44 



THE TROPICAL AGKTCrVTUKTST. 



[July i, 1884. 



freshly planted seedlings easily penetrate, it is decidedly 

 superfluous to make such large planting-holes. 



Here it is quite enough to dig holes just large -enough 

 for the roots of the seedlings to have sufficient room, while 

 the side-roots must of course he spread out, and the tup- 

 roots planted straight downwards. 



Soils of a loose and fertile nature ought, if large crops 

 are desired- for many years, to be kept in this state, and 

 this is only possible by strictly observing the following 

 directions : — 



As soon as the ground beings to get hard by the constant 

 trampling of the coffee-gatherers, it must be turned up 

 -well, at least one foot deep, which renders it very easy for 

 air and moisture-dew and rain to penetrate ; for the uprooting 

 of all the weeds growing in it, even those that have deep 

 &ndi&T8pTO-&dangTootB,sViChB,sfflaffah ) alanffalanff,loempia7igan t 

 and lastly for dispersing, catching and destroying all creatures 

 injurious to the coffee-culture, and more or less dangerous 

 to men, such as crickets (gasir), mole-crickets (andjieDgtanah) 

 larvae of beetles, field-mice, snakes, scorpions, millepedes, 

 wasps, etc., etc. Clear the ground properly of all weeds 

 that thrive at the expense of the coffee-trees, and prevent 

 as much as possible their producing seed. 



The eradicated weeds that soon decay must be used as 

 manure, so that they may partially restore to the soil what 

 they have extracted thence; they must be spread round the 

 coffee-trees, where proceeding to rot, they keep the ground 

 humid in dry westher, and are gradually converted to humus. 

 It is still better to apply them as green manure, by working 

 them into the ground round the roots of the coffee-trees; 

 but never do this with such weeds as are apt to shoot up 

 auew from their roots, as for instance idang-alang, 

 Zoempiangan, glagnh, etc. 



Such weeds must be removed from the gardens and put 

 in heaps on the garden-walks to dry or decay, when they 

 can be used as manure for thn coffee-gardens. The washing 

 away of earth on sloping grounds must be guarded against 

 as much as possible, in order to prevent impoverishment 

 of the soil; so the necessary water-holes must be made 

 between the rows of coffee-trees on gently sloping grounds, 

 in which the earth and humus washed away will collect and 

 so be preserved in the gardens. 



In more steep grounds the coffee-trees must be planted 

 on well-made terraces, that is, on such whereof the area to 

 be planted is level, and the slopes rather more slanting 

 than the natural talus of the ground on which they are 

 made, in order to prevent the crumbling down of these 

 slopes: 



Manure the coffee-gardens well, even after every crop; and 

 when this has been very abundant, proceed to manure it 

 abundantly, for to wish to extract much from the soil with- 

 out annual and plentiful manuring, is no economy, but 

 decidedly a system of depredation, which must in the long 

 run impoverish the richest soils. 



A judicious manuring is the best means to preserve fertile 

 soils, though yielding great crops, from impoverishment and 

 exhaustion, and it is not difficult to effect; but to render 

 bad or impoverished soils fertile generally requires a great 

 deal of time and much money. 



Fertile soils that have been constantly properly manured, 

 and are not washed away, can yield for a number of years 

 large crops, for their fitness to produce coffee will decline 

 but slowly. 



Grouuds in which the coffee-trees, to thrive lustily, must 

 be planted in large holes, as for instance firm soils, where 

 water will not easily penetrate, and clayey soils are quite 

 unfit for coffee-culture, for on such grounds these trees 

 are either relatively short-lived, or they bear poor fruit. 

 If in such soils holes are made and coffee-trees planted 

 therein, then they will often, in a shorter or longer time, 

 show yellow leaves, languish and die away. 



This will even frequently happen if the hobs are filled 

 with fertile loose earth. The reasons are as follows: — 



As the rain-water, collected in the water-holes, cannot 

 readily penetrate the close bard soil, it remains there for 

 a greater or shorter length of time, especially when the 

 bottom is covered with a deposit of slime or mud, it keeps 

 the soil, in which the roots are to spread, too humid, nay, 

 will make it miry, by which it sours, so that the roots 

 languish. 



