Walter M. Gibbs

“ When the spice grinder will consider how hard it is to hide the spark of Nature, whoever yields reward to him who seeks and loves her best, and when the retail dealer of spices will remember that there is another man on the other side of the counter who is entitled to his money’s worth, then, and not until then, will the evil of the adulteration of spices be done away with. A merchant who will, knowingly, sell to his customer adulterated spices at the value of pure goods is worse than a thief, because he not only robs them of their money but gives them poison for their stomach. ”

“ Virgin forest lands, with a soil covered with a layer of leaf mold or rotten wood, is well adapted to the cultivation of the plant, and a hot, moist climate is requisite. Plenty of shade is necessary to protect the trees from the prevailing winds which would scatter the flowers and uproot the trees, as the roots take but a slender hold in the ground. Large trees should not be allowed to grow with spice trees, as they would exclude the vivifying rays of the sun and arrest the fall of the night dews, which are necessary for quantity as well as quality of the nutmegs. ”

“ The Penang nutmeg, the fruit of the myristica fragrans, called by the Hindustanee and Bengalee jaiphal, or true nutmeg, as its name implies, which is the finest, is of a brown color and shaped like a damson plum. It is furrowed on the interior and grayish inside, with veins of red running through it, and possesses a fine, delicate aroma of great strength and flavor. The Penang nutmegs are not to be found in the spice-mill stock because the poorer Batavia or the wild Macassars will grind better, their worm holes will not show in the meal, and they are not difficult to powder. ”

“ In planting a new garden where no wild pepper vines are to be had, level land is selected which borders on a river or small stream without much sloping, but not so low as to be liable to any overflow from the stream, as the land must be kept well drained. Pepper is a hardy plant and will grow on almost any soil, but not on old, worn-out plantations or on poor sandy or clay soil, as more depends on the soil than on the cultivation. It should not be planted on hillsides because the earth will wash from the roots in time of rains. ”

“ Singapore has ships from every port of the world going in and out of its harbor, and its streets are as lively as those of New York. You can go from it to the continent in a rowboat in one-half hour. Close connections are also made at Singapore for Siam, Borneo, Australia, China, Japan, Sumatra, and Ceylon, and it is the half-way station of the voyage around the world. The Island of Ceylon, with Colombo as its capital and chief city of export, also produces many fine spices. What could India do without her Spice Forests? ”

“ Care must be taken to separate, as far as possible, all ripe berries from those which are green, as otherwise the crop will be made of inferior quality. The fruit, which necessarily ripens on the tree, before the bulk of the crop is harvested, falls to the ground and is of no commercial value, as it has lost its aromatic properties. The problem which the planter has to contend with of harvesting his crop before it ripens is a serious one, for the harvesting often must be done rapidly, and it is often difficult to obtain help enough among the indolent natives to pick the crop. ”

“ Although the white pepper has the name of being a superior article, it is not. It is very true that only the marrow of the black pepper berries can be used to make white pepper, and the product does have an exquisite flavor; but since the greater strength lies in the outer cover, there is some doubt as to the quality of the white pepper. Moreover, the real goodness of the pepper is, in fact, not improved by this process, as the water injures its strength, the outer husk contains more of the aroma, and the quality of the pepper removed is almost proportionate to the weight of the pepper corn. ”

“ Previous to this time, in 1506, large trees were found by the Portuguese growing wild and scattered through the interior of Ceylon. The Dutch, after many attempts to restrict the cultivation of it to the Island of Ceylon, passed a law making the removal of the seed from the island a crime punishable by death. The law also provided that persons should be compelled to care for the tree, even if it were on their property, and it further provided that any person discovered in cutting a shrub of cinnamon on the island should have his right hand cut off. ”

“ ADULTERATION OF SPICES THE Dutch at one time tried to control much of the spice trade but were frustrated by the birds which carried the seeds and planted them in other countries. We are strongly inclined to look upon the scheming Dutchman with contempt for this selfish act, but there is to-day hovering over spice products a greater evil, which makes one feel almost like shedding tears of shame for the acts of men who adulterate spices. ”

“ The clove tree, owing to its noble height, fine form, and luxuriant foliage, is attractive in appearance. Its bark is thin and smooth and its wood exceedingly hard, but it has a grayish color, which unfits it for cabinet work. It is an evergreen and in its natural state grows to a height of from thirty to forty feet, with a straight trunk, making it the most beautiful of all known trees. When four feet high, the tree spreads into several branches with fork stems, on which leaves grow directly opposite each other. ”

