xi CINCHONA 227 



and the bark is lifted off in sections with a flat iron spatula, 



care being taken not to break the pieces of bark, which as a 



rule come off easily as they are full of sap. The bark is dried p r y in s the 



in the sun for three or four days ; and, when dry, it is 



usually about one third of the weight of wet bark, and each 



tree of crown bark, about four or five years old will yield at 



least about a pound of the commercial article. The red 



bark trees will yield much more. 



The bark is harvested from standing trees in four ways : 

 namely, i. Lopping, 2. Coppicing, 3. Shaving, 4. Mossing. 



Lopping -In this system the branches of the trees are 

 lopped off, and the bark removed from them in the usual 

 manner ; the trees, in fact, are pollarded. Later on fresh 

 branches shoot out, and, when they grow to a sufficient size, 

 they are again lopped off. Formerly this system was much The k.^in 



,,,,., . , . . T ! system now 



adopted, but lately it has given place to coppicing and shav- discarded. 

 ing as these two methods give large crops, and do less harm 

 to the trees. 



Coppicing. The trees, when about six years old, are cjt 

 down to the ground, and barked, and shoots are allowed to 

 grow up, which in their turn are cut down when they are 

 sufficiently stout and strong to yield a good return of bark. 

 The system is the same as that employed in harvesting cin- The system 

 namon, and it has been fully described in Chapter VIII. In 



the case of trees that are destined to be coppiced, one or two 

 suckers may be allowed to grow up from the lowest part of cinnamon. 

 the stem, in order to give a greater surface from which bark 

 may be removed. When the trees have been cut down The weaker 



.. i / i 11 shoots to be 



usually a number of shoots spring up, and the stronger ones, cut. 

 to the number of from three to five, may be allowed to grow, 

 the weaker ones being pruned out. It has been calculated 

 that about three per cent, of coppiced trees die, and these 

 must be replaced by fresh seedling plants. 



Shaving. This plan was invented by Moens, who did M. Moens. 

 much to render cinchona cultivation successful in Java. 

 It is a kind of whittling of the bark of the tree, and 



Q 2 



