496 



CINNAMON. 



rootlets, even of one-tenth of an inch diameter, receive injury, the 

 whole root will certainly perish. Thunberg mentions a fifth method 

 of cultivation, or rather a manner of obtaining cinnamon of superior 

 quality. When the tree is cut down and a fire kindled on the spot to 

 consume the stumps, the roots afterwards throw out a number of long 

 straight shoots, which yield incomparably fine cinnamon. From 

 these are cut the cinnamon walking-sticks, which in appearance 

 resemble those of the hazel tree, and retain the taste and smell of 

 cinnamon. They have no scent, however, unless when the bark is 

 rubbed. 



The peeling process commences early in May, and continues until 

 late in October. "When a Chilaw perceives a shoot of a proper growth, 

 he strikes an instrument which resembles a small bill-hook obliquely 

 into the shoot. He then gently opens the gash to discover whether 

 the bark separates freely from the wood ; should this not be the case, 

 he leaves the sucker for a future time. Some shoots never arrive at a 

 fit state for decortication. Plants of several years' growth sometimes 

 bear numerous marks of annual experiments made for the purpose 

 of ascertaining whether the bark was in a favourable situation for 

 removal. 



The shoots which are cut are usually from a half to three-quarters 

 of an inch in diameter, and from three to five feet long. Some tra- 

 vellers in former times asserted that the cinnamon was peeled from 

 the tree while standing, and that nature provided the decorticated 

 plant with a new bark. It is said that the experiment has been re- 

 cently tried on several plants, all of which died in consequence. The 

 shoots being cut are tied in bundles, and carried to sheds appropriated 

 to the preparation of the cinnamon. 



Being cleared of small shoots and leaves, two longitudinal slits are 

 made in the bark, which is gradually loosened with the convex side of 

 the knife, and then usually half the circumference of the bark comes 

 off in one entire slip. When the bark adheres firmly to the wood, it is 

 strongly rubbed with the handle of the peeling-knife until it is disen- 

 gaged and stripped off. The sections of the bark thus obtained are 

 carefully put one into the other, the outer side of one piece being 

 placed in contact with the inner side of another; they are then 

 collected into bundles, and firmly pressed or bound together. 



In this state the bark is allowed to remain for twenty-four hours, 

 or sometimes for a longer period, by which means a degree of ferment- 

 ation is induced that facilitates the subsequent operations of removing 

 the cuticle. After being subjected to this treatment, the interior side 

 of each section of bark is placed on a convex piece of wood, and the 

 epidermis, together with the greenish pulpy matter, immediately under 

 it, is carefully scraped off with a curved knife. This is an operation 

 requiring some nicety, for if any of the outer bark be allowed to 

 remain, it gives an unpleasant bitterness to the cinnamon. In a few 

 hours after the removal of the cuticle, the pieces are put one into the 

 other, the bark dries, contracts, and gradually acquires the appearance 

 of a quill or pipe, the whole forming a congeries of quills more than 

 a foot in length. During the first day the cinnamon is suspended 

 under shelter upon open flat forms ; on the second day it is placed 



