April 26, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
537 
CINNAMON. 
It is reported that Dr. Chamberlaud, the chief assistant 
to M. Pasteur, is said to have discovered that cinnamon 
kills typhoid microbes. If this be the case, then, as a 
weekly newspaper remarks, our mediaeval housewives 
were possibly guided by some unerring instinct to its 
use in the spiced wines and possets with which, “Ere 
coffee and tea and such slop shops were known, they 
comforted the hearts of their lords and masters, and 
occasionally warmed up the cockles of their own little 
hearts on the sly.” 
Mynheer van Dunk and his “missus” were even 
more partial to the fragrant bark than our own ancestors, 
and chanced all sorts of perils to fetch home from the 
Spice Islands enough to fill the household caskets of 
their good Fraus. The muddy, sluggish waters of 
the Netherlands doubtless swarmed with the mediaeval 
progenitors of the microbe 
in question, but whether 
they really curled up into 
harmlessness under the in¬ 
fluence of the precious spice 
is perhaps doubtful, in 
spite of Dr. Chamberlaud. 
These scientific gentlemen 
discover things so quickly 
now-a-days, that much of 
their work, in the opinion 
of some, consists of the 
discovery that they were re¬ 
producing an old instinct, 
or else finding themselves 
in error. 
The trees furnishing cin¬ 
namon and cassia barks are 
said to be true Laurels ; they 
belong to the genus Cinna- 
momum, and there are few 
of the family which do not 
contribute to the luxuries 
or necessities of the human 
species. C. zeylandicum is 
the first in importance, for 
it is that which furnishes 
the cinnamon hark. It is a 
native of Ceylon, and the 
tree grows to a height of 
from 20 ft. to 30 ft. The 
whole plant appears to have 
the same aromatic properties 
as are found in the bark of 
commerce. The roots are 
the colour of saffron, and 
yield a great deal of cam¬ 
phor, by distillation with 
sea-water. The flowers have 
the smell and taste of the 
bark, and they furnish both 
an essential and concrete 
oil, which is used in the 
countries where it is obtained 
against dysentery, fractures, 
&c., and as a cosmetic. 
The fruit has a smell some¬ 
thing like turpentine, and a 
taste like Juniper berries. 
It is about the size of a 
plum, and of a black colour. 
The wood has the same 
smell as the fruit, and is used for making trunks, boxes, 
and articles of furniture. From the leaves an oil is 
obtained, which resembles clove oil, and is often sold 
for it. 
The cinnamon of commerce is obtained by stripping 
the bark from the branches when they are never less 
than J in., or more than 2 ins. or 3 ins. in diameter. 
The bark is removed by making longitudinal incisions, 
and it is then taken off in strips. The strips are placed 
one above another, in parcels 8 ins. or 10 ins. thick, and 
allowed to remain for twenty-four hours, when a 
fermentation takes place, which facilitates the removal 
of the outer pellicle and the green part of the bark. 
The inner bark is thus left free, which is rolled up like 
quills, placed one within the other, and dried on clay, 
first in the shade, and then in the sun. The thinner 
the bark, the finer is the quality of the cinnamon. 
Dr. Hogg, in his Vegetable Kingdom, to which I am 
indebted for some of the foregoing information, tells us 
that ‘ 1 black pepper is used to fill the intermediate space, 
by which it is said the damp is absorbed, and the 
flavour of the cinnamon preserved.” Cinnamon is 
largely used as a condiment for its agreeable flavour, 
while its astringent and cordial properties give it a 
medicinal value. 
What an ancient tree it is ! Solomon in his Canticles 
mentions cinnamon among the precious spices, and 
Moses was commanded to use “sweet cinnamon ” in 
the preparation of the holy oil used to anoint the 
Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, and to consecrate 
Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. The Mahometans 
of India used to have a curious belief that the cin¬ 
namon is the bark, the clove the flower, and the 
nutmeg the fruit of one and the same tree ; and most 
ofthe writers in the middle ages thought that cinnamon, 
ginger, cloves, and nutmegs were the produce of one 
tree. 
Gerarde tells us that there was formerly much 
controversy concerning the true Cinnamon and Cassia 
trees of the ancients ; but he considered the tree whose 
Narcissus, Glory of Leyden. Nat. size. 
bark is cassia to be a bastard kind of Cinnamon. 
