Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-07-23
Something About Cinnamon.

have a general idea. that they are the
! product of tropical countries, but with
/ most of US our information regarding
1 them stops here. Whether they grow
wild in the jungle or are carefully cult
! waited in plantations we do not know.
! We buy stick cinnamon, for instance, and
/ occasionally see the grocer take it from
! an odd-lOoking sack woven Of dried
/ flags; but what do we know of the cul-
! ture of cinnamon or of the manner Of its
! preparation, or whether what we buy is
really cinnamon or some spurious article
with a similar flavor? In fact not one
/ person in thousand who pays for CHINA
mon at the grOcer's ever obtains it. Most
! Of our pastries, CONNECTIONS, medicines
/ and perfumery that are supposed to be
! favored or perfumed with cinnamon owe
/ their taste or fragrance to a spurious
wild species of plant known as CaSsjt,
/ very far inferior to the true cinnamon,
and worth but quarter of the price.
1 The island OF Ceylon furnishes the
whole world with cinnamon, and it is
nearly all of it shipped to Spain, France,
/ Italy and Russia. Very little Of it finds
its way to this country Or to England.
! Various attempts have been made to cul-
! tivate it in other regions of the tropics,
/ Oot h1l41Olll SuCGSoS III IJIOQuClIi9 al al u
! Gle equal to that indigenous to CeylOn.
In Java the Dutch have grown it for
! shipment to Holland, but it is not even
! so good as the Cassia
| The LGuruS CiHHanl0ni, or true CHINA
mon plant, is met with on the
/ island of CeylOn in all attitudes. 1t is not,
however, all Of one quality The fine
/ spice is only obtained in favorable situa-
/ tiOns and by careful culture The visitor to
/ CeylOn Will find a short way inland large
tracts Of land planted with cinnamon !;
these are called cinnamon gardens, and
are as highly cultivated as the most eX-
| quisite flower gardens.
/ In its natural state the cinnamon plant
! grows to about the size of the ordinary
apple-tree, but in this condition yields a
! coarse useless, almost fiavOrleSs bark.
| 10 produce a marketable article the tree
must be cut down almost close to the
ground, after which tender shoots spring
up, and from these, when arrived at ma
turity, the best spice is obtained.
The Portuguese and Dutch, who at
different times held possession of Ceylon
paid great attention to the cultivation of
this spice, and drew large revenues from
its expectation. From the days of Solo
mon, however, long before either Dutch
or Portuguese were known, CeylOn was
celebrated for its spice. When the En-
glish took possession of Ceylon they de
voted great attention to the plantations
and brought them to a better state of
cultivation than had yet been accom-
plished. The yield some years ranged
as high as 5000 bales of 100 pounds each
About twenty-five years ago the En-
glish Government sold the whole of their
cinnamon gardens at public auction, and
they were purchased by European CAPT
! talists, who have brought them to yet
higher culture than the English
In well-kept cinnamon garden not
weed is to be seen. Imagine an extent
of 5000 acres of land thickly studded
with beautiful laurels, for, as we have
seen, the cinnamon is a species Of this
genus. AT regular distances broad shade
trees are allowed to grow to prevent the
fierce rays of the MONDAY sun from
scorching the plants. The shade is care
fully regulated, lest by too little the
ground should become parched and fail
to nOurish the plants; or by too much
the shrub should grow poorly and lose
its fine aromatic flavor A moderate
quantity Of light and heat is absolutely
necessary to properly develop the deli
cate essential oil which is the flavor of
the cinnamon. Innumerable paths inter
tersect these great tracts Of laurels and
shade-trees, and frequent drains are met
with, which are kept carefully open lest
the delicate plants should be injured by
the wet, which causes the leaves to turn
yellow and the bark to become cam
kered
The well-knoWn Indian custom of
castles or sects to follow the same pro-
tessiOn as their ancestors holds good in
CeylOn. The culture of the cinnamon
belongs properly to the caste of Chalias,
and though foreigners have brought
many innovations into the island it still
is very largely in their hands They
work in gangs of twenty-five or thirty,
each of which is superintended by It
"Canghau." These are again under the
supervision of a European overseer. At
the time Of harvesting the gangs of half
clad, savage-looking Chalias marching
along toward the gardens, each with his
cattle or Indian bill-hook over his Shout
der, present an appearance suggestive of
some murderous adventure. AS they
arrive at the cinnamon land they sud
denly halt, and on a word from the MO
delier," or native leader, who under the
overseer commands the Canghaus, they
rush helterSkeltcr though the bushes,
waving their shining bill-hooks over
their heads as if there was actually an
enemy lurking in the thicket. Soon the
tallest and finest of the cinnamon sticks
are seen to topple and fall in all direc-
lions, whilst the quick, sharp click Of the
cdttle is heard in rapid succession. After
While the Chalias emerge from the bushes
laden with great piles of cinnamon
sticks. These they place under the
shadow Of the trees and return to the on
slaught. This work is done in about two
hours Of the early morning, the gangs
cutting only as much as they can peel
during the rest Of the day.
The works. or peeling-hOuses, called
in Cingalese "waddies," are long sheds
with only sufficient openings in the sides
to admit light enough to work by, and
are rooted with palm-leaves. The fittings
or equipments for work are racks maze
OF jungle-sticks to hold the bundles of
dried spice, and many rows of stout
Irvine running along the upper part of
the building on which the green pipes
or "quills" of bark are laid to undergo
their first drying gradually. The men
are paid not by the day, but by the guam
tity of spice they produce, and so work
with right good will. AS soon as they
reach the waddie they throw their bun
dies upon the ground, and squatting
down in true Oriental fashion upon a
small straw mat they draw from their
girdles their crooked peeling knives and
strip the green bark. This peeling
is an expeditions and simple proc
eSs. Running their crooked knives