192 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP. 



Nurseries. 



Weeding. 



Crops. 



Firing the 

 stumps. 



seedlings perish, and then it is necessary to re-sow the ground. 

 It is advisable, therefore, to raise plants in nursery beds, so 

 that the vacancies can be supplied with young growing plants. 

 The seeds germinate in from two to three weeks. 



CULTIVATION. After the plants are established in the fields 

 very little cultivation is required beyond keeping the ground 

 clear of weeds which may advantageously be buried in 

 trenches between the trees. By the sixth year the first shoots 

 can be cut, when it will usually be found that two or three of 

 them are five or six feet high, and in a condition for peeling. 

 Two years afterwards, the shoots that have grown up after 

 the first cutting may be reaped, and from four to seven of 

 them will give good bark. The stems are cut close to the 

 ground, and it is said that if a fire be kindled on the stump, 

 so as to consume it, the roots will throw out a number of 

 long straight stems which yield the very finest cinnamon. 



HARVESTING. The shoots are cut and the tops removed so 

 that they are left from three to five feet long, they are then 

 tied into bundles and carried to a shed for the preparation 

 of the bark. The leaves and side branches are cleared from 

 the stems, and then two longitudinal slits are made with a 

 sharp knife, one on each side of the shoot. When the cut- 

 ting has taken place in rainy weather the bark is loose as 

 the sap is in free circulation and it conies off easily, but it 

 Rubbing the is usually necessary to rub the sticks strongly with the handle 

 of the peeling knife, or with a piece of smooth hard wood 

 six inches long and an inch in diameter. This rubbing pro- 

 cess disengages the bark, which is then removed from each 

 side in entire slips. The pieces of bark, after an hour or 

 so, are put one within the other, collected into bundles, and 

 pressed and bound together. The bundles of bark are then 

 left for a day, or even longer, until slight fermentation sets 

 up, which loosens the epidermis or outer skin of the bark 

 and thus allows its easy removal in the following manner : 

 The inside of the bark is applied to a fixed piece of rounded 



Preparing 

 bark. 



sticks. 



Ferment- 

 ing. 



