Note 526 — Chapter XXVIII

Cinnamon is one of the plants which, like the chinchonæ, are cultivated solely for their bark. Mr. Thwaites, the Director of the Botanical Gardens in Ceylon, has supplied me with a few particulars respecting the cultivation of cinnamon. The young shoots are peeled twice during the year, at a particular period of growth, when the bark comes off readily. This time is known at once by the peelers, from the appearance of the young shoots, and the process of peeling is then a very expeditious one, with practised hands. Young plants are raised from seeds in nurseries, and planted six feet apart, when they are a foot or eighteen inches long. They will commonly bear peeling in three or four years after being transplanted, if in a favourable locality and properly attended to. The roots are earthed up frequently, to keep the soil loose and free from weeds. In 1858, 750,744 lbs. of cinnamon were exported from Ceylon, worth 37,537l. There are forty-nine cinnamon-gardens in the island.