396 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1883. 



22. "Tata tic GaUhiayj" and " Circfiii-ara" Barks — 

 C. enjlhrantha. Par. — The two remamiug argumeuts_ (c and 

 e) advanced by Dr. Bidie become of less importance in face 

 of what has now been stated. The specimens of " Cuchi- 

 cara " and " Pata de Gallinazo " collected by Spruce* are 

 no doubt imperfect ones ; they have, however, proved 

 sufficient for one of the most careful of botanists, M. 

 Triana, to identify them -^th '-C. erythrantha," Pav.,t 

 to %vhich Messrs. Spruce aud Howard had also, with doubt, 

 referred them. The flowers of the more pubescent speci- 

 men of the " Cuchicara" are described by Spruce on his 

 ticket as " deep brick red," a tint I have never seen in 

 any cinchona flower in the East. The leaves of all his 

 three specimens are more or less pubescent. Dr. Bidie 

 rather begs the question when he argues that the fact of 

 the imperfection of these specimens is in favor of the 

 Nilgiri plants being the same, aud then proceeds to re- 

 mark what an " extraordinary coincidence" it would be 

 that two hybrids approaching so closely these wild South 

 American plants should arise iu the Nilgiris. It is not 

 admitted that these rohitsia forms do approach Spruce's 

 specimens very closely ; on the contrary such eminent 

 botanists as Sir J. Hooker, Prof. Oliver, aiid Mr. Thiselton 

 Dyer express themselves strongly to the contrary effect. 

 The wider tube of the corolla in the " Cuchicara," the 

 color of the flower, aud the fJat-topjied character of the 

 inflorescence are good distinctions from all the forms of 

 rol/Hsta.X 



On a review of the whole question then I am of opiuion 

 that the additional evidence derived from an inspection of 

 these forms of Cinchona in the Nilgiri plantations does not 

 by any means prove the improbability — still less the im- 

 possibility — of their being, as so long believed, hybrids of 

 local origin between ofj-ciuali^ and ?itcciri'hra, which opinion 

 is, on the contr.ary, supported by a large number of facts of 

 observation aud warrantable inference. 



23. Viiifonniti/ deslruUe. — In conclusion I wish to add 

 a plea for uniformity in nomenclature. It is very much 

 to be desired that the same plants shoxdd bear the same 

 names in India and Ceylon and elsewhere, and that ob- 

 solete, incon-ect, or dupUcate names should be abandoned. 

 Ko less than thi-ee different Cinchonas are called '* crhpa " 

 at Dodabetta : it is rightly appKed but to one, and that 

 is so ill-defined that the name might well be dropped 

 altogether. The various denominations bestowed on the 

 hybrids may be ontii'cly dispensed with as incorrect or 

 misleading ; matjnifolw ^ patn, cuchicara, pubescens^ riUosa, 

 &c. The glabrous and pubescent forms are now allowed 

 on all hands to be of similar nature, and a single name 

 is sufficient. Those who are convinced of their hybrid 

 character may use the descriptive title ^nccriyuhyo-ojUcii/idis^ 

 or the shorter name robnsta, whilst those who still think 

 them an autonomous species of South America are bound 

 to call them C. (■iiithraHtltH. Of course I am not speak- 

 ing of barl-s\; planters and merchants may give these what 

 names they require, in the scriximilur, but with these names 

 the botanist, as a systcmatist, has nothing to do. 



Tlie only other remark I have to make is to suggest 

 whether the time has not now arrived when the Madras 

 Govei-nment might adopt the spelling of this genus of 

 plants followed by scientiHc men. So far as I am 

 aware, there is not one living botanist who writes 

 it in any other way than ('oichono. The matter is 

 a purely technical one ; systematists have long ago 

 decided on the rules governing such cases of nomenclahrre, 

 and the present one is not to be regarded as a subject for 

 discussion. "Were it permitted to amend the Latin genera 

 which do not happen to agree precisely in speUing with 

 the names (it may be Eussian, Huugariau, or Japanese) 



* It .should be remembered that these were collected in 

 1859, before Dr. Spruce was employed by the Indian Govern- 

 ment or Sir. Cross was engaged. 



i* C. ei'ij^hniitthfi is iigurodin Howard, Illust. t. 12. It is 

 considered the s:une as C. /)i;/ies(?e/(.5, Vahl. by Triana. The 

 descriptions (but not the figures) in the .same work of the 

 following are also referred by il. Triana to C. ^JKiesCfHS, 

 A^ahl. ; C. eoccinea. How. ; C. Falalha, How. ; C. sxihcordata, . 

