee

plantation during forty years. The coffee trees had decayed, and an

attempt had been made to replace them; but they refused to grow;

whereas the clove plants flourished as if on congenial soil, and a

crop was gathered on some of them when they were not more than six

years old, which period is two or three years earlier than the usual

time for gathering.

The cloves sent from St. Vincent to England in 1800, were obtained

from trees eight feet high, having a stem only two inches in diameter.

Trial was made in that island of the relative growth of the plant on

different soils; it grew sickly on land which was not manured, but on

land which had received this preparation it flourished.

In Singapore, about ten years ago, there were then about 15,000 clove

trees planted out, a few of which only had come in bearing. If these

plantations had proved equally productive with those of the sister

settlement of Pinang, it would have been able to export 60,000 lbs. of

cloves, its own produce; but this expectation, it will be seen, has

not been realised. In the season of 1841-42, there was 1000 piculs of

cloves shipped from Pinang, but none were exported in the two previous

years.

The quantity of land under cultivation with cloves there, in 1843, was

463 orlongs in Prince of Wales Island, and 517 in Province Wellesley.

The number of trees planted out in the former island was 72,779; in

the latter province 7,639. There were in the island 25,161 plants in

nursery.

The trees in bearing were--In Prince of Wales Island, 28,739; not

bearing, 44,040; produce in 1843, 87 piculs, 50 catties; gross value,

3,399 dollars; estimated produce of cloves for 1844, 469 piculs. In

Province Wellesley--Trees in bearing, 1,073; not bearing, 6,566;

produce in 1843, 1 picul, 13 catties; gross value 45 dollars.

The export of cloves from Pinang was, in 1849, 24,000 lbs.; in 1850,

52,400; in 1851, 27,866; in 1852, 45,087.

From tabular statements drawn up in 1844, by Mr. F.S. Brown, Chairman

of the Pinang Chamber of Commerce, it appears that there were, in

1843, in that island and Province Wellesley adjoining, 96 clove

plantations, containing 80,418 clove trees; besides many young trees

in nurseries ready to be planted out. The produce of cloves there, in

1842, was 11,813 lbs., and this was a very short crop, it having that

year proved a complete failure; the average crop for some years

previous had been 46,666 lbs. Pinang only began to export this spice

in 1832. Of the clove trees in Pinang there were then only 29,812 in

bearing, leaving 75,767 in that settlement alone to come to maturity;

estimated to yield about 300,000 lbs.

No success has attended repeated trials of cloves in Singapore. Until

the trees reach the age of bearing, they grow and look extremely well;

but any expectation of a crop that may have been raised by their

hitherto fine condition, ends in disappointment, for just then the

trees assume the appearance of sudden blight, as if

lightning-stricken, and then die. 125 clove plants and 350 seedlings

were sent to Singapore from Bencoolen, by Sir T. Raffles, in the close

of 1819; but although every care was paid them--while the nutmegs

which accompanied them throve amazingly well--little or no progress

has been made with clove culture. Two or three hundred-weight were

shipped in 1845, but since then hardly any mention is made of the

spice.

In a petition presented by the spice planters of Pinang and Province

Wellesley, to the authorities at home, in 1844, praying that the duty

on British Colonial nutmegs, mace, and cloves might be reduced to 1s.

9d., 1s. 3d., and 3d. respectively, on importation into England, in

order to compete with foreign produce, it was stated that a few years

hence Prince of Wales Island might be expected to produce 600,000 lbs.

of nutmegs, 200,000 lbs. of mace, and 300,000 lbs. of cloves; whilst

Singapore, if equally successful in the culture of the same, would

yield yearly 137,000 lbs. of nutmegs, 45,000 lbs. of mace, and 60,000

lbs. of cloves. In short, the planters needed only encouragement to

produce in the course of a few years a full supply of those valuable

spices for the whole consumption of Great Britain.

