August i, 1885.] 



THE Tropical agriculturist. 



115 



Pykara Pykara 



Natural Kt-Dew- 



Ked etl Ktd 



500 lb. 5U0 lb. 



Ml) 1-89 



2-27 20s 



Doilabetta Nadu- 

 Eenewed vatam 

 Crown Briiuch 

 (scraped) Red 

 500 lb. 50u lb. 

 Quinine ... 2-iiO DO 



CinchoniiUuQ ... lis 1-05 



Quinidine ... -Id 



Ciuchoi.ine ... 45 1 19 1-47 2-.57 



Amorphous alkaloids ... •4-4 'Go "20 '27 



Total ... 4-56 4-45 510 6 SI 



Crystallised su'phate 



of quiuiiie ... 309 129 1-56 254 



X. B. — Results expressed in percentage on the air-dried 

 bark. 



(Signed) D. Hoopeb. 

 Order of Government dated 6th June 1885 : — The report 

 of the Government Quiuoloj^ist on the samples furnished 

 by Dr. Cleaver will be communicated to IMessrs. Arbuthnot 

 & Co., who will be requesteti to torward the whole of the 

 products to the Government Medical Stores, Madras. It 

 is observed that Or. Cleaver's letter contams no informa- 

 tion as to the total quantity of bark supplied to him. 

 Information on this point is, of course, essential to any 

 final judgment on his results. The Government note that 

 Dr. Cleaver's calculations in regard to cost are open to 

 criticism in several respects. The percentage a^'^sumed as 

 the average loss iu the process of manufacture in England 

 is incorrect, as appears from the official papers quoted by 

 Dr. Cleaver, and this percentage has been appliet.1 by him 

 to the total quintity of raw bark instead of to the quantity 

 of alkaloids contained therein. Further the calculation 

 proceeds on the assumption that the cost of extracting a 

 febrifuge in the form of mixed alkaloids is the same as 

 that of extracting from an equal quanlity of bark sulphate 

 of quinine, sulphate of cinchonidine, and cinchonidine alkal- 

 oid in their separate states The opinion expressed by 

 Dr. Cleaver that the Darjeeling febriluge contains about 

 IG per cent of various impurities is also believed to be 

 incorrect. The Government understand, on the contrary, 

 from their Quinologist that it is almost entirely free 

 from impurity. The cost price of this febrifuge accordini^ 

 to the reports of the Bengal G"vernmeut Quinologi&t, was in 

 1882-83 K8-8-10 per l^ • d in 1883-84 1! 10-4-8 per lb. Dr. 

 Cleaver on the othe ^.tml, would apparently undertake to 

 convert 2,000 lb. of bark into 80 lb. of febrifuge (mixed al- 

 k;iloitls; for something less than £120. At this rate his 

 febrifuge would cost something under KLS per lb. for manu- 

 facturing alone, to say nothing of the value of bark con- 

 ffiumed in the process. With reference to the request con- 

 tained in the conclusion of their letter, Messrs. Arbuthnot & 

 Oo will be furnished with a copy of G. O., dated 20th Oct. 

 1884, No, 1,154 Revenue, containing the despatch of the 

 Secretary of State on the .subiect of concession to the pro- 

 prietors of local factories, and they will be informed that the 

 Government are not at present prepared to make any such 

 arrangement as is suggested in Dr. Cleaver's letter. The 

 object the Government have iu view is the production of an 

 efficient febrifuge atsuch a cost as will be within the reach 

 of all classes, and they have recently issuefl orders for the 

 conduct of experiments on a large scale in the manufacture 

 of a liquid solution of cinchona under the superintendence 

 of the Government Quinologist. The question of employing 

 this or thatiigency on behalf of Government must depend 

 upon many considerations, and of course, amongst others, on 

 its ability to turn out what is wanted as or more economic- 

 ally than can be done by Government agency. — JIadras 

 Mail, July Ist. 



Disinfectants. — Experiments have lately been made 

 by the Government experts, aided by other scientists, 

 with all the known disinfectant", for the purpose of 

 determining the efficacy and value of each as germ 

 dtstroyers. By actual trial it was found that cor- 

 rosive sublimate in the proportion of one part to 

 l,OuO parts of water is found to d'stroy all known 

 germs. A solution of chloride of lime in the pr.^ 

 portion of one part to 100 parts of water is ttjually 

 effective. Many oi the commercial disinfectants in 

 common use were found to be untrustworthy. — American 

 Cultivator, 



PLAiSTING IN CliyLON 30 YEARS AGO 

 AND NOW : Chapter XII. 



