VII 



CASSIA BARK 231 



eighth grown. " Buds " and the seeds required for sowing are 

 obtained from trees ten years old and upward, that are left 

 standing about 50 or 100 ft. apart amongst the trees which 

 are cut down every six years for their bark. These seed- 

 bearing trees are not cut unless there is some demand for the 

 very thick bark on their trunks, when some of the trees which 

 can be conveniently spared are sacrificed. 



The cultivation, we gather from this account, much 

 resembles that of the cinnamon already described as 

 practised in Ceylon. 



The trees are cultivated in China on hill-sides, terraced 

 for the purpose from altitudes of 300 to 1,000 ft. above 

 sea-level ; apparently it is not cultivated on the plains, 

 because what level ground there is, is required for 

 rice and vegetables. The soil selected is that bearing 

 the thickest growth of trees and ferns. 



I cannot find that any Chinese cassia has been 

 cultivated elsewhere except in China and Indo-China. 

 Mr. Ford distributed seeds of the plant he found in 

 China, and most tropical gardens received some. A 

 row of trees planted in the Singapore Botanic Gardens 

 about 1884 have now developed to a large size. They 

 were planted about 12 ft. apart, and are about 50 ft. 

 tall and 2 to 5 ft. in girth. They flower and fruit 

 every year, but the seeds are constantly carried off by 

 birds unless protected by muslin bags when ripening. 

 Some of them are growing in stiff, yellow, clay soil, 

 others in a lower, more swampy soil, rich in humus, 

 and damper, but the ones in the wettest soil are inferior, 

 and it is clear that they do not do as well where the 

 soil is damp. 



I cut one down some years ago, intending to try 

 how far it stooled well, and if it shot up strong peelable 

 shoots ; it did stool as strongly as cinnamon, and could 

 obviously be grown and treated in the same way. 



The Singapore plants are very aromatic, and the 

 leaf-stalks especially have a strong flavour. The shoots 

 are stout and slightly pubescent, but I did not find 

 them to peel very easily. 



