114 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[AVGUST I, 1883. 



preach and tell him so, is like throwing pearls before 

 swiue. It seems, to >, a most extraordinary thing how 

 this said coolie existed previous to his arrival in the 

 tea districts. Why were not ail those precautious now 

 taken necessary to keep him alive before he arrived 

 on a tea garden ? May vve ask how many of them 

 ever before in their lives had a dose of quinine ad- 

 ministered to tliem fur fever ? Are we to sujjpose that 

 they lived a charmed life before, or what explanation can 

 we expect to have ? We are at a loss to nnderstaud why 

 so much wet and dry-nnrsint; is necessary to a coolie 

 the moment he sets toot on a tea garden. Does the 

 Chief Commissioner think that coolies are impoited 

 to be killed off wholesale for the gratification of the 

 brutal planter? Can it not be brought hometo him that the 

 very existence, the very bread and butter of a tea planter 

 to u great measure depends upon the successful handl- 

 ing of his coolie force, and that the first consider- 

 ation is their health, for althougli a large bonus may 

 tempt a few striggling coolies to an unhealthy 

 garden, it will not be sufficient attraction to them, 

 provided on a healthy estate provisions are cheap and 

 a fair wage is given, with a few days' leave 

 now and again when the inevit:ibl>- /Joq/aAis on. The 

 very sinews of a man's success are n(tw fully put to 

 the test when gardens must be worked cheaply, and 

 at the same time keep their ooohe force up to the 

 requisite utrength. Unless the coolies are well cared 

 for, and all their little complaints lisiened to depend 

 upon it they will not remain wht-n other gardens 

 alongside are holding out tempting baits of a high 

 bonus and low nerricks. That rates have risen in 

 the different tea districts within the la^t few years 

 is an established fact, and that they will rise further 

 and thus deprive tne long suffering shareholder of 

 bis due in the. way of a dividend, sometimes many 

 years waited for, we doubt not ; and t'le only way 

 to remedy this is to give a clear field to ffee labuur 

 and put no obstructioujiu the way. Tliis millennium 

 is far off, judging by the restrictions laid down in 

 the Gazette we refer to, and our only hope rests in 

 the proposed Railway. Whether this will be in the 

 present generation or not we cannot foi'ecast. 



WTNAAD PLANTING AND MINING AS- 

 SOCIATION. 



Notes of a Committee meeting held at the Pookote 

 Club, Vythery, on Wednesday the 6th June 1883. 



yew Protl acts. — Rusid the following letter from Sir 

 Joseph Hooker. Royal Gardens, Kew, March 31st, 1883. 

 G. L. Yougo, Vythery, South Wynaad. 

 Sir, — I am directed by Sir Joseph Hooker to ac- 

 knowledge the receipt of your letter of March 2nd, 

 and to say that he has much pleasure in transmitting 

 to you five copies of *he report on tue progress and 

 condition of the Royal Gardens for 1881 (the last pub- 

 lished). 



With regard to your further application for seeds 

 Sir Joseph Hooker regrets that having regard ro the 

 c:ilis made upon the Koyal Gardeu.s by the numer ous 

 botanical establishments of other parts of the Empire 

 he is unable to accede to your request. 



It appears to him, however, that the time has come 

 when Southern India should possess a proper Botanical 

 Department of its own similar to those existing for 

 example in Ceylon and Jamaica. With such a depart- 

 ment Sir Joseph Hooker would be prepared to co- 

 operate and corresijond and it would be the proper 

 means of meeting such requests as you now address 

 to Kew. 



A inenioranduni i» being prepared at Kew for com- 

 niimicatlon to the Madias Q-overnment in the matter 

 : nd it appears to Sir Joseph Hooker that your As- 



sociation might usefully move in the same direction. 

 I am sir, your most obedient servant, 



W. '£. TniSELTON DVKE, 



Assistant Director, R. G. K. 



Eesolved that Sir Joseph Hooker be thanked for his 

 letter and the copies of the report on the Royal Gardens 

 of Kew and that the Madras Government be addressed 

 on the subject of the proposil for a proper Botanical 

 Department in Southern ludia. A copj of Sir Joseph 

 Hooker's letter to be forwarded to Government. 



Read also Ltter from the manager of the Sydapett 

 farm to the Col eotor of Malabar re the despatch of 

 the seed of the Reana Luxnrians. The Honorary 

 Secretary announced that 14 lb. of the seed had been 

 received and was ready for distribution. 



Mr. Winterbothan road the following letter on the 

 subject of cinchona shaving. 



London, 2nd March 1883. 



Messrs. Croysdale & Co. Madras. 



Dear Sirs, — In continuution of our remarks in a 

 previous letter upon the subject of slicing cinchonas, 

 we must remind you that the data upon which we 

 base our views have been collected from the entire 

 field of our experience in this article which extends 

 from the first shipment of E. P. cinchona to this 

 country. 



In the interests of cinchona planting we deem it 

 our duty to place the following; result of our observ- 

 ations before our friends in India. 



To touch upon the facts of the subject slicing 

 claims to largely increase the perceutasje of Quinine, 

 by discarding that portion of the bark containing 

 the inferior AlUaloids and takmg the portion only, 

 which contains the Quinine. We find that the 

 Analysis of the first and [ehaps s coutl crop thus 

 taken, shows a slight improvement in the Quinine 

 contents comp-tred with the same bark taken previonslv 

 by the mossing and stripping process but we also 

 find that this same bark upon subsequent renewals 

 shews not, as claimed a yearly increase in Quinine 

 contents hut on the contrary a marked dtcvcuie in 

 fact we find that the bark languishes and we;ikeus. 

 Slicing claims to give larger crops to keep the tr e 

 in a healthier condition and to avoid the expell^e 

 of mossing. As regards the first our experience tends 

 to show the contrary, but the second is pr ibahly true, 

 the third is a very doubtful advamage. The average 

 weight of bark slices compared witli the weight of 

 the entire thickness of the bark taken in stiips, 

 we tiiink we can take at nut more than a third, 

 thus to produce the same, quantity, tliree times the 

 area will have to be taken, while we find that the 

 Quinine peicentage is not pennainently improved, 

 but rather the reverse, our friendo know better 

 than wo, whether they can by gathering ufLener, by 

 the slicing system produce the some Weiglit of slices 

 as they could of strips of the entire th cknes,- of 

 the bark. To test the comparative merits of the 

 two sy.stems from the points of view of both qu .luy 

 and quantity, it is manifestly necessary to compare 

 and vvKtch the results of b.ith systems on the same 

 bark and under similar circumstances ; this we believe 

 has very rarely been done. Permit us to imagiue a 

 Chinchona proprietor miiking a trial on this si icing 

 system upon a small scale the analysis of the first 

 crop h.as shown some improvm-nt, the trees have 

 exliibited exceptional vigour and hav« quickly re- 

 covered from the taking. The advantages of the sys- 

 tem have been taken as demonstrated and the proprietor 

 orders all his produce to be treated by the same 

 method. We dare p ophesy that in the curse of 4 

 or 5 crops the quantity of his pridnee will exhibit 

 a very practical decrease and the quantity will have 



