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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1886, 



THE CEYLON CINCHONA BARK RING 



SCHEME. 



The low prices whicli have been realised for cinchona 

 bark, owing to the enormous experts from Ceylon 

 dining the past two seasons, have led growers to 

 cast about for some means of improving them, and a 

 proposal, made by Mr. Sinclair, inthe Colombo papers, 

 10 form a bark " Ring," or Syndicate, has attracted 

 ft good deal of attention. Combinations of large 

 holders of any article in general demand, who have 

 ugreed not to sell under a certain price, have occa- 

 sionally resulted in large profits, and though the con- 

 ditions' existing in the present instance are very 

 dift'erent, the idea must possess considerable fascin- 

 ation for the planter, with the unit of quinine 

 down to M. The mode of procedure suggested 

 is, that every producer in the " spicy island " should 

 send his bark, after baling and analysis, to a store 

 in Colombo, and agree only to ship in such 

 quantity, and at sach time, as the directors of the 

 scheme" should decide. Mr. Sinclair takes as his text 

 tlie dictum of Messrs. Brooks and Green, wellknown 

 London brokers, that " the price of cincliona depends 

 entirely on the shipmentB from Ceylon," — which may 

 be accepted as a truth, though not an eternal one — 

 and argues that, if growers could limit their supplies, 

 the unit would rise from 3d to (id A receipt speci- 

 fying the variety and quantity of bark stored would 

 be handed to the owner, and the Syndicate, by keep- 

 ing itself well informed of the state of the market, 

 could, it is thought, so regulate supplies, as to keep 

 the price at paying level. 



Mr. Sinclair himself mentions some of the difficulties 

 to be encountered, but declares that none of them 

 aie insurmountable ; for instance, that mortgagees 

 would be unwilling to wait for their money ; that 

 most planters require the full value of their harvest- 

 ing at once ; " that the making a selection of bark 

 for shipment would probably give rise to more dis- 

 content than any otlier difdculty ; " and, lastly, that 

 Java, India, or Sout'i America might step in and 

 upset his plans. This last objection he cheerfully 

 intends to combat by flooding the market on the 

 first sign of agEjressiveness on tlie part of any of these 

 countries, and for our own part, we are disposed to 

 think that " tlie seleccion of bark for shipment," on 

 the occasion of one of the.se patriotic sacrific s being 

 dt emed ueces.sary, would give ri.se to even greater dis- 

 f-ontent on the part of the devoted Syndic-i than the 

 refusal of prioritj- at other times. This could only 

 be obviated by all grower.s agreeing to "pool" thiir 

 bark ; but such a suggestion is merely chimerical. 

 The first and third difficulties might, perhaps, be over- 

 cumo ; as to the second, it is gravely suggested that 

 the Banks would advance half the enhanced value (('. 

 /"., the full present value) against the storekeeper's 

 receipt. Perhaps Colornbo Bauk.s are fonder of dab- 

 bling in cinchona than Indian oues, but it would be 

 a sanguine planter who, in this country, went to a 

 3Ianager with such a ' heads I win, tails jou lose" 

 proposal ; for, supposing the speculation failed, and 

 prices did not rise, the Syndicate might simply 

 hand over the key of the store to the Bank, and 

 tell it to make the best it could of the business. 

 Added to which — such are the peculiarities of the 

 Ceylon law — if the store was found to be empty, it 

 is more than doubtful if any remedy would exist. 

 Another difficulty not noticed in the letter we arvj 

 considering, is the fact that it is not so much the 

 qmntity of any articles that is actually up for auction 

 in Loudon, or Amsterdam, that fixes its* price, as the 

 q lantity available, or soon expected to be available, in 

 the export towns of the producing countries. The 

 Brozilian planters used annually, when raising money 

 for working expenses, to depress the coffee market 

 with apocryphal tales of the magnificence of their blos- 

 som, and of the enormous crop they would be shipping 

 11 a f"W months. If rumours of this kind were 

 I elieved, what might be expected to happen in the face 

 f 10 million lb, or so, being actually stored in Colombo r" 

