THE FARMER AT HOME. 87 



leave the liquor, into clean new barrels fumigated with sulphur, and 

 will then keep good for a considerable length of time. 



Cider was formerly used extensively for distillation into apple 

 brandy, but is now but little used for that purpose. According to 

 Brande's analysis of fermented liquors, wines contain from 25 to 10 

 per cent, of alcohol, and cider from 10 to 5 per cent. Cider makes 

 an excellent vinegar, and large quantities are consumed for that pur- 

 pose. The best cider made in the United States is produced in New 

 Jersey, owing, probably, to the skill in manufacturing, more than to 

 any peculiar excellence of fruit or singularity of the soil or climate. 



CINNAMON. This well known spice is the bark of the Laurus 

 cinnamonum, which is cultivated both in the Spice Islands and at 

 Cayenne, though most abundantly in the former, whence almost the 

 whole of the cinnamon for the European market is brought. Captain 

 Percival has given the fullest account of this plant that has ever met 

 our eye, and the following account is substantially derived from his 

 history of Ceylon. The cinnamon gardens are within half a mile of 

 the fort of Columbo in Ceylon. They extend over a surface of more 

 than fifteen miles, which is traversed by various roads. There are 

 also plantations of the shrub at Madeira, and Point de Galle. It 

 thrives best in a loose white sand. It has a slender trunk, rises to 

 the height of from four to ten feet, innumerable branches shoot from 

 the stem, and give it the appearance of the Portugal laurel. The 

 wood is light and porous, like that of the osier. It is used as fuel. 

 Shoots spring up from the roots in immense profusion. The leaves, 

 when they first burst, have a beautiful scarlet color ; they then 

 become green, and have both the taste and smell of cloves. The 

 blossom is white, and has no smell. The fruit resembles an acorn. 



It is ripe at the end of autumn, when oil is obtained by bruising 

 and boiling it. The natives anoint themselves with oil, which is 

 skimmed off, and they also mix it with cocoa nut oil, and burn it in 

 lamps. During all audiences with the sovereign of Candy, this oil is 

 burnt. When the trees become too old, they are cut down, and their 

 places are soon occupied by young shoots, that rise from the roots in 

 vast profusion. Formerly, many of these young twigs were cut as 

 sticks, which are highly prized ; but this is now prohibited. 



The branches which are three years old are lopped off; the 

 epidermis is scraped off with a knife, having one side concave, and 

 the other convex ; the true bark is then ripped up, loosened by the 

 convex side of the knife, and separated from the wood. The smaller 

 portions are then put into the larger. They are then dried in the 

 sun. When the drying is complete, the cinnamon is packed into 

 bundles, which weigh about thirty pounds. These bundles are bound 

 with bamboo twigs. They are then marked and numbered. 



When the cinnamon is brought to Columbo, previous to its ship- 

 ment for Europe it is examined by the surgeons in the Company's 



