April i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



73r 



THE POSITION OF CINCHONA BARK AND 



QUININE. 

 The following memorancliim on the position and 

 prospects of the market for cinchona bark and quinine 

 was drawn up by one of the first authorities on the 

 subject, with reference to the letter which appeared in our 

 columns recently from Messrs. F. Lemair & tlivcrs Hicks 

 and the movement in which Mr. Felix livonn took an 

 active part. The statorjients made seem reliable and are 

 worthy the attention of those inti-rested in cinchona. 

 Our own feeling is that the influence of Cuprea bark 

 on the fortunes of the cinchona planter has been 

 almost equivalent to that of leaf-fungus in the case 

 of the coffee planter ; — 



In the last mouths of 1881 the supply of bark was 

 evidently becoming too large for tho wants of the 

 market, notwithstanding that, those wants had been 

 on an unprecedented scale owing to large purchases 

 of quinine on speculators' account. German man- 

 ufacturers were offering quinine for March 1882 at 

 prices verj' much under the spot price. 



This moment was positively considered a propitious 

 one by a party of capitalists to form a corner in 

 hark and quinine with the object of driving up tho 

 price. The mnnufactnrera were not, however, to bo 

 cau.,iil, and tlic movement upwards was small and in- 

 sufficient fi 1 the purpose. The position remained 

 with little alteration till the summer of 1882, when 

 a party of manufacturers took, it is said, a large 

 share of the syndicate's stock of bark and quinine on 

 their shoulders, and, havin^; thus loaded themselves 

 tried by free buying to raise the market. This effort 

 failed to do more thau maiutain about tho artificial 

 level at which the combination-stock stood. Mean- 

 while, outside speculators in quinine kept thn market 

 frequently supplied with their stocks, partiug with 

 them, very wisely, on [seeing the unmanageable 

 state of the stock of bark which all this time had 

 been steadily growing especially in South American 

 sorts. 



The importers of South American 1 ark, notably 

 those interpsted in the Cuprea kinds, could only realize 

 their purchases satisfactorily at the old high prices 

 and were mo.-.t reluctant sellers. In consequence the 

 business doing during the f.all was chiefly East Indian, 

 to the planters' great adv.antage. 



Dropping markets followed, and the position steadily 

 kept changing for tho worse. 



Last summer, a large convention of nmuufactures 

 was formed, the object of which was to contract the 

 make till the large accumulations of quinine went 

 into consumption. The English makers were not 

 members, but were not unfriendly to the operation, as 

 by this time it had become clear that ver^' large losses 

 would have to be faced, and a panic must always bo 

 injurious to planter aud inauufaeturer alike. 



't'lie convention having all " gone to water" owing 

 to the action of the Loudon Houses, it is not much 

 use discussing what; it might have done ; it is more 

 to the point to look the position in the face and see 

 what the open market means as to the planters' 

 prospects. 



iSYocfo.^ThereiB thelargest stock ofbark now in London 

 and Paris tho world has ever seen, principally South 

 American, aud not alt inferior. There is bark har- 

 vested in Sonth America ready to eomo over at a 

 price. In addition, an enormous quantity of quinine 

 is believed on gooil authority to bo in existence ready 

 for use, tho sui'plus of tho overmanufacturo of late 

 Ac.ars. 



CiiVKumplion. — There has been no very especial demand 



for quinine of late years in America, and as that country 

 gets steadily more cultivated, so will the consumptiou 

 per head of quinine decrease. 



The Indian Government now snpply all their wants 

 from their own plantations. 



No doubt, at prices between 49 and Gs for quinine, 

 which is tho jjrobable outlook, very low prices will 

 bo obtained for low barks, and twigs will become 

 quite unsaleable. Those planters who have true ofli- 

 cinalis and calisaya trees, or who produce really tine 

 renewed red, will command the market ; while plant- 

 ations of inferior barks will be best left to grow for 

 a time, till the effect of low prices on Sonth American 

 wild bark has become visible. 



When quinine ranged between these limits, years 

 ago, with a perfectly open market, thcie was little 

 profit for South Ameriean importers of wild bark, and 

 information recently received inclines one to think 

 that it costs more now to collect than it did thou. The 

 paucity of sales tends to confirm this view. 



Replies to some of Mr. Broun's 2>oin(s. 



No effort was made to keep quinine at 43 by the 

 manufacturers when it ranged down to that figure 

 some years back. 



"Distributors" unknown in the London trade by 

 that name ; perhaps the wholesale druggists are 

 mount. 



Units in low bark worth less than in rich ones. At 

 present the unit is worth from .5d to7d net. Howards' 

 price for quinine is in bull;, net 5s 5d. Usually on 

 a falling market the weakness is felt first in the 

 raw material. 



All the manufacturers buy on their own analysis 

 and examination of the samples. 



SUGAR CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 



The coi respondent who signs himself "Vedda" (p. 73G) 

 seems very anxious to prove that no weiglit is to be at- 

 tached to tlie failure of previous experiments in sugar 

 cultivation in Ceylon, even (hough conducted by men with 

 experience acquired in the West Indies and Mauritius. 

 He seems positive that with better varieties of cane and 

 improved appliances success would now be achieved, 

 and he wants, not the trial of small experiment?, but 

 cultivation on a large scale by Australian capitalists. 

 We should be very glad indeed if such capitalists 

 would come and risk their money on the strength 

 of " Vedda" 's good opinion and without reference to 

 the past. But it would he impossible, if it were 

 right, to conceal the tact^. We certainly feel 

 strongly inclined to believe that sugar cultivation 

 under irrigation might succeed in Ceylon, on the 

 banks of tlie Mahaweliganga and other rivers, if 

 only prices rose to a higher level and the climate did 

 not interfere. At present, however, sugar is as much 

 depressed as coffee. As regards the aver.age rainfall of 

 Australia beuig low, wo never disputed that patent 

 fact. What we did state was that the climate of 

 the leading sugar district, Mackay, was distinguished 

 by nearly 70 inches of absolute rainfall, while the 

 atmosphere for most part of the year is so s.atur.ated 

 with moisture, that clothes, shoes and books Butter 

 from mould as they do in Colombo. 



The case of Fiji, as wo pointed out the other day, 

 shows that sugar will flourish in a very wet climate, 

 provided tho soil is fertile. If soils fertile I'uongh 

 can be found in Ceylon, we do not see why sugar 

 should not succeed in a dry climate as well as in 

 wet, — in the former case by means of irri{;ation. 

 What the I'rnvincc Wellesley planters said to Mr. 

 Forbes Laurie is vcM-y iiiterrsting, but it is a signilicant 



