e 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.
Rumphius has remarked, that the trees which yield cinnamon, cassia,
and clove bark (_Cinnamonum Culilaban_), though so much alike, are
hardly ever found in the same countries.
The term clove bark has been applied to the barks of two different
trees belonging to the natural order _Laurineae_. One of these barks is
frequently called "Culilaban bark." It consists of almost flat
pieces, and is obtained from _Cinnamonum Culilaban_, a tree growing in
Amboyna, and probably other parts of the Moluccas.
The other bark, known as clove bark, occurs in quills, which are
imported from South America. Murray says it is produced by the _Myrtus
carophyllata_, a tree termed by Decandolle _Syzgium carophyllaeum_. It
appears, however, that this is an error, for both Nees and Von Martius
declare it to be the produce of _Dicypellium caryophyllatum_; and the
last quoted authority states that this tree is the noblest of all the
laurels found in the Brazils, where it is called "Pao Cravo." It grows
at Para and Rio Negro.
Cinnamon may be propagated by seeds, plants, or layers; roots also, if
carefully transplanted, will thrive in favorable localities, and yield
useful shoots in twelve months. It is usually cultivated from suckers,
which should not have more than three or four leaves, and require
continual watering. If raised from seed, the young plants are kept in
a nursery for a year or two, and then transplanted; but the trees from
seeds are longer arriving at maturity. The plants are kept well
earthed about the roots to retain the moisture, and coco-nut husks are
placed above them, which in time form an excellent compost.
A cinnamon plantation, even in a favorable locality, seldom yields
much return until eight or nine years have elapsed.
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