April i, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
665 
aime of the plant. Tej-pat, or, as it is also written, 
Tid^-vat and Tez-pat, is derived from Tvach or Twacha, 
tho Sanskrit equivalent for cinnamon bark, and pat, the 
leaf. Dalchini (Chinese bark) and Taj are Hindu names 
applied to any kind of cinnamon bark. The Taleef 
Shereef gives Tudje and Putmdi as other vernacular 
names. The leaves are the Sazaj-i-Hindi of Indian 
Mohammedans. In Kashmir the leaves are called Barg-i- 
Ta/andin South India Tamal patra and Talisha-pattin, 
Prom Assam we are informed that the cinnamon tree is 
called pieng Latyrpat and the leaves Latyrpat. 
Habitat . — Cinnamomum Tamala is wild in tropical 
and sub-tropical Himalaya, from near the Indus to 
Shutan, at altitudes of 3,000-5,000 feet, ascending to 
7,800 feet in Sikkim, and in Sylhet and the Khasia 
mountains to 3,000-4,000 feet. Gamble says it grows 
in the valleys of the Mahauadi and Tista, but it 
is not found much on the West of the Mahanadi. 
Thh tree is cultivated in Assam. 
Cultivation . — In the Khasi and Jaintia Hills about 
six squarerailes are planted with Cinnamomum 
Tamala. Owing to the trees being grown amongst 
jack, betel-nut palms, and other fruit trees, the exact 
amount cannot be ascertained, but it is calculated 
that 400 acres are planted up in the Jaintia parganas 
and a small quantity in the submontane tracts, such 
as the Cherrapunji Hills in the north of the Sylhet 
district. The trees delight in a heavy rainfall. 
Continuous rain is said to be unfavourable for their 
cultivation, but heavy rainfall followed by bright sun- 
shine is most congenial. Storms effect considerable 
damage by breaking off the leafv branches. It is 
also conjectured that excessive moisture diminishes 
the odour of the leaves. In the Khasi and Jaintia 
Hills the trees are grown in regular plantations 7 
feet apart ; the seedlings are raised in beds, and 
planted out permanently when the plants are five 
years of age. The tree takes five or six years to 
grow, or comes into bearing at ten years, and 
continues to bear for one hundred years. The cul- 
tivation is in the hands of the hillmen. 
In Sylhet the trees are self-sown ; the ripe seeds 
fall from the trees into the soil and germinate. 
When the plants are about a foot high they are 
transplanted. Great care is bestowed upon the plants 
when they are young and tender. As constant expo- 
sure to the sun would kill the shoots they are planted 
behind bushes or trees for protection. The undergrowth 
is kept down twice a year in the plantations for the 
first eight or nine years of the plant’s life after that 
the jungle is cleared once a year in April. In some 
plantations the soil is dressed, but iu most districts 
the soil is never manured or irrigated. 
No reserve areas are kept for the growth of these 
trees. The Tej-pat and cinnamon trees are different. 
The former are only used for their leaves and no bark, 
or only a small quantity is collected in the Khasi 
Hills. A small quantity is sent to Sylhet from Sib - 
sagar and Lakhiiupur by the Nagas. 
Collection and Crop. — Tej-pat is plucked in dry and 
mild weather from October to December, and in some 
(laces the collecting is continued to the month of 
March. The leaves are taken once a year from young 
trees, and every other year from old and weak ones. 
Oh an average 15 seers may be obtained from one 
tree, but the quantity depends upon circumstances ; 
a tree yields from 10 to 25 seers of leaves in a year. 
The average yield of leaf per acre in the Jaintia 
pa ganas is about 30 seers without, and 2 mounds with, 
twigs. The whole of crop from four hundred acres was' 
tro^h last year as much as El,100. The quantity of 
1-aves from the Sylhet district last year calculated on 
the turn-over of the traders was estimated at 14,470 
maunds, and from the Jaintia district 20,000 maunds. 
In harvesting the Tej-pat the small branches are 
cut down with the leaves and dried in the sun for 
three or four days. The leafy branches are then tied 
up into convenient bundles ready for the market. 
