Nov. 2, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



359 



ANNUAL BEPOET ON THE BOTANIC 



GARDENS, SINGAPORE, EOR THE ITiAR 1881. 



Of the plants iiitroJiiceil ia pi'svious yoavs, th<> 

 following show signs of accomodating themselves to 

 the soil anil climate of the country, viz.: -"Coca" 

 {Eruthni.vi/lon corn) which lias llowereil and frniteil 

 fi-eely eturiiig the year. From this plant is produced 

 an alkaloid called " Ooeaiuu, " used ia tlia treatment 

 of asthma, &c., and at present attracting much 

 attention among medical men. I think it might he 

 grown in the Colony with profit. 



The plant which produces the .so-called Mvaritiiis 

 hemp is a native of .South America, and is well 

 adapted for cultivation here. .Some planters who 

 have tried it have sent large orders for a further 

 supply, and have, I believe, ordered nnchiuory from 

 England for its manufacture. 



The plants of Oinnamoiiiuin cassia, which produces 

 the Cassia Bark of commerce, grow very freely in 

 the e.tperimental nursery, and will probably become 

 oue of the Colonial products in course of time. 



One of two varieties of C.irdam im, introduced 

 during the year fro^n Java, has (lowered an 1 fruited 

 very freely, and would no doubt pay cultivation well. 

 liiberian cjtfee has now bean carried by cultivators 

 beyond the limit of experimeot, and I refer to it 

 only as among the plants introduced into the (^olony 

 by this establishment. The Panama rubbers, so 

 admirably cultivated by Kir Hugh Ijow, were also 

 first introduced by the IJotanic Hardens. 



Plants of the African "Kola nut" planted in the 

 experimental nursery, have grown well in the alluvial 

 soil there. The plants of " Avocada i)ear, " planted 

 out ill the Economic Garden some years ago, where 

 their growth stood almost stationary, have beeu 

 removed to the nursery just named, and have grown 

 with extraordinary rapidity. 



Plants from seed of the Lima Beau of Brazil have 

 been grown in the nursery with great success, and 

 form a desirable addition to our vegetable supply. 

 The names of other vegetables which have succeeded 

 in the nurseiy were given in last year's report and 

 need not be repeated here. 



A quantity of nutmegs and cloves have b^cn 

 introduced from their native habitat as fresh stock 

 for experimental purposes. I'lants of Peach, Apricot, 

 (Jrape A'ine, Olives, and Figs in variety have been 

 ordered from Sydney, but the .season of the year 

 there when the order arrived not admitting of the 

 despatch of the plants, they were not received within 

 the year, and therefore fall to the share cf next 

 year's report. I may be permitted to mention in this 

 connexion that, although there are some good speci- 

 men plaut,s in the gardens, a point is not being 

 made of growing such plants to the exclusion of 

 propagation, the object of the gardens being to 

 introduce desirable plants into the Colony and cultivate 

 them for such length of time only as will demonstrate 

 their adaptability or otherwise for cultivation in the 

 soil and climate of the settlements, and to propa- 

 gate such as appear suitable, for distribution to 

 cultivators and specimen growers. — Straits Times. 



THE 



POSITION OF THE CINCHONA ENTER. 

 PRIZE IN CEYLON. 

 It is really astonishing how little interest is now 

 taken in, or attention paid to, the cultivation of 

 cinchona, if we are to judge of the matter by the 

 reference made to it in the public press. The once 

 all-absorbing topic has completely died out as if such 

 a thing as cinchona never grew in the island. One 

 would hard y think that as much as lO.OOi.OOf) lb. 

 of cinchona bark had been shipped from the colony 

 to date since the commenc(unent of the fiscal year, 

 mnch more than equal in value to the quantity of 

 tea exported fr'Uii the island during the same period ; 

