538 
THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST 
IFfiB. 1, 1900. 
CEYLON CINNAMON EXPORTS AND DIS- 
TRIBLTTION IN 1899. 
If our aiiprehensions with regavd to a short 
ovit-tum ol coconut products for export, as 
a result of the two droughts which made 
themselves felt last year in the lowcountry, 
have unhappily heen justitied by the event, 
we cannot, unfortunately, claim to have 
beeu true prophets in our forecast touch- 
ina- Ciimamon. We say unfortunately, not 
frohi concern for our reputation as pro- 
phets, but because a redundant cinnamon 
crop is a very doubtful blessing ; and in 
the ])resent instance the exports have been 
swelled by nefarious means. The supply of 
spices can vei'y easily outstrip demnnd, and 
no island industry has suffered so long and 
so severely from over-production as the 
Cinnamon industry. The prices ran down from 
two to three shillings a lb. in the seventies " 
to less than a shilUng in the "eighties,"' in- 
volving Proprietors in nmcli embarrassment, 
if not positive loss ; and the sHgh trecovery 
clurin"- the past decade was a very welcome 
relief.'^ The advantage gained is again 
threatened by over-production— the explana- 
tion being that prices which barelv leave 
a maro-in of profit to cultivated estates, 
satisfy"^ small native holders who neglect 
cultivation and attend to the preparation 
of the bark themselves. There has always 
been more or less adulteration in garden, 
as distinguished from estate, spice ; but 
last year, under tlie stimulus of high prices 
and small crops in the earlier months, 
a new industry develoj^ed, in the shape of 
" Wild ('innamon! " We have already ex- 
pressed our belief that before the Collector of 
Customs and the Chamber of Comm'ree 
united to demand a separate classification for 
wild cinnamon, some of it had already l>een 
shipped as plantation spice, and hence it is 
that quilled bark showed last year a falling- 
off of only 19,0251b. as compared with 1898, 
while chips disclosed an increase of 415,0001b. 
The deficiency of peelable bark is natiirally 
made up by' scraping chips from coarse 
sticlis; but the 1898 production of 1,414,165 lb. 
of chips had never beeu approached within 
400 000 lb. and an increase on that large out- 
turn of 400,000 lb. marks a stride which can- 
not be due to natural causes. In 1890 the 
export of chips was only 441,447 lb.— a large 
outturn as compared with previous years; 
and the development since then has been 
steady until ti little over a million lb. was 
shipped in 1897, since when the growth has 
been phenomenal. The combined outturn 
of quilled bark and chips last year, amount- 
ing as it did to over 4i million lb, beats all 
previous records, and does not disclose a 
healthy state of things. The figures for wild 
cinnamon, which began to be compiled only 
during the last few weeks of the year, were 
195 008 lb. (juills and 628,418 lb. chips. We 
reiterate our hope that the reception which 
this stuff met with at the November auctions 
in London will put an end to the trade, and 
that the shipments which have continued to 
sro forward since then will only add to the 
losses of those who are engaged in the 
doubtful l)nsiu(-ss. Their destination was the 
United Kiii"<l(irii and Germany, and both 
countries should be warned by what Messrs. 
Darley, Butler & Co. have already written 
on the subject. 
Turning to the Distribution of Cinnamon 
which has not been described as wild, the 
United Kingdom heads the list, having taken 
1,121,128 111. qiulls and 680,0.38 lb. chips, a quan- 
tity whicb is about 200,000 11). more than 
in 1898 under each head. The next largest 
customer is Germany with 039,039 and 650,0:37 
lb. respectively, which is less than she took 
in quilled cinnanicn the previous yeai% the 
falling-olf being, perhaps, due to the trial she is 
giving wild cinnamon ? In chips, however, 
there is an increase which brings the total 
up to that of 1898. No other country ap- 
proaches these figures— the third, in order, 
being Spain with 262,100 1b. quills and 6.'3,S(XJ 
chips ; btit this is a great advance on her re- 
quirements of the previous year. We wel- 
come the improvement, not only as a contri- 
bution to the island's pros[)erity, but also 
as evidence of recuperation in the coimner- 
cial position of Spain. We had already 
noted this, in connection with her renewed 
orders on the London market, which have 
helped ip the prices for our best estate 
marks for which she has alwaj^s shown a 
partiality ; and this is further proof that 
she is shaking oil: the effects of her disas- 
trous contest with America. Curiously enough, 
America shows a corresponding tVdling-oft' 
in the quantities she has taken— her figures 
having been 146,6001b. and 28.000 1b. for 1899. 
which are about the same as Spain's for 1898. 
Spain is thus having her revenge in com- 
merce for military and naval disasters ! 
Our other principal customers for cinnamon 
were Italy, Belgium, France and China, 
whose takings ranged from 117.200 lb. and 
144,220 lb. of the two sorts, to 45,000 lb. of 
the first alone. Turkey, India, Australiaand 
Africa took small quantities, and they com- 
plete the list. 
PLANTING IN ST. HELENA : 
COFFEE AND TEA. 
A paper by H.E. Governor Sfernclale in the 
" Asiatic Quarterly Review " on " St. Helena 
in tile Present Time,'' gives some interesting iu- 
formation. The people are very inoffensive, says 
tlie Governor : — During twelve criminal ses^^ions, 
over wliicli I liave pre-<iiled as Gliief Justice, on 
a!! except, two occasions liave I received \vliite 
gloves. Civil litigation is common enough. Tliey 
are kindly disposed one to another, showing much 
sympachy in sickness and troub'e, and are 
coui teot:s to strangers, who are generally much 
sciuck by this, and by the comparative purity of 
the English spoken by them. Their faults are lack 
of enei-gy in overcoming difficulties, and their 
proneness to accept a failure as a finality — take, 
fur instance, vine culture. I remember in years 
gone by 
SPLFNDID GRAPES IN ST. HELENA 
but the vine disease was introduced and the vines 
l^erished, never to be replanted. The same tliinghap- 
pened in Madeira, but the people there took heart 
and tried again, and with success. It isaconmion 
story in St. Helena, " Oh yes, I remember such 
and such things when I was young, but they died 
out long ago." That lemons were common in the 
island is proved by the many places, such as 
Lemon Valley, Lemon-tree Gut, etc., being called 
after tlii^ fruit, which is nowe.xtiiict and has to be 
imported from abroad. And with peaches, the 
same story of the good old days — no liner peaches 
to be seen anywhere, but now from ungrafbed, 
