December i, iS8s.] TliE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



597 



or iu luclia itself than by any Government manufacture of 

 alkaloids. Humanity wUl be equally benefited in the one 

 case as the other. For the present thi« subject, however, 

 may be allowed to rest.* fileauwhiie the Government poss- 

 esses a very valuable property, which, worked mthout 

 stinting the expenses necessary for the highest experimental 

 cultivation, cannot fail to return a profit for many years to 

 come. More than twenty years ago the Home Government 

 very justly remarked (Despatch, Secretary of State, Jan. 

 1863) that the Cinchona experiment could not be regardetl 

 as a mere money speculation, *' nor are the commercial ad- 

 vantages that may be derived from it to be considered as 

 other than a secondary consideration, though of course a re- 

 turn for the outlay and the spread of Cinchona cultivation 

 by private enterprise are very desirable in themselves." How 

 little, when these words were penned, could the present 

 financial success have been imagined, and with how much 

 more force do they now come, when even the outlay itself 

 has been more than repaid, and a large and enterprising 

 class of private growers of bark is in existence. 



28. jytcessiti/ of a Quinologist. — The recent appointment 

 is a step forward, but for any satisfactory progress to be made 

 the chemist as well as the experimental phj'siologist and 

 botanist is a necessity. For it must be remembered that it 

 is alkaloids we want to grow, not bark only, and the cultural 

 Superintendent is likely to be able to give us little accurate 

 information about them. Further, the chemist must be on 

 the spot, among the trees con-stantly, and always iu readi- 

 ness to work in unison with the Superintendent as one man 

 at jointly-planned investigations. I desire to press this 

 strongly, as the vast importance of constant analj'ses does 

 not appear to have been reaUzeJ by the members of the 

 Commission of 1878, nor at first by Colonel Beddome.t 



The Madras Govermen tin supplying this deficiency will, 

 iu fact, be merely taking up again the work which was im- 

 fortuuately drojiped some eight years ago on the sudden 

 resignation and disappearance of Mr. Broughton. The 

 value of this chemist's researches is unquestioned, and his 

 results are coiistautly quoted and acted upon. But his 

 work was left quite unfinished, and it is to be feared that 

 he got but scant assistance from the late Superintendent. 

 He worked, too, a good deal in the dark as to the names 

 arid uatiu-e of the trees, which were then very unsettled. 

 Since his time this has been changed, and chemists have 

 also given us a great mass of facts as to the chemical com- 

 position of the barks of all the cultivated kiuds, the main 

 characteristics and general relative value of which in the 

 market are now quite well understood. But there are 

 many questions of the greatest value to ciUtivators still 

 pressing for solution. The range of difference in the 

 proportions and quantities of the alkaloids in barks 

 from trees of iihntical botanical type is very large, and the 

 same is true of the plants raised from seed of a single tree. 

 ■\Ve know nothing of the causes of these individual differ- 

 ences. There is even variation iu analysis of bark raisi;d 

 from cuttings of one and the same tree ; yet it has been 

 shownf that the stock lias no influence on the alkaloids in 

 grafted shoots. It is thus clear that in the production of 

 alkaloids the inherited nature of the trees is largely influ- 

 enced by certain surrounding conditions, and these it is 

 most important we shoiUd discover. Tlie appareatly good 

 results which Mr. Broughton obtained from e.'^perimental 

 manuring have never yet been corroborated or disproved. 

 Even the cause of the increase of alkaloids in renewed bark 

 is but little imderstood, and we probably are unable to avail 

 ourselves of the fact to the full extent. The influence of age 

 on alkaloidal composition in the various species is only 

 guessed at from experience, but no series of analyses of se- 

 lected trees at frequent intervals from the commencement 

 of their lives onwards is available. These are samples of the 

 investigations which only an analyst resident on the spot and 

 working with the Superintendent can hope to decide. 



* It has been thoroughly discussed in the Report of the 

 Cinchona Commission of 1878. pp. 2 — II, and with their 

 opinions on the matter I generally agree, 

 f The latter however, after his visit to Ceylon, completely 

 changed his views, and has expressed the opinion that the 

 analyst is "all imi-ortaut." This opinion has bsen com- 

 meudeil by Government to the Secretary of State {G O 

 No. I,nl3, 13th October 1S81). ' '' 



I Bepoi-t for first quarter of 1SS3 of the Java Ciucboua 

 £Dterprie». 

