31- 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov, i, 1886. 



comes. Most of the cardamoms now in fruit will 

 be past by the time the bulbs now being put out 

 are matured, and as there are not very many 

 extending the cultivation of this product, there 

 would seem to be ahead a good time for the 

 knowing ones. 



Tkfessrs. Baillie and Thomson's patent Tea 

 Sitter has been improved lately. The old style of 

 ■wood in frame has given place to a wrought iron 

 tubular end. which makes the machine look much 

 smarter. Witli this improvement, the price has also 

 advanced somewhat, whereas tea machinery in Ceylon 

 might well alloid to have a turn the other way. 



Messrs. Law A- Davidson's " Simplex Tea Roller " 

 is tiuietly making a name for itself, and is said 

 to do very good work. It takes 100 lb. of leaf at 

 a fill and finishes this off in 30 or 10 minutes 

 with six coolies. 



One who has had practical experience of almost 

 every hand-roller in the field, has now no hesitation 

 in giving the palm to the " Simplex." He main- 

 tains that it is strongly and solidly built, is the 

 lowest priced, has a better twisted leaf, gives a 

 larger j)roportion of tine tea, than can be turned 

 out by any other hand-machine. He further asserts 

 that every leaf is thoroughly rolled. That is high 

 praise, and if the "Simi^lex " comes up to it, it will 

 be another example of the capability of Ceylon men 

 to invent and manufacture their own machines. 

 Certainly such a testimonial should fully satisfy the 

 inventors, although in these days it is sometimes 

 difficult to do this. Of course, in regard to the 

 merits of tea-rollers, there will always be a variety 

 of opinions, and as almost every other man you 

 meet now is an authority on tea, there will be for 

 every machine that does any kind of fair work, 

 a number willing enough to supply the manufacturer 

 with a sample of this literary composition, so treated 

 or otherwise. Coffee, what at least of it is left, 

 is briginning to ripen up, but the picking is a farce 

 after all ; you don't know very well how to do it, 

 so as to secure the miserable harvest, at anything 

 like a modest cost. If you try four coolies in the 

 line, the tale at the close of the day is so poor 

 as to -make you regret the more : whereas by 

 the picking, you may secure half or two-ihirds 

 of what is really there, and the rest drops. And 

 then to read of the excitement and speculation 

 in the American coffee market, and the brilliant 

 prospects which lie before the cultivation of that 

 fragrant bean, and to feel that we are all out of 

 it or nearly so ! It is rather tantalizing that this 

 turn comes just as we are unable to avail our- 

 selves of it. Had it been earlier, it would have 

 suited Ceylon much better. I suppose it is because 

 that we are now recognized all over the world as 

 a sorely tried and suffering people that the pro- 

 l)ri-tor of "Mother yiegel's Syrup" has of late 

 inundated the island with an almanack, altogether 

 given over to the extolation of this quack medicine. 

 It is diHicult, however, to understand why the Post 

 Oflice officials should be mixed up with it — for 

 the copy of the almanack which lies before me 

 is from one of the outstation offices, and the name 

 of the postmaster is printed thereon. It has a 

 gay cover, and the outside is the best of it. One 

 who was disappointed in love, and took to the 

 " Syrup,"" says that its effects wci'e wonderful. 

 He at once recovered his spirits, was able to .sleep, 

 and ceased grinding his teeth. He hints that the 

 official connection with the " Syrup"' includes many 

 in high places, that the Acting Postmaster-General 

 is always at his worst when his supply is ex- 

 liausted : that Mr. MacBride goes in for heroic 

 doses, whenever Mr. Campbell writes a letter about 

 the state of the roads ; and that even His Ex- 

 cellency has of late been rather an extensive buyer. 



and as he has not been known to oi?er it to any 

 one, it is conjectured that he uses it all himself. 

 But in Ceylon, it is very hard to know what to 

 believe, and this " gup " from the disappointed lover 

 may be, after all, not a whit more reliable than 

 much which we have formerly rejected. 



Peppercorn. 



HOOPER AND HO^YARD ON CINCHONA BARK. 



We copy from the Pliarmaceiiticdl Journal ab- 

 stracts of papers read before the Pharmaceutical 

 Congress. As regards Mr. David Howiird"s opinion 

 regarding hybridization in Ceylon, it seems a pity 

 he did not explain how hybridization can be 

 prevented where different species Jare cultivated 

 within reach of winds and insects : — 



"Mr. David Hooper communicated some of the 

 results obtained in the course of his quinological 

 work in the Madras cinchona plantations. Shaving 

 cinchona trees as a method of harvesting bark 

 is now very general, but the question as to the 

 limit to the constant and successful .^having of the 

 tree is not yet fully understood. It h.is been found 

 that when operating on trees of six years old the 

 increase in the amount of quinine during the first 

 and second renewal at intervals of twelve months 

 was most satisfactory, but the increase was not 

 so marked in the third year renewal, although 

 the conclusion arrived at is that renewal by shav- 

 ing might be permitted for at least four years. 

 The beneficial effect of renewal by shaving was 

 very marked in the case of a six-year old succi- 

 rubra, which yielded twice as much quinine sulphate 

 as from a natural succirubra of twice that age; 

 but the operation was not satisfactory in its results 

 when appUed to trees of sixteen to twenty-one 

 years, as such old trees will not bear the shaving 

 treatment. The appHcation of cattle manure to • 

 cinchonas seems, from the results of three sets 

 of experiments on succirubra and magnifolia trees, 

 to have the effect of increasing the amount of 

 total alkaloids, and in two instances the amount 

 of quinine, by 52 per cent, and 20 per cent, res- 

 pectively; but the usefulness of the application of 

 manure was not so marked in old trees, and it is 

 believed that the effect of manuring would be more 

 apparent in Crown and Ledger barks. It is also 

 stated that the maximum yield of quinine in Ledger 

 and succirubra barks seems to be attained when 

 the trees are between the age of five and six 

 years, as after that time there is no sensible in- 

 crease in the amount of quinine. Another point 

 ascertained was that bark which had been kept 

 for ten months in a damp room, and had become 

 mouldy in consequence, had not deteriorated as re- 

 ■gards the amount and quality of the alkaloids." 

 Cinchona Cultivation in South America was the 

 title of a paper by Mr. David Howard, who be- 

 lieves that it is to other countries than Ceylon, 

 which occupies at present the most promment 

 position of all the countries where cinchonas have 

 been cultivated, that we must look for the solu- 

 tion of the scientific points involved in the cultiv- 

 ation of cinchonas, owing to the little care that 

 has been taken in Ceylon to avoid the danger of 

 hybridization. Unfortunately, very little scientific 

 information can be obtained from South America, 

 the natural home of the cinchonas except what 

 little can be derived from the study of the cult- 

 ivated bark which reaches us from that country. 

 Among the cinchonas under cultivation in South 

 America are two new species, C. Thomsoniana, 

 named after Mr. Thompson, who discovered it in 

 the Central Cordilleras, the home of the well-knowu 

 C. hi'icifoH'i, and another discovered by Sefior 

 Pombo in Ecuador. C, Thormoniana gave on an^- 