Dr. Ruschenberger, who visited Zanzibar in 1835, thus speaks of the

clove plantations there:--"As far as the eye could reach over a

beautifully undulated land, nothing was to be seen but clove trees of

different ages, varying in height from five to twenty feet. The form

of the tree is conical, the branches grow at nearly right angles with

the trunk, and they begin to shoot a few inches above the ground. The

plantation contains nearly four thousand trees, and each tree yields

on an average six pounds of cloves a year; they are carefully picked

by hand, and then dried in the shade; we saw numbers of slaves

standing on ladders gathering the spice, while others were at work

clearing the ground of dead leaves. The whole is in the finest order,

presenting a picture of industry and of admirable neatness and beauty.

They were introduced into Zanzibar in 1818, from Mauritius, and are

found to thrive so well that almost everybody in the island is now

clearing away the cocoa nut to make way for them. The clove bears in

five or six years from the seed; of course time enough has not yet

elapsed for the value and quantity of Zanzibar cloves to be generally

known; they are worth, however, in the Bombay market, about 30s. the

Surat maund of 39¼ lbs.; the price for Molucca cloves in the Eastern

market is from 28 to 30 dollars per picul of 133 lbs.; for those of

Mauritius, 20 to 24 dollars per picul."

The average annual consumption of cloves in the United Kingdom, in the

four years ending 1841, was 49,000 lbs. The largest quantity of cloves

imported during the past twenty-five years was 1,041,171 lbs., in

1847. The quantities imported and entered for home consumption in the

last five years have been as follows:--

Imports. Home consumption.

lbs. lbs.

1848 117,433 126,691

1849 274,713 133,713

1850 749,646 159,934

1851 253,439 138,132

1852 313,949 175,287

In 1848 we received 60,000 lbs. of cloves from British India.

THE NUTMEG.

_Myristica moschata_, _M. officinalis_, or _aromatica_.--This tree is

of a larger growth than the clove, attaining a height of thirty feet,

and has its leaves broader in proportion to their length; the upper

surface of these is of a bright green, the under of a greyish color.

It is a dioecious plant, having male or barren pale yellow flowers upon

one tree, and female or fertile flowers upon another. The fruit is

drupaceous, and opens by two valves when ripe, displaying the

beautiful reticulated scarlet arillus, which constitutes mace. Within

this is a hard, dark brown, and glossy shell, covering the kernel,

which is the nutmeg of the shops.

The kernels of _M. tomentosa_ are also used as aromatics, under the

name of wild or male nutmegs.

Lindley describes two other species, _M. fatua_, a native of Surinam,

with greenish white flowers, and _M. sebifera_ or _Virola sebifera_, a

native of Guiana, with yellowish green flowers.

By expression, nutmegs are made to yield a concrete oil, called

_Adeps Myristicæ_, or sometimes erroneously oil of mace. A volatile

oil is also procured by distillation. Nutmegs and mace are used

medicinally as aromatic stimulants and condiments. In large doses they

have a narcotic effect. The fleshy part of the fruit is used as a

preserve.

Dr. Oxley has given such an admirable account of the nutmeg and its

cultivation, as the result of 20 years experience in Singapore, that I

shall draw largely from his valuable paper, which is contained in the

second volume of "The Journal of the Indian Archipelago," page 641.

The nutmeg tree, like many of its class, has a strong tendency to

become monoecious, and planters in general are well pleased at this

habit, thinking they secure a double advantage by having the male and

female flowers on the same plant. This is, however, delusive, and

being against the order of nature, the produce of such trees is

invariably inferior, showing itself in the production of double nuts

and other deformities. It is best, therefore, to have only female

trees, with a due proportion of males.

The female flowers, which are merely composed of a tripid calyx and no

corolla, when produced by a tree in full vigor are perfectly

urceolate, slightly tinged with green at the base, and well filled by

the ovary, whereas the female flowers of weakly trees are entirely

yellow, imperfectly urceolate, and approach more to the staminiferous

flowers of the male.

The shape of the fruit varies considerably, being spherical, oblong,

and egg-shaped, but the nearer they approach sphericity of figure, the

more highly are they prized.

There is also a great variety in the foliage of different trees, from

elliptic, oblong and ovate, to almost purely lanceolate-shaped leaves.

This difference seems to indicate in some measure the character of the

produce; trees with large oblong leaves appearing to have the largest

and most spherical fruit, and those with small lanceolate leaves being

in general more prolific bearers, but of inferior quality.

