In cultivating cloves, the mother-cloves (fruits) are planted in rich mould about 12 in. apart, screened from the sun, and duly watered. They germinate within 5 weeks, and, when 4 ft. high, are transplanted at distances of 30 ft. There should be a certain amount of sand in the soil to reduce its teuaeity, and less manure is required than for nutmegs. The tree naturally selects a volcanic soil, and a sloping position. The yield commences at about the 6th year, and is at its maximum in the 12th year, when the average annual produce may be estirnated at 6-7 lb. of marketable fruit from each tree. There is usually a crop every year, but in Sumatra, the trees often bear only twice iu 3 years. When past its prime, the tree has a ragged appearance. Its existence in Sumatra is supposed to be limited to a duration of about 20 years, except in very superior soil, when it may perhaps last 24 years; yet in Amboina, it dues not bear till the 12th-15th year, aud e,ontinues prolific to the age of 75-150 years. Hence, it is necessary to plant a succession of seedlings when the old trees have attained their 8th year, this octennial system being adhered to throughout. The slight hold which the trees have upon the soil, renders it very desirable that they should be provided with shelter from strong winds. With this object, the plantations in Sumatra are belted with a double row of Casuarina littorea and Cerbera Manghas. Similar pre cautions iu Zanzibar and Reunion would probably have mitigated the havoc recently created by hurricanes among their clove-gardens. The harvesting of the flower-buds (cloves) commences immediately they assume a bright-red colour. The best and most usual plan is to pluck them singly by hand, movable stages facilitating the operation in the case of the upper branches. Some times, however, they are beaten off by long bamboos, and caught in cloths spread below. The plucked cloves undergo a process of drying, which confers a brown hue, and prepares them for packing. In Sumatra, simple exposure to the sun for several days on mats is the common method ; but elsewhere they are occasionally also smoked on hurdles covered with matting near a slow wood fire ; and very rarely they are scalded in hot water before smoking. They are ready for packing when they break easily between the fingers.
The production of cloves fluctuates enormously. The Moluccas, or rather the four of them where the tree is cultivated (Amboina, Haruku, Saparua, and Nusalant), produced 869,727 Amsterdam lb. (of 2.2 lb.) in 1846, but only 89,923 in 1849; in 1854, Nusalant harvested 120,283 Amsterdam lb. from 13,042 trees (an average of 9 lb. a tree), Saparua 181,137 from 29,732 trees, Haruku 38,803, Amboina 170,689 ; total, 510,912 Amsterdam lb. Java export,ed only 92 pieu/s (of 135i lb.) in 1879-80; but in 1878-9, the figures were 1614 to Holland, 5 to Sweden, 3 to America, and 1237 to Singapore, total 2859 piculs. Of late years, the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on the E. African coast, have been the chief producers of cloves, yielding a maximum annual crop of 10i million lb. before the disastrous hurricane of 1872. The clove-gardens of Pemba, situated mostly on the W.
side of the island, escaped the destruction which befel the larger island. The exports from these two islands go largely to Bombay, also direct to America and Hamburg, smaller quantities reaching the Red Sea ports by native craft. For European and American markets, the packages used are mat bags made of split coco-nut leaves ; for native ports, simply raw hides. The Bombay imports were 45,642 cwt. in 1869-70, 20,968 in 1870-1, 43,891 in 1871-2, 25,185 in 1872-3. Reunion in 1825-49 produced yearly as much as 800,000 kilo. (of 2.2 lb.), but has recently suffered much from hurri canes ; the crop of 1879 was destroyed by a cyclone, and the exports for 1879 (8777 hilo.) wens merely re-exports from St. Ma,rie de Madagascar. In Jamaica and Dominica, cloves flourish remarkably, and are eminently suited for cultivation with nutmegs by small proprietors on the hills. Ou.i. imports in 1870 were 1,089,667 lb., 16,374/. ; there are no specific returns since. We received 3271 cwt. from Bombay in 1872-3. Hankow, in 1879, imported 256i piculs (of 133i lb.) of cloves, 4056/. ; and 30 piculs of mother-cloves, 438/. The cloves of commerce vary in plumpness, brightness of tint, and yield of essential oil. The values of the chief kinds met with in the London market are :—Penang, 20-29d. a lb. ; Amboina, 16-23d. ; Zanzibar, Clove-stalks, the vikunia of the natives, are largely shipped from Zanzibar, and used in the manufacture of mixed spice and for adulterating ground cloves. They yield 4-6i per cent. of volatile oil. Mother-cloves or fruits are also exported, probably for a shnilar purpose. In one drug sale in 1873, 4200 packages of the former were sold at 3-4d. a lb., and 1050 bags of the latter at 2-3d. a lb. The microscope will reveal the stone-cells of the stalks and the large starch granules of the fruit, as well as .both stone-cells and starch-granules if pimento has been fraudulently added.
The essential oil of cloves is described on p. 1420.
In Brazil, the flower-buds of Dicypellium caryophyllatum, whose bark furnishes clove cassia, are used as substitutes for true cloves.
Coriander (FR. Coriandre; GER. Soriander).—Coriander-eeeds are the produce of Coriandrum sativum, a small plant 1.10W found growing as a cornfield weed in many temperate and tropical countries. It is cultivated in the E. counties of England, especially Essex, and in various parts of the Continent ; it is also produced in India and N. Africa. In the Dutch E. Indies, a larger and more oval variety is met with. In England, under the name of " col," it is sometimes sown with caraway, and gathered in the first year, while the caraway is left on the ground till the following season. The seedlings are hoed out so as to leave rows 10-12 in. apart. Harvesting is performed with sickles, and the dry seed is threshed out on a cloth in the field, an average crop being 15 cwt. an acre on the best land. In 1872-3, Sind exported 948 cwt., and Bombay 619 cwt., while Calcutta shipped 16,347 cwt. in 1870-1. Corianders are mostly used for flavouring gin, and in the manu facture of curry-powder.
The essential oil is described on p. 1420.