“The Cinnamon,’’ he says, “has pleasant leaves and 
fair white flowers, which turn into round black berries 
the size of an olive, out of which is pressed an oil that 
hath no smell at all until it be rubbed and chafed 
between the hands. The trunk or body, with the 
greater arms or bough of the tree, are covered with a 
double or two-fold bark, like that of the Cork tree, the 
innermost whereof is the true and pleasant cinnamon, 
which is taken from this tree and cast upon the ground 
in the heat of the sun, through whose heat it turneth 
and foldeth itself round together.” The tree thus 
peeled recovered itself in three years, and was then 
ready to be debarked again ; but the Cassia forms quite 
a distinct genus.— R. D. 
-■•»££<•- 
NARCISSUS, GLORY OF 
LEYDEN. 
The handsome Daffodil the subject of our illustration 
is a giant belonging to the Bicolor section of Narcissus 
Pseudo-Narcissus. It is of the same type as Emperor, 
which was one of its parents, and when well grown is 
even larger, but possibly a shade paler. The segments 
of the perianth are broadly ovate, much imbricated, 
and of a soft primrose-yellow. The corona or trumpet, 
on the other hand, is of a rich soft yellow, of enormous 
size, wide at the mouth, shallowly lobed, crenate and 
plaited. When it has been grown sufficiently long in 
this country to become plentiful, it will take its place 
amoDgst useful and standard varieties for spring 
bedding, as Emperor and Empress, as well as other 
grand Daffodils, are now doing. It was raised by Mr. 
de Graaff, of Leyden, and when first exhibited at a 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, at South 
Kensington, on the 10th of May, 1887, created quite a 
sensation amongst lovers of Daffodils and others who 
were sufficiently acquainted with plants of this class to 
appreciate the value of the new comer. 
-—-- 
PLANTING. 
(Continued from p. 524 .) 
The months of April, 
May, and June are under 
ordinary circumstances the 
three busiest months of the 
year in the garden. It is 
well then to take time by 
the forelock, and plant all 
subjects of a hardy nature 
whenever opportunity pre¬ 
sents itself. Now is the time 
to consider parterre plant¬ 
ing. Yiolas, Carnations, 
Pentstemons, Mimulus, and 
plants of a like nature can 
with propriety he planted 
any time in April ; indeed, 
in some favoured districts 
in March. The former are 
very accommodating in any 
garden, and may safely be 
planted in March. It 
may be urged that Yiolas 
cannot he planted too early 
after the hard frosts are 
gone for the season. I find 
early planting best, so as 
to have the plants well estab¬ 
lished before hot weather 
approaches, which is the 
best preventive of mildew— 
the Viola’s greatest enemy. 
They should be planted 
deeply in well-prepared soil, 
just leaving the point of 
the shoots above ground. 
This is important, as the 
roots are thus removed 
from the drying influences of 
sun and wind, and they 
rapidly push up suckers or 
offsets from under the 
ground. Violas may be used 
in beds en masse , or for 
edgings to these or borders, 
or for panelling, and if 
planted as recommended 
above, will bloom continu¬ 
ously all the summer and 
autumn without any further attention. Carnations aie 
most useful for cut purposes, as well as decorative, and 
where cut flowers are in great request these ought to 
receive special attention. Soil liberally manured and 
deeply trenched are requisite to grow these to perfection. 
Many are deceived in this respect, through their looking 
upon these as of a semi-succulent nature, and treating 
them accordingly. The words of an old Carnation 
grower are: “Treat them like gentlemen, gentlemen ; 
and the Carnation is the Carnation, not the Sedum.” 
They should in no case be planted where they may be 
reached by rabbits or hares, as these vermin are 
extremely fond of them, and will cut them right 
over. 
Stocks, Calceolarias, Veronicas, and Chrysanthe¬ 
mums—as, indeed, many similar plants—may safely 
be planted about the end of April in most gardens, 
although in wet adhesive soils they will be equally as 
well in safer quarters for a week or two. Soil for the 
two former cannot well be too rich, while for the latter 
a soil of ordinary richness will suit, with a little stimu¬ 
lating element when the buds are set. Rabbits and 
hares are very fon^ Stocks, and therefore, if a fine 
