January i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



559 



they have been propagated by cuttings. Here in Cey- 

 lon, we believe the hirge proportion come true to 

 seed (?) IJr. King regards tlie chemical evidence as 

 supporting the view held all along in the gardens, 

 as to the trees being "natural hybrids." Ur. King 

 hopes to bring the number of qumine trees up to one 

 million this year. Adding 30,U22 trees of other lands, 

 the total of cinchona trees is 4,762,000. The seedlings, 

 and cuttings in the nurseries were equal to 37(5,030. 

 We ob.serve that Mr. Uammie had asked for what 

 Dr. King recommended should be granted, a few 

 months more time in order fully to test his steam 

 manufacture of quinine. All that man can do, we 

 feel certain will Mr. tiammie will do ; but we also 

 feel pretty sure he cannot compete with the pro- 

 fessional (piinologists who are able, as the result of 

 long and special experience, to extract practically 

 every atom of alkaloid from the bark. 



THE BRITISH SIKKHIM CINCHONA. PLANT- 

 ATIONS: REPORT FOR YEAR ENDED 

 MARCH 1882. 

 Daejeelikg, the 28th October 1882. 

 Resolution on De. King's Report. 



Read — The annual report of the Government cinchona 

 plautatiou in Bengal for the year 1881-82, and the Annual 

 report of the Quinologist for 1881-83. 



Oousiderable progress was made during the year in the 

 propagation and planting out of two quinine-yielding trees, 

 the Cinch(yiui Ledgeriana and the unnamed hybrid variety. 

 Of the former species 154,000 and of the latter 91,730 

 trees were planted out. The Cinchona Ledyeriana, though 

 it apparently deserves to be ranked as a distinct species, 

 is still entered in the returns appended to the present 

 report as a variety of Calisai/a. Observation of the liybrid 

 plants has shown that there are six distinct forms amongst 

 them. Samples of bark of four of these forms from very 

 young plants have been analysed by Mr. Wood, late 

 Quinologist to the plantation, with the following results:^ 



No. 1 No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. 

 Crystallized sulphate of 



quinine ... ... 2-87 1-48 ISS 0-97 



Orj'stalUzed sulphate of 



cinchouidine ... 2-94 285 2-93 194 



CrystaUized sulphate of 



quiuidiue ... ... traces, traces, traces, traces. 



Cinchona (alkaloid) ... 072 0-57 052 O'SO 



Evidently Nos. 1, 2, and 3 promise to be valuable quinine 

 barks. The tot,al number of quinine bark trees in the two 

 plantations of Mungpooand Sittong was, at the close of the 

 year, 858,323, namely, Caluaya (including Ledijei-iana) 

 56tl,695 and hybrids 291,6'.i8. There was no addition to 

 the stock plantation of Succiiubra trees, and 161,250 trees 

 of this variety were uprooted for the sake of thi'ir bark. 

 There are .-itill 3,873,2^5 red bark trees on the two planta- 

 tions, and they are considered sufficient to meet all present 

 demand ior tebrifuge. There has hitherto been no success 

 in the propagath.n of the cummercial Oarthageua bark. 

 There are only 30 plants reinaining in the pl.mtations. 

 Efforts will, hoivever, be made to increase the stock, and to 

 give it a further triul at various elevations. 



2. The entire produce of t lie plaDtati..n3 for the year was 

 341,570 lb of dry bark. Of this, 4,9.351b, obtained by 

 thinning the t'ees at -^IunL,'poo and Labdap, were yellow 

 bark, the reniainiler was red bark. The whole of the crop, 

 except a quantity of yellow bariv which was unfitted for the 

 mantacture of febrifuge and was sent to London for sale, 

 was made over to the Febrifuge Factory for disposal. The 

 proceeds of this consignment to London were small, as the 

 bark reached London duriug a depressed state of the 

 market. 