 yet so it is. The cause for this apathy, however, is 

 not far to seek. With the exciplion of certain local- 

 ities, restricted in area, cinchona has not been 

 found to be a profitable cultivation. Its indiscrimin- 



ate cultivatiou through the coffee zone from Matale to 

 Madulsima li.as been abandoned, and the planter 

 now looks to tea, and to tea almost alone, to help him 

 over the style. There are, howevi-r, c;crtaiu favored 

 spots in whieli cinchonas .appear tD tluive as they 

 do in their native habit it far away on the steep 

 slopes of the Aides, wh;ra canker is aim 1st uulcnown, 

 and all is prolific growth. E/tjn at pr.is^it prices I he 

 cultivation in su;h plvoes is more rem.iucrativo than 

 either tea is or coH'io wis, but with one exception 

 we do not lieir of any nev oiuchoui clearings being 

 opan'>l this y.iar, and tint oue is in one of the 

 favored lo ■ I'itiei reforeil to by U5. \Ya hear that 

 Mr. Jas. M:Laren, of Nawara Eliya, is so satisfied 

 with thi retu-us from the acreage already under 

 cinchoai in the Park estate, that he is putting 10 

 aere^mira of jungle under that product. That the 

 vicinity of Nuw.ira Eliya is the liome of oficiiui/is 

 in Oeylon does not admit of doubt. No where else 

 does that delicite variety of cinchona grow with 

 anything like the luxuriance and vigor which it 

 exhibits there in certain aspects. Mr. McLaren has 

 shivad soma of his Ot]i:nmilis as many as four times, 

 an then coppiced the trees, which have thrown out 

 strong, healthy suckers as vigorous as the ovigiial 

 shoot. No wonder, considering the high profit obtain- 

 ed per acre from his cinchona, that Mr McLaren 

 should prefer to put his remaining -111 acres of jungle 

 into cinchona rather than tea. which, tlioun'li even 

 at that altitude yielding handsome returns cannot 

 hope to equal cinchona. We hope that what will 

 pro'-ably prove one of the last large new clearings 

 of officinalis in Ceylon may be as successful as the 

 earlier ones in that locality, where the product seems 

 to grow like white weed. 



It is useless to attemjit to cultivate cinchona where 

 it will not grow, and as the area in Ceylon where 

 it v'i!/ grow is not large, we look forward to its 

 careful and permanent cultivation in those spots where 

 experience has taught us it thrives luxuriantly, the 

 most noted of which being the \'ieinity of Nnwara 

 Eliya and Madulsima, — Local " 'J'imes." 



Pirvr.r.oxEH.v tn Grekck.— Tho following otKcial 

 conimurication has been forwarded to ns for public- 

 ation : — '-Considerable alarm is felt here about the 

 possible si>read to this country of the Phylloxera, 

 whicli is .said to have appeared in the neighbour- 

 hood of Constantinople. Stringent measures will be 

 adopted to prevent its introduction, the importation 

 of all trees, plants, fruit, grass and h.-iy from 

 eastern countries, including Candia and Egypt, being 

 prohibited under very severe penalties. Things are 

 iiad enough in (Jreece as it is, and the scourge, 

 should it reach this country, would almost consum- 

 mate its ruin from an economic and financial point 

 of view. — I have the honour, &c., (Signed) Hor.M'e 

 ItujiuoLi). The Earl Gu-vnvillk, K.G." — (ionleners' 

 Cli>'o)iit:le. 



Manuking Tea.— In the extr.aets from Mr. ,1. McL. 

 Carter's paper on this subject on pages :i 1 2-M, there 

 are a iiuniljcr of misprints, the corrections of 

 which, in a later issue of the Indian IV-.i Giizetif, 

 did not reach us until after the above pages were 

 printed off. On p. 312, col. 2, line 2(i from below, 

 for fiOw, read from, and in line 30 from below, for 

 polU. read plots. On p. 313, col., 1, line IC, for i/urilcii 

 read f/Ofloirn. and after at add J.t. :]■; line 2f), for 

 (iaiili'ii reol i/odoirn; in the estimate of cost pi^r acre 

 on plot No. 2, the figures under P. should be, (i. 0, 

 and 6 ; for licsiilt per acre read licxiilts. On the .same 

 page, col. 2, last line but one, after 914 read /h. 

 Oil page 311, col. 1, line 4, after arn- read eijval, 

 and add, between lines 1 and 5, o,' 16'3 ";„. On tho 

 same page, line 2H, read K872 ; line 27, for nest read 

 iiKl ; after line 28 read The first year crartli/ ; line 

 32, after 8J read «.«. ; line 37, after /ico/T/, read <vy«rt/s; 

 line 39. read e.Himution. 



