COMMERCIAL NOTES AND SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION. 47 
whole of them is already under definite control. The stocks in London, Holland, 
Hamburg, and New York on 28th February were as follows: — 
1914. . . 25000 bales 1907 . . . 39000 bales 
POR)... 23000: , $906)401011) 43.000)0« 5 
RSP ese 4N000-% *, L905 0 Leer 27 AAOOO rp 
POU fae a 41000... ROU ReR le ty AZ SOOMLN 
POTO draco, ia 47000... HOO ach ki O00, ark: 
7009... 962.000. ,, 1e02 pet Od ORO) 4, 
(908-—" : 62000” = 
Taking all these factors into account, it is believed that the conclusion is warranted 
that for some time to come the market will unquestionably be faced with rising prices, 
especially because, as stated above, the consumers are only sparingly supplied, as a 
result of the reserve they have practised thus far. In view of the incalculability of 
the market we will not venture to criticize this view. 
We regret that on the present occasion no statistical material of any description 
is available. 
A recently published work by J. E. E. Caster’) on the Island of Pemba contains a 
description of the harvesting of cloves. During the clove-harvest men, women and 
children spend almost the whole day in the tops of the trees. The picked bunches of 
cloves are dropped into a cloth which is tied round their necks. Afterwards the cloves 
are separated from the stems and spread out on grass mats in front of the houses to 
dry in the sun. The cloves must be picked before the buds have burst, otherwise 
the fruit is of small value. They are picked as soon as they turn pink. If the picking 
is delayed too long, the bud at the end bursts, and a starry white little flower appears. 
After a day or two the flower fades and falls, the clove swells rapidly and darkens 
till it looks like a purple olive. It has a large stone inside and the flesh is also purple 
and tastes of oil of cloves. The fruit is eaten by monkeys, but by no other animal. 
It is difficult to grow clove trees from seed, as the young plants are very delicate, 
require a shady, sheltered position, and grow very slowly. 
The Arabs do not prune the clove trees, with the result that a thick tangle of 
branches grows up, and aiter this the trees only bear on the upper branches, which 
makes harvesting very difficult and in part impossible. 
It has been proved that by rational pruning the yield can be increased by 30 p.c. 
Nor are the clove trees in Pemba manured, though it would probably pay to do so. 
The normal yield is about 35 lbs. of dried cloves per tree. 
Two samples of clove oil distilled in the island of Mauritius have been submitted 
to us by the Imperial Institute in London for our opinion. Their characters were as 
follows: diso 1,0614 and 1,0681, a) — 0° 24’ and — 0°20’, npwo 1,53361 and 1,53723, 
eugenol-content (estimated with 3 p.c. soda liquor 93 p.c. and 96 p.c.; soluble in 1,5 
and in 1,2 vols. a.m. of 70 p.c. alcohol. We only refer to the samples here because 
their origin is of interest. 
Clove Leaf Oil. A clove leaf oil from Zanzibar has been examined at the 
Imperial Institute in London”). Its characters were as follows: diso 1,06052, sol. in 1,1 a.m. 
vols. 70 p.c. alcohol. The oil contained 85,7 p.c. eugenol. 
1) Pemba, the Spice Island of Zanzibar; Chemist and Druggist 88 (1913), 825. — ) Bull. Imp. Inst. 11 
(1913), 438. Comp. Report November 1908, 48. 
