The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Part 60

lbs. lbs.

1830 1,748,800 | 1846 1,462,000 1831 1,614,640 | 1847 1,324,480 1832 2,355,560 | 1848 320,340 --------- | --------- 5,719,000 | 3,106,820

In 1843 there were s.h.i.+pped from Jamaica 3,719 casks and bags; in 1844, 3,692 casks and 1730 bags; in 1845, 3,506 casks, valued at 4 10s.

each, and 1,129 bags, valued at 2 each, equal in all to 18,037.

From the island of Hayti 8,769 lbs. of ginger were exported in 1835, and 15,509 lbs. in 1836. 39 packages of ginger were s.h.i.+pped from Barbados in 1851.

In Maranham and one or two other provinces of Brazil, ginger of an excellent quality is grown, and a good deal is exported. It was very early an article of culture in South America. According to Acosta, it was brought to America by one Francisco de Mendoza, from Malabar, and so rapidly did its cultivation spread, that as far back as 1547, 22,053 cwt. were s.h.i.+pped to Europe. Southey, in his "History of Brazil" (vol. i., p. 320), says, "Ginger had been brought from the island of St. Thomas, and throve so well that in the year 1573, 4,000 arrobas of 25 lbs. each were cured; it was better than what came from India, though the art of drying it was not so well understood. Great use was made of this root in preserves, but it was prohibited, as interfering with the Indian trade in that wretched species of policy which regards immediate revenue as its main object."

Ginger was worth in the London market 25s. to 60s. the cwt. in bond; middling and fine qualities, 80s. to 160s. The duty is 5s. per cwt.

Amount of imports of ginger into the United Kingdom, with the quant.i.ties entered for home consumption:--

West India Entered for East India Entered for ginger. home consumption. ginger. home consumption.

cwts. cwts. cwts. cwts.

1831 3,551 4,709 849 79 1832 5,947 6,795 2,508 213 1833 6,064 6,570 10,049 1,099 1834 9,913 9,918 10,004 1,638 1835 8,321 8,982 4,489 1,647 1836 10,226 6,304 13,589 3,524 1837 10,933 9,905 23,876 3,386 1838 13,366 9,944 25,649 1,431 1839 8,996 7,213 29,624 914 1840 5,381 7,935 9,719 1,568 1841 4,446 5,523 5,292 1,177 1842 4,671 5,068 3,680 1,956 1843 4,013 5,953 4,106 3,254 casks, &c. casks. bags. bags.

1844 4,619 3,128 5,101 6,964 1845 6,033 4,000 8,165 7,938

Total Retained for ginger imported. home consumption.

cwts. cwts.

1846 24,370 15,937 1846 20,010 15,163 1847 12,995 9,744 1848 13,748 10,454 1849 28,015 12,880 1850 33,953 16,543 1851 35,678 19,855 1852 20,297 18,691

GALANGALE ROOT is a good deal used in China, and forms an article of commerce, fetching in the London market 12s. to 16s. per cwt. in bond. It is the rhizoma of _Alpinia Galanga_. Its taste is peppery and aromatic. Externally the color of the root-stocks is reddish brown, internally pale reddish white.

1,280 cwt. of galangale root, valued at 2,880 dollars, was exported from Canton in 1850.

CARDAMOMS.

Cardamoms are the production of various species of plants of the same tribe as the ginger, and might be profitably cultivated with that aromatic root, as well as the Turmeric (_Curc.u.ma longa_), which see.

Various species of _Alpiniae_, _Amomum_, _Elettaria_, _and Renealmia_, appear to furnish the cardamoms of the shops, which consist of the oval, trivalvular capsules containing the seeds. The bright yellow seeds are used in medicine as aromatic tonics and carminatives; and for curries, ketchups, soups, &c. Their active ingredient is a pungent volatile oil. The least dampness injures the finer sorts. About 688 cwts. of cardamoms, and 5,000 cwts. of b.a.s.t.a.r.d cardamoms are annually exported from Siam, "We imported about 300 tons in 1849. The price ranges from 1s. 6d. to 3s. the pound. The estimated value of the cardamoms and pepper s.h.i.+pped from Ceylon in the past few years was as follows:--1846, 208; 1847, 246; 1848, 205; 1849, 454; 1850, 960; 1851, 771; 1852, 590. The" following are some of the plants from which cardamoms are procured.

