158 [August, 1912. 



One of the most important^ districts in 

 Ceylon is Matale, and at the last annual 

 general meeting of the local Planters' 

 Association, held on January 27, 1912, it 

 was reported that the crop in that; dis- 

 trict was about four- fifths that of the 

 previous year. This was owing to the 

 drought which prevailed from January 

 to June also during August, when many 

 of the racemes died, and where they did 

 survive blossoms failed to fructify. The 

 short crops generally with diminishing 

 stocks in London and other markets, 

 caused prices to rise on all grades, the 

 increase at date (January) being 9d. per 

 lb. with an upward tendency. Although 

 prospects have improved lately, the 

 total shipments during 1912 will, in the 

 opinion of growers, not exceed the 1911 

 crop, as several of the older cardamom 

 fields are ceasing to bear a paying crop 

 and will be planted up with tea. There 

 are very few young cleatirjgs (the report 

 states) coming; into bearing to maintain 

 the quantity. One of the features of the 

 London drug-market this year has been 

 the remarkable falling-off in the quantity 

 of cardamoms offered at the fortnightly 

 auctions. This is, of course, due to the 

 paucity of arrivals from Ceylon, from 

 whence we have only received 3,593 lb. 

 from January 1 to February 5, which is 

 16,076 lb. less than at the same date of 

 last year. Altogether, the exports from 

 the island for this period were 22,495 lb. 

 as against 49,005 lb., or 26,510 lb. less. It 

 is surprising that Germany has already 

 received direct this year 11,043 lb., which 

 is a contrast as compared with the U.K. 

 figures. India has only- taken 4,348 lb. 

 this year, as against 10,527 lb. Norway 

 and Sweden have come forward as bigger 

 consumers with imports of 1,042 lb., but 

 the United States has not shown much 

 activity as yet. As a rule the offerings 

 of cardamoms at auction forms one' of 

 the staples, and the market is keenly 

 followed by the agents tor Continental 

 and American buyers. Not long ago 

 the cultivation was a very acceptable 

 by-product to tea-planters and was 

 a source of additional profit. In 

 fact, at one period the trade in 

 cardamoms was so considerable that 



the Indian spice had to give way to 

 Ceylon, which swamped the markets to 

 such an extent that prices ceased to pay. 

 This was about 1903 and 1904, whet, 2s. 

 6e£. per lb. was the top price paid in 

 London during the mid-season, exports 

 at that time approaching nearly 1,000,000 

 lb. Now it would appear that carda- 

 moms are giving way to rubber cultiva- 

 tion, and the output last year was the 

 lowest for the past decade. 



In 1905 a Cardamom Cess Committee 

 was formed in Kaudy, Ceylon, to increase 

 consumption of the spice and find new 

 markets. With this object the planters, 

 with Government aid, instituted an 

 export tax of lc. per lb., and with the 

 money raised commissioners visited the 

 various centres, including London, Ham- 

 burg, Bremen, Leipsic and other German 

 towns ; also Russia and Australia. It 

 cannot be said that there has been any 

 definite expansion in consumption of the 

 spice as the result of their efforts. 



The annual report of the Planters 

 Association states that the crop shipped, 

 564,819 lb., during 1911 included a large 

 share of the previous year's harvest and 

 the early spring gatherings. With a 

 favourable season, the present estimate 

 of cardamoms for 1912 is 560,000 lb. only 

 as several of the older fields have ceased 

 to bear paying crops and are being plan- 

 ted with tea, while the new acreage 

 coming into bearing is very small. A 

 cess of lc. per lb. on all cardamoms 

 shipped from Ceylon during 1911 was 

 suggested by the Cess Committee for the 

 purpose of continuing advertising. The 

 proposition met with a fair amount of 

 promised support, but not sufficient to 

 carry on the advertising considered 

 desirable, 



THE CULTIVATION AND COM- 

 MERCE OP CARDAMOMS. 



In this article the cultivation) curing f 

 and commerce of Cardamoms are des- 

 cribed. The photographs were expressly 

 taken for "The Chemist and Druggist" 

 by Mr. H. F- Macmillan, of Peradeniya 

 Botanic Gardens. 



