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CINNAMON 



on opposite sides of the stalk, and it bears a cluster of white, 

 or pale yellow, flowers, having an extremely pleasant smell, 

 like a mixture of roses and lilac. 



Its fruit is an olive-shaped berry containing a kernel ; the 

 berry itself is soft, and insipid, and dark blue in colour. It is 

 attached to its receptacle in the same way as an acorn is 

 attached to its cup. In the days when there was a king 



of Ceylon, special fragrant 

 candles were made for him 

 from fat obtained from these 

 sweet-smelling berries. 



It is the bark, however, for 

 which the tree is specially 

 cultivated. The shoots are 

 cut down, stripped of their 

 leaves, and carefully trimmed. 

 Then at distances of about 

 a foot, or a foot and a half, 

 incisions are made round the 

 stem horizontally. Next two 

 or three slits are made length- 

 ways from one ring to another, 

 and the bark is then pulled off 

 by slipping a knife under it. 



These pieces of bark are 

 bound together in bundles and 

 left for twenty-four hours, 



after which they are scraped, i.e. the outer covering is removed. 

 The bark then dries, and curls up, so that it is possible to fit the 

 smaller quills into the larger, and finally smooth sticks are 

 formed, about half an inch thick, and forty inches long, con- 

 taining a great number of dull, light-brown layers of bark as thin 

 as paper. After being once more dried, the sticks are made up 

 into bales, weighing about 60 Ib. each, and are ready for export. 

 Cinnamon, though used in medicine, is, like other spices, 

 chiefly used to flavour food, especially chocolate. 



CINNAMON PLANT 