1. _Amomum Cardamomum_, a Java plant, supplies the round cardamoms. It has pale brown flowers. The fruit varies in size from that of a black currant to a cherry.

_2. A. angustifolium_ (Pereira), a plant having red blossoms; furnishes the large Madagascar cardamoms, and also supplies some of the seeds called "Grains of Paradise," which are, however, larger than those imported under that name.

This species is found in Abyssinia, according to my friend Mr. Chas.

Johnston, author of "Travels in Abyssinia," who favored me with some specimens. The seeds are pale olive brown, devoid of the fiery peppery taste of the grains of paradise.

3. _A. maximum_, the great winged amomum, produces the Java cardamoma of the London market, and is also grown extensively in Ceylon, the Malay islands, Nepaul, Sumatra, and other islands of the Eastern Archipelago. There were exported from Ceylon in 1842, 5,364 lbs.; in 1843, 9,632 lbs.; 1844, 7,280 lbs.; and in 1845, 11,812 lbs. The pods are large and long, and dark colored, approaching to black, the taste nauseous and disagreeable, not the least resembling that of the Malabar cardamoms. It is propagated by cuttings of the rhizoma. The plants yield in three years, and afterwards give an annual crop. They are not used here, but sent to the continent.

4. _Alpinia Cardamomum_.--This is the source of the cl.u.s.tered cardamoms, and furnishes the best known sort. Its produce is in great request throughout India, fetching as much as 30 the candy of 600 Lbs. About 192 candies are grown annually in Travancore, and the usual crop in Malabar is reckoned at 100 candies annually. It flourishes on the mountainous parts of the Malabar coast, and among the western mountains of Wynaad. The bulbous plants, which grow three or four feet high, are produced in the recesses of the mountains by felling trees, and afterwards burning them, for wherever the ashes fall in the openings or fissures of the rocks, the plant naturally springs up. In the third year the plants come to perfection, bearing abundantly for a year or two, and then die. In Soonda Balagat, and other places where cardamoms are planted, they are much inferior to those grown in the wild state. It may be propagated by cuttings or divisions of the roots. Not more than one-hundredth part of the cardamoms raised in Malabar are used in the country. They are sent in large quant.i.ties to the ports on the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, up the Indus to Scinde, to Bengal and Bombay. The price of Malabar cardamons at Madras, in June, 1853, was about 3 the maund of 25 lbs. They fetch in the Bombay market 4 10s. the maund of 40 lbs. Cardamoms form a universal ingredient in curries, pillaus, &c. The seed capsules are gathered as they ripen, and when dried in the sun are fit for sale.

They should be chosen full, plump, and difficult to be broken; of a bright yellow color, and piercing smell; with an acrid bitterish, though not very unpleasant taste, and particular care should be taken that they are properly dried.

_5. Amomum Grana-Paradisi_, which is indigenous to the islands of Madagascar and Ceylon, yields an inferior sort of cardamoms, known by the names of grains of paradise, or Meleguetta pepper. These are worth in the English market only from 1s. 2d. to 1s. 4d. per pound, while the long and Malabar cardamoms fetch 2s. 8d. to 3s. 3d. the pound.

This plant is a native of Guinea, and the western parts of Africa about Sierra Leone. We imported from thence in 1841, 7,911 pounds.

The taste of these Guinea grains is aromatic and vehemently hot or peppery. They are imported in casks from Africa, and are princ.i.p.ally used in veterinary medicine, and to give an artificial strength to spirits, wine, beer, &c. The average quant.i.ty on which duty was paid in the six years ending with 1840, was 16,000 lbs. per annum. They are esteemed in Africa the most wholesome of spices, and generally used by the natives to season their food.

