July 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



23 



the cinchona tree could not be cultivated with profit in 

 the United States. It is possible that the proper con- 

 ditions of latitude and altitude may exist in oiu territory, 

 but it must be considered that it would take six years 

 before any satisfactory exiierimcntal results could be 

 obtained, and sis years more, even should the experiments 

 prove satisfactory, before bark in any quantity eoidd be 

 placed in the market. 



The British Government, about twenty years ago, com- 

 menced the introduction of the cinchona tree into their 

 colonies, where the conditions of the successful cultiv- 

 ation have gradually been learned, and the governments of 

 the different colonies have offered great inducements to 

 prospective planters in the way of cheap lands, seedlings, 

 seeds, &c. It is stated that one hunclred niiUion trees 

 are now in different stages of growth in the Island of 

 Ceylon alone. The consumption of quinine must, in a 

 general sense be limited, and the question of price has a 

 small effect on the amount consumed. There is no doubt 

 that great territories still remain where quinine should be 

 more used, as for example in the greater part of China 

 and South America. At the same time there is every pro- 

 spect that the coming sujiply of bark \vill fully equal the 

 demand for quinine, and should any one wish to engage 

 in the cultivation of the cinchona tree, under existing 

 circumstances in the United States, where no encourage- 

 ment has ever been extended to the cultivation of the 

 cinchona, and where the manufactiu-ers of quinine have 

 been handicapped by duties on the raw materials incid- 

 ental to the manufacture, while the manufactured product 

 is without compensating duty, it woiUd be much more 

 profitable to engage in the enterprise in a British province, 

 for instance, Jamaica, where the conditions for successful 

 cultivation have been thoroughly investigated, where land 

 of known desirabihty for cinchona cultivation, at a dis- 

 tance of not over 30 miles fron jjoint of shipment, can 

 be procirred for one pound sterling per acre, where it is 

 pos.sible to obtain cinchona seedlings or seeds at a moder- 

 ate cost, and where the cost of labor is about one-fourth 

 of that in the United States. 



The price for sulphate of quinine for the year ending 

 Jojie 30, 1882, has ranged as follows : — Manufacturers' 

 quotation, January 1, 1862, was S2'50. In February the 

 price receded to S2'40 ; then to S2'30 ; in April the price 

 was S2'10; then, it advanced to S2-20; in June it receded 

 to §2*00 ; then advanced in August to S2"20 ; was reduced 

 in October to S2-1-0, then to $2-1)0 ; m November to Sl'SO; 

 and the quotation at the beginning of the new j'ear 

 was Sl;70. 



The importation of quinine for the year enduig June 

 30, 1882 was 794,495 ounces, against 408,851 ounces in the 

 previous year. The yearly import of quinine for the five 

 years preceding June 30, 1882, was as follows ; — 1882, 704,495 

 ounces; 1881, 408,851 ; 1880, 416,998; 1879, 228,348; 1878, 

 17,549. 



The quinine imported in 1882 was entered at an average 

 price of S1'9G, the average paid for the four years pre- 

 ceding being— 1881, S2-57; 1880, S2-66; 1879, 82-75; 

 1878, S2-9(). 



The year has been a remarkably uneventful one in re- 

 gard to large operations or combinations. There have 

 been three new factories started in Europe, which are 

 sending their product to the American market, while one 

 of the oldest and most respected manufacturers of quinine 

 in America was obliged to place his affairs in the hands 

 of his creditors, leaving but four manufacturers of quinine 

 in the United States. 



What the future of the busine.ss will he in this country 

 is most uncertain. The manufacturers have all made 

 large investments for their different plants, and it would 

 be a matter of great loss to attempt to di.spose of them. 

 There is always a hope that they may receive fairer treat- 

 ment at the hands of Congress, and by the public press, 

 and that the claim they make that they are justly entitled 

 to a compensating protection of 10 pc^r centum for the 

 disiibilitifts impo.sed upon them by Congress, and the cir- 

 cumstances of the situation, may be met by reasonable 

 arguments and not by epithets and abuse as in the pa.st. 

