APPENDIX.] WEST INDIES. 
I have this year (1795) but two clove trees that are bear¬ 
ing; in the year 1796, I shall have twenty-four more; and 
in the year 1799, I shall have from fifteen to sixteen hun¬ 
dred trees, in a state of production. Such of the trees, as 
are situated in flat grounds, I shall leave to their natural 
growth, by which more profit will be got, and shady 
walks obtained, an object of consideration in a warm cli¬ 
mate; and those trees that are placed on a declivity, T shall 
top at eight or nine feet, for the convenience of gathering. 
Having few cloves to gather this year (1795), they were 
picked with the hand. In the Moluccas, the planters either 
spread cloths on the ground, or sw T eep the ground clean un¬ 
der and about the trees, and with the assistance of reeds 
they cause the cloves to fall down; after which they expose 
them, for a few days, to smoke upon hurdles, which arc 
covered with large leaves; and this fumigation is followed 
by drying the cloves in the sun. 
In order to ascertain the best mode of rendering the cloves 
merchantable, I tried several ways of desiccating them when 
gathered. The first that I cured, in the shade, and in a 
warm room, were a fortnight before they appeared dry; and 
on breaking them with the nail, the ball, which is on the 
top of the clove, I found in the inside to be mouldy; and 
on chewing the clove, they had a musty taste: I from 
these circumstances found, that this mode of curing the 
cloves would not answer. 
The second gathering of cloves, I desiccated entirely by 
the heat of the sun. When dried, they appeared of a black¬ 
er hue than the East India cloves, but of a stronger and 
more pungent taste. 
The third trial, after gathering the cloves, on a very 
rainy day, I put them in a stove which I had constructed 
