s^ 



l^HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Aug. 2, 1886. 



in 181)9, and (lid not excpfdafew pounds, but now 

 the exports of bark from tliis island annually amount 

 to over 15,000,000 pounds. 



With the cheapness of sulphate of quinine there 

 voUowed an increase in the consumption, for the 

 world's production is now greater than ever before. 

 Not only is this increased output sliown by foreign 

 manufacturers, but American producers have largely 

 increased their production ot sulphate of quinine 

 during the past few years. The American industry 

 is carried on by a few large manufacturers in 

 New York and Philadelphia. We are unable to 

 yhow the increase in production in thi^ country, 

 as it is impossible to obtain statistics from the 

 manufacturers of their output : but, as all the 

 bark used in this country is imported, an examin- 

 ation of the Customs returns Will give the imports 

 of bark, which will fairly show the increase that 

 has taken place in the production of sulphate of 

 quinine. The imports of cinchona bark in the 

 iiscal years ended June 30th, 1881, 1885 and 1886 

 were as follows : For 188(5 the statistics for nine 

 months -of the year only were at hand, so that 

 a careful estimate for the balance of the year has 

 been made and added to the imports for the nine 

 months. 



Pounds. Values. 



1881 2,580,052 |717,(1U 



1885 3,513,3'.ll Ull,508 



i«8l) 1,100,000 880,000 



It will be seen that the increase in the imports 

 i^ince 1881 has been nearly GO per cent. While the 

 imports increased the average import value per 

 l)0und decreased, being 28 ^cents in 1S81, a little 

 over 26 cents in 1885, and only 21 .cents ^in 

 iS8ti. 



Although American manufacturers are produc- 

 ing large (juantities of quinine, a considerable 

 imount of the foreign drug is being imported, but 

 ihe quantity is now much less than it has been. 

 Tn the nine months ended March Hist last, the 

 imports into this country of the salts of quinine 

 amounted to 1,1011,1)01 ounces, valued at ^75y,<j(;i) 

 against 1,716,897 ounces, valued at 5*1,105,957, 

 imported in the corresponding period of last year, 

 'i'hc American sulphate of (]uinine, although some- 

 what higher in price than the foreign article, is 

 yreterred by most consumers because of its known 

 purity. Foreign quinine is brought here in bulk 

 and in some cases is adulterated, but if the con- 

 sumer takes proper precautions in purchasing, the 

 quinine he obtains is considered in every respect equal 

 Lo the American product. — Bnult^trcet, 



THE AGKICULTUKAL AND HOETIGULTUEAL 

 SOCIETY OF INDIA, 

 Besides a mass of other interesting matter, the 

 latest issued volume of tlio transactions contains 

 a hir^tory of tlie inslitutiun. rise and progre.ss of 

 the (Society, by ^^r. A. 11. IJlcchynden, the yecretary. 

 From this valualde paper wc learn that this Ho- 

 ciety which has done so much to promote tlie 

 material progress of India, was founded in 1820 

 at the suggestion of that wonderful cobbler, William 

 Carey, the Baptist missionary, " who combined 

 rdth his attainments as an oriental scholar and 

 author, a knowledge of botany, agriculture and 

 borticultuve." A marble bust of this great and 

 ivietul man occupies a conspicuous place in the 

 h'Ociety's meeting-room in the Metcalfe Hall. As 

 jSecretary and then President, Dr. Carey, saw great 

 mprovement ao the retiuU oi tlic Society's eifortb 



but we can imagine his surprise if he could see the 

 India of today with its enormous production and 

 export, not only of rice and cotton but of wheat, 

 linseed, jute, tea, itc. There are two significant 

 notes to the following effect : — 



Scarcely 10 years have elapsed since the first ship- 

 ments of jntc on a large scale were made from Cal- 

 cutta, and now, independently of local consumption, 

 which is ainmally increasing, the exports exceed 

 ,%0,(XK) tons. Fifty years ago, not an ounce of lin- 

 seed was exported from India. During the current 

 year (18H')j, about 448,000,000 pomids have been im- 

 ported into Great Britain to the exclusion of Rus- 

 sian produce ! 



If only a cheap metliod of cleaning Ehea fibre 

 could be establislied, the probability is that India 

 would outstrip China in the production of this 

 tine fibre. The exports of Sugar and Silk from 

 India have declined, but in the case of sugar the 

 satisfactory reason is that the local consumption 

 has so largely increased as to leave little surplus. 

 From first to last the Society has laboured to 

 encourage the production of all valuable vegetable 

 products, whether indigenous or introduced. To 

 this end they established gardens, in which gardeners 

 were trained and whence plants and seeds were 

 distributed. They sought and disseminated in- 

 formation, and offered prizes for special papers 

 and essays. How they helped forward the enter- 

 prise in tea, a plant which was not generally 

 known or believed to be indigenous for fully ten 

 years after the founding of the Society, is thus 

 recorded : — 



Tka Cui/riv.VTioN IN India. — This important subject 

 has naturally received much attention at the iiands 

 of the Society from the time when public enquiry 

 was first called thereto to the present. The valuable 

 reports of Drs. Griftitli and McClelland oa the tea 

 plant of Upper Assam, and on its physical condition 

 with reference to geological structure, soils and cli- 

 mate, will be found in the transactions of the Society. 

 The result is a matter of history. The Government 

 of India acted as pioneers, and then, when the cul- 

 ture was fairly established, transferred their experi- 

 mental plantation to the now well known "Assam 

 Company." Several other gardens were subsequently 

 formed in Assam and also m Cachar, where the 

 plant was likewise discovered in 1855 to be indigen- 

 ous by Captain Verncr, the Superintendent of that 

 district, who communicated the fact to the Society 

 in an interesting paper printed in Vol. i) of the 

 Journal. It was found, iu a coniparati\ely short space 

 of time, that this most valuable plant could be suc- 

 cessfully grown in several other parts of ludia, in 

 Darjeeling, and certain other Himalayan localities, 

 in the I'uujab, Ilazareebagh and Chittagong.* So 

 numerous were the specimens submitted to the Society 

 during several years on the earlier stage of this in- 

 dustry, that a Special Committee was appointed to 

 examine them, and many reports will be found in 

 the pages of the Transactions and subsequently of 

 tlie Journal. Before leaving this section, it nipy not 

 be out of place to put on record the fact that the 

 I^fuseuui contains a specimen of the first production 

 of Tea from the Assam Gardens, wJiich was for- 

 warded by the Indian Government for sale iu the 

 London market in ISoD or ISIO. In less than half a 

 century the produce of British India has increased 

 from a few hundred pounds (!t0 cliestsj, of which this 

 first consignment consisted, to upwards of sixty five 

 millions! Is it unreasonable to suppose that before 

 this century closes it will reach a figure of not less 

 than one hundred millions, or two-thirds of what is 

 now supplied to the English markets by China £(nd 

 Japan? Upwards of 300,000 acres of laud are liow 

 mider tea cultivation in India. 



* Its culture has recently been most successfully 

 attempted on the abandoned coffee gardens of Ceyl,on; 

 The quality of the produce is second to none other 

 in the East. About five million pounds have already 

 been exported in 1885. The tea plant has also be'.eii 

 cticeully iutioduvtid iutu Natal iu boutU Afxivu. 



