The Republican journal., 1879-08-21
The Spices Of Commerce.

II the consumption Of spices I'm the
United States says the Commercial Blu
letn, We're confined to the genuine ARD
Gle which are imported from abroad. the
allowance of each man. woman and child
would be about onc-thrd of pound
OF all kinds, (includmg ginger pep
per and Inu>tardj per anmum. for the
total Nearly importation~ average about
fifteen million pounds, Aimed last year
at II ,Hbi.2I1. tmnjmun which is the
bark of dn evergreen tree species of
the laurel family. that grOWS To Il height
Of thirty five or. torty feet comes from
the Island Of Cryion, from Malabar. Java
and Numatri and rom Cochin China
CasSla, ol "baStanl cinnamon" aS ii is
sometimes called. comes from China and
from Java. Ii is the bark 0l' ynun. Shoots,
Of the cassa tree. The cloves of com
merre are the meNpandcd buds Of the
Glove tree. a native Of the Malucca or
Spice Islands which grows to an average
height Of - To - feet. ANA Yields about
twelve pounds OF buds pen ammum. The
Zanzibar cloves. which comprise Il large
part Of the imports into this country.
comes from the east coast of Africa. and
are inferior to the Amboynas, BencO0lcns
and PenangS from A>iatic sources. Gin
ger is the root of kind of reed that
grows i'll the East and West Indies, in
China, in Malabar and To some extent,
in all tropical countries. 1t is AN annual
and reaches a height of about three feet,
and has leaves very much like our Indian
corn. 1t is now largely cultivated in the
West indies. whence is derived the ia
,,oI,., ,-;,,, |, -: Il,
country. There are two kinds of ginger
the black and the white. The former
consists OF the inferior roots which have
been STEPPED in boiling water previous to
being dried in the sun. White ginger is
made from the roundest and finest roots.
scraped clean and then dried carefully
without being scalded. Mace and nut
megs are both products OF tree which
is commonly known as the 'nutmeg tree"
native OF the islands of the Indian Arch
ipelago and which grows to the height of
thirty or forty feet. The nutmeg is the
kernel Of the nut which forms the fruit Of
the tree mace is the membraneous Gov
erlng or burr of the black shell in which
the nutmeg is enclosed. The principal
| sources OF the nutmeg and mace Of com
merce are Penang, Batavia, Amboyna
and Banda, but the tree is being intro
duced elsewhere. The common black
pepper Of commerce is the product of a
slender climbing plant or vine, which is
cultivated extensively upon the slopes of
mountains in southern sections of both
British and Farther India, as we'll as in
Java, Sumatra and other islands of the
Indian Archipelago. The vine begins to
bear in its fourth year, and continues to
flourish for five or six years. At the end
of the branches are punches of berries,
each berry containing single seed of
hot and fiery taste, and Of an aromatic
flavor. From this the pepper is obtained
White pepper, which is not so we'll known
in this country, comes from the same
| plant. Red pepper, or capslcum, grows
in the East Indies, in Chill, and to some
extent in our southern states. This
plant is an annual, and its fruit is in the
| form Of round or heart shaped pods Of a
red or yellow color. 1t is largely used in
| the form Of Cayenne pepper. Pimento-
Or as it is often called, ''allspice," because
its odor and flavor somewhat resembles a
combination of cloves, cassia and nut
| megs-is the product of an extremely
| handsome tree, which is native of the
Carribee islands, but which is cultivated
in the East Indies. The pimento comes
from the berries, which are carefully pick
ed when they are green, and are subse-
| quently sorted and dried.