COFFEB CULTIVATION TO Ul.MINISH VEAHI.T IN CKVLON— 



CJiVLON AS A FIULI) FOR 'IHE INVEST.MENT OF CAPITAL 



IS TEA LIKELY TO BE UVEliPROlJUCliD IN CEYLON? 



ADVANTAGkS OF CEYLON OVER OTUEK Tl'A OKOWINfJ 



COi;.STRlES — Cl-.YLON IN LO.NDON —MINCING LANE 



MARK LANE — PRODUCE SALliS— MES.SKS. L. S D & CO. 

 — ONK's "OWN LITTLE BUSINESS" — TEA IN LUNDON — 

 THE FUTURE OF CEYLON. 



Coffee having now lost its pre-eminence as the staple 

 of CVylmi, each succeeding year will see the area 

 uader its cultivation smaller aid smaller, as fi^-ld after 

 field dies out, or is uprooted to make room for the 

 tea planted in its old rows. For homo readers a 

 few words may here fitly be said about (^e) Ion as 

 a field for the investmeut of c.ipital. Only one thing 

 now ails Cey on, the liugerin j tflfects of' the recent 

 coHoe and cinchona crisis, v z., want of confidence 

 and of capital. The former (coffee) has succumbed 

 under a providential visiiatiuu, but its downH..id 

 progress was slow, the dise.ise being gentle ; and it 

 afforded all interes ed ample time and opportunity to 

 ward (iff its threateniog const cju-nces. Cuft'ee pays even 

 now where there is no debt and where working capital 

 IS available. It was not the fault of coffee it the insh 

 was into the wioog new product. Surely it might 

 have been foreseen that a drug like quinine could 

 ea-ily be overproiUfe 1. and it is not long ago since 

 the eiiilor of the Observer wrote that "he shuddered 

 to think of the position of cinehoua it all the seed 

 planted hnd matured into tre ." It is easy to be 

 wise after the event, but it is nevertheless true that the 

 best business men in Louden, as well as in Ceylon, 

 lost their heads over cinchona, and its presant position 

 is only what might easily liave been foreseen. 



Now tea is the rage, and the same question arises : 

 "Is it likely to be ovorproduced by the role . ,iion 

 of Ceylon as was the caa with cinchona 'if" The writer 

 is not going to prtsiiiue lo answer this question 

 dogmatically. But he i elieves that not only is the 

 world's comsumptiou likely to steadily advance but 

 that Cejlou will ever be the country most suited for 

 its eoononiic production and mauufaoture ; and that, 

 however other countries may .niffer and collapse, 

 Ceylon will always keep its place aa the mo-it pro- 

 fitable tea.producir:g country in the world. We owe 

 this position (1) to our situatioQ for cheap and ready 

 transport from the garden to London, and vice 

 ivrm for the cheap and ready importation of all 

 the requisites for its production, manufacture and 

 packing ; (2) to our geographical position giving us 

 an equatorial sun together with regular mousoonrains, 

 ensuriug constant flushes of new leaf limited only to 

 the matural powers of the soil and plant, which, here, 

 can bs worked up to exert themselves to their very 

 utmost; (3) to the inherent advantages of the island, 

 its railways, roads, hirbrnr and active Sinhalese 

 army of cartmeu and ait'licers, and peace-loving 

 people ; (4) its proximity to the Tamil country whence 

 unlimited labor can be drawn; and la^t, though not 

 bait, to its unrivalled healthy oud pleasant climate. 

 At the present moment 1 consider Ceyhm to stand 

 at the very top of the list as the best of all fields 

 for the empliiyment of capital, and of the enernics 

 of that ever-rising army of young Euglishmen looking 

 bejond their own shores for these desiderata. At 

 home, evevy where, they hear of the recent troubles oii 

 Ceylon, but tkete thinyi heloni/ to the pa.-^t, and only 

 still cling to those, belonging to the pa~t, who still 

 struggle with their old debts or with the unnatural 

 absence of the breath of all trade and ent rprize, 

 onlidenoe and credit. At tha present moment 



