VIII THE CLOVE 187 



the trees are topped at 8 or 9 feet for the facility of gather- Topping the 

 ing the crops, but this plan appears to decrease the yield 

 considerably. The general cultivation is the same as that The clove 



1 -1 1 r 1 1 1 1 • 1 T hardier than 



described for the nutmegs ; but the clove is a hardier tree the nutmeg. 

 than the nutmeg, and it does not, therefore, require such 

 careful attention. 



Crops. — When the flower-buds begin to grow red the reap- ^°'^ to 

 ing operations must begin. The nearest clusters may be crops, 

 taken off with the hand, but the more distant ones are to be 

 pulled off with crooked sticks, or beaten off gently with 

 bamboos. The trees must not be rudely handled, lest the 

 next year's crop be diminished by the injury to the branches. 

 The ground underneath the trees must be swept clean, or 

 cloths may be spread so as to catch the cloves as they are 

 knocked or pulled off from the branches. 



The yield varies year by year. Usually, at intervals of Returns. 

 from three to six years very heavy crops are borne by the 

 trees, but now and then a year comes when they do not bear 

 at all. On an average, it is said, five pounds of dried cloves 

 mav be expected from each tree ; but, in Dominica, trees Large crops 



, ' , , . 1 ... . in Dominica. 



have been known to give more than ten times this quantity 

 at one crop. 



In the East Indies the cloves are cured by being smoked ^io°^'"^ *^^ 

 on hurdles, covered with matting, over a slow wood fire until 

 they become of a deep brown colour, when they are further 

 dried in the sun. Sometimes the buds are scalded with hot 

 water before being smoked, but this is an unnecessary pro- 

 cess. The fires, however, may be dispensed with, for by^^^^'JJ^^" 

 simply drying the buds in the sun, they may be properly 

 cured. The crop loses 60 per cent, of its weight by dry- 

 ing. When cured, the cloves may be packed in bags or P^'^cking. 

 in barrels for export, and care must be taken that the pack- 

 ages are dry, for any dampness will cause the spice to become 

 mouldy, in which condition it will fetch little or nothing in 

 the markets. 