“ Some spice millers are suspicious of the cake, fearing it may be adulterated or be made up of partially poor seed, or of the refuse of previous workings, and they have good reasons for their fears, as such adulteration might occur, but as the pure article is to be judged by the flavor and pungency it may possess, it is as easy to test the cake as the seed.
Mustard is not only very popular as a condiment but is a medicinal rubefacient, as it has many stimulating properties. The use of mustard plasters every household is familiar with ”

“ Ginger thrives best on rich clay or cool loam soil that is well drained. New land which has been plowed but two or three times is best adapted to its cultivation. The ground should be dug up and cleared of weeds. The plant will not grow in dry sand or hard clay soil.
Ginger, being an underground stem of tuberous-appearing roots, takes its botanical name, rhizome, from the Spanish word rais, a root. These roots are known in commerce as races, and in Jamaica as hands, from their irregular palmate form. The real roots are the fibers thrown off the rhizomes. ”

“ The clove is very rich in essential oil, containing a greater proportion than any other plant. The oil has a greater specific gravity than water and, therefore, sinks in it. Water extracts very little of the flavor of cloves. The oil combined with resinous matter in cloves gives them their pungency, and their aromatic property depends on the amount of oil they contain.
In studying the structure of both the whole or the powdered cloves, an examination for starch in the powder should first be made in water, as the starch granules swell by the use of the chloral-hydrate solution. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Grains of Paradise, or Alligator pepper, which is the seed of Amomum Mele Gueta, a plant of the ginger family, which contains seeds which are exceedingly pungent and are used as a spice through Central and Northern Africa. The cultivation of the pepper plant in the Western Hemisphere has been attended with fair success where it has been perseveringly pursued, but there is little probability that it can successfully compete even in the West India islands with that of those countries where the plant is indigenous. ”

“ The tree yields but one crop each year, which, on an average, is about seven pounds. A good healthy orchard at maturity produces about 375 pounds to the acre, less one-third for young trees, or about 300 pounds. The yield is often fifteen to twenty pounds to a tree, and we have records of trees which bore as high as seventy-five pounds at the age of 150 years. The ordinary life of a tree is from twenty to thirty years, though it varies much in different localities. When the clove tree becomes old and worthless for bearing it will have a ragged appearance. ”

“ 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 end of the vine makes the best cutting, as it is a growing terminal bud. Vines growing wild, such as are indigenous to the forests of Malabar and Travancore, are left planted with the forest trees for their support. The surplus shade and underbrush are cut out and the ground is weeded, old vines being replaced by young ones. The product raised in this way is about as good as the cultivated.
A pepper garden is generally planted with plenty of room for roads, so as to secure easy access to all parts of it and with the least possible grade, which should not be more than one foot in twenty. ”

“ It is said that sailors, several miles at sea, in favorable weather, with a gentle land breeze, can tell they are nearing land long before they come in sight of the islands by the fragrance of the spice gardens. Singapore has a population of only 200,000, and the small island on which it is built contains but 145,000 acres, yet the city does a business of $200,000,000 a year and can count its millionaires by the score. ”

“ When a nutmeg plantation is to be started, great care must be taken to select a good, rich, virgin soil, formed of a deep loam with good drainage, as the plants will not thrive on a sandy soil. The rainfall should be at least from sixty to seventy inches per annum. Although the nutmeg plant is essentially a lowland plant, flourishing from two hundred to four hundred feet above sea level, and not proving successful at a higher elevation than fifteen hundred feet, it must be kept free from stagnant water about its roots, for this would surely kill it. ”

“ A larger sum is paid for pepper than for any other spice. The amount paid for spices in this country annually does not fall much short of one dollar per capita at retail prices.
Four and one-half days by ocean steamer from New York brings us to the Island of Jamaica; and this chapter would not be complete if I did not mention that gem of the West Indies, the home of the Pimento and the famous Jamaica Ginger. Xaymaca (the Indian name for Jamaica) is like a huge mountain standing alone in the Caribbean Sea, with its hard, white coral beach and ideal climate. ”

“ The nutmeg gardens of the world are the Banda Islands belonging to the East Indies, but the nutmeg is also found in the West Indies on the Island of Jamaica, which is quite noted for its nutmeg plantations. Nutmegs are also found in Bengal, Singapore, Penang, and French Guinea and Brazil, in the west peninsula of New Guinea, Damma, Amboina, Ceram, Boro, Boero or Bouro, Gilolo, Sumatra, and they have been successfully introduced in Ternate, Menando, in the Celebes group, and in Java and Bourbon or Reunion, but not in the Philippines. ”