Whilst its congener the clove has been spread over Asia, Africa, and

the West Indies, the nutmeg refuses to flourish out of the Malayan

Archipelago, except as an exotic, all attempts to introduce it largely

into other tropical countries having decidedly failed. The island of

Ternate, which is in about the same latitude as Singapore, is said to

have been the spot where it was truly indigenous, but no doubt the

tree is to be found on most of the Moluccas. At present the place of

its origin is unproductive of the spice, having been robbed of its

rich heritage by the policy of the Dutch, who at an early period

removed the plantations to the Banda isles for better surveillance,

where they still remain and flourish. But although care was formerly

taken to extirpate the tree on the Moluccas, the mace-feeding pigeons

have frustrated the machinations of man, and spread it widely through

the Archipelago of islands extending from the Moluccas to New Guinea.

Its circle of growth extends westward as far as Pinang, or Prince of

Wales Island, where, although an exotic, it has been cultivated as a

mercantile speculation with success for many years. Westward of Pinang

there are no plantations, looking at the subject in a mercantile point

of view. The tree is to be found, indeed, in Ceylon, and the West

Coast of India, but to grow it as a speculation out of its indigenous

limits, is as likely to prove successful as the cultivation of apples

and pears in Bengal.

In the Banda Isles, where the tree may be considered as indigenous, no

further attention is paid to its cultivation than setting out the

plants in parks, under the shade of large forest trees, with long

horizontal branches, called "Canari" by the natives. There it attains

a height of 50 feet and upwards, whereas from 20 to 30 feet may be

taken as a fair average of the trees in the Straits' Settlements; but

notwitstanding our pigmy proportions (adds Dr. Oxley), it does not

appear, from, all I could ever learn, that we are relatively behind

the Banda trees, either in quantity or quality of produce, and I am

strongly impressed with the idea that the island of Singapore can

compete with the Banda group on perfectly even terms. Our climate is

quite unexceptionable for the growth of the nutmeg, being neither

exposed to droughts or high winds; and although we may lose by

comparison of soils, we again gain by greater facilities of sending

our products to market, by the facility of obtaining abundant supplies

of manure, and any amount of free and cheap labor.

A nutmeg plantation, well laid out and brought up to perfection, is

one of the most pleasing and agreeable properties that can be

possessed. Yielding returns, more or less daily, throughout the year,

there is increasing interest, besides the usual stimulus to all

agriculturists of a crop time, when his produce increases to double

and quadruple the ordinary routine.

Trees having arrived at fifteen years growth, there is no incertitude

or fear of total failure of crop, only in relative amount of produce,

and this, as will be seen, is greatly in the planter's own power to

command. It is against reason to suppose that a tree in flower and

fruit will not expend itself if left to unaided nature: it must be

supplied with suitable stimuli to make good the waste, therefore he

who wants nuts must not be sparing of manure.

The first requisite for the planter is choice of location. It is true

that the nutmeg tree, aided by manure, will grow in almost any soil

where water does not lodge, but it makes a vast difference in the

degree of success, whether the soil be originally good, or poor and

improved by art. The tree does not thrive in white or sandy soils, but

prefers the deep red and friable soils formed by the decomposition of

granite rocks and tinged with iron, and the deeper the tinge the

better. I am therefore inclined to think, that iron in the soil is

almost necessary for the full development of the plant. If under the

before-mentioned soil there be a rubble of iron-stone at four or five

feet from the surface (a very common formation in Singapore), forming

a natural drainage, the planter has obtained all that he can desire

in the ground, and needs only patience and perseverance to secure

success. The form of the ground ought to be undulating, to permit the

running off of all superfluous water, as there is no one thing more

injurious to the plant than water lodging around its roots, although,

in order to thrive well, it requires an atmosphere of the most humid

sort, and rain almost daily. Besides the form of the ground, situation

is highly desirable, particularly as regards exposure. A spot selected

for a nutmeg plantation cannot be too well sheltered, as high winds

are most destructive to the tree, independently of the loss occasioned

by the blowing off of fruit and flower.