 Hi 



29. Position of the Govenimciit of M'arlnis.— Ail such re- 

 searches however can only be properly carried on in a Gov- 

 ernment establishment, where the of&cers can devote them- 

 selves in a spirit of pure research to a work which must, of 

 necessity, be spread over many years. And I will add 

 that it is to the Government of Madi-as that aU who are 

 interested iu cinchona iu any of its various aspects necess- 

 arily look to take the lead. No other Government, in 

 fact, will be likely to its undertake it. In Bengal, the pro- 

 duction of febrifuge at present engages the whole attention 

 of the staff, whilst here, in Ceylon, the Government poss- 

 esses no plantations and is iu no position to expend pubhc 

 money without an immecUate return. It is true that from 

 Mr. Moens in Java we have learnt much, but even there 

 the object has never been revenue, and we ought not, and 

 need not, to be dependent ujjon what a foreign Govern- 

 ment may please to make public. On the other hand it 

 was Madras that was formerly in the front position. At 

 the pioneer of eiuchona-growlug m India it proved thas 

 the best barks could be grown there, aud initiated a great 

 industry. This it did as ane.xpeiiment and with a judici- 

 ous Uberality at immense cost. The excellent system 

 followed has, from fortuitous circtimstauces, come to iin 

 end ; under the very favorable present conditions, one 

 cannot but expect to see it revived. 



30. f^dection hy A nalt/sis. — To go into any details of cultiv- 

 ation would be out of place here, but I may express the con- 

 viction that, iu the present .state of our knowledge, the most 

 promising direction for the improvement of the trees as alka- 

 loid-yielders is selection based on analysis. This is to be effected 

 by the isolation of trees with high analysis, precautions to 

 prevent cross-fertilization, care in collecting seed,aiialvsis of a 

 selection of the resulting plants, destruction of all that do 

 not reach the standard of their parent, again, isolation of 

 the best trees, and so on for several generations. The .same 

 principle may be more readily applied to grafts and cuttings. 

 It is cleivr that in such a cultivation it is the chemist who 

 regulates the procedure : plants which his analyses condemn 

 are ruthlessly destroyed, those which answer his test arc, 

 preserved to become the parents of improved successors. 



31. Chani/es required. — ThedesirabiUty of a plantation at 

 a lower elevation and with a more equable rainfall has been 

 already recognized by Government (G. O., No. 1,280, 2!lth 

 August 1881). Neither C. Ledi/eriaaa nov any of the variet- 

 ies ot C. Calisat/a (of which there is good reason to believe 

 therearesome valuable sorts not yet in cultivation) succeed 

 on the existing estates.* A site should be selected at about 

 3,500 — 1,000 feetin sheltered forest lanil In some estates 

 in such situations in Ceylon C. Ledr/crianu is doing very well, 

 and has more than equalled the Java trees in alkaloidal" yielil. 



On the other hand theutilityof keeping up the Hooker and 

 Wood plantations might be again considered. They have been 

 obviously much neglected, aud I see no advantage" to be deri- 

 ved from their maintenance beyond the profit from bark sa'es. 



32. Arramjemcnt of Records and Publication of Residts.-- 

 The only other suggestion I have to offer is perhaps scarcely 

 required. It isthit all the records, papers, notes, and orders 

 connected with the Government plantations be brought to- 

 gether aud properly arranged and classified, so as to be 

 readily available for rcfcreuce. There must be much in Mr. 

 Mclvor's papers supplementary to his rather meagre annual 

 rejjorts, and probably Mr. Eroughton's notes would repav 

 perusal. At all events the history of the plantations cannot 

 be followed without ready access to all the records. For 

 the futiu-e, Government should take earj that accurate note 

 is kept of all work done iu the plantation plots (as to deaths, 

 supplies, renewals, and harvesting operation-;) as well as in 

 th- esperiLnental houses and nurseries and hi fie Laboratory. 

 I will conclude by expressing the opinion 1 hat all results 

 .should be made promptly available to the public iu annual 

 reports, which also ought to be easily obtainable. 



I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, 

 HENRY TRI.ME X. .m.b. 



* The Cat isaya-iorms hitherto introduced make very bad 

 growth and are short-lived. They are also mostly poor 

 quinine-yielders. Of the fiftPen barks of this kind selected 

 by Dr. Bidie for analysis, only two afforded over 3 per cent, 

 of that alkaloid (one, No. 14,gave555), whils: one (No. 21] 

 gave only a trace, and all showed a strong tendency to de- 

 velop the least desirable of the alkaloids — niiichoninc (as 

 much as 4-10 in No. 17). Some may be tried at the lower 

 elevation, but experience in Oeylou is not fa\ orable to their 

 cultivatioo. 