“ The best soil for pepper culture is a well-drained vegetable loam; swamp lands are very good in a hot climate with heavy rains.
The vine may be propagated either from the seed or by cuttings. When berries are selected for seed they are first soaked for three days, when the outer coat can be removed. The seed is then dried in the shade, after which it is sown by drills in nursery beds, which are made in the usual manner in good moist soil in a shady locality. Frequent watering will be necessary, if it be a dry time, until the plants have four leaves, when they will be ready for planting. ”

“ It is estimated that the world’s production of true cinnamon does not exceed 400,000,000 pounds, while an equal amount of cassia is collected chiefly in China and the East Indies. Cinnamon is not an article which enters into the daily food of the masses of the people, and the consumption does not increase with a low price or decrease when the price is high. The present consumption does not equal one pound to each 500 inhabitants of the earth. ”

“ To smell of thyme was an expression of praise applied to those whose style was admirable. In the days of chivalry, peradventure, very highly noted ladies used to embroider their knightly heroes’ scarfs with the figure of a bee hovering about a sprig of thyme, the bees as the belles of thyme. Early lists of English plants give no name with which it can certainly be identified. It grows from six inches to one foot high and has a two-lipped calyx and four diverging stamens and is clothed with a hoary down, with narrow, almost elliptical leaves with edges turned in. ”

“ When mixed with the bark of the prunings and with those sticks which do not peel well it is known as chips. It brings a low price on the market and is used for grinding; and, although it does not have the delicate flavor of the quilled, what is lacking in delicacy is made up in pungency and, therefore, in many cases, it is preferred. Chips bring so low a price in the market that they may be purchased by the miller of spices and sold in the pure powdered state at a price much below what he can sell the bark at. ”

“ After the husk is removed, the nut is about three and one-half to four and one-half centimeters long and from two to two and one-half centimeters in diameter, and the testa is nearly one millimeter thick. They abound in a disagreeable oil, which, of course, will rob them of the pleasant nutmeg flavor which is found in the cultivated nut. The thick pericarp or outer covering is hard and brittle. The mace which covered it is insipid, is of a reddish color, has a disagreeable odor and it generally consists of four stripes which are united above and below. ”

“ Be willing your grocer should live and obtain a profit for his work. Do not compel him to handle adulterated goods by quoting him the price of his neighbor dealer who sells the adulterated stock. Spices of high order are more costly, but are cheap to the consumer by reason of excess of flavor and strength. Let your dealer know you can appreciate a good article and, if he handles adulterated goods, remind him “that he may fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but he can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ The great aim of the grower is to produce reddish-brown seed, without any intermixture of gray. The gray color of the seed is attributed to the influence of the rains during the ripening. The presence of this color greatly lowers the value of the seed.
The crop requires very little tillage. The seed is sown broadcast, in the month of April, at the rate of one bushel to an acre. The harvesting will take place in June and July. The land is sufficiently seeded to produce two crops, which are sometimes gathered in one year. A yield of forty bushels to an acre is not uncommon. ”

“ Our greater supply now comes from Zanzibar, Nepaul, Bombay, and Penang. Almost every gardener knows the red pepper plant. The plants are generally started in a nursery or hot-house in early spring, from the seed, and are transplanted when a few inches high, as soon as the weather will permit, in the prepared garden, about four feet apart. When about six inches high, a little rich fertilizer should be worked in the soil about the plants. The Cayenne pepper plant is an annual and is a slow grower, and it seldom rises higher than four feet. ”

“ Those which fall from the tree are dried in the sunshine. They have a shriveled appearance, dull color, little essential oil, and are of inferior value. The flowers are next dried, when they assume the brown color of the clove. The finest cloves are dark-brown with a full, perfect head free from moisture. The inferior are smaller and poorer in essential oil. The drying process is usually by simple exposure to the sun for several days on mats, but in some places the flowers are smoked on hurdles covered with matting near a slow fire. ”

“ The entire tree is strongly aromatic and the petioles of the leaves have nearly the same pungency as the calyces of the flowers.
In cultivating cloves, the mother cloves are best selected fresh, as they soon lose their vitality. The fruit seed (called by the natives paleny) , which have become fertilized by remaining and ripening on the trees, are first soaked in water three days, or until they begin to germinate, and are next planted in a nursery of rich mold with bud end above ground in shaded beds, six inches apart if many plants are needed, twelve inches apart for few. ”