SPICE-PRODUCING PLANTS 



SPURRY 



587 



Cmdimental and Aromatic Plants.] Mustard is fur- 

 nished by members of the Mustard family (Grucif- 

 erce), the black mustard being produced, supposedly, 

 by Brassica nigra, and the white mustard by 

 B. alba. 



Parts used, and method of preparation. 



The parts of the plants used in making spices 

 seem to be determined by three points : (1) The 

 part must contain the pungent or aromatic prin- 

 ciple in large quantity. (2) It must be accom- 

 panied by other tastes giving a pleasant combina- 

 tion, or it must at least lack unpleasant constitu- 

 ents. (3) The texture of the product must not be 

 too hard, tough or woody for proper grinding and 

 use. Consequently, in general, spices consist of 

 the tenderer parts of the plants, such as the inner 

 bark, seeds capable of ready grinding, buds, 

 rhizomes and fruits. 



Among the spices above mentioned, ginger and 

 its near relative, turmeric, are made from the 

 younger, tender parts of the rhizome. Cinnamon 

 consists of the carefully cleaned and dried inner 

 bark of the smaller branches of the tree. Cloves 

 consists of the unopened flower-buds picked and 

 carefully dried. Cassia buds represent immature 

 fruits enclosed in the calyx of the flower. ^^^^^^ 

 Allspice consists of the full-sized but im- 

 mature fruit picked from the pimento 



tree while still rich in the pungent 

 principles. These in part disappear on 

 ripening. 



Black pepper consists of the small 

 round fruits of the pepper vine, plucked 

 when the color has changed from green 

 to red. These hardly ripe berries are 

 more pungent than when fully ripe. 

 White pepper is prepared from this fruit 

 after it has ripened. The berries are 

 soaked in water and the dark pulpy cov- 

 ering bruised oflf. The remaining part 

 is less aromatic and pungent than the 

 black pepper. Red pepper is obtained by 

 grinding the dry ripe fruit. 



Mustard consists of the ground ma- 



ture seeds, usually of the white sort. 

 Nutmegs are the hard inner kernel of the fruit of 

 the nutmeg tree. The entire fruit, having the size 

 of a small apple, consists of three parts: an outer, 

 fleshy, pulpy covering, beneath which is found the 

 mace, occurring as a partial covering over the 

 kernel or nutmeg proper. All parts are aromatic, 

 but the mace and kernel are especially so. 



Geographical sources. 



With the exception of a small part of the red 

 pepper and of the mustard, these spices are all 

 imported products. 



Red peppers and mustard grown in the United 

 States are to a small extent articles of commerce as 

 spices, the former being grown especially in South 

 Carolina, Louisiana and California, the latter in 

 California. Black and white pepper together form 

 an important agricultural interest in India, Malay 

 peninsula, Ceylon and other points of tropical 



eastern Asia. Cloves form a very valuable resource 

 in Zanzibar, also in the Molucca islands, and are 

 widely cultivated in other parts of the tropics. 

 Cinnamon products are secured chiefly from Cey- 

 lon and Indo-China and other regions in tropical 

 Eastern Asia. Allspice is derived chiefly from the 

 Antilles, Central America, northern South America 

 and Jamaica, whence the name sometimes used, 

 Jamaica pepper. Ginger is widely cultivated the 

 world over in tropical and subtropical regions, 

 Jamaica, India and parts of Africa, including 

 Sierra Leone and Egypt. Turmeric has a similar 

 range but is secured in commerce chiefly from 

 India. 



Nutmegs and mace were for a long time grown 

 chiefly in certain islands of the Indian archipelago, 

 but the culture is said to have reached the Antilles 

 and parts of South America. The chief commercial 

 sources continue to lie in tropical eastern Asia. 



Importations. 



The extent of the commerce of the United 

 States in spices may be judged from the following 

 table, taken from the Customs reports of the 

 United States, giving the imports during the year 

 ended June 30, 1905 : 



Article 



Mustard seed 



Cassia buds 



Cassia and cinnamon vera . . . . 

 Cinnamon and cinnamon chips . . 



Cloves 



Clove sterna 



Ginger root (not powdered nor can- 

 died) , 



Mace 



Nutmegs 



Pepper, black and white 



Pimento (allspice) 



Capsicum (red pepper or cayenne) . 

 Mustard (ground or prepared) . . . 



Total . 



Quantity 



Pounds 



6,366,706 



86,564 



4,626,617 



621,948 

 4,998,770 



163,184 



6,928,187 

 328,646 



2,379,118 

 19,604,253 

 10,511,568 



3,509,444.30 



1,079,523.38 



61,204,528.68 



Value 



$189,894.18 

 11,538.00 



406,152.00 

 78,425.11 



535,901.00 

 99,216.00 



269,345.96 

 84,788.00 

 339,368.00 

 1,982,456.00 

 418,157.00 

 259,630.69 

 286,246.00 



$4,961,117.94 



Literature. 



The products serving as spices are also drugs, 

 and works on the latter subject treat of them. 

 See Medicinal, Condimental and Aromatic Plants. 

 See also, H. W. Wiley, Foods and their Adultera- 

 tions, Philadelphia (1907); A. L. Winton, The Micro- 

 scopy of Vegetable Foods (with collaboration of 

 Dr. Josef Moeller), New York (1906); Henry G. 

 Greenish, An Anatomical Atlas of Vegetable Pow- 

 ders, designed as an aid to microscopic analysis of 

 powdered foods and drugs, London (1904). 



SPURRY. Spergula arvensis, Linn. Caryophvllaceoe. 

 Fig. 816. 



By C. V. Piper. 



Spurry is used for forage and as a green-manure. 

 In the genus are three to eight species, widely 

 distributed throughout the temperate regions of 



