The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-09-13

sS raging all over the place, spice men are as upset as Q stomach full of red peppers.
 Take sage, the stuR that gives sausage the tang and makes old bread crusts palatable when served to you as dressing. Most of the sage used in the United States before the war came from Jugoslavia. Hitler, Mussolini and Company, having pos- session of that land, the price of sage skyrocketed from 10 cents to l,30 a pound in eight months and there just isn't any being imported today.
 France was Q source of many splces---anise seed for sweet pickles, celery seed, cummin for curry and chili powder, Ynarjoram and thyme 1 for poultry seasoning. The United States isn't dealing in these kinds of spices with France these days.
 Holland, another big source of supply, also is out of the picture. Those caraway seeds and poppy seeds that adorned rye bread and fancy rolls came principally from the Netherlands. Holland, too, was o principal source for imported mustard, but here Is one spice that the United States can and does grow, though not in quantity suf1i- cient to supply all domestic needs. For the last five years, about half of the U. s. consumption was home grown and the other half imported from Holland, China, Rumarta and Denmark. But more than 20 million pounds a year made 1t @ million dollar business.
 Lack of shipping space is the principal factor interfering with trade in the spices which came from India although the see routes to there and back are technically open. Tennel was the principal 1E1a- port from India, though 1t also ex. ported celery seed, cardamon, pep- per and cummin, Iraq also was a source of fennel, and Hungary, Bull garia, Spain, Portugal and even So- vlet Russia.
 All these temperate zone spices used to account for nearly 8 mil- lion worth of world trade, including the cayennes and red peppers from Japan and Mexico
 TROUBLES DOWN
 TROPICAL WAY
 It's when you get into the spices grown In tropical countries, the spices which can't be grown ct all in the United States, that you run into the big money. This Is Q $lo million annual import, and this IS the value of the raw materials be- fore they are prepared or packed.
 A good many of these spices can be and are grown in Mexico and the Caribbean islands, but 1t takes five years to get nutmeg trec bear ing six for the caSsia and cinna- mon, seven for allspice, and from four to six for cloves. So the time is too short and the lack of ship. ping space for imports from the Dutch East Indies, now that more rubber and tin have to be hauled for defense industries, makes everyone realize how important these islands are to the United States. Forum ately, someone in the pepper bus" mess was smart enough to foresee Q shortage, so there Is e two-year reserve on hand.
 If you make your vanilla, the next time you have one remember that vanilla bean importing IS Q $2.5 million industry seriously af- fected by the war. France, Mada. gascar and Tahiti have been prin- cipal sources for the bourbon beans which provide most of the J. 8. vanilla extract. Mexico cuts In for a sizeable quota of this, but the prices for both imports have more than doubled .
 French possessions also contribute other spices to the shelf, principally cloves from Zanzibar and Madagas- car. And If you have thought 1t makes no difference in your life whether the Japanese occupy French Indo- China, reflect, neigh Dor, that the country is source of cass!a and both white and black peppers. Still another effect of the Japanese war has been on imports of Chinese ginger and cassia, all of which used to clear through Hong Kong Most of the ginger however, will continue to come from British West Africa and Jamaica.