 Pav. ; and C. svlierosa, Pav. 



* I may add with advantage that in my careful search 

 through the public herbaria of London I did not find any 

 Cinchona from South America agreeing with eitlier of the 

 leading forms of rohista. 



of the persons whom they are intended to commemorate, 

 many besides Cinc/iona would have to be altered. But 

 it is not so permitted. 



Part II. — Practical SrociKSTioss. 

 21. I have now concluded the remarks I have to make 

 with regard to the botany of the cinchona plantations, the 

 subject upon which I was requested to report. But I have 

 reason to believe that some observations upon the prin- 

 ciples which ought, in my opinion, to regulate the future 

 management of this fine State property ■will be acceptable 

 to the Government. I take it for granted that the recent 

 appointment of Mr. Lawson, of Oxford, to the office of 

 Supeiintendent is evidence of a desire to maintain the plant- 

 ations iu a high state of efficiency. 



25. Manaacunent for past six years. — It is to be feared 

 that on the whole, diu'iug the last few years, the conduct 

 of the estates has not been altogether satisfactory. They 

 have been managed too much with a view to revenue, and 



I without that constant cai'e and oversight which was (at any 

 rate for many years) bestowed by the late Superintendent. 

 I consider that both the plantations and the trees have 

 been overworked. Though many trees which have been 

 frequently barked on Naduvatam and Hooker still appear 

 healthy and cannot be said to have been much hindered in 

 growth, yet, owing to the very imperfect renewal of bark 

 — only in short strips or patches — it is now difficult to get 

 any good samples or to practise the shaving method. I 

 think that veiy many more trees should have been left 

 untouched : we have yet to leam the effect of removing 

 the bark upon the longe^'ity of the trees and the real life- 

 history of cinchona in the East The recent suppUes or 

 renewals do not appear to have been very successful, the 

 number of failures being very large.* No vigorous 

 attempts towards increasing the specially valuable sorts or 

 the recent introductions have been made ; even the Pitayo 

 barks — obtained at such cost and trouble, aud specially 

 recommended in 1S78 by Government for further cultiv- 

 ation — remain little more than curiosities, and no effort to 

 propagate the valuable Santa Fe has been made since Ml*. 

 Cross' deiiarture.t Selection by cuttings or seed from the 

 best of known analyzed trees (by which system, steadily 

 persisted in, the Dutch in Java have so largely increased 

 the value of their bark) has not been practised, nor is 

 propagation of the delicate sorts by grafting on more 

 hardy varieties earned on. I know from experience that 

 seed "has not always been carefully collected, aud that 

 there has been a good deal of confusion between "piibescens" 

 and succirubra. 



26. Stccssitij for a good propagator. — Under a new re- 

 gime we may expect to see attention paid to these things 

 a,"? well as to experiments in artifical hybridization;]: and 

 its residts, the effects on longevity and health of the pro- 

 cesses of sti'iijping and shaving respectively, &c. 1 vent- 

 ure, however, to suggest that, if the assistance of a skilful 

 propagator be necessary, such an addition to the staff of 

 the Superintendent may be made. 



27. A scientific culture the ohject for tJie future. — Progress 

 in knowledge and improvement in practice, and not gain, 

 should be themain objects of Government in the manage- 

 ment of their plantations. I do not forget that the ultimate 

 end of th'e enterprise is the production of a cheap aud ef- 

 ficient febrifuge for India and the East. But this great pur- 

 pose will be iu no way retarded by the course recommended ; 

 on the contraiy, as all that adds to our knowledge of bark- 

 cultiv.-diim will lead to the iucrease of private plantations 

 and their successful and profitable culture, it must be for- 

 warded and hastened. The subject is somewhat complicated 

 by various other considerations : but probably the final real- 

 ization of that grand and beneficent scheme is more likely 

 to be immediately effected by private enterprise in Europe 



*Li the three official years 1578—81 no less than 33,407 

 red barks have died upon Hooker Estate alone (Beddome's 

 Report, Appendix B) ; and I understand that the mortality of 

 crown barks put in since has reached as much as 80 per cent. 



t C. /oHcj/'u/tVi (paragi-aph 14) should also be projiagated. 

 The latest analvses of this in Java (Moens' Report, 20th 

 February 1833) "show total alkaloids varying from 46 to 7"2 

 per cent., of which quinine is from I'l to 2'0. Though less 

 valuable than ojifi iial is, this species is rather better than the 

 maioritv of the Java Ca/isai/a. 



i Tliis subject was specially insisted upon in the Eeport 

 of the Cinchona Commission of 1878. 



