CLOVES. 



[Eugenia caryophyllata Tliunberg. 



DR. ALBERT SCHNEIDER, 

 Northwestern University School of Pharmacy. 



Birou — A lemon. 

 Lang-— Stuck with cloves. 



— Shakespeare, Love'^ Labor Lost, V 



CLOVES are among our favorite 

 spices, even more widely known 

 and more generally used than 

 ginger. They are the immature 

 fruit and flower-buds of a beautiful aro- 

 matic evergreen tree of the tropics. 

 This tree reaches a height of from thirty 

 to forty feet. The branches are nearly 

 horizontal, quite smooth, of a yellow- 

 ish grey coloration, decreasing grad- 

 ually in length from base to the apex 

 of the tree, thus forming a pyramid. 

 The leaves are opposite, entire, smooth, 

 and of a beautiful green color. The 

 flowers are borne upon short stalks, 

 usually three in number, which extend 

 from the apex of short branches. The 

 calyx is about half an inch long, chang- 

 ing from whitish to greenish, and 

 finally to crimson. The entire calyx 

 is rich in oil glands. The petals are 

 four in number, pink in color, and drop 

 off very readil}'. The stamens are very 

 numerous. All parts of the plant are aro- 

 matic, the immature flowers most of all. 

 The clove-tree was native in the 

 ."VToluccas, or Clove Islands, and the 

 southern Philippines. We are informed 

 that in 1524 the Portuguese took pos- 

 session of these islands and controlled 

 the clove market. About 1600 the 

 D itch drove out the Portuguese and 

 willfullydestroyed all native and other 

 clove-trees not under Dutch protection. 

 The plan of the Dutch was to prevent 

 the establishment of clove plantations 

 outside of their own dominions, but in 

 spite of their great watchfulness other 

 nations secured seeds and young plants 

 and spread the cultivation of this val- 

 uable spice very rapidly. Now cloves 

 are extensively cultivated in Sumatra, 

 the Moluccas, West Indies, Penang, 

 Mauritius, Bourbon, Amboyne, Guiana, 

 Brazil, and Zanzibar — in fact through- 

 out the tropical world. Zanzibar is 

 said to supply most of the cloves of 

 the market. 



The cultivation of cloves in Zanzi- 

 bar is conducted somewhat as follows: 

 The seeds of the plant are soaked in 

 water for two or three days or until 

 germination begins, whereupon the)' 

 are planted in shaded beds about six 

 inches apart, usually two seeds to- 

 gether to insure against failure. The 

 young germinating plants are shaded 

 by frameworks of sticks covered with 

 grass or leaves. This mat is sprinkled 

 with water every morning and evening. 

 The young plants are kept in these 

 covered beds for nine months or one 

 year, after which they are gradually 

 hardened by removing the mat from 

 time to time, and finally left in the 

 open entirely for a few months, after 

 which they are ready for transplanting. 



Transplanting must be done care- 

 fully, so as not to injure the roots. 

 The plant is dug up by a special hoe- 

 like tool, lifted up in the hand with as 

 much soil as possible, placed upon 

 crossed strips of banana fibres, which 

 are taken up by the ends and wrapped 

 and tied about the plant. The plant 

 is now carried to its new locality, 

 placed in a hole in the soil, the earth 

 filled in about it, and finally the banana 

 strips are cut and drawn out. 



The transplanted clove plants are 

 now carefully tended and watered 

 for about one year, but they are not 

 shaded as during the first year of their 

 existence. Usually many of the trans- 

 planted plants die, which makes re- 

 planting necessary. This great mor- 

 talit}', it is believed by some, might be 

 reduced very materially by shading 

 the recently transplanted clove-trees 

 for a time. 



The clove tree may attain an age of 

 from 60 to 70 years and some have been 

 noted which were 90 years old and 

 over. The average life of the planta- 

 tion clove-trees is, however, perhaps 

 not more than 20 years. The trees be- 



121 