 Nor must the expenditure on rent, staff, and insur- 

 ance be Ibrgotten, all of wliich would have to ba in- 

 curred for a very problematioal advaotage. The Syndi- 



cate is, apparently, to be worknd without capital, ex- 

 cepting, we suppose, the monthly contributions of 

 members for current expenses. The scheme is, how- 

 ever, one that essentially requires capital, aud is not 

 likely to succee i in the hands of moa largely depend- 

 ent for a livelihood on the article they are speculating 

 with, aud who are anxious to raise every anna they can 

 to put into next season's tea extensions. For, after all, 

 few Ceylon p'antors look upon their cinchona just now 

 as anything but a means to that end. The price of 

 bark is likely to rise in the near future, but it will be 

 from the exhaustion of the supplies in Ceylon, and not 

 from any artificial limitation thereof. Were it not 

 for canker, it might be found more practicable to 

 agree not to harvest more than a certain quantity of 

 bark, whereby all storage expenses would be saved ; 

 but canker is ever present in the island, and the 

 bark must be gathered from dying trees. The ('e)/loii 

 Oliscri-er sensibly suggests that steps should be taken 

 to ascertain what cinchona may be expected from 

 India, and other countries ; but such an enquiry would 

 take time, and this the promoters of the Syndicate are 

 anxious to save. 



In conclusion, two facts may be borne in mind by 

 any one desirous of meddling with a speculation 

 of this kind, first, that though stocks of bark are not 

 abnormally high, there does not seem to be any 

 great competition amongst the buyers ; all the bark 

 is absorbed, but only on a3count of its low price. 

 Enormously as the consumption of quinine has in- 

 creased, there has been no exceptional demand — such 

 as would be caused by a great war,^and it is very 

 likely that a great deal of capital is looked up 

 in quinine. Should, then, the supply of bark be 

 limited, and the price be raised, manufacturers 

 might be able to hold oat, and refuse to buy for a longer 

 time than would suit the Syndicate. The secoud point 

 is that, when Ceylon planteis boast of the possibility 

 of driving all other bart than their own off the market, 

 thev forget that, in India certainly, and perhaps also 

 in .Java, bark can be harvested just as cheaply as in 

 Ceyloti. They have been talking so loudly of their 

 " unrivalled labour supply " — which, by the way, seems 

 to be rather short just now — that they have at last 

 persuaded themselves that thej' work cheaper than 

 any one else. As a matter of fact, a coo!y on an 

 estate in Cochin, Wyiiaad, Ooorg, or the Nilgiris, 

 often gets only half, and never more than two-thirds 

 of the pay of his brother in Ceylon. It may be ad- 

 mitted that a 8d unit does not pay in either country, 

 in the sense of giving a return on Cipitil; bib for 

 one iu the position of His P^xcellency's "enterprisiii;;; 

 citizen," with his ci.ichona ready to haul, itpiys 

 well enough for the mere hirvestiug and, as the 

 Indian planters work more economically, it pays them 

 better than the Ceylon one; sj, as loug as bark i> 

 saleable at all, no amount of Ceylon competition 

 can drive out the Indian article. Sjuth American 

 uncultivated bark can simply not be p it on the market 

 while prices remain at their present level ; there is 

 no question of capital involved there, but simply one 

 of collection. It is usually sii I that a 6J unit admits 

 this bark, and once the unit goes up tj that figure 

 it must be reckoned with. The Dimbula Pianters 

 Association has s-^t to work to discover ho-v much 

 cinchona is actually left in Ceylon, aud wheu the 

 information has been published growers in Oeylou 

 aud elsewhere will know better what to expe3t. — 

 Madras 3Iail. 



COLIND EXHIBITION AND PL.\NTERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 Planters' Association of Ceylon, Kandy, 



13th Nov. 1881). 

 To the Editors " Cei/lo.i Obsrrver." 

 Sirs, — I beg to eirclose for publication copy of a 

 letter from Mr. J. L. Shand on the subject of the 

 Colonial and Indian Exhibition. — I am, sirs, yours 

 faithfully, A. PHILIP, Secretary. 



Oeylon Commission, Colonial and Indian Kxbibiti.n 



South Ken.sington, S. \V., 22nd October 1836. 

 Alex. Philip, Esq., Planters' Association of Oeylon, 

 Kandy, 



