S9^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Februaby t, 1884. 



the three or four days drying, and is then fit to he 

 )-enioved to the weighing stations. Curdamoms lose 

 two-thirds, three-quarters, or even {our-fifths of their 

 measure by drying ; the exposure to dew is tupposed 

 to give a bleached look to the sample. Some cnrd- 

 ainonis X noticed had a green tinge which no amount of 

 drying could remove, and was supposed lo be c^iusfd 

 by the nature of the soil they came from. Could the 

 crop be gathered in, as it ripened, tliere is no doubt a 

 much better eaniple could be secured, but I was informed 

 that it would not pay the growers to do this, as the 

 Travancoro Government made no distinction in the 

 price for b.id or good qualities, and the result was the 

 loss of much of the ripe fruit and the character of the 

 rest being damaged by indiscriminate packing of mature 

 and unripe capsules together. A second curing and 

 minuowing is given at the weighing stations, and there 

 is a further drying and winnowing on the coast when 

 the cardamoms are ready for the buyer. On the 

 coast the best descriptions will realize as much as 

 K4 per lb. (Dutch) but the grower only receives 

 a third of this, and when all deductions from 

 this third are made " for watchmen, land tax 

 and other pretty charges, the amount really paid is 

 nearer one fourth than one-third. From notes taken 

 of the cost of cultivation, I was doubtful whether the 

 growers could make anything by the transaction, but 

 the fact of their continuing to cultivate is proof that 

 they do make something. A. considered it paid the 

 growers if they secured two good crops to three bad 

 ones ; but he admitted that it was very difficult in bad 

 seasons to get the owners to take in their crops, and 

 he dad often to do so at the Government's expense. 

 At one time tVie produce had been as high as 3,000 

 cwt. but had subsequently dwindled down at a t^nth 

 of that quantity. Since A. 'a incumbency more land 

 has been opened up and abandoned gardens brought 

 into cultivation, and be had lately a crop of 1,500 

 cwt. A more liberal policy on the part of the Tra- 

 vancore authorities would soon double the cultivation. 

 Nearly all the cardamom growers are British subjects, 

 owing no doubt to the fact that the forests, as far 

 as the Pereyaur had once been under Briti-.h jurisdic- 

 tion. About the second decade of this century, this 

 tract was transferred to the Travancore Government, 

 and the cultivators who were British subjects con- 

 tinued their occupation under the new rule. Roughly 

 estimated about 20,000 acres were under cultivation, 

 and from what I could learn there was forest-laud 

 enough available for extending the cultivation five 

 fold. The yield an acre in even favourable time does 

 not exceed 20 to 25 lb of cardamoms. 



In addition to cardamoms the Travancore Govern- 

 ment collect ivory, wax, galinuts and other hill pro- 

 ducts, and obtain some revenue from teak and black- 

 wood, and also from cattle grazing fees. Altogether 

 the average nett revenue comes to about 2 lakhs of 

 rupees. No land is granted for otherwise than cardamom 

 cultivation — a wise policy on the part of the Travanc- 

 ore Government, as without losing their forests they 

 obtain a safe though fluctuating revenue. Still there 

 is a good deal of lard suitable for grain cultivation 

 which is not allowed to be cultivated though ready 

 with a light tickling of the surface to yield fine crops. 

 The wandering hill tribes in return for Sircar service 

 are alone allowed to grow any grain, and they are 

 restricted^to old nursery clearings. 



Though the cardamom hills are unoccupied at pre- 

 sent by any resident population, there was a time when 

 they must have been inhabited, as ruins of forts, 

 rude carvings, and inscriptions plentifully testify, but 

 there are no traditions of the old inhabitants, and the 

 present hill tribes, according to their own account, 

 are but comparatively recent settlers. The present 

 Hill men are of either Tamil or Malayalam origin, and 

 seems to have settled ou the hills iu the last three 



hundred years. They are fine men in physique though 

 living in feverish places and according to census re- 

 turns are on the increase. The Railway has made 

 the country accessible, as twenty-four hours from 

 Railway Station of Ammanackenoor would land the 

 sportsmen at some of the finest shikar ground in 

 Southern India. — Madras Hail. 



