September i, 1885.] 1*HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



iSi 



of course be regulated according to the amount of 

 water to be carried off, or ssy from 2^ to 4 inches, 

 and to guide the potter, a plug of wood oufiht be 

 given him, exactly tlie size of the inside of the tile, 

 and which he would use ob a mould A. WHYTE. 



LOOAL QUININE MANUFACTUKE. 



16th July 1SS5. 



Dear Sir,— Have you not drawn a wrong infer- 

 ence from the report made by Dr. Cleaver on this 

 experiments in India, and the reply of the Madras 

 Government? You say it is a "warning of difficul- 

 ties to be overcome," whereas I read it quite differ- 

 ently. Dr. Cleaver himself reports that " there are 

 no insuperable difficulties," and complained only of 

 want of chemicals and apparatus. On the strength of 

 this his friends tried to bespeak Government support 

 for operations on a large scale. 



But the Madras Government proved that Dr. 

 Cleaver's estimate of cost of manufacture was ex- 

 cessive, and that his estimate of returns was too low, 

 both of which exaggerations on his part (very natural 

 under the circumstances and the necessity for caution) 

 (how rather the remunerative nature of the business, 

 while I search in vain for the "difficulties." — Y'ours 

 truly, R- W. J. 



P. S.—l had not been able to read the paper in your 

 issue of the 9th until today. 



[Mr. Btihringer of the Milan Factory when in Ceylon 

 dwelt on the high temperature even at Nuwara Eliya 

 as a difficulty in working the chemicals so as 

 to manufacture sulphate of quinine, and he said the 

 argument as to freight of bark told pretty well against 

 the freight of sulphuric acid, soda, &c., from Europe. — 

 Ed.] 



TEA AT A LOW ELEVATION. 



giR _I shall be glad if some of your correspond- 

 ents will kindly give me the benefit of their ex. 

 periences on the cultivation of tea at a low elevation 

 of 300 to 500 ft. 



Which is the better variety to cultivate, in- 

 digenous Assam or a good hybrid ? 



Would you plant 5x5 for the former and 4x4 for 

 the latter ? or at what distances ? 



What should be the respective outturn of made 

 tea from the two varieties planted in good jungle 

 Boil as above meationed in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th 

 years 1 



Is the flavour of indigenous tea more delicate 

 than hybrid, and how do the prices conjpare one with 

 aeotber ? 



VVhich variety is considered the most Jprofitable to 

 cultivate ?— I am, sir, yours faithfully, 8, 



[In reply to " S." '» enquirifs a " Tea Planter " 

 giv.s the following reliable information ; but ve would 

 encourate furtijfr discussion if need be ; — 

 " (1) For very tine toil, in a wet district, elev. 

 atiou 300 to 500 ft., indigenous tea would be 

 beet ; but for inferior soil, a good hybrid. (2) I 

 would I'liUt the former, under such conditions, 5x4) 

 and the latter 4 x SA or 4 x 3. (O) 1 am not pre- 

 pared to .'ay exactly what the diffiTence in yield 

 would be. but believe it would bo in favor of the 

 indigenous : in rather poor soil, or a ilry district, 

 the hybr d would answer best. (4) The flavor of 

 indigenous tea is belie%'ed to be mored'licate than 

 hybrid, but 1 have been unable to confirm this. 

 (5) Under suitable conditions the indigenous would be 

 the most prolitable to cultivate,"— En. ] 



HARVESTING CINCHONA BAKK AND THE 

 PROPER MODE OF SHAVING. 



Agrapatana, 20th July 1880. 

 Dear Sir,— My attention has been drawn to a 

 letter in the Observer signed " B. E." who seems at 

 a loss to understand why cinchona trees should be 

 shaved in alternate "strips" in preferenue to "all 

 round" the tree. I would refer him to the reasons 

 given by David Howard who introduced this system 

 of shaving and, I think, explained it in a letter to the 

 Obsernr in August or September 1S83. His theory 

 is that shaving thinly all round the tree does not 

 make renewed cellular tissue, which contains the 

 alkaloids, but only the outer skin is renewed. An- 

 other advantage is that the bark renews from the 

 edges of strips left on the tree, as well as from 

 the cambium outwards. I have tried this system of 

 shaving for some time past, and it has been most 

 successful. The bark renews much better than it 

 did when I shaved all round the tree, and the tree 

 suffers' much less from being shaved in this way. 

 The trees are shaved five and six times before they 

 are coppiced, and then the result of coppicing has been 

 as satisfactory as the shaving. 



As regards coppicing 2 feet or so from the ground my 

 reasons for doing this are, 1st, to prevent the harm 

 done from excessive bleeding which often takes place 

 and frequently causes death. By leaving the stump the 

 bleeding is more gradual, &o., and the shock is felt 

 less than when sawn close off;2ndly, the stump affords 

 a good general protection for the yomuj suckers, 

 especially in coffee where constant works are going 

 on ; 3rdly, where there is wind, it makes a capital 

 stake for the growing sucker, and indeed can be used 

 I for this purpose to advantage anywhere. After it has 

 I served these purposes, and when the suckers are large 

 enough to be independent of it, it can of course, if 

 preferred, be removed; but this is by no means a 'ne- 

 cessity. The general tendency of the growing sucker 

 is to get a firm hold on to the root of the old tree 

 and to strike into the earth. There are some how- 

 ever which start higher up on the stump, and for the 

 benefit of these the stump might be sawn down to 

 make more room for suckers, but there is certainly 

 no necessity whatever to do this in any other case, 

 as the lower suckers, which are generally the strongest 

 and most healthy, are not affected in any way by 

 the stump, at that stage. I fail altogether to see 

 what analogy there is between an amputated leg 

 with a piece of bone sticking to it, and a cinchona 

 tree coppiced for the express purpose of forcing out 

 suckers to take its place. The surgical operation 

 may be something similar, but the reasors for this 

 operation and the results required are as opposite 

 as opposite can be 



My experience of the growth of resulting suckers 

 from coppictd trees ie quite tho reverse of " B, E.'"s and 

 it extends over many yssars and a large acreage, anH 

 this io Bot m.y experience only, 



I eee no reason whftievef nhy tho bark barvest.d 

 from fairly repre-ientsve trees, from 3 lo G years 

 old, With mana grass ovailabk for Covering, should 

 not be delivered at the Col.jmbn store for 10 cents .i lb. 

 Of course a good deal deperds on tho pioport-on of 

 "branch birk,"or on the other h»nd " coppio:ngs." 

 This might make the cost either more or less. 



CIN CHON A, 



LIME JUICE : VARIOUS METHODS OFPRESERV. 

 ING— WHICH IS BKST? 



22nd July 1885. 



Sir, — In your Troincal ArjrkuUuriU Vol. IV., page fi,51, 



I notice .Mr. John Shortt gives a simijlc meiho ! of 



preserving lime juice, by allowing it to stand iu a 



cool place for 2 days, and tften bottling and sealing j 