3. The Lieutenant-Governor is glad to learn that the 

 surplus seed of the Cinchona Ledyerinna was distributed 

 gratuitously to aj-pticants for it, and lie desires that this 

 practice may bo followed to the utmost extent consistent 

 with the needs of the plantiitions. The success of the 

 neighbouring cinch' na plantati»jil of thePoomunij Company 



as created a considerable domand in the Darjeeling district 



for young plants, and a sum Kl,746-6.5 wan realized by 

 tlio sale of seedlings dnring last year. 



4. Mr. Moens, the distniguishL-d Director of Oinchoua 

 Cultivation to tUe Dutch Governineui, visitud the (ilanta- 

 tion in December 1880. His method of removing the bark 

 crop by shaving is still under trial, 'the trees tlius 

 operated on appear healthy enough, but the renewed bark 

 is not jet tit tor analysis. The IJutch method of grafting 

 Lnlyeriana on tiu.cciiiil>ra stocks has not beeji attended with 

 success, and propagation by seed will accordingly be 

 adhered to. 



5. The total expenditure on the plantations amounted 

 to R78,495-l-9 agaiust the budget allotment of R79,085. 

 Of this, R10,277-5.5 represented the capital expenditure 

 ou the ucw plantation at Kittong, and the balance, the 

 working expenses of the old plantations, including the 

 charges incurred on account of the bark sent to England 

 for sale. 



G. It is explained that the reduced outturn was due 

 to the existence of a large stock in hand concurrently 

 with slackness of the demand in the early part of the 

 year. Towards the end of the season the demand rapidly 

 increased, and the total quantity disposed of rose lo 10,876 lb 

 against 8,651 lb. in the previous year. The result was a reduc- 

 tion in the reserve stock to 1,503 lb. This is obviously 

 too low, and accordingly the increased weekly outturn will 

 be maiutained during the current year. Tlie Medical 

 Depot of Bombay took 1,000 lb. less than in the previous 

 year, but the supplies to other depots, and especially 

 the sales to the public, have considerably increased. The 

 figures for the two years are — 



1880-81 1881-82. 



lb. oz. lb. oz. 



To Medical Depot, Calcutta 3,000 3,386 



Ditto, Bombay 2,000 1,000 



Ditto, Madras... 500 800 



To Surgeon Genera! for District 



Medical Officer of Bengal 995 4 



To the Inspector-General of 

 Jails for jails and lock-ups, 

 Bengal ... ... ... 14 12 



Sold to the pubhc... ... 3,150 11 4,680 



Given as samples ... ... 3 2 2 9 



Total. . ,8,653 13 10,878 9 



The sales to the public exceeded by 1,529 lb. 5 oz. — a 

 circumstauce which has proved beyond all doubt that 

 the drug is rapidly advancing in the estimation of the 

 public. 



7. The cost of manufacture during the year, iucludingthe 

 cost of the bark, was E8S,957-6-5, or Rll-1.8-3 per pound, 

 being R1-13-9'G75 more than the average cost per pound in 

 1880-81. The iiicrea.sed co^t in 1881-82 is due— 



(1) to an expenditure of R6,792 for casks, steam and 



other apparatus having been treated as working 

 expenses of the year, in.stead of being treated as 

 capital charges of the tactory ; and 



(2) to a smaller (jutturu of fi-brifuge in consequence 



of alarger proportion of branch b;irk than usual 

 having been used in the manufacture. 



8. The revenue derivol from the sale of the febrifuge 

 and seed and plants, and the sale of bark in London, amounted 

 to R2,73,213-l-l-H, as shown below— 



Ks. A. p. 

 By sale of tebrifuge seed 



and plants to ihe public ... 81,612 13 3 

 By credits from thu Medi- 

 cal Depot of Calcutta ... 55,918 

 Do do of Bombay .. 16,600 

 Do do of Madras ... 13,200 

 By credit from the Sur- 

 geon-General, Bengal ... 16,330 8 



Do Inspector- 



General, Jails ... ... 244 



By sale of bark in 



London ... 88,408 10 6 



Total ... 2,72,213 14 8 



9. Ihe net result ofthp yenr'e working, after allowance 

 niade for tlu; ro.lnttion in the stocl; in hand, was thus a pro- 

 fit ot Ul,30,a3S-0-9, i.t. equal to a dividend on the capitai 