The consequence is that the coffee-trees being insuffici- 

 ently nourished, languish and finally perish; for though 



they are tolerably hardy plants, requiring moisture and able 

 to bear a giod deal in a genial soil, yet they are not able 

 to stand long or often in stagnant water, or in slush. 



If the earth, dug out by holing, be returned without 

 being first mixed with manure, decayed leaves, or such like, 

 it will soon regain its primitive hardness by gradual rains 

 and by its own weight, and this is not promotive of the 

 growth of coffee-trees which require a soft and friable soil. 



If holes are made in a gravelly soil, through which the 

 water easily penetrates, and they be filled with loose earth, 

 the seedlings planted in them will thrive well, as long as 

 they draw sufficient nourishment from that earth; but when 

 the roots have grown so as to abut against the hard surround- 

 ing soil, they will begin to languish. For the roots, not 

 being able to penetrate the sin rounding soil, will go on extend- 

 ing themselves in the fertile, loose soil, till they get packed 

 close like in a pot, and will not be able to yield sufficient 

 nourishment to the coffee-trees. 



These results are also observable when the coffee-trees are 

 planted in loose fertile earth in boles made in clayey, loam, 

 or marl (tjades-, whadas) grounds; for their roots will continue 

 to grow in this earth, rather than seek nourishment from 

 the surroum ling ground, which is very unfit for coffee-culture. 



If planting-holes are quite, superfluous in good coffee- 

 grounds, they are of little or no use whatever, in hard, 

 clayey, loamy or marl and gravelly soils. By making large 

 deep holes in such grounds, and "filling them with fertile 

 friable earth, coffee-trees may very well be planted in them, 

 and they may yield large crops; but a person, who, after 

 making such unsuitable ground fit for coffee-culture, sets 

 about laying out coffee-plantations on these grounds, is half 

 ruined before he begins this work. Though it is imperative 

 for the tiller of the ground to assist nature in preserving 

 the fertility of the soil, yet he would act very folishly if 

 he wished to force nature, for as a rule this is nev. i- done 

 with impuuity. — Indian Mercury. 



DR. BEDWOOD'S PROCESS FOE LIQUID EXTRACT 

 OF CINCHONA. 



i: V A. J. OOWSLE Y. 



The great difference between the opinions expressed in 

 reference to the process suggested by Professor Redwood 

 for the preparation of liquid extract of cinchona bark, in 

 the course of the discussion that took place after the 

 reading of his paper, is sufficient evidence that there is 

 room for further investigation of the subject, and this view 

 was indorsed by the impression entertained by one of the 

 speakers, "that they knew very little about bark." In any 

 case it appeared desirable to ascertin how far the process 

 now suggested by Professor Redwood as a substitute for 

 the one which is official m the present British Pharma- 

 copoeia is calculated to realize the objects which he has 

 defined as being most important, and whether it is a sub- 

 stantial improvement on the existing process. I have there- 

 fore carried out some experiments to determine these points, 

 and have obtained results that I will now proceed to de- 

 scribe. 



As regards the kind of cinchona bark operated upon, I 

 have acted upon Professor Redwood's decision that East 

 Indian succirubra bark is the best to be used for prepar- 

 ing a liquid extract, and though not fully agreeing with 

 this opinion, have not now ventured to offer any objec- 

 tion to it, since I am not aware that the "previous observ- 

 ations"* which led Professor Redwood to that decision 

 have yet been made public. Some difficulty was experienced, 

 however, in selecting for "the purpose of my experi- 

 ments "red cinchona bark of good average quality." In 

 the absence of any criterion to serve as a guide in this 

 respect and having regard to the extreme variability of this 

 kind of bark, — the contents of alkaloids ranging from les s 



* Clearly there is a growing •• fashion " in favour of 

 red bark. 'We may, however, take the opportunity here 

 of remarking that among the various recommendations of 

 Indian succirubra bark, the one put forward by Professor 

 Bentley, of its being •' the sole bark recognized in the 

 German Pharmacopoeia, " seems to be scarcely in accord- 

 ance with the qualifying term "praapue,". which is us-'d 

 in that work. — Ed. Pjiaum. Jou&n, 



