Edible Products. 



[June, 1910. 



period of the year to the Central Pro- 

 vince to cut cinnamon in the forests, 

 generally contracting with the planters 

 for the produce where growing on 

 private properties. In Ceylon the princi- 

 pal and only cultivated species is dis- 

 tinguished above all others by the 

 Sinhalese name of pent kurundu, 

 which signifies honey or sweet cinna- 

 mon ; the second variety is naya 

 kurundu, or snake cinnamon ; the third 

 kapuru kurundu, or camphor cinna- 

 mon ; the fourth kahata kurundu, or 

 astringent cinnamon ; the fifth sevel 

 kurundu, or mucilaginous cinnamon ; 

 the sixth davul kurundu, or flat or 

 drum cinnamon ; the seventh nika 

 kurundu, or wild cinnamon ; and the 

 eighth, mal kurundu, or bloom or flower 

 cinnamon. Whatever doubt there may 

 have existed with regard to other pro- 

 ducts grown in Ceylon, there is none 

 whatever about cinnamon being indi- 

 genous to Ceylon, for large trees are 

 scattered through the oldest forests of 

 the interior. The island has been famous 

 for its spice from the commencement of 

 historical records. The Dutch under 

 Governor Falk, first commenced the 

 systematic cultivation of cinnamon in 

 1767-70. In 1506, the Portuguese found 

 cinnamon only in its wild state, but the 

 Sinhalese king who lived in Cotta con- 

 tracted to pay an annual tribute of 

 250,000 lbs. of cinnamon in return for 

 the protection of the Portuguese ; 3,000 

 lbs. of pepper and cinnamon was the 

 present sent by the Kandyan King to 

 the King of Holland in A.D. 1602. At 

 one time the most important article 

 trom India was cinnamon, which (accord- 

 ing to a writer) sold for £8 sterling per 

 lb. in Rome. The " Odours of the far- 

 famed cinnamon spice" came by a poetical 

 liberty to be associated with " Araby the 

 blest." Cinnamon bushes over a hun- 

 dred years old in Ceylon still bear good 

 crops, and the same soil has grown cinna- 

 mon for perhaps over 2,000 years. The 

 Romans communicated with India once 

 a year in the time of Augustus, investing 

 the equivalent of £403,000 sterling in 

 the trade, and calculating the profit at 

 100 per cent, The first gardens opened 

 in cinnamon were by the Dutch in the 

 year 1767. They formed the Kadirana, 

 Bkela, and Maradana garden between 

 Colombo and Negombo as well as the 

 Moratuwa and Beruwala gat dens, cover- 

 ing altogether 15,000 acres, together with 

 gardens near Galle and Matara. The 

 best soil for cinnamon is said to be com- 

 posed mainly (up to 90 per cent, of pure 

 silica) of snowy white siliceous sand (de- 

 posited, probably, from fresh water 

 lakes), or near the sea-coast a little 

 south of Colombo, around the Cityi 



and northwards to Negombo. Bark 

 of a fair quality is sometimes got 

 from jungle bushes in the hill districts, 

 and some time ago cinnamon was plant- 

 ed not only by the natives but by 

 Europea.n coffee planters in Dumbara, 

 Hantane, Nilambe, Dolosbage, Matale 

 and other districts. The average yield 

 of cinnamon is from 100 to 125 lb. per 

 acre. Really fine cinnamon Ceylon only 

 can produce in perfection, and the great 

 market for cinnamon used to be found 

 in Southern Europe, chiefly in Spain 

 and Italy. In all Roman Catholic coun- 

 tries, a good deal is used for incense 

 purpose, while still more is worked up 

 in the manufacture of chocolate, for 

 which Spain is specially famous. 



W. O. A. 



Mannar, April 21. 



AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND 

 UTILITY OP THE CULTIVATED 

 AROIDS.* II, 



(Prom the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture Bulletin No. 164, 

 February, 1910.) 



There can be no question as to the 

 importance of the cultivated aioids. 

 Though a large number of varieties, and 

 even distinct species and genera, are 

 included under this general term, the 

 series may be viewed agriculturally as a 

 single crop of world-wide importance, 

 It is unfortunate that the studies re- 

 ported upon by Mr. Barrett could not 

 be carried farther, but even this in- 

 complete report contains a very much 

 wider range of information than any 

 other publication on the subject. 



The culture of the taro extends from 

 the West Indies across the Pacific 

 Islands, Japan, China, the Malay region, 

 Hindustan, Madagascar, and the whole 

 breadth of tropical Africa. The natives 

 of East Africa grow the taro exten- 

 sively and have many named varieties. 

 Welwitsch reports Colocasia as growing 

 spontaneously in the Portuguese colony 

 of Angola, even in districts where it is 

 not now used by the natives. The taro 

 exists also amongst the natives of the 

 interior of Liberia, though the eddoes 

 (Xanthosoma), introduced from the West 

 Indies in the last century, are now 

 preferred, 



The scientific name Colocasia has been 

 connected through the Greek with an 

 ancient Egyptian word " culcas." The 



* Everywhere grown by natives under the 

 names Kidaran, Gahala ( taro ), Rata-ala, 

 Habarala, &c. 



