18 



" Bark. When the trees are about six years old, the 

 "first crop of bark is obtained. The season for barking 

 "commences in March and continues until the end of May, 

 " after which the natives say the bark looses its aroma, 

 " and is therefore not removed from the trees. The 

 " branches, which are about an inch thick, being cut to 

 " within a few inches of the ground, are carried to houses 

 " or sheds in the vicinity of the plantations. All the 

 " small twigs and leaves being cleared off, a large bladed 

 '•knife, with the cutting edge something like the end of a 

 "budding knife, is used to make two longitudinal slits, 

 " and three or four incisions, at sixteen inches apart, round 

 " the circumference through the bark ; the bark is then 

 " loosened by passing underneath it a kind of slightly 

 " curved horn knife with the two edges slightly sharpened. 

 " Pieces of bark sixteen inches long and half the circum- 

 " ference are thus obtained. 



"The bark, after its removal and while it is still 

 "moist with sap, is then laid with the concave side down- 

 " wards, and a small plane passed over it and the epidermis 

 "removed. After this operation, the bark is left to dry 

 "for about twenty-four hours, and then lied up in bundles 

 "about eighteen inches in diameter and sent into the 

 " merchants' houses in the market towns. 



" Leaves. — The leaves, which are cleared from the 

 " branches that are barked, are carefully preserved and 

 " dried, and afford by distillation cassia oil. A large 

 " quantity of leaves are sent to Canton, where I was told 

 " the operation of distilling is performed. 



" Twigs. — These are removed from the cut branches 

 "at the same time as when the leaves are obtained. They 

 11 are a marketable commodity for native uses. 



" Buds.— -Cassia buds are the immature fruits. They 

 " are gathered when about one-eighth grown. Buds and the 

 " seeds which are annually required for sowing, are 

 " obtained from trees ten years and upwards of age that 

 " are left standing at about fifty and a hundred feet apart 

 " amongst the trees which are cut down every six years for 

 "their bark. These seed- bearing trees are not cut, unless 

 " there is a demand for the very thick bark on their 

 " trunks, when some of the trees which can be conveniently 

 " spared are sacrificed. The yield per acre of bark is said 

 " to be about 1,470 lbs., but the trees are only barked once 

 " in six years. The leaves yield a small income. The 

 " buds, which are gathered annually, realise 15 dollars per 

 " picul (133§ lbs.), but no satisfactory information could 

 " be obtained as to the yield of buds per acre. 



