398 



SPICES ATTD FBAGSATS^T WOODS. 



pagated either from layers or seed. Layers will root in five or 

 six months if kept moist. 



A strong dark loam, a gravelly, sandy, or clayey soil, but one 

 not retentive of moisture, seems that best suited for its successful 

 culture. 



It does not thrive well near the sea, nor in the higher moun- 

 tains, the spray of the sea and the cold being found injurious. 

 The plants at first require the shade of other trees, such as 

 the mango, coco-nut, &c. Although generally a hardy plant, it 

 suffers from excessive drought. I'hey should be planted about 

 twenty feet apart. In its native country the tree begins to yield 

 fruit in the sixth year, but a crop can seldom be looked for in 

 other quarters under eight years. It is very long lived, some- 

 times attaining the age of 130 years. 



There appears, according to Mr. Crawfurd, to be five varieties 

 of the clove, viz. — the ordinary cultivated clove ; a kind called the 

 female clove by the natives^ which has a pale stem ; the kiri or 

 loory clove ; the royal clove, which is very scarce, and the wild 

 clove. The three first are equally valuable as spices, the female 

 clove being considered fittest for the distillation of essential oil. 

 The wild clove, having scarcely any aromatic flavor, is valueless. 



The produce which may be expected from the tree seems to 

 be uncertain ; it may, however, be averaged at five or six pounds. 

 A clove tree, well weeded and taken care of, will produce from five 

 to twenty pounds. On the other hand, a tree that is neglected 

 will not give above two or three pounds. At intervals of from 

 three to six years they usually produce one extraordinary crop, 

 but then a year now and then intervenes, when they yield none 

 at all ; in others they will afford a double harvest. 



The clove tree was originally confined to the five principal Mo- 

 lucca islands, and chiefly to Macbeau. Erom these it was conveyed 

 to Amboyna, a very short time only before the arrival of the 

 Portuguese. By them the cultivation was strictly restricted to 

 Amboyna, every efiort being made to extirpate the plant else- 

 vvhere. 



It has now, however, spread to Java, Singapore, and the Straits' 

 Settlements, Ceylon, the Mauritius and Seychelles, Bourbon, 

 Zanzibar, Cayenne, Dominica, Martinique, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, 

 and Trinidad, - 



Cloves contain a volatile oil, associated with resinous, gummy, 

 and astringent matter, which is yielded in larger proportion than 

 by any other plant. Neuman obtained by distillation two ounces 

 and two drachms from sixteen ounces of cloves. On an average 

 cloves yield from 17 to 22 per cent, of oil, including the heavy 

 and light oils. The oil is aromatic and acrid, and has been used 

 as a condiment and a stimulant carminative. It is also exten- 

 sively used by distillers and soap makers. 



It is said that the clove does not thrive well on the soil of 

 Java, the plantations of which trial had been made not having 

 succeeded to the extent expected, although they were directed by 



