524 



LAUllACE^. 



heavy rahis in May and June, and again in November and DecemLcr 

 the bai'k at those seasons is easily separated from the wood, so that a 

 principal harvest takes place in the spring, and a smaller one in the 

 latter part of the year. 



The shoots having been cut off by means of a long sickle-shaped 

 hook called a catty, and stripped of their leaves, are slightly trunmed with 

 a knife, the little pieces thus removed being reserved and sold as 

 Cinnamon Chips. The bark is next cut through at distances of about 

 a foot, and slit lengthwise, when it is easily and completely removed 

 by the insertion of a peculiar knife termed a mama, the separation 

 being assisted, if necessary, by strongly rubbing with the handle. The 

 pieces of bark are now carefully put one into another, and the compound 

 sticks firmly bound together into bundles. Thus they are left for 2-1! 

 hours or more, during which a sort oV' fermentation^^ (?) goes on which 

 facilitates the subsequent removal part. This is accomplished by placing 

 each quill on a stick of wood of suitable thickness, and carefully scraping 



oif with a knife the outer and middle cortical layer. In a few hours 



tubes 



within the larger, also inserting the small pieces so as to make up 

 almost solid stick, of about 40 inches in length. The cinnamon thus 

 prepared is kept one day in the shade, and then placed on wicker trays 

 in the sun to dry. When sufficiently dry, it is made into bundles of 

 about 30 lb. each/ 



The cinnamon gardens of Ceylon were estimated in 1860-6^ to 

 occupy an area of about 14,400 acres; in the catalogue of the British 

 Colonies, Paris Exhibition, 1878, about 2 millions of acres are stated to 

 be under cultivation in the island, 2G,000 acres with cinnamon.^ 



after this operation, the peeler commences to place the smaller 



an 



The exports of cinnamon from Ceylon have been as follows: 



1871 



1872 



1875 



1,359,3271b., value £67,966. 



1,267,9531b., value £64,747. 



1,500,000 lb. 



At present the cultivation of coffee is displacing that of cinnamoD 

 the exports of the former in 1875 being 9L'8,G0G cwts. valued at 4| 

 millions sterling. Of the crop of 1872 there were 1,179,516 H)- oj 

 cinnamon shipped to the United Kingdom, 53,439 lb. to the United 



ificial 

 ft. in 



States of North America, and 10,000 It), to Hamburg. 



Besides the above-named exports of cinnamon, the o 

 statistics^ record the export of ''Cinnamon i?a?'/>;"— 8846 _ 

 1871—23,449 ft. in 1872. This name includes two distinct articles, 

 namely Cinnamon Chips, and a very thick bark derived from oia 

 stems. The Cinnamon Chips which, as explained on the previous 

 page, arc the first trimmings of the shoots, are very aromatic ; they use 

 to be considered worthless, and were thrown away. The second artici, 

 towdiich in the London drug sales the name "Cinnamon Bark 

 restricted, is in flat or slightly channelled fragments, which are as m<^ 

 as /^^ of an inch in thickness, and remind one of New Granada cindioi 



a 



we 



t 



^ Fonnerly called fanlela or farddlo, a 

 name signifying in tlic rajinance languages 

 bundU or iJacZvri/e. The ^ovA fardel, havin" 



the same meaning, is found in old English 

 "wnters. ° 



_ 2 Yet the cultivation was far more exten- - o. »,u« ^.^^ — 



sive m the earlier part of the century, as printed at Colombo. 



may judge by the statemenUhnt^ *J 



Negumbo, Colombo Barberyu. '^'-^ .;^^ .^ 

 Matura, were each from lo to ^^ 

 ch-n,mference (Tennent's Ceylon, u- ^^j, 

 =* Cylon Blue BooU for 1S71 an« 