OINOHONA PROSPECTS. 



Although the present prices of bark are discouraging to 

 those who have capital invested in cinchona on the hills 

 of Southern India, it seems that brighter days are dawn- 

 ing and that prospects for the future are very fair indeed. 

 "We take the following extract from a late number of the 

 Flantei-s' Gazette (Dec. 1st, 1883.) 



" In several instances Oeylou bark valued at 6d per unit of 

 quinine sold for 7d. On the whole the opinion in the trade 

 is that the market is not likely to go lower for bark of 

 fair quality if planters desist from sending enormous quant- 

 ities of almost worthless twigs, and the South American 

 imports diminish as they have done lately. There need not 

 be much fear about the latter, if, — as we have been assured — 

 a large portion of such bark is now in stock, and with not 

 more than 9d to Is per lb., actually cost Is 6d per lb. for 

 carriage from the interior where it was co]lect*:d, to the 

 shipping port. Whatever may be the precise figures it is 

 quite certain that American bark sold at present prices 

 leaves a heavy loss, and therefore shipments are not likely 

 to be maintained." 



Probably not. It would take merchants of s-iper-saut 

 guine disposition to continue shipping bark which had cost 

 jhem eighteen pence a pound for mere carriage to a market 

 where the produce was unlikely to result in anything bun 

 loss of 25 to 50 percent on their cash outlay: planters o 

 the hill ranges of Southern India may therefore look for a 

 steadily improving market until prices will overtop the mini- 

 mum of Is 6d. AVe are informed that the harvesting in these 

 districts on an average costs about one anna per pound of 

 dry bark, and that carriage, shipping and home charges, 

 bring it up to about four pence per pound by the time it is 

 placed on the home market. Amargin of a shiUing a pound 

 clear profit is quite enough to make the planting of cinchona 

 a desirable investment to those who can afford to wait, and 

 it seems hkely that this margin will be considerably ex- 

 ceeded. In the elaborate minute of H. E. the Governor on 

 the administration of the Madras Presidency in 18S3, ap- 

 pears the following paragraph. 



Dr. Trimen the Director of the celebrated gardens at 

 Peradeniyain Ceylon, was deputed, at the request of this 

 Government (thanks to the kindness of Sir James Longden, 

 o. c. Ji. G., the then Governor of the island and its depend- 

 encies) to visit the ciuchona plantations on the Nilgiris in 

 company with Mr. Lawson and Dr. Bidie. The outcome 

 was most satisfactory to us, and will, we trust, make these 

 great plantations be worked more aud more, not with a 

 mere view to profit, but for the more important object of 

 helping cinchona-growing in Southern India, to ever better 

 and better results. There are problems connected with 

 this industry which are still unsettled, and, if we do not 

 undertake to solve them, it is difficult to see who in this 

 Province can afford to do so. Ciuchona can be grown in 

 many parts of the tropics ; hut that country will probably 

 ultimately derive most benefits from growing it which takes 

 most pains to arrive at the best methods, by the joint labours 

 of the botanist, the chemist, and the horticulturist. For the 

 purpose of the Government, too mucli cinchona cannot be 

 grown. For the purposes of the planter, too much may be 

 easily grown, and the latest sales are not specially en- 

 couraging to those who expect rapidly to make fortunes 

 under the auspices of the Countess of Chinchona. 



Our contemporary the Madras JIail makes some very 

 pertinent remarks cii this subject, anil appears to think that 

 the fact of the manufacture of quinine being in the hands 

 of a very few capitalists who in fact form a small "ring," 

 is at the bottom of the present low prices of bark. The 

 Jtfail adds ; '* We believe the time is not far distant when 

 other manufactories will be started. This is what we ur- 

 gently require in India. At present there is the anomaly of 

 a large demand for quinine, which can with difficulty be satis- 

 fied, aud only at exorbitantly high prices, and at the same 

 time there are thousiuids of bales of bark which the broken 



