April 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



783 



what Royle had so persistently ui'gecl on the Government. 

 The Dutch, stimulated by another celebrated botanist, Bliime, 

 took practical steps earlier — Hasskarl having, in 1S54, 

 succceiled, after much peril and labour, in introducing the 

 plant to Java. The Dutch then may, in some sense, claim to 

 be our predecessors in this work of humanity, and, although 

 we have outstripped them iu the race, the history of their 

 labours cannot fail to be of interest. On these grounds, as 

 also on the groinid of practical utility, we welcome the 

 appearance of a handbook of Cinchona Oultui'e,* lately put 

 iutr) Kuglish by ]\Ir. Jack.son, the Botanical Secretary of the 

 Liunean .Society'. This treatise is intended for practical men, 

 planters and traders, and we have no doubt that its pages 

 will be carefully studied by the large and increasing 

 number of Anglo-Saxon adventurers who now devote then- 

 energies to such tropical cultm-es as those of Tea, Coffee, and 

 Cinchona. 



The history of Javanese Cinchona cirlture in the successive 

 stages of development is related with rigid simjjUcity, and the 

 translator has done e.xcellent service iu placing the results of 

 the energetic du'ector's laboiu-s before Enghsh readers. 



Jlr. Vau Gorkom treats by chapters the early history of 

 Cinchona, the botanical description, ciUtm-e, administration, 

 commerce and ti-ade, harvesting of bark, diseases and enemies, 

 quinine alkaloids, and financial success of the undertaking. 

 The cultural details are described very fully, and the only 

 fault we have to find with the work is the too great fidelity 

 with which the translator has adhered to the Dutch idioms, 

 which are sometimes inelegant and wanting in clearness of 

 diction. There are some errors of the press, pi-obably arising 

 from the book being printed in Enghsh at Amsterdam. A 

 chart, showing the relative position and elevation of the 

 various plantations in the island, woidd have been very use- 

 ful. A copious index helps the reader to find everything he 

 requires. We regret the high price (40.«.), which will doubt- 

 less impede the usefulness of the book by checking its 

 circulation. Dr. King's admu-able Manual of Cinchona Cidt- 

 ieati'on in India, prepared with great care and ability, can be 

 procm'ed in Calcutta (2d edit., 1880), we believe, for a 

 fractional part of the money. 



At"p.,lS the labom- question is alluded to, and it is interest- 

 ing to notfr^ata^ whilst the culture was for some years per- 

 formed hy paiif sTaiiite laboiu-ers, and supplies of material 

 ordere<i bj- the Goveriiraent, since 1865 the Cinchona cultm'e 

 has become a wholly fre'e niylertaking. 



At p. 87 we observe — "Tin bi:st.^ira»ts were always obtained 

 from seeds sent to us from .South Aift^pca or British India," 

 implying that seeds harvested from o'tlier eoimtries often 

 succeed better than those of indigenous growfU; and at p. 157 

 this practical cultivator, the Mclvor of the Dutch Nether- 

 lands, insists strongly on "keeping the young plantations 

 absolutely clean," while he con.siders " deep pits altogether 

 unnecessary when the .soil is deeply stirred. 



In the chapter on the harvesting of the bark we find: — 



"For years the Government Cinchona undertaldng has 

 been an experiment on a large scale; the fixed rules and 

 systematic methods, the fruitful sequence of this, come chiefly 

 to the profit of the private planters who are travelling on 

 this road by help of the Crovernment.'* 



'! Whether thin or close planting be adopted, in both cases 

 a time comes when the original planting requires thinning, 

 and then for the first time a crop is reaped, which at the 

 same time tends to improve the planting. At the first thin- 

 ning the choice has to be raaile between uprooting or felling 

 to the stiunp." 



"Another method can be applied to the remaining trees; 

 they are standing at .sufficient distance, and will soon offer 

 st«ms of considerable dimensions. Upon these can be tried 

 the ]>lau ah-eady mentioned of partial stripping or shaving. 

 So also attempts may be made to enhance the amount of 

 alkaloid by temporary covering (one year or longer) with 

 moss, or other materials at hand." 



Theie appears to be considerable force in the following re- 

 marks (p. 191):— 



" We have ;i pre juilice against jiartial barking — stripping, 

 as the English call it — that is, the cutting out of long strips 

 "f b:uk. The trees may bear the operation well enough if it 



* A Mandhook of Cinchona Cidtnrc, by Karel "Wessel t^ii 

 Gorkom, formerly Chief Inspector of Cultm-es in the Nether- 

 lands Ea.st Indies; translated by B. D. Jacksou, Secretaxy, 

 -Liiineau Society. I^. 292, 4 to. Loudon and Amsterdam 

 (Ti^buer), 1883. - " - - 



be done with care; but they are none the better for it, and as 

 soon as it is appUed on a large scale, the labom-ers cannot be 

 kept under strict supervision, and therefore the chances of 

 damage to the trees are considerable." 



