116 ALLSPICE 



thus prevent nutmeg-trees from being grown in other 

 parts of the world. Nevertheless, the cultivation of the 

 tree spread and they are now grown in most of the East 

 Indian Islands. 



In our own empire they are grown to a certain extent in 

 India, and Ceylon, and Malay, but the West Indies, especially 

 Grenada, have the most extensive plantations, and offer the 

 most promising conditions for future production. 



Allspice, or Pimento, or Jamaica Pepper. Just as we 

 associate Cinnamon ' Gardens ' with Ceylon, so we associate 

 Pimento ' Walks ' with Jamaica. The ' Walks ' are on the 

 slopes of the limestone mountains on the north side of the 

 island. They occur up to a height of 1,500 or 2,000 feet. 



The word Pimento is a form of Pimienta, the Spanish for 

 pepper, and when allspice was first imported into Europe it 

 was called Pimienta. Afterwards it was called Allspice, 

 because it was supposed to combine the flavours of all the 

 spices, notably of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, and juniper. 



The pimento-tree is a slender evergreen belonging to the 

 myrtle family ; it grows about 30 feet high. It has a smooth 

 greyish bark, which it sheds every year, and its long dark- 

 green leaves resemble those of the myrtle. Its flowers are 

 white with four rather thick, rounded petals and very numerous 

 stamens. The fruit is a little berry about the size of a pea ; 

 it contains two seeds. The berries are gathered while they 

 are green, because when they are ripe the inside pulp 

 becomes moist and sticky, and it is then difficult to dry them 

 properly. 



Men go up into the trees and break off the twigs containing 

 the fruit, and throw them down to women and children below, 

 who pick off the berries and spread them out in the sun to dry. 

 In a few days they change in colour from green to dark brown, 

 and then they are ready for packing. 



The harvest, called the ' breaking ', is in July and August, 

 and in good years the yield from a ' Walk ' is enormous, but the 

 crop varies very considerably ; and there are often bad years. 