At present there is abundant choice of land in Singapore, the greater

portion of the island being as yet uncultivated, and much answering to

the above description. The land can be purchased from Government at

the rate of from 10s. to 20s. per acre in perpetuity. I would advise

the man who wishes to establish a plantation, to select the virgin

forest, and of all things let him avoid deserted gambier plantations,

the soil of which is completely exhausted, the Chinese taking good

care never to leave a spot until they have taken all they can out of

it. A cleared spot has a great attraction for the inexperienced, and

it is not easy to convince a man that it is less expensive to attack

the primitive forest, than to attempt to clear an old gambier

plantation, overrun with lalang grass; but the cutting down and

burning of large forest trees is far less expensive than the

extirpation of the lalang, and as the Chinese leave all the stumps of

the large trees in the ground, it is almost more difficult to remove

them in this state than when you have the powerful lever of the trunk

to aid you in tearing up the roots, setting aside the paramount

advantage that, in the one case you possess a fresh and fertile soil,

in the other an effete and barren one.

Forest land, or "jungle," as it is called in the East, can be cleared

for about 25 to 30 dollars (£5 to £6) per acre, by contract, but the

planter had better be careful to have every stump and root of tree

removed, ere he ventures to commence planting, or the white ants,

attracted by the dead wood, will crowd into the land, and having

consumed the food thus prepared for them, will not be slow in

attacking the young trees. Whilst the planter is thus clearing the

ground, he may advantageously at the same time be establishing

nurseries; for these the ground ought to be well trenched and mixed

with a small quantity of thoroughly decomposed manure and burned

earth, making up the earth afterwards into beds of about three feet

wide, with paths between them for the convenience of weeding and

cleaning the young plants. Of course if the planter can obtain really

good plants, the produce of well-selected seed, it will be a great

saving of time and expense to him, but unless the seed be carefully

chosen, I would prefer beginning my own nurseries, and in the

selection of seed would recommend the most perfectly ripe and

spherical nuts. Oval long nuts are to be rejected, particularly any

of a pale color at one end.

The planter having selected his seed, which ought to be put in the

ground within twenty-four hours after being gathered, setting it about

two inches deep in the beds already prepared, and at the distance of

twelve to eighteen inches apart, the whole nursery to be well shaded

both on top and sides, the earth kept moist and clear of weeds, and

well smoked by burning wet grass or weeds in it once a week, to drive

away a very small moth-like insect that is apt to infest young plants,

laying its eggs on the leaf, when they become covered with yellow

spots, and perish if not attended to speedily.

Washing the leaves with a decoction of the Tuba root is the best

remedy I know of, but where only a few plants are affected, if the

spots be numerous, I would prefer to pluck up the plant altogether,

rather than run the risk of the insect becoming more numerous, to the

total destruction of the nursery. The nuts germinate in from a month

to six weeks, and even later, and for many months after germination

the seed is attached to the young plant, and may be removed apparently

as sound as when planted, to the astonishment of the unlearned, who

are not aware of the great disproportion in size between the ovule and

albumen, the former of which is alone necessary to form the plant. The

plant may be kept in nursery with advantage for nearly two years.

Should they grow rapidly, and the interspaces become too small for

them, every second plant had better be removed to a fresh nursery; and

set out at a distance of a couple of feet from each other. When

transplanted, either in this way or for their ultimate position in the

plantation, care should be taken to remove them with a good ball of

earth, secured by the skin of the plantain, which prevents the ball of

earth falling to pieces. The nurseries being established, the ground

cleared and ready, the next proceeding is to lay out and dig holes

about 26 or 30 feet apart, and as the quincunx order has so many

advantages, it is the form I would recommend for adoption. The holes

should be at least six feet in diameter, and about four feet deep, and

when refilled the surface soil is to be used, and not that which is

taken out of the hole. Each hole should be filled up about one foot

higher than the surrounding ground, to allow for the settling of the

soil and the sinking of the tree, which, planted at this height, will

in a few years be found below the level. Over each hole thus filled

up, a shed, made of Attap leaves or other shelter, closed on two

sides, east and west, and proportioned to the size of the plant, is to

be erected. It is not a bad plan to leave an open space in the centre

of the top of each shed, about twelve inches wide, by which the young

plant can obtain the benefit of the dew and gentle rains, which more

than compensates for the few rays of sun that can only fall upon it

whilst that body is vertical. After the sheds have been completed,

each hole should have added to it a couple of baskets of well

decomposed manure, and an equal quantity of burned earth, when all is

ready for the reception of the plant, which, having been set out, if

the weather be dry will require watering for ten days or a fortnight

after, in fact until it takes the soil.

