In consequence of the increased flow of sap which occurs after the heavy rains in May and June, and again in November and December, the bark at those seasons is easily separated from the wood, so that a principal harvest takes place in the spring, and a smaller one in the latter part of the year.
The shoots having been cut off by means of a long sickle-shaped hook called a catty, and stripped of their leaves, are slightly trimmed with a knife, the little pieces thus removed being reserved and sold as Cinnamon Chips. The bark is next cut through at distances of about a foot, and slit lengthwise, when it is easily and completely removed by the insertion of a peculiar knife termed a mama, the separation being assisted, if necessary, by strongly rubbing with the handle. The pieces of bark are now carefully put one into another, and the compound sticks firmly bound together into bundles. Thus they are left for 24 hours or more, during which a sort of “fermentation” (?) goes on which facilitates the subsequent removal part. This is accomplished by placing each quill on a stick of wood of suitable thickness, and carefully scraping off with a knife the outer and middle cortical layer. In a few hours after this operation, the peeler commences to place the smaller tubes within the larger, also inserting the small pieces so as to make up an almost solid stick, of about 40 inches in length. The cinnamon thus prepared is kept one day in the shade, and then placed on wicker trays in the sun to dry. When sufficiently dry, it is made into bundles of about 30 lb. each.[1939]
The cinnamon gardens of Ceylon were estimated in 1860-64 to occupy an area of about 14,400 acres; in the catalogue of the British Colonies, Paris Exhibition, 1878, about 2 millions of acres are stated to be under cultivation in the island, 26,000 acres with cinnamon.[1940]
The exports of cinnamon from Ceylon have been as follows:—
| 1871 | 1872 | 1875 |
| 1,359,327 lb., | 1,267,953 lb., | 1,500,000 lb. |
| value £67,966. | value £64,747. |
At present the cultivation of coffee is displacing that of cinnamon, the exports of the former in 1875 being 928,606 cwts. valued at 4¼ millions sterling. Of the crop of 1872 there were 1,179,516 lb. of cinnamon shipped to the United Kingdom, 53,439 lb. to the United States of North America, and 10,000 lb. to Hamburg.
Besides the above-named exports of cinnamon, the official statistics[1941] record the export of “Cinnamon Bark”—8846 lb. in 1871—23,449 lb. in 1872. This name includes two distinct articles, namely Cinnamon Chips, and a very thick bark derived from old stems. The Cinnamon Chips which, as explained on the previous page, are the first trimmings of the shoots, are very aromatic; they used to be considered worthless, and were thrown away. The second article, to which in the London drug sales the name “Cinnamon Bark” is restricted, is in flat or slightly channelled fragments, which are as much as ⁴/₁₀ of an inch in thickness, and remind one of New Granada cinchona bark. It is very deficient in aromatic qualities, and quite unfit for use in pharmacy.
In most other countries into which Cinnamomum zeylanicum has been transplanted, it has been found that, partly from its tendency to pass into new varieties and partly perhaps from want of careful cultivation and the absence of the skilled cinnamon-peeler, it yields a bark appreciably different from that of Ceylon. Of other cinnamon-producing districts, those of Southern India may be mentioned as affording the Malabar or Tinnevelly, and the Tellicherry Cinnamon of commerce, the latter being almost as good as the cinnamon of Ceylon.[1942] The cultivation in Java commenced in 1825. The plant, according to Miquel, is a variety of C. zeylanicum, distinguished by its very large leaves which are frequently 8 inches long by 5 inches broad. The island exported in 1870, 1109 peculs (147,866 lb.); in 1871 only 446 peculs (59,466 lb.).[1943]
Cinnamon is also grown in the French colony of Guyana and in Brazil, but on an insignificant scale. The samples of the bark from those countries which we have examined are quite unlike the cinnamon of Ceylon. That of Brazil in particular has evidently been taken from stems several years old.
The importations of cinnamon into the United Kingdom from Ceylon are shown by the following figures:—