The Usual Time Of Gathering Is October And February,
Those Got In October, Which Is The End Of Their Winter,
Being called
winter cloves, and are not accounted so strong and good as the others.
These are commonly preserved in
Small jars of about a quart each, of
which great quantities are sent to various parts of the world. Those
gathered in February are termed summer cloves, being better and stronger
than the others, as ripening in the best part of the summer; whereas the
former have not above a month of fair weather, all the rest of their
winter season, which is our summer, being rainy and cloudy, so that the
cloves want sun to ripen them. It is a common opinion, but extremely
erroneous, that cloves, nutmegs, and mace grow all on one tree. One
clove-tree commonly produces sixty, seventy, or eighty pounds of cloves
in one season; and every sixth year they are sure to have a double crop.
There are a vast number of clove-trees on this island, which are
carefully looked after, and a register of them is kept in the books of
the company, being all numbered once every year, and they are not
allowed to increase beyond a certain limited number, for fear of
lessening the price, all beyond being cut down. All these trees belong
to the Company, or the free burgesses, every burgess having only a fixed
number; and if any one is found to have more than his allowance, he is
severely fined, and all his trees forfeited to the company. Besides, the
burgesses are bound to deliver the whole produce of their trees to the
company at six-pence the pound. If any freeman or other is convicted of
having sold or conveyed cloves from the island, to the value of ten
pounds, his whole property is forfeited to the company, and he becomes a
slave for life. The inhabitants used formerly to cheat the Dutch in the
sale of their cloves, in the following manner. They hung up their cloves
in a large sheet by the four corners, and set a large tub of water
underneath, which the cloves, being of a very hot and dry nature, drew
up by degrees, and thus made a large addition to their weight. But the
Dutch are now too cunning for them, as they always try the cloves, by
giving them a small filip on the head with the forefinger: if thoroughly
ripe, and no deceit has been used, the head breaks off like a piece of
thin brittle glass; but if watered, the clove is tough, and will sooner
bend than break.
The nutmeg-tree is much like the peach, and there are a few of these
in this island, but they grow mostly on the island of Banda, whence two
or three ship-loads are exported yearly. The fruit of this tree consists
of four parts. The first and outer rind is like that of a green walnut.
The second, which we call mace, is dry and thin.
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