The planter having set out all his trees must not deem his labors

completed, they are only commencing. To arrive thus far is simple and

easy, but to patiently watch and tend the trees for ten years after,

requires all the enthusiasm already mentioned. About three months

after planting out, the young trees will receive great benefit if a

small quantity of liquid fish manure be given them. In the first six

years they ought to be trenched round three times, enlarging the

circle each time, the trenches being dug close to the extremities of

the roots, which generally correspond to the ends of the branches, and

each new trench commencing where the old one terminated. They must of

course greatly increase in size as the circle extends, requiring a

proportionate quantity of manure, but the depth ought never to be less

than two feet.

The object of trenching is to loosen the soil and permit the roots to

spread, otherwise the tree spindles instead of becoming broad and

umbrageous. Manure is beyond all other considerations the most

important to the welfare of the estate; it is that which gives

quantity and quality of produce, and without it a plantation cannot be

carried on. The want of it must limit the cultivation in the Straits'

Settlements, and will arrest many a planter, who, having got his

plantation to look well up to the eighth year with very little manure,

thinks he can go on in the same manner. The nutmeg tree likes well all

sorts of manures, but that which is best suited for it seems to be

well-rotted stable and cow-yard manure, mixed with vegetable matter,

and when the tree is in bearing the outer covering of the nut itself

is about one of the very best things to be thrown into the dung-pit.

Dead animals buried not too near the roots, also blood, fish, and oil

cakes are beneficial. Guano is of no use.

But although manuring is the chief element in successful cultivation,

there are many other matters for the planter to attend to during the

period that the trees are growing. All obnoxious grasses must be

carefully kept out of the plantation, at least from between the trees,

and the harmless grasses rather encouraged, as they keep the surface

cool. The trunk of the tree ought to be carefully washed with soap and

water once a year to keep it clear of moss; this has been ridiculed as

a work of supererogation, but let those who think so omit the

operation.

Parasitical plants of the genus Loranthus are very apt to attach

themselves to the branches, and if not removed do great injury.

The insect enemies of the tree are not very numerous, but it has a

few, white ants among the number. They seldom attack a vigorous plant;

it is upon the first symptoms of weakness or decay that they commence

their operations. Their nests may be dislodged from the roots of the

plant by a dose of solution of pig dung, to which they have a great

aversion.

There are several species of insects which lay their eggs on the

leaves, and unless carefully watched and removed, they commit great

havoc amongst the trees. For this purpose it is necessary to wash the

leaves with a decoction of Tuba root, and syringe them by means of a

bamboo with lime and water, of the consistence of whitewash; this

adheres to the leaves, and will remain even after several heavy

showers.

Another nuisance is the nest of the large red ant; these collect and

glue the leaves together, forming a cavity for the deposition of their

_larvæ_. The best mode of destroying them is to hang a portion of some

animal substance, such as the entrails of a fowl, fish, &c., to the

end of a pole, thrust through and protruding from the branches; the

ants will run along the pole and collect in immense quantities around

the bait, when, by a lighted faggot, they can be burned by thousands.

This repeated once or twice a day for a week or so, will soon rid the

tree of the invaders.

The number of men to be kept on an estate to preserve it in first-rate

order after it has come into bearing, must depend of course upon the

size of the plantation, but in general one man for every one hundred

trees will be found sufficient, provided there be some four or five

thousand trees. On a small scale the proportion must be greater.

The nutmeg planter is under the necessity of keeping up nurseries

throughout the whole of his operations for the replacement of bad

plants and redundant males. Of the latter ten per cent. seems to be

about the best proportion to keep, but I would have completely

dioecious trees. No person can boast to get a plantation completely

filled up and in perfect order much sooner than fifteen years. Of the

first batch planted, not more than one-half will turn out perfect

females, for I do not take into account monoecious trees, which I have

already condemned. The tree shows flower about the seventh year, but

the longer it is before doing so, the better and stronger will it be.

