APPENDIX. 319 



STTNDET SPICES. — THEIK GEOWTH AND PEEPAEATIOK. 



I have been much interested in observing the growth and 

 manner of preparation of varions kinds of spices, not separately 

 affording sufficient material for an article, but which, grouped to- 

 gether, will furnish matter enough for one letter. Of these I will 

 first mention cinnamon, which, in the shape in which it appears 

 in commerce, is, of course, familiar to every grocer, but would 

 hardly be distinguished from any other bush when seen growing 

 in the field. Ceylon is the greatest centre of production for true 

 cinnamon, but more of wild cinnamon, or cassia, is obtained from 

 Malacca and along the coasts of Siam and Cochin-China. The 

 cinnamon tree, if left to itself, sometunes attains the height of 

 thirty to forty feet, and from twelve to eighteen inches in diame- 

 ter ; but, when cultivated, it is kept cut down close to the ground, 

 and the fresh, new shoots only are allowed to grow, xizxtil they 

 attain a height of from five to six feet, and are about half an inch 

 in diameter. Some of the cinnamon-groves of Ceylon are very 

 extensive, covering many hundred acres. They are originally 

 planted in rows about six feet apart, and the plants are, perhaps, 

 four feet distant from each other in the rows. The ground is 

 usually well cultivated, beii^g kept free from weeds and affording 

 a chance for the plants to make a vigorous growth. When the 

 shoots are three or four years old, they attain the size above- 

 mentioned, and are usually free from branches until near the top. 

 They are then cut close to the ground and the grayish, outside 

 bark carefully scraped off. The inner bark, which is of a yellow- 

 ish red color, is then ripped up longitudinally with a knife, and 

 gradually loosened until it can be taken off. It is then spread in 

 the sun to dry, when it curls up into the quill-like form in which 

 it is known as the cinnamon of commerce. Some of the quills 

 are smaller than others, and these are inserted within the larger 

 ones, so as to make them as compact as possible. There are usu- 

 ally two crops gathered in Ceylon — one in April, the other in 

 November, the first being much the larger of the two, and more 

 easily gathered, owing to the sap being more abundant at that 

 time, which allows the bark to be taken off with greater facility 

 and despatch. The smell of the green cinnamon-bark is delight- 



