Care should be taken in selecting the seed, as that from trees ten years old and up is best. Seed from old trees with coarse wood produces coarse and unpeelable bark, which helps to increase the chips. If the tree is to be raised from shoots, the youngest, or those not containing more than three leaves, must be selected, for if older they will surely die. The method of raising plants from layers is very good, because the numerous side branches which issue from the bottom of the trunk also furnish an abundant supply, well adapted for the purpose intended. The transplanting of the divisions of old roots or stumps is also much approved, as they yield shoots of useful size twelve months after planting. Great care must be taken in planting or removing the roots or the divisions of the parent stump, for should any of the rootlets become bruised, even to the tenth part of an inch in diameter, the injured part will certainly perish. Care must also be taken when removing the roots or stumps to keep as much earth on them as possible, or as can be carried with them. The dirt originally taken from the holes should not be returned, but there should be used, instead, that from the surface which has been burned and contains ashes mixed with vegetable manure. When old cinnamon trees are cut down and burned on their stumps, the roots will later produce a superior quality of cinnamon. Planting of seed is least advantageous as it requires greater attention than other modes, and the trees are longer reaching perfection. As they are planted four to five seeds in a hill, and as they are quite sure to germinate, the plants grow in clusters. Should no rain fall after planting on either the roots or stumps, they must be kept watered every morning and evening until the sprouts shoot out fresh buds. This will be in about two weeks from the planting and is an indication that they have taken root. In a month the shoots will be from three to four inches high. When seed is sown and dry weather follows, the seedlings will perish. It will be necessary, therefore, to plant the ground anew. It is wise, therefore, to raise plants in a nursery to supply the vacancies in the hills.
GALLE HARBOR
NEGOMBO CANAL
For a nursery, a plat of rich soil is selected, free from stone and cleared from brushwood, except the tall trees, which are left for shade. The ground is dug over and formed into beds from three to four feet wide and the seed is sown nine to twelve inches apart and shaded at eight to twelve inches above ground, by a pendall of leaves. The plants are kept watered on alternate days until they have one pair of leaves, but the shade should not be removed until the plants are six to eight inches high and are able to bear the sun. The seed will germinate in from two to three weeks. The planting takes place in autumn when the seed is gathered fully ripe. The seeds are heaped up in shady places, as the sun would crack and spoil them; the outer red coating will rot, turn black, and come off easily; the seed is then washed and dried in the air, but not in the sun; that which will float on water is rejected. The plants are taken from the nursery in October and November, and under favorable situations they will grow from five to six feet high in from six to seven years. A healthy bush will then afford two or three shoots ready for peeling, but should unfavorable results occur they will not yield for from eight to twelve years. After the plants are fully established in the field, very little cultivation is required, except to keep them free from the weeds. In a good soil from four to seven shoots may be cut every two years. Sometimes thriving plants may be cut first in four years and sometimes even in two years.
The quality of the bark depends upon its position on the branch; that from the middle is the best, that from the top second, and that from the base, which is the thicker part of the branch, the third grade. Shoots exposed during growth to the direct rays of the sun have their bark more acrid and spicy than the bark of those which grow in the shade. A marshy soil rarely produces good cinnamon, its texture being cross-grained and spongy, with little aroma. The quality is determined by the thinness of the bark—the thinner and more pliable the finer. The finest quality of bark is smooth and somewhat shiny and of a light yellow color. The shoot bends before it breaks, and when the fracture occurs it is generally in the form of a splinter which has an agreeable, warm, aromatic taste with a slight degree of sweetness.
Two crops are gathered each year—the first from April to August and the second from November to January. These particular seasons are selected for harvesting on account of their coming just after the heavy rains, just as the young, red leaf assumes the normal dark green. The sap then is more active and the bark is more easily detached. If there is not sufficient rain the garden may have to be cut over several times.
In harvesting, the shoots are not all cut at one time, but by degrees as they arrive at the required maturity. Those sticks which promise to peel at the next cutting are left. In pruning, with plenty of help, every stick older than two years is cut, whether it will peel or not.
A grayish, corky appearance is an indication of the fitness of the shoots for cutting. A certain amount is marked off for each day’s cutting, and it is an offense to go outside of that limit, but within the limit every one is allowed to go where he pleases. When fifteen or twenty persons are allowed to scramble as they please, the trees are agitated as by a whirlwind passing over them and in less than forty minutes the best sticks are cut and appropriated. Then systematic work begins. Every stick is then tested before cutting, and, if the wood is in a fair condition for peeling, it will take about two hours to finish a plat of 484 square feet. There are four such plats to an acre. They yield from twenty-eight to forty-eight pounds each. When called off, no one is allowed to cut another stick. (See [illustration].)