74° 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1883. 



condamineas, the former growing very badly, the latter 

 fairly well. 



"'No. 5. Soil from plot No. 14, Neddivattam, &c. ; 

 formerly covered with forest, now growing auocirubras ; 

 growth very good. 



"'No. 6. Soil from plot No. 6, Dodabetta, Gov. 

 Chin. Plantations; growing condamineas imd doing well. 



"'No, 7. Soil from plot No. 7, Dodabetta, &o. ; 

 growing condamineas and doing well. 



" 'No. 8. Soil from plot No. 29, Neddivattam, &o. ; 

 formerly forest laud, now growing calisayas and conda- 

 mineas, both varieties doin-j well, considering the 

 elevation." 



" On carefully examining thealjove analj-tical results, 

 we are able at once to see to what e.xteut ihe sniladilier 

 from each other. AVitb the exception of No. 6, which 

 is a light ri-d soil, probably formed from decomposed 

 laterite and quartz rock, all these samples vary in 

 colour, from light brown to chocolate, while No. 7, is 

 quite a dark soil. The majority are Very rich in 

 nitrogen and carbon, and contain much vegetable or- 

 ganic" mutter, resulting from decayed leaves, grass, etc. 

 No. 6 however, is poor in this respect, and contains a 

 very higli proportion of oxide of iron and quariz sand ; 

 hut notwithstanding these defects, the condamineas 

 are said to be doin^ well, so far, at least, as appearance 

 may be taken as a favourable sign, but we have no ac- 

 count of the yield of alkaloids from the bark. 



" As regards lime, these soils ai'e all more or less 

 deficient. No. 7, contains by lar the most, and No. 6, 

 the least. This scarcity of liaic is indeed a feature 

 coramoo to all Indian and Ceylon soils derived from 

 granitic rock, with veins of ironstone and quartz, and 



upon such soils moderate dressings of lime have been 

 found to give very good results. 



"Phosphoric acid is present in fair quantity in most 

 of the s|iecimens, and is specially high in No. 5. All 

 the determinations were made with great care by the 

 Molybdiuum process ; and it is of practical interest to 

 notice that the plots which were formerly in grass 

 show the lowest percentage, and those that were in 

 forest the highest. 



"Potash seems deficient in all these samples; and 

 no doubt the application of potash salts would be 

 attended with good results, sulphate of potasli being 

 the form in which it would be most efficacious, though 

 muriate of potash is cheaper. 



" All these soils are in a good mechanical condition, 

 and have a fine tilth ; for although there is rather too 

 much clay, as indicated by the high proportions of 

 alumina, yet there are plenty of quartz crystals, except 

 perhaps in No. 2, to keep the land in a porous fi-iable 

 condition, which is a most important point for cin- 

 chona, especially in reference to the subsoil. During 

 my tour through the coffee districts of Ceylon, in 1877 

 and 1878, I had frequent opportunities of tracing the 

 failure of cinchona plantations to the presence of an 

 impervious stiff clay subsoil, and have drawn attention 

 to the same in subsequent reports. 



"The determinations of nitric acid, sulphuric acid, 

 carbouic acid, and chlorine, all show some slight varia- 

 tions, but do not call for any special remark. In these 

 analyses I have endeavoured to draw attention to the 

 general character of the above soils, and to point out 

 their richness in nitrogen ami carbon, and their com- 

 parative poverty in potash and lime. No. 6 being, as 

 stated, an exception. I shall endeavour to ascertain 

 how far these results agree with the yield of valuable 

 alkaloids from the bark of the several plots. In the 

 meantime, bearing in mind the known success of the 

 Nilgiris cinchona plantations, it will be pretty safe to 

 assume that soils having a similar chemicfil coinpoeitioe 

 will be likely, under favourable conditions of dim at 

 and elevation, to be suitable for the special species of 

 cinchona which are now growing in these plots." 



MR. HUGHES ON CINCHONA SOILS. 

 There is one fact mentioned in Mr. Hughes' letter 

 to the Field, as given above, which explains why 

 the cinchonas have flourished on the windy slopes 

 of Dodabetta and survived in full vitality through 

 the frequent and prolonged droughts of Neddi 

 wuttum. " In most parts the soil consists of a rich 

 surface mould (mo feet deep." In such a soil there 

 is not only abundance of plant food, but scope for 

 the cinchonas to send dcwn their taproots, which 

 they are unable to do in many portions of Ceylon, 

 because below about six inches of loose surface soil 

 they meet with a stiff clayey sub'Soil. It is not that 

 our soils are much inferior in elements of fertility 

 to those of the Nilgiri plateau, but that the latter 

 are in a more favourable mechanical condition. How 

 much a free condition of soil has to do with the 

 growth and permanance of the fever plants, is shewn 

 by the flourishing groves of cinchonas which line so 

 many of the cart roads in the hill districts of Ceylon. 

 The trees grow splendidly in upturned sub-soil of the 

 most unpromising appearance, and which has fre- 

 quently been brought from a depth of ten, twenty, 

 and even thirty feet. The inference seems to be either 

 that the free, permeable condition of a soil, is of far 

 more importance to the rapid gro-wth and healthy 

 existence of cinchonas than the presence of much 



