CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION 



Rated in* 



' ir-.'-ry. 



SolL 



i 'r ).'' ; ,[ fr> ::4 

 \Vi:i!s. 



Layering. 

 Temporary 



Necessary. 



EUGENIA 



CARYOPHYLLATA 



Cultivation 



rieh mould about 12 inches apart, and the fresher the better, since the 

 seed when dried soon loses its vitality. They germinate within five 

 and when 4 feet high are transplanted from the nursery into 

 their final positions, 20 to 30 feet apart. The soil must be porous, well- 

 drained, and consist of mould with a fair proportion of sand. The plants 

 will not thrive on elay nor pure sand, and marshy land is fatal. Even in 

 the Malaya the dove tree does not luxuriate alike on all tin- loc.ilit i.-s on 

 which grown, and seems to prefer a soil formed from volcanic rock (Craw- Voionio Sou. 

 fun I. I.e. 101). In Pemba the soil most suited is a dark loam, having 

 underneath a layer of dusky yellow earth intermixed with gravel, also a 

 yellowish or reddish stiff clay (Kew Bull., 1893, 17-20). Although indi- 

 genous to islands it does not succeed well when exposed to the direct sea- 

 liree/.cs. It prefers confined valleys, though dense overhead shade is 

 highly injurious. Protection from high winds is essential, and a tree 

 hede, along the windward side of the plantation is very desirable. But 

 in place of seed the plant may be raised by layering. Young branches 

 laid across the ground take root in about six weeks. The young 

 plants should be transplanted at the beginning of the rains. Shade is 

 iccessary for the first two or three years, and watering occasionally is 

 "vantageous during exceptionally dry weather, both before and after 

 transplanting. By the end of the third year the shade should be removed, 

 nd by the sixth the plants will have come into bearing and be in full crop 

 by the twelfth. By 20 to 25 years they are usually too old to be profitable, Duration, 

 though they may yield up to 150 years. It is accordingly customary to 

 snovate certain portions of the estate every 8 years. In the Moluccas the 

 p ees are topped at 8 or 9 feet, so as to secure low plants easy of being 

 icked. Each tree should give about 6 to 7 Ib. of dry cloves. The best Yield - 

 urse is to hand-pick the cmsters of buds, but occasionally they are beaten 

 off the trees and caught on cloths spread below, or the ground is swept 

 clean, so as to allow of the cloves being picked up without being injured. 

 Every third or sixth year a heavy crop is obtained, and now and again 

 (especially if over -cropped or injured) the trees bear next to no flowers. 



In the spice islands the cloves are sometimes cured by being smoked over Curing, 

 a shallow wood fire, until they assume a deep brown colour, when the further 

 rying is accomplished by the sun. Occasionally the buds are scalded in 

 ot water before being dried. But if bright sunny days prevail artificial sun-drying 

 eat may be dispensed with and the buds sun-dried from first to last. The 

 rop loses about 60 per cent, in drying. 



Nicholls (Textbook Trop. Agri , 1892, 184-9) gives useful particulars 



f clove cultivation. A most interesting and instructive account of the 



reduction, manufacture and trade in this spice was also written by Mr. 



J. C. Sawer in The Produce World (May 1896). Mr. R. N. Lyne of Dunga, 



Zanzibar, published a valuable report on the plantations of that island, 



now by far the most important single country of production. [Cf. Trop. 



Ai/riat., July 1901, 11-2 ; Der Tropenpflanzer ; Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust. ; 



Pharmaceut. Journ. ; Chem. and Drugg. ; Dipl. and Cons. Repts. ; etc.] 



Uses. It is needless to say that the clove, though not held in such 

 igh esteem as in former times, is still a spice of considerable com- 

 mercial importance. OIL OF CLOVES will be found dealt with in great 

 etail by Gildemeister and Hoffmann (Volatile Oils, 1900, 512-8). It 

 ould appear that it was first distilled in the 15th century. The cloves 

 of Pemba are those chiefly used for this purpose. Those of Amboyna and 



529 34 



Useful 

 Publication*. 



Oil. 



