CINNAMON.
The true cinnamon of commerce is obtained from the inner bark of Cinnamonum verum, R. Brown; or C. zeylanicum; the Laurus cinnamonum, of Linnæus, a handsome looking tree, native of the East Indies. The island of Ceylon is the chief seat of its cultivation, and for a long time the Dutch depended solely for their supply of this bark for the home market on the produce of the wild cinnamon trees in the King of Kandy's territories there. At last, from the increasing demand, they resorted to the growth and more careful culture of the tree themselves. About the year 1794, the cultivation had succeeded so well that they were enabled to meet the demand for the spice from trees of their own growth, independent of any supplies from the Kandian monarch's territory.
In 1796, when this island fell into our hands, the local government endeavoured, after the former fashion of the Dutch, to restrain the production of this article of commerce within due bounds, by destroying all above a certain quantity.
General Maitland, in 1805, and his successors in the government, seeing the folly of such a ridiculous policy, very wisely fostered and promoted the extended cultivation of cinnamon plantations.
In the island of Java, and in Cochin-China, cinnamon culture has within the last few years made considerable progress.
The leaves of the cinnamon tree are more or less acuminated, from five to eight inches long, by about three broad, growing in pairs opposite each other. They have three principal ribs, which come in contact at its base, but do not unite. The leaves, when first developed, are of a bright red hue, then of a pale yellow, and lastly of a dark shining green; when mature, they emit a strong aromatic odor if broken or rubbed in the hands, and have the pungent taste of cloves. The young twigs of the true cinnamon tree are not downy, like those of the cassia bark. The plant blooms in January and February, and the seeds ripen in July and August.
The blossoms grow on slender foot-stalks, of a pale yellow color, from the axillæ of the leaves and the extremity of the branches. They are numerous clusters of small white flowers, having a brownish shade in the centre, about the same size as the lilac, which it resembles. The fruit is a drupe, about the size of a small hedge strawberry, containing one seed, and of the shape of an acorn, which when ripe is soft and of a dark purple color.
The roots are fibrous, hard, and tough, covered with an odoriferous bark; on the outside of a greyish brown, and on the inside of a reddish hue. They strike about three feet into the earth, and spread to a considerable distance. Many of them smell strongly of camphor, which is sometimes extracted from them.
The trees in their wild state will grow ordinarily to the height of 30 feet. The trunk is about three feet in circumference, and throws out a great number of large spreading horizontal branches, clothed with thick foliage. When cultivated for their bark, the trees are not permitted to rise above the height of ten feet.
The true cinnamon tree (according to Mr. Crawfurd) is not a native of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago; but Marshall, in his description and history of the tree ("Annals of Philos," vol. x.) assigns very extensive limits to its cultivation. He asserts that it is found on the Malabar coast, in Cochin-China, and Tonquin, Sumatra, the Soolo Archipelago, Borneo, Timor, the Nicobar and Philippine Islands. It has been transplanted, and grows well in the Mauritius, Bourbon and the eastern coast of Africa; in the Brazils, Guiana, in South America, and Guadaloupe, Martinique, Tobago, and Jamaica; but produces in the West a bark of very inferior quality to the Oriental.