In the other case, the leaves are separated from the > 
branches and packed in bamboo nets of a cylindrical 
shape called Bora or Jungra which are four feet long by 
two feet in diameter. The packages are carried down 
the ghaut roads of the hills by coolies to Sylheti 
by^nsects~but attacked 
ny insects, but the old ones are sometimes destrovpil 
^“bject to a diseasj 
When attacked with tH 
m^alaay the leaves are spotted with black erimtion! 
a out one-eighth of an inch in diameter. Spots like 
these are often seen on mango leaves. Leaves ininrel 
in this manner are not plucked for sale ^ ® 
Description of Tej-pat.— This is how Tei-nat is 
cnbed in the Taleef Shereef. A verv common 
in length from 3 to 5 inches and the lireadth 2 inches 
of a green colour ana pleasant smell; it is stronX’ 
Mthor^ of '^‘■°'?Sht from the hills. : Tha ■ 
author of Makhzan describes them as yellowish 
coriaceous, ovate-lanceolate leaves with five Xvvpp 
X®® sa-ys they are 
of sS The^moT the mountains 
® careful description of Tei-nnt 
IB tha. of the Pharmacographia Indica. The ll^aves 
renfth“and"ir‘*^® ® or more fn 
length and IJ inch broad, oblong, obtuse-noinfed 
entire, with three principal nerves and two Sw’ 
‘he venation between 
these nerves, which run from base to apex of the 
leaf IS finely reticulated, and the leaves ^are of an 
olive-green colour; the upper surface is polifhed 
and ^cimpn!’ 
partakes of the aroma, puneencv ond 
probably carminative properties of cinnamon barif 
and IS largely used as a spice in varous culinarv 
operation^ According to D^. Aitchison the leaves a« 
rPiner^Kfup^'r ^ |u^titute for betel leaf or pa® 
(iriper Uetle, Ijinn.) and Dr. Disboa SDf*fl,lrq 
being employed in the preparation of curries in the 
Presidency. Pan and various curr/ eaves 
have to be used in a fresh condition on Account 
hni T ■ aromatic priSe. 
but Tej-pat possesses a distinct advantage over other 
leaves in retaiomg its volatile oil for f conslderebl* 
time after being plucked and dried. As a Xtter of 
fact, cinnamon leaves in India take the place of the 
(triLlated^ by%. Ge^lfe XvfafrTsss^^th 
properties of" Tej-pat /re dSribeSs^^^^ 
light and cardiac, useful in wind, piles nauspn 
in the stomach and flatulence. The ’author of ^h“ 
Makhzan considers the drn<r fn i.. „ vr or tno 
stimulant, diuretic, diapho'eti| laotagogue®a*^d“d^ 
struent. In the PajalirghanL ft isStioned a's a 
remedy for the expulsion of phlegmatic and rhen 
matic humours and is prescribed in cases of flof.,i 
and dyspepsia. Besides befog^ used directly °fn 
medicine, tho leaves are employed as aXn J ! 
other drugs to render their ex?iib"tion less nauseous® 
The third use is that of a dye In fhe .u* 
West Provinces Tej-pat is mixed with myroboiaM 
and employed in calico printing and annarpofi,, ^ 
as a darifier. The bark and feaves M Xe 
used in Ohutia Nagpur as an auxiliary with ^/® 
(Mallotus philippininsis) as a dye ^ Kamda 
Chemical Composition.— Kntz in his “ vi 
of British Burma ” made a very suggestive stafemllT 
when, in describing Cinnamomum zeylanicnm 
“The leaves yield oil of cloves.® The 
obtained from quite a different plant 
caryophyllata, Thun.), but it is a remarkable focf tbif 
the prevaffing cp stituent of the oil is identS 
tnat found m cmnamoa leaves. The oil of theTeaf 
was first described by Kampfer in 1712. Dr Rfpnbo,, 
in 1M4 lon-d il to h.v. /. .p.cWo etfv Itf Sf 
".roKar'pTi “ “I 
Schmidt, Berlin, coDfirmedt:*res"alt of thil laaly^i- 
in 1891, and further showeituat the oil of cinnamX 
root coetained ougei *1 and terpene, and ^^ 03 
of the back cinnamic aldehyde and terpene Thi ■ 
oils of cmnamoa leaf and cloves are, therefore Z 
markably similar in co sistingof a large proXtion 
of a chemical body known as eugeuol oi^ugenicS 
