Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1874 — Something About Cinnamon. [ARTICLE]

Something About Cinnamon.

Wk flavor our food with spices, anti have a general idea that they ftre the product of tropical countries, but with most of us our information regarding them stops here. Whether 1 {hey grow wiki iu the jungle or are carefully cultivated -in -plant;rtions we do hot know. Wo buy stick cinnamon, for instance, and occasionally see the grocer tuife it from an odd-looking sack woven of dried flags; but whiit do tfe know of the culture 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? Ip fact not one person in a thousand who pays for cinnamon at tljc grayer’a ever obtains it. Most of our pastrres, confections, ‘ medicines and pprfumory that are, supposed to be flavored or perfumed with cinnamon owe their taste or fragrance to a spurious wild species of plant known as Cassia, very far inferior to the true cinnamon, and worth but a quarter of the price. The island of Ceylon furnishes the whole world with cinnamon, a*d it is nearly all of it shipped to Spain, France, Italy and Russia. Very little of it iinds its way to this country or to England. Various attempts have been made to cultivate it in other regions of the tronics, hut without success in producing an article equal to that indigenous to Ceylon. In Java tlic Dutch have grown it for shipment to Holland, but it is not even so good as the Cassia. 'flic Lut/nts Ciiniaimmi, or true cinnamon plaut, is met with on the island of Ceylon in all altitude*. It k not, however, all of one quality. The fine splee Is only obtained in favorable situations and by careful culture. Tile visitor to Ceylondvill find a short way inland large tract's of land planted witli cinnamon; these arc called cinnamon gardens, and are as highly cultivated as the most exquisite 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 flavorless bark. To 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 maturity, the best spice is obtained. The Portuguese and Dutch, who at different times licit! possession of Ceylon, paid 'great-'attention to the cultivation of this spice, and drew large revenues from its exportation. From the days of Solomon, however, long before either Dutch or Portuguese were known, Ceylon was celebrated for its spice. When the English took possession of Ceylon they devoted |gre St idteiit ion to” the ; plautatioiis, and brought tiiem to »-.better- state of cultivation than had yet been accomplished. 'fhe yield some years ranged us high as 6,1)00' hales of 100 pounds each. About twenty-five years ago the t E» sold the whole of fhiir cinnamon gardens at public auction, and they were purchased by European capitalists, who have brought them to yet higher culture than the English. In a well-kept cinnamon garden not a weed is to he seen. Imagine an extent of 5,000 aergs of. lurnl thickly studded with beautiful lauvcl-r, for, its we have seen, the yinpaujon is a species of tjiis genu’s. At regular distances broad shadetrees are allowed to grow to prevent the fiereo fays of / the noon-dOy Snn from scorching the plants. The shade is carefully regulated, lest by too little the ground should become parched and fail to nourish the , plants; or by too much tlic shrub Should grove- poorly and lose its fine aromatic flavor. A moderate *pjnntitysof light and l«eut is absolutely n/cesSyry t>s jltfpfrly defteloft the (feliifte els<jiti|l <fil which > the flavor of tire einnamon. Innumerable paths intertei'sect, these-great tracts of laurels and shadC'Weis, 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 < eiul ? tlje' bark to beObhl* eanTltc Well-known Indian custom of castes or sects to follow tlic same profession as thi’ir ancestors holds good in Ceylon. ThO culture of the cinnamon belongs properly to the- caste of Chalias, and though ' foreigners have brought nguiy: Tun ovations intnJjic island 4 still Is S-sty Jitrgcly in their hands. • O’hey work in gaugs of twenty-five or thirty, each df which is superintended by a “ Cangliau." These arc again under the supervision of a European overseer. At the time of harvesting the gangs of halfclad, savage-looking Chalias nmrelnug along toward tire gardens, each with his r<rttii< or Indian bill-hook over his shoulder, present an appearance suggestive of some murderous adventure. As they arrive at the cinnamon land they sudon a word rrotn the “ Mo trelTei, or native lender, who under the overseer commands the Canghaus, they rusjfc helter-skelter though the bushes, waving their shining bill-hooka over their lsenda as if there wap actually an enemy lurking in Soon the tallest and finest ,of the cinnamon sticks ftre' Seen td topple and fall in all directions, whilst the quick, sharp click of the cattie is heard in rapid succession. After a

while the Chalias emerge front the hushes laden with great piles of cinnamon sticks. These they place under the shadow of the trees and return to the onslaught. This work is done in about two hours of the eafly morning, the gangs Tutting only as much ns 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 at;p fpofed With palm-leavoft. The fittings or equipments for work are racks made of jungle-sticks to hold the bundles of dried spice, and many rows of stout twine 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, hut by the quantity of spice they produce, and so work with a right- good will. As soon as they reach the waddie they throw their bundles upon the ground, and squatting down in true Oriental fashion upon a small straw mat they draw from their girdles their crooked peeling knives atrd strip the green hark. This peeling is an expeditious and simple process. Running their crooked knives lengthwise down tlie sticks from end to end on two sides, and then by inserting the .point of the blade between the hark and the stick and slipping It, obliquely downward, the whole length of the bark is easily detached from the wood. When this portion of she work is done each man makes up his bundle and pjnees it on the wooden racks, where it remains till the next morning. The next day the outer green skin or cuticle is peeled from the hark. This work is usually done by women, whose delicate touch enables them to do it better than men. As soon as a sufficient number are scraped they are passed over to men, who roll the cleaned spice between their hands into quills or pipes, and then sort it into three qualities according to fineness, evenness and color. It' now wears a dull greenish look, a sort of dark sage color, and is laid upon tlic strings extended along the upper part of tho building’to dry. The drying is carried on very slowly at first, but after the third day the spice' is exposed to the open air and sun during the cooler parts of the day, and shaded lightly during the greatest heat by canopies of braided palm-leaves. Great care is also taken not to allow any rain to fall upon it, for this molds it and renders it unfit foiuse. Alter being dried in this way it is put upon high stands until the end of-tlie harvesting, when the operation of weighing lakes place. Each party" of Chalias keeps its work carefully separate from tlie rest, and at the time of weighing receives from three to four pence a pound for it. Tlic cinnamon now goes into keeping of the European superintendent, Who takes it into great store-houses, and with tlic aid of men whose business it is proceeds to sort, it into three or four qualities. These are packed in bales of one hundred pounds each and placed in a circular screw-press, and hound closely together and secured by means of rattan lashings, over which are fastened a roll of country sacking. In this state it is shipped to Europe, where it is sold at auction every three months and then finds its way to the various consuming countries. —hearth and Home.