In the NUgui plantations the mossing process for renewing 

 bark was perseveringly followed by the late Mi-. Mclvor, 

 chiefly on Ciucho'na succu-ubra trees. In' Java, Herr Moeus, 

 the Government Analyst, appears to have followed up 

 Mclvor's practice with zeal, but quickly remarked that the 

 virtue did not con.sist in the moss itself. He substituted the 

 fibrous sheaths of the Areca* Palm with an entirely satis- 

 factory result. Again, in 1880, he covered the exposed bark 

 with wild gi-ass (Imperata arundinacea), used as forage; this 

 was also successful. The conclusion arrived at is that the 

 character of the alkaloids remains in the renewed bark the 

 .same as in the original, only the quantitative proportion 

 changes, and that the result is not the least dependent on 

 the natm-e of the covering material used. 



In 1879, Moens advised the treatment of Oihchoria, Ledger-^' 

 iana by outside scraping (sha-ving) of the "bark, and the 

 highest price was realised for the scrapings; the term has 

 been abandoned, and scales {schUfers) is now given. 



It may be noted that in the last report of the ;Madi-as Cin- 

 chona Plantations (1881) the Javan slicing or scaling .system 

 has been under trial, and the scraped red bark from 

 Neduvatan reaUsed a fair price, but the effect of the process' 

 on the trees is said to have been injurious, and Mclvor's moss- 

 ing .system is still preferred. ■ 



" Has.skarl was the great executant of the ' Ciitch plans. 

 Markham fulfilled that task for England on a greater .scale, 

 but also better prepared, and with ampler help. Mclvor, , 

 Anderson, and Thwaites were by Markham and his coadjutors 

 put mto position to lay the foundation of a cultm-e which in 

 twenty years' time may acquire an unimaginable .significance 

 and extent." 



" If rivah-y has prevailed between the English and Dutch 

 directors of Cinchona culture it has in no sense harmed the 

 development of the latter ; the most cordial co-operation on 

 both sides continues undistm-bed. IrajjeUed by international 

 interest it was held to be a principle of humanity." 



The statements of the cai^ital and revenue accounts of the 

 Government Cinchona plantations from the commencement 

 up to date show a substantial balance in favour of Govern- 

 ment both in India and in Java. 



-It is pleasant also to notice how cordially the two Goverii- 

 ments have co-operated in the interchange of seeds and ex- 

 perience hi advancing this, the gi-eatest cultm-al uiidertakiug , 

 which the world has ever witnessed. ■ . ' . ' ' 



In the latter part of 1880 Bernelot Moens, thdiew Director 

 of Culture in .Java, visited Ceylon, !\[adras, and Bengal, lie 

 had excellent opportmiities of comp.-iring the results obtained 

 in these various fields of cxperimeni . and we luiderstaml that 

 a complete report of his impressions and ol)servations may be 

 shortly expected, which will doubtless be of gi-eat value both 

 to planters and men of science. 



It may here be be added that Mr. Lawson (late Professor 

 of Botany in the University of Oxford) stai-ted on Thm-s- 

 daylast to assume charge of his new appointmeut as Superin- 

 tendent of the Government Cinchona Plantations, Ootaca- 

 nnmd, where his scientific knowledge- of plant-growth should 

 serve him ui good stead. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



THE FIG TEEKf 



Durmg a lengthened stay in Naples and attendance :if 

 the Zoological station of that city. Count H. zu ' Solnis- 

 Ijaubach, assisted by Dr. P. Mayer, one of the staff fo 

 the institute, and by Baron Vahante, made a special stuijy 

 of the origin, domestication and cultivation of the fig- 

 tree (Ficns carica, L.), the result of which he has pub- 

 Usheil iu the form of a pamphlet, ' Die Herkunft, Doni- 

 estikation, and Verbreitung des gewohnhchen Feigeiibaum, 

 A'on H. (.irafcn zu Solms-Laubach. .Gottiugen, 1882.' 

 The work is especially devoted to the study of the his- 

 tory of the fig-tree, and the operation of caprificatioii. 

 which, as is known, consists of iiimging_ 'the fruit of thi 

 wild fig upon the cultivated tree, receive.s con- 

 siderable attention. Perhaps it will be as well to mention 

 here, for the benefit of some less acquainted 'nith thi- 

 subject, that the fruit of the wild 'fig is hung upon tbi 

 ciUtivated tree by gardeners, in order that the insect whicli 



■* Not arecir but arenga. — Ed. 

 f turn tit "Daily News." 