I cannot refrain from a smile when a sanguine planter informs me with

exultation that he has obtained a nut from a tree only three or four

years planted out; so much the worse for his chance of success, too

great precocity being incompatible with strength and longevity.

The best trees do not show flower before the ninth year, and one such

is worth a score of the others. This will be evident when it is stated

that I have seen several trees yield more than 10,000 nuts each in one

year, whereas I do not believe that there is a plantation in the

Straits' that averages 1,000 from every tree. This very great

disparity of bearing shows plainly that the cultivation of the plant

is not yet thoroughly understood, or greater uniformity would prevail,

and I think it clearly enough points out that a higher degree of

cultivation would meet its reward.

The tree has not been introduced into the Straits' sufficiently long

to determine its longevity, but those introduced and planted in the

beginning of the present century, as yet show no symptoms of decay.

The experiment of grafting the trees, which at first view presents so

many advantages, both in securing the finest quality of nut and the

certainty of the sex, has still to be tried in this cultivation. Some

three years ago (continues Dr. Oxley), I succeeded in grafting several

plants by approach; these are not sufficiently old for me to decide

whether it be desirable or not, for although the plants are looking

well and growing, they as yet have thrown out their branches in a

straggling irregular manner, having no leaders, and consequently they

cannot extend their branches in the regular verticles necessary for

the perfect formation of the tree, without which they must ever be

small and stunted, and consequently incapable of yielding any quantity

of produce. The grafts have succeeded so far as stock and scion

becoming one, and in time a perpendicular shoot from the wood may

appear. If after that it should increase in size and strength, so as

to form a tree of full dimensions, the advantage gained would be worth

any trouble, the quality of some nuts being so far above that of

others, it would make a difference beyond present calculation; in

short, 1,000 such picked trees at the present prices would yield

something equivalent to £4,000 a year, for £4 per tree would be a low

estimate for such plants. If this ever does occur, it will change the

aspect of cultivation altogether, and I see no good reason why it

should not, except that those possessing trees of the quality alluded

to, would not very willingly permit others to graft from them, so it

is only the already successful planter who can try the experiment

properly.

An acre of land contains on an average 92 trees, and it is calculated

an outlay of 300 dollars is required upon every acre to bring the tree

to maturity; but as not more than one-half of the trees generally turn

out females, and as many others are destroyed by accident and diseases

to which this plant is very liable, it makes the cost of each tree, by

the time it yields fruit, about eight dollars. The nutmeg tree begins

to bear when about eight years old, but it gives no return for several

years longer; and therefore to the expense of cultivation must be

added the interest of the capital sunk. The plant being indigenous in

the Moluccas, the expense of cultivation there is greatly less, and

this consequently forms a strong ground of claim to the British

planter for protective duties to their spices from the British

Government.

The planter having his tree arrived at the agreeable point of

producing, has but slight trouble in preparing his produce for market.

As the fruit is brought in by the gatherers, the mace is carefully

removed, pressed together and flattened on a board, exposed to the sun

for three or four days, it is then dry enough to be put by in the

spice-house until required for exportation, when it is to be screwed

into boxes, and becomes the mace of commerce. The average proportion

of mace yielded in Singapore is one pound for every 433 nuts.

The nutmeg itself requires more care in its curing, it being necessary

to have it well and carefully dried ere the outer black shell be

broken. For this purpose the usual practice is to subject it for a

couple of months to the smoke of slow fires kept up underneath, whilst

the nuts are spread on a grating about eight or ten feet above. The

model of a perfect drying-house is easily to be obtained. Care should

be taken not to dry the nuts by too great a heat, as they shrivel and

lose their full and marketable appearance. It is therefore desirable

to keep the nuts, when first collected, for eight or ten days out of

the drying-house, exposing them at first for an hour or so to the

morning sun, and increasing the exposure daily until they shake in the

shell. The nuts ought never to be cracked until required for

exportation, or they will be attacked and destroyed by a small

weasel-like insect, the larvæ of which is deposited in the ovule, and,

becoming the perfect insect, eats its way out, leaving the nut bored

through and through, and worth less as a marketable commodity. Liming

the nuts prevents this to a certain extent, but limed nuts are not

those best liked in the English market, whereas they are preferred in

that state in the United States. When the nuts are to be limed, it is

simply necessary to have them well rubbed over between the hands with

powdered lime. By the Dutch mode of preparation, they are steeped in a

mixture of lime and water for several weeks. This no doubt will

preserve them, but it must also have a prejudicial effect on the

flavor of the spice.