Dr. Pereira, from a careful examination and close inquiry, is of opinion that the _Amomum Grana-Paradisi_ of Smith, and the _Amamum Melegueta_ of Roscoe, are identical species.

In the second volume of the "Pharmaceutical Journal," Dr. Pereira states that the term "grains of paradise," or Melegueta, has been applied to the produce of no less than six scitamineous plants. At the present time, and in this country, the term is exclusively given to the hot acrid seeds imported into England from the coast of Guinea, and frequently called Guinea grains; and by the Africans Guinea pepper.

_Elettaria Cardomomum_, Don.--The fruit of this species const.i.tutes the true, small, officinal Malabar cardamoms. It is an ovate oblong, obtusely triangular capsule, from three to ten lines long, rarely exceeding three lines in breadth, coriaceous, ribbed, greyish or brownish yellow. It contains many angular, blackish or reddish brown rugose seeds, which are white internally, have a pleasant aromatic odor, and a warm agreeable taste. 100 parts of the fruit yield 74 parts of seeds, and 26 parts of pericarpal coats.

This seems to be identical with _Amomum Cardamomum_.

_Elettaria major_, is a perennial, native of Ceylon, which grows in shady situations in a rich mixed soil. The dried capsules are known in commerce as wild or Ceylon cardamoms, and are of less value in the market than those of Malabar (_Elettaria Cardamomum_, Maton). It is chiefly grown about the Kandyan district; and in the eight years ending with 1813, the average export was nine and a-half candies per annum. The seeds in taste resemble our carraways, and are used for seasoning various dishes.

Ceylon cardamoms are now worth in the London market (Sept., 1853) 1s.

to 1s. 3d. per lb.; Malabar ditto, 2s. 3d. to 3s.

PEPPER.

The black pepper of commerce is obtained from the dried unripe fruit (drupes) of _Piper nigrum_, a climbing plant common in the East Indies, and of the simplest culture, being multiplied with facility by cuttings or suckers. The ripe fruit, when deprived of its outer fleshy covering by was.h.i.+ng, forms the white pepper of the shops. The dried fruiting spikes of _P. longum_, a perennial shrub, native of Malabar and Bengal, const.i.tute long pepper. The fruit of _Xylopia aromatica_ is commonly called Ethiopian pepper, from being used as pepper in Africa. The seeds of some species of fennel-flower (_Nigella sativa_ and _arvensis_), natives of the south of Europe, were formerly used instead of pepper, and are said to be still extensively employed in adulterating it. In j.a.pan, the capsules of _Xanthoxylum piperitum_, or _f.a.gara Piperita_, are used as a subst.i.tute for pepper, and so is the fruit of _Tasmannia aromatica_ in Van Diemen's Land. According to Dr.

Roxburgh, _P. trioic.u.m_ is cultivated in the East, and yields an excellent pepper.

The pepper vine rises about two feet in the first year of its growth, and attains to nearly six feet in the second, at which time, if vigorous and healthy, the petals begin to form the corolla or blossom.

All suckers and side shoots are to be carefully removed, and the vines should be thinned or pruned, if they become bushy at the top. Rank coa.r.s.e weeds and parasitical plants should be uprooted. The vine would climb, if permitted, to the elevation of twenty feet, but is said to bear best when kept down to the height of ten or twelve feet. It produces two crops in the year. The fruit grows abundantly from all the branches, in long small cl.u.s.ters of from 20 to 50 grains; when ripe it is of a bright red color. After being gathered, it is spread on mats in the sun to dry, when it becomes black and shrivelled. The grains are separated from the stalks by hand rubbing. The roots and thickest parts of the stems, when cut into small pieces and dried, form a considerable article of commerce all over India, under the name of _Pippula moola_.