 The follomng table from June 30. 1677, to -Tune 30, 

 1882, have been compiled from statistics kindly furnished 

 by Hon. Joseph Nimmo, Jr., Chief of the Bureau of 

 Statistics at Washington. 



Imports of Cinchona Bark duriny the Past Sir I'ears. 



Average ' 

 Value m gold value 



Years. Pounds. gold dollars. per lb 



1877 1,760,446 443,404 252' 



1878 4,826,290 1,423,502 29-5 



1879 6,389,378 2,094,514 32-8 



1880 6,013,877 1,679,472 279 



1881..;...: 4,219,403 1,846,280 43-8 



1882 .........5,010,547 1,846,375 36-8 



Imports of Quinine diiring the Past Six Years. 



Average 

 Value in gold value per 



Years. Ounces. gold dollars. ounce in bond. 



1877 75,804 136,948 gl-Sl 



1878 17,549 50,858 2-9C 



1879 228,348 626,567 2-75 



1880 416,998 1,111,254 2-66 



1881 408,851 1,052,228 2-57 



1882 794,495 1,554,350 196 



Imports of Opium during the Past Six Years. 



Average 

 Value in gold value per 



Years. Pounds. gold dollars. lb in bond 



1877 230,102 997,692 S4-33i 



1878 207w52 712,624 3-43 



1879 278,554 929,894 3-34 



1»S0 243,211 858,225 3-53 



1881 385,060 1,791,415 4-65 



1882 227,126 881,023 3-88 



Imports of Opium for Smokiiu) during the Past Six Years. 



Average 

 Value in gold value per 



Years. Poimds. gold dollars. lb in bond 



1877 47,428 502,662 SlO-59 



1878 54,805 617,160 11-27 



1879 (>0,&48 643,774 10-62 



1880 77,190 773,796 10-02 



18»1 76,446 761,349 996 



1882 106,221 1,038,305 9-78 



♦ 



THE KESOUBCES OF MADAGASC.VK : 



A NEW FIELD FOU ENTERPRISE. 



(From "Standard" Correspotident.) 



Tamatave, Feb. 23. 

 The total amount of business transacted between British 

 ports and Madagascar cannot fall short of a half-million 

 sterUng. Of exports, the chief articles at present are 

 bullocks to Mam-itius and Reunion; hides, iudiarul)ber 

 beeswax, rice, fibre, spices, coffee, and sugar. There are 

 many other articles, such as gums and dyes, but these are the 

 principal. In imports, American cottons take the first 

 place. American spinners turn out a kind of coarse brown 

 sheeting, which exactly suits the Malagasy taste, and is 

 rapidly becoming the basis of Malagasy clothing — at least 

 so far as the poorer classes are concerned — throughout 

 the island. Lancashire suppUes hghter goods, such as 

 cottpn i)rints and fancy cloths. The consumption of these 

 is steadily increasing, e.speciaUy among the Hovas of the 

 interior; but the Enghsh spinners have failed altogether 

 to compete with those of America in the production of 

 the cheaper material. The fact is, there are no mills 

 in England with machinery adapted to the weai-ing of 

 this particular cloth, and there are apparently no spinners 

 enterprising enough to lay in the special machinery re- 

 quireil. Consequently, they have not succeeded in imitat- 

 ing the samples upon which the English merchants have 

 based their orders, aiul the trade has been lost. This is 

 to be regretted, as the American sheeting in question is 

 rapidly coming into favour at Zanzibar and other ports on 

 the African coast; and the trade would be certain to pay 

 any English mill which chose to lay itself out to obtain 

 a share of it. Hardware goods come ahnost entirely fi-om 

 England, and the trade in them is rapidly extending. 

 The import trade of Madagascar, however, can only be 

 expected to grow as the exports mcrease. At present the 

 bulk of the population are extremely poor. They produce 

 little more than is necessary to .sri-atify the most simple 

 wants of Nature; consequently, notwithstanding the magni- 

 ficent advantages with which Proridencu has blessed the 



