Caraways (Fs., Fruits or Senwncos de Carvi; GER., Kiimmel).—The mother-plant of caraway " seeds" (Carum Ca, vi) grows in moist meadows, widely throughout Europe and Asia, from Iceland to the Himalayas, aud in a prescribed district of N. Africa, partly wild, partly under cultivation. In England, it is found wild in Lincoln, York, and some other shires, and is cultivated with coriander on clay lands in Kent and Essex. It needs much care Etnd diligence, yielding in the 2nd year a crop which is harvested in July, by cutting with hook at about 1 ft. from the ground, and is ready for threshing a few days later, the produce of " seeds" being 4-8 cwt. an acre. In Germany, tho cultivation is largely carried on in Moravia, as well as in Prussia, especially near Halle, and in the districts of Erfurt and Merseburg, the yield from the two latter being stated at 30,000 ewt. yearly. In Holland, quantities are grown in N. Holland, Gelderland, and N. Brabant, the planta being wild in the two latter provinces. The fruits are exported from Finmark (Norway), and from Fin land and Russia, the plEtnt growing throughout Continental ScandinEtvia, Arctic, Central, and S. Russia, and Siberia. Thence it extends iuto Persia, the Caucasus, Armenia, and the high alpine region of Lahoul, W. HimalEtya. It is also found throughout E. France, the Pyrenees, and Spain. The statement that it is much cultivated in Iceland, ia open to great doubt. A large variety is grown in isolated districts in Morocco, viz. about El ArEtiche and around Morocco City. The exports thence were 952 cwt. in 1872 ; and from Tangier to Great Britain, they were 46 cwt., 37/., in 1878, and 120 cwt., 118/., :in 1880. Memel, in 1879, shipped 2057 cwt., 2777/. Our total imports in 1870 were 19,160 cwt., mainly from Holland. The kinds distinguished in the London market are Englibh, Dutch, GermEtn, and MogEtdor.
The essential oil of caraway is described on pp. 1418-9.
Cardamoms (Fs., Cardamomes; GER., Cardarnomen).—There are two vEtrieties of the cardamom plant affording the commercial spice. Elettaria [Alputia] Cardamomum, growing both wild and cultivated in the raoiat, shEtdy, inountain forests of N. Canaria, Coorg, and the Wynaad, at 2500 5000 ft. elevation, where the mean tenaperature is 22° (72° F.), and the annual rainfall 121 in.; and var. /3., giving longer and larger fruits, found wild in the forests of CentrEt1 and S. Ceylon. The lattkr are known in commerce as Ceylon cardamoms. They are about 1-li in. long, in. diam. ; ()I' a greyish colour, and are not bleached like the ordinary cardamoms. Large quantities of the fruit are collected from wild plants, but cultivation is aLso extensively carried on, varying considerably in the different districts.
In Travancore, Coorg, and the Wynaad, the plan adopted is as follows. In the dry season, spots are selected on a elope of W. or N. aspect in the shady forest where some of the plants are already growing, and a patch measuring some 250-350 ft. by 30-40 is cleared of underwood in such a situation that it will be covered by felling one of the huge forest trees, whose destruction will admit sun and light. The cardamom plants spring up quasi-spontaneously, and attain a height of 2-3 ft. during the following monsoon, after which, the patch is weeded, fenced, and left for a year. The plants commence to bear about 3i years after their first appearance, and continue productive for 6-7 years, the yield being 28-48 lb. per annum from an acre of forest containing 4 patches of 484 sq. yd. in area. In Travancore and Cochin, cardamoms are naonopolies of the native rajahs. All the produce of the former State is conveyed to the port of Aleppy [Alapalli], where it is sold by auction chiefly to Moplah merchants for distribution over India, and the finest for export to England.
The plant is raised from seed both on the lower range of the Pulney Hills, fleas Dindigul, at about 5000 ft., and iu the betel-nut plantations of N. Canara and W. Mysore. In tbe former locality, the sholas, or forests which are moist all the year round, are cleared of underwood and small trees ; the cardamoms are sown, and, when a few inches high, are planted out in ones or twos under the shade of the big trees, requiring 5 years before bearing fruit. In the betel-gardens, the plants derive shade from the palms and plantain's, and are fruitful at 3 years.
The cardamom harvest begins in October and continues for 2-3 months. The fruits do not ripen simultaneously, and therefore require much attention in plucking, while it is necessary to guard against their being eaten by snakes, frogs, and squirrels, and to gather them before the capsulea have split. For perfection, the fruits require a short drying after collection, either by sun-heat or gentle fire-heat. They are esteemed in proportion to their plumpness and heaviness, and the sound and mature condition of their seeds, which should form about of the weight. The Indian kind measure A-,- A- in. long, the Ceylon 1-2 in. The approximate London market values are :—Malabar, good, 6s.-9s. 6d. a lb., inferior, 2s.-7s. 6d. ; Aleppy, 2-9s.; Madras, ls. 6d.-7s. ; Ceylon, 2s. 6d.-5s. 6d. In 1872, Bombay exported 1650 ewt., 1055 being for the United Kingdom; and Ceylon, 9273 lb. to the United Kingdom.
Several other kinds of cardamom possess an importance in Asiatic commerce ; they are chiefly as follows :—(1) Round or Cluster cardamom (Amomum Cardamomum), a native of Cambodia, Siam, Sumatra, and Java, produced in small compact bunches, the fruit being nearly globular and amooth ; (2) the Wild, Bastard, or Xanthioid cardamom, or " cardamom seeds," afforded by A. xanthioides, a native of Tenasserim and Siam ; these are oval and covered with short prickles. These two sorts are the objects of considerable trade between Siam, Singapore, and China, and one of them is probably the kind cultivated by the French settlers in Saigon, where 1350 piculs (of 133i lb.) were produced in 1880. The shipments from Bangkok in 1871 were 4678 piculs (623,733 lb.), all to Singapore and China ; and in 1875, 267 piculs of true," and 3267 of " bastard " cardamoms. Hankow imported in 1879, from abroad, 132 piculs (of 1331 lb.) of superior, 6985/., and 2362 of inferior, 21,732/. ; and from native ports, 142i piculs of superior, 7534/. Shanghai imported in 1879, 327 piculs of superior, 3810 of inferior, and 233 of husks. (3) Winged or Bengal cardamom, morung clachi or buro elachi (A. aromaticum), is produced in the Morung Mountable, in about 26° 30' N. lat. (4) Nepal cardamoms, from Amomum subulatum, are grown on well-watered hill-slopes, under shelter of trees, on the frontiers of Nepal, near Daniling, aud exported to other parts of India. (5) Java cardamoms are produced by A. maximum in that island ; these are of a brown colour, and more or less furnished with winged longitudinal ridges. (6) Korarima cardamoms are yielded by Amomum Korarima (Cardamomum majus), an undescribed plant indigenous to the whole mountain region of E. Africa, from Uganda to the countries of Tumhd, Guragno, and Shoa, lying S. and S.-E. of Abyssinia. They are carried to Baso (10° N. lat.), and thence to Massowa, for ship ment to India and Arabia. They are of a brown colour, li-2 in. long, in. diam. below, oblong, pear-shaped, and slightly furrowed.