After the nuts are thoroughly dried, which requires from six weeks to

two months smoking, they cannot be too soon sent to market. But it is

otherwise with the mace; that commodity, when fresh, not being in

esteem in the London market, seeing that they desire it of a golden

color, which it only assumes after a few months, whereas at first when

fresh it is blood red; now red blades are looked upon with suspicion,

and are highly injurious to the sale of the article.

This is one of those peculiar prejudices of John Bull, which somewhat

impugns his wisdom; but it must be attended to, as John is very ready

to pay for his caprice; therefore those who provide for him have no

right to complain, although they may smile.

The nutmeg tree was sent from Bencoolen to Singapore, the latter end

of 1819, so that thirty-four years have elapsed since its first

introduction. Sir Stamford Raffles shipped to the care of the resident

commandant, Major Farquhar, 100 nutmeg plants, 25 larger ditto, and

1,000 nutmeg seeds, which were committed to the charge of Mr. Brooks,

a European gardener, who was specially engaged by the East India

Company to look after their embryo spice plantations here. Some of

these plants were set out in rather a bad soil and locality, but

several of them are at present, and have been for the last ten years,

fine fruitful trees. 315 of the trees in the Government garden

yielded, in 1848, 190,426 nuts, or at the average of 604 for each

tree; but of these not over 50 were of the old stock, most having been

planted since 1836; so that a planter may safely calculate on having a

better average than is here set forth, provided he attends to his

cultivation, and his trees are brought up to the age of fifteen

years. If a plantation be attended to from the commencement after the

manner I have endeavoured to explain, and the trees be in a good

locality, the planter will undoubtedly obtain an average of 10 lbs. of

spice from each tree from the fifteenth year; this, at an average

price of 2s. 6d. per lb., is 25s. per annum. He can have about seventy

such trees in an acre, so that there is scarcely any better or more

remunerative cultivation when once established. But the race is a long

one, the chances of life, and a high rate of interest in the country,

make it one of no ordinary risk, and it is one that holds out no

prospect of any return in less than ten years.

A person commencing and stopping short of the bearing point, either by

death or want of funds, will suffer almost total loss, for the value

of such a property brought into a market where there are no buyers

must be purely nominal. Again, if the property has arrived at the

paying point, almost any person of common honesty can take charge of

and carry it on, for the trees after twelve years are remarkably

hardy, and bear a deal of ill treatment and neglect; not that I would

recommend any person to try the experiment. But it is some consolation

for the proprietor to know that stupidity will not ruin him, and that

even at the distance of thousands of miles he can give such

directions, as, if attended to, will keep his estate in a flourishing

and fruitful state.

The total number of nutmeg trees in Singapore in 1848 was 55,925, of

which 14,914 only were in bearing. The produce of that year was

4,085,361 nutmegs, or 33,600 lbs. in weight. The greater number of the

trees, it will be perceived, have not come into full bearing, but the

produce is increasing rapidly, and in 1849 it amounted to fully 66,670

lbs.

Among the principal growers in that island are Dr. Oxley, Mr. C.R.

Prinsep, and Mr. W. Montgomerie, who have each large plantations, with

from 2,000 to 5,000 bearing trees on them. Others, as Sir. J.

d'Almeida, Mr. Nicol, and one or two more, have planted extensively,

but have not yet got their trees to the bearing point.

A large supply of nutmeg and clove plants arrived at Pinang in 1802,

from the Molucca Islands. There were 71,266 nutmeg and 55,264 clove

plants; allowing one half of the former to have been male trees, there

would only have been 35,633 useful nutmeg plants. It is believed that

a mere fraction of these ever reached maturity, but they served to

introduce the cultivation permanently. Plants were likewise sent to

Ceylon and Cape Comorin. It does not appear that the climates of these

two localities suit the nutmeg tree, as it requires rain, or at least

a very damp climate throughout the year. The East India Company's

spice plantations in Pinang were sold in 1824, and the trees were

dispersed over the island.