Almost all the plants of the family _Piperaceae_ have a strong aromatic smell and a sharp burning taste. This small group of plants is confined to the hottest regions of the globe; being most abundant in tropical America and in the East Indian Archipelago, but more rare in the equinoctial regions of Africa. The common black pepper, _P.

nigrum_, represents the usual property of the order, which is not confined to the fruit, but pervades, more or less, the whole plant. It is peculiar to the torrid zone of Asia, and appears to be indigenous to the coast of Malabar, where it has been found in a wild state. From this it extends between the meridians of longitude 96 deg. and 116 deg. S. and the parallels of lat.i.tude 5 deg. S. and 12 deg. N., beyond which no pepper is found. Within these limits are the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, with the Malay peninsula and part of Siam. Sumatra produces by far the greatest quant.i.ty of pepper. In 1842, the annual produce of this island was reckoned at 30,000,000 lbs., being more than the amount furnished by all the other pepper districts in the world.

A little pepper is grown in the Mauritius and the West India Islands, and its cultivation is making some progress on the Western Coast of Africa, as we imported from thence 2,909 bags and casks in 1846, and about 110,000 lbs. in 1847.

Mr. J. Crawfurd, F.R.S., one of the best authorities on all that relates to the commerce and agriculture of the Eastern Archipelago, recently estimated the produce of pepper as follows:--

lbs.

Sumatra (West Coast) 20,000,000 " (East Coast) 8,000,000 Islands in the Straits of Malacca 3,600,000 Malay Peninsula 3,733,333 Borneo 2,666,667 Siam 8,000,000 Malabar 4,060,000 ---------- Total 50,000,000

If we add to this

Western Coast of Africa and B.W. Indies 53,000 Java 4,000,000 Mauritius and Ceylon 80,000 ---------- It gives 54,133,000 as the total produce of the world

Black pepper const.i.tutes a great and valuable article of export from the Indian Islands; which, as we have seen, afford by far the largest portion of What is consumed throughout the world. In the first intercourse of the Dutch and English with India, it const.i.tuted the most considerable and important staple of their commerce. The production of pepper is confined in a great measure to the western countries of the Eastern Archipelago, and among these to the islands in the centre and to the northern quarter, including the Peninsula. It is obtained in the ports on both sides of the coast of the latter, but particularly the north-eastern coast. The princ.i.p.al quarters (according to Mr. Crawfurd, my authority on this subject), are Patani, Tringanu, and Kalantin. In the Straits a large quant.i.ty is produced in the island of Singapore, and above all in Pinang, where the capital of Europeans and the skill and industry of the Chinese have been successfully applied to its culture. The western extremity of Sumatra, and the north-west coast of that island, are the most remarkable situations in it for the production of pepper, and here we have Acheen, Tikao, Bencoolen, Padang, and the country of the Lampungs. The production of the eastern extremity of Sumatra or Palembang is considerable, but held of inferior quality. In the fertile island of Java, the quant.i.ty of pepper grown is inconsiderable, nor is it remarkable for the goodness of its quality.

The province of Bantam has always furnished, and still continues to produce, the most pepper; but the culture of this creeper is fast giving place in Java to staples affording higher profits and requiring less care. The exports were, in the following years:--

piculs. | lbs.

1830 6,061 | 1843 3,737,732 1835 11,868 | 1848 461,680 1839 11,044 | 1851 95,037 1841 13,477 | 1852 135,690

The number of pepper vines in the district of Bencoolen, in the close of last year, 1852, was as follows:--1,571,894 young vines; 2,437,052 bearing ditto; total, 4,008,946.

Up to the end of September there had been delivered to the Government 1,145 piculs white pepper, and 1,128 piculs black pepper, while of the harvest of 1852 there were still probably to be received 330 piculs white, and 4,967 piculs black pepper.

The south, the west, and the north coasts of the great island of Borneo produce a large quant.i.ty of pepper; as early as 1721 it was a staple commodity of this island. Banjarma.s.sin is the most productive place on the south coast, and the State of Borneo Proper on the north coast. The best pepper certainly does not grow in the richest soils, for the peppers of Java and Palembang are the worst of the Archipelago, and that of Pinang and the west coast of Sumatra are the best. Care in culture and curing improves the quality, as with other articles, and for this reason chiefly it is that the pepper of Pinang is more in esteem than that of any other portion of the Archipelago.