August i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



119 



NEW TARIFF IN AMERICA. 



THEEATENED BRANCH OF IfTOUSTEY. 



OPINIONS ON THE 



QITIN'IKE MANUFACTURE A 



The quinine mauufacturers of America are very much de- 

 pressed by the action of Congress upon the tariff question. 

 This feeling is shown by the following statement of six. 0. A. 

 Eobbius of the firm of McKesson & Eobbins. i 



The action of Congress seems to have been an endeavour ] 

 to give the final blow to the manufacture of the cinchona pro- | 

 ducts in this country by abolishing the iluty of 4(1 per cent | 

 on cinchouidia. This is a product obtaiued by the manufact- 

 ure of quinine, and it was brought to general notice by the [ 

 largest manufacturing house in the country, who, thinking | 

 that this substance was of value for the ciu-e of malarious j 

 fevers, advertised it extensively and created a demand for it. , 

 Now foreign makers will supply it. To go back however to \ 

 qumine. The effect of the removal of duty was to divert the 

 richest bark to Eiuope, where the manufacturers of quinine 

 were not hampered with duties or ta,xes on the materials 

 they employed. 



The one grain of comfort the American manufacturer en- 

 joyed was in the making of cinchonidia from the low grades 

 of bark. On that there was some protection, and it balanced 

 in some slight way, the difficulties under which the manufact- 

 urers laboured. "This duty Congi-ess has repealed. They 

 have also seen fit to place a higer duty ou imported bottles 

 in wliich quinine and cinchonidia were packed. ^Vhat effect 

 that will have is not known, but generally the effort has been 

 made to cru.sh out the manufacture of quinine in the United 

 States and to throw the entire business into the hands of the 

 European manufacturers. I question very much the wisdom 

 of this proceeding. It must be borne in mind that the United 

 States consumes one-third of the whole quinine of the world, 

 and th.at, should we be cut off from the supply of the bark, 

 as. was the case during the civil war, terrible distress might 

 arise. Considering the position of the United States in re- 

 lation to the bark-producing countries in South America, and 

 the chances of nur returning them the value of their bark in 

 goods made by us, we are positively destroying that special 

 line of trade. We cannot now buy the bark on the same 

 footing as other countries. The essential substances necess- 

 ary for the manufacture of quinine are still taxed. Soda 

 pays 2.5 per cent ; fusel-oil is taxed $2 a gallon. What quinine 

 manufacturers asked for was a duty of 10 per cent, and either 

 ten or twenty per cent per ounce ou the sulphate of cincho- 

 nidia. 



At the present price it would have enhanced the cost of 

 quinine some 15 or 16 cents, and sulphate of cinchonidia 9 to 

 l.S cents per ounce, barley sufficient to coimterbalance the 

 burdens we were weighted with. 



This discussion ou quinine has never been met in the same 

 spirit as wu^ e other manufactured products. We have always 

 been met mth the cry. " You are rich ! You are taking blood 

 money" etc. There was a howl of this kind which did the 

 business, when, under su.spension of the rules, Oongi'ess with- 

 out debate removed the duty on quinine. What will be the 

 effect on quinine according to the new tariff ? So far, it has 

 brought about the bankruptcy of one of the olde-st and most 

 respectable firms of the country, and a very serious curtail- 

 ment in the working of other manufacturers. It has already 

 started three new factories iti Europe which will supplv th*' 

 American demautl. It has increa.sed, of course, the consign- 

 ment of bark to European ports, and more foreign goods 

 will be sent to those countries which make the bark-shipments. 

 In fact, every thing favours the foreign manufacturer. Of 

 course you will hoar it repeated over and over again that 

 quinine was $3 before the removal of the duty, and that it is 

 today S 1"70. The duty accounts for that. It has been said 

 that should the duty be re-imposed the price of quiniae would 

 advance to afigure were it stood before the clutv wasremoved. 

 It might be the case, or might not be. Quinine may rise and 

 fall in figures according to the bark supply, European combin- 

 ations, or the demand for the alkaloid. But no sane man 

 would think that a duty of 16 cents an ounce would today 

 force the price up to S l.-^O or S I. .30 an ounce. AYhat will 

 be the outcome iu the futm*e noonecan prophesy. The plaTtt- 

 ations of Ceylon, India, and Jamaica, opened by the money 

 derived from the British Ck)vernment, are making tremend- 

 ous return of vei-y rich bark, and their products will go on 

 increa.sirg every year in bulk and qua'ity. To meat this sup- 

 ply of raw material from these quarters, new European com- 

 binations are being made with the idea of controlling these 



products. They will have it all in their own hands, and will 

 fix the price of the article. One thing is quite certain, that 

 the quinine makers of this country have been made the scape- 

 goats for the high protectionists, and that we, without any 

 fault of our own, must take the conseqeuence. — JV. 1'. Times. 



SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE VEGETABLE 

 KINGDOM OF SOUTH- AFRICA, 



AND ABOUT THE FITNESS OF THE SOIL FOR SEW CULTURES. 



It is a peculiarity of South African .soil that in February no 

 woods have to be cleared, nor swamps drained. It only re- 

 quires tillage and rain. 



At present South Africa produces m the South cereals 

 wine and fruits: iu the North, the same with the exception, 

 of grapes, besides Maize and Kaffer-corn. 



Maize or Indian corn, especially, originally inti'oduced from 

 India, thrives everywhere in South Africa, even in soils where 

 irrigation is impossible; the only requisite for an unhmited 

 sowing being stiff' enclosure to keep off cattle and hoi-ses. 

 The utilityof this plant is enormous; the seed affords excellent 

 food for man and beasts, and retains its vu-tue for years when 

 kept iu dry places; the stalk when cut down immecUately 

 after harvest, affords capital fodiler, while the leaves are a 

 good material for the manufacturing of paper, liesides, that the 

 corn abounds in fecula, and therefore the best material for 

 the manufacture of starch. 



Kaffer-corn, the only agricultural product originally found 

 among the Kaffer and Negro tribes, has this advantage over 

 maize, that it can bear di'ought still better, but is wanting in 

 all the other advantages. 



A third article, which can be cultivated everywhere, but 

 has as yet been little tried, is the Beetroot. This may be 

 cultivated on any patch of ground that is unfit for finer tillage, 

 and it affords excellent food for cattle in winter. 



To these three productions follows, as far as regards its 

 independence of climate. Barley. This can also bear a toler- 

 able deal of drought. 



Of late a new species of corn has been tried in several 

 places, the so-called Egyi>tian-corn, with the best success, 

 gi'owing much faster than the common Dutch corn (wheat) 

 and requiring moreover much less moisture. 



In the southern parts of South Africa the soil is foimd 

 overgrown -with a kind of ligneous herbage, while the northern 

 parts are distinguished for theu- extensive grassy plains. 

 Now it has been observed that since droughts have become 

 more common in the North, the grass in the pasturages 

 makes way for this herbage ; and con.sequently some land- 

 owners in these northern districts, have been induced by 

 several succeedingyearsofdrouglit, to plant these herbs, called 

 A'o/oo-bushes iu various plots, which has succeeded very well, 

 propagating from the seed. These plants can bear drought 

 throughout the year. Others have made a similar trial with 

 the Lucern plant, which affords very good fodder for sheep, 

 though not so well able to bear drought. At Bloemfontein, 

 the Director of the Botanical Gardens of that place has had' 

 grass-seed over from Australia, and placed it at the disposal 

 of the public of the Vrijstaat. From experience he asserts 

 that this gra,ss will retain its- vigour for a whole year with- 

 out moistm'e. 



For the rest all vegetables, introduced from Europe, thrive 

 very well in the South /Vfrican soil, as the Botauioal Garden 

 at Grairf Reinet and Graham's town .can testify ; in this case 

 irrigation is a sint qua nan. 



As for trees, those which best repay the trouble of intro- 

 ductifln are the poplar, the beech-tree and the birch- the 

 oak will not thrive. The blue gum-tree on the contrary has 

 [ become completely naturalized. 



Of thi- regions in South Africa, inhabited by Europeans, 

 i Natal, and the parts Ijeyond the Vaal are most fit for new- 

 cultures. 



Natal already cultivates a small quantity of sugar, but this 

 culture is susceptible of immense extension. Besides this 

 the chm.ate is very favourable for the cultivation of cotton'. 

 The part of the Transvaal North of the Mountains has 

 hitherb.i proved must favourable. Coffee, sugar and cotton 

 have Ijeen trieil, and these thi-ee articles tlirive v.-onderf uUy ; 

 but notwithstanding this great success, the culture has never 

 been extended or continued, though enough is g^o^vn for 

 private use. 



