422 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Dec. I, 1885. 



duced from South America. It is presumed, 

 however, that the A'ilgiri hybrids will also be re- 

 presented. 



4. No mention is made of the plants of C. Car- 

 thiKjaWj planted out in former years at Dodabetta, 

 but it seems clear that the climate does not suit 

 them, and that they do much better at Naduvatam 

 and Coouoor (Wim's Park), 



5. The one survivinf;^ platit of C. Santa JV, which 

 was removiul from ] )(idabftt;t to the Govcrnnieut 

 (Sardens ami siibsfqut-ntly planted out at Naduvatam, 

 has ijrowu considerably and is in i)erfect health. A 

 do/eu cuttings from this plant arc- now in the 

 propagating house at the Government Gardens, and 

 will, it is hoped, be fit for jjlauting out before the 

 end of the season. About two hundred plants of 

 Reviij'ta rurdieuna, which yields the Cnprea bark, 

 have been raised from the seed leceived from Kew, 

 and ^\'ill also be planted out shortly at Naduvatam. 



(3. The Hooker estate has much improved, but the 

 condition of the AVood estate on the other hand is 

 described as '• increasingly miserable." This is ascribed 

 partly to the ravages of the Sambur (Rush An'stoti lis), 

 to eouuteract which it is intended to fence the 

 entire estate with barl>ed wire, and partly to the 

 ineiheiency of the overseer, Mr. Burrows. On the 

 latter point the Government desire to receive a full 

 report. It is observed that Mr. Burrows has been 

 called upon to take two years' furlough, but the 

 (_Jovernment cannot regard this as a sutilcieut remedy 

 for pruved inefficiency. By a recent order, the Wood 

 and Hooker estates, which have hitherto been super- 

 vised by the head overseers of Doilabetta and Nadu- 

 vatam respectively, have been combined and constit- 

 uted a separate head overseer's charge. Mr. Barrows' 

 appointment has thus been abolished, and the Gov- 

 ernment desire to know whether it is intended to 

 retain him in the public service. 



7. The development of private plantations and the 

 present depreciation in the value of cinchona bark 

 h.ave together brought about the extinction of the de- 

 mand which used formerly to exist for plants and 

 seedlings from the Government estates. The Director 

 has therefore reduceil tb^' number of nurseries to one 

 for each estate, which will sufiice to meet the re- 

 quirements of the plantations and will also suifice for 

 the growth of seedlings euougli to meet any exter- 

 nal demand that is likely to arise. Of seed about 

 251 lb. were sold during the year, realising Rl,()33. 



8. The drying house and store at Naduvatam com- 

 ni'*nced by the Public Works Department in 18S1 -Sli were 

 completed during tlie year under report at a total 

 cost of K37.8'J3. The only new work carried out 

 departmentally during the year was the constrnelion, 

 at a cost of 1127' *, of a set nf cooly lines from the 

 materials of the olvl jail recently dismantled. 



U. Excluding the Wood, estate, for which no accur- 

 ate return can be furnished, the mnnber of trees 

 standing on the plautati<ms on the 31sl March 18y4 

 w.as 1,\'22.1F>(). Of thesis l.f'iii were uprooted and 

 7,455 cojipiced, and .t13,370 trees were planted in 

 the course of the year. The total number on the 

 31st March 1«85 was thus lfi20,';4-i. The rcjiort 

 does not specify the varieties to which the neivlv- 

 planted trees belonged. Some iraformation on this 

 point seems desirable. 



10. Ose of J/anurefi, 4''^. — The stock of cattle 

 manure collected during the previous year was 

 utilized as usual during the year under report, but 

 the supply proved insufficient, and arrangements 

 have since been made for the proper storage of a 

 snflicieut quantity in the future. No allusion is made 

 in the report to the elfect of the artificial nnmnres 

 applied in April 1SH3. In the report for 1883-84 it 

 was stated that samples of bark had been collected 

 from the trees so treated, and would be analysed 

 in due course. The <T0vcrnment desire to know 

 whether this has been done, and, if so, with what result. 



11. It is noted that in ronsequence of the want of 

 grass experienced during the last cold weather, the Direct- 

 or has constructed .•.//as- for the preservation of fodder on 

 the Doilabetta and Wood estates. The residt of the 



experiment will be watched with interest by the geuei-al 

 pubhc, and should be carefully reported. A file of 

 papers on the subject of ensilage will be forwarded to 

 the Director from the Government oflioe. 



12. Ceo/).— The crop of the year was 118,017 lb. of 

 ilry b.irk against 183,76-5 lb. in 18S3-S4. The high 

 figure in the latter year was due, as was noted at the 

 time, to the unusual amount of coppicing ami uprooting 

 that was found to be necessary. Adding the balauce 

 remaining over ou the 31st March 1881, the total a\ail- 

 ahle quantity was 310,.54.3 lb., of which 84,S80 lb. were 



tb. 



Sold by auction in Madras 81,880 

 .Supplied to Bombay Med- 

 ical Department 1,000 

 Supplied to Dr. Oleaver 

 for experiment 2,000 



Total.. 



84,880 



disposed of as marg- 

 inally noted, leaving 

 a balance in stock of 

 125,063 lb. Five local 

 sales were held dur- 

 ing the year at which 

 81,880 lb. were sold 

 for l!82,34a,the prices 



realised comparing 



favorably with those of the English market. 



13. Towards the close of the year Messrs. Jenkins 

 and Phillips drew the attention of the Kight Honor- 

 able the Secretary of Stale for India to an improve- 

 ment in the English prices of bark. A copy of their 

 letter having been forwarded for the information of 

 this Government, the present poHcy of local sales was 

 reconsidered with the result that it was decided to 

 continue it as it gives a wholesome stimulus to local 

 trade, while, from a comparison of English and Indian 

 prices, it would seem to entail no loss, at present at 

 least, on the Madras Government. In order, how- 

 ever, to give certainty and stability to the market, 

 it was proposed to appoint fixed dates for the salo 

 of bark and to guarantee that for the next two years 

 not less than 70,000 lb. of bark should be offered 

 for sale each year. These proposals were accepted 

 by the Plight Honorable the Secretary of State for 

 India, and arrangements have now been made to 

 carry them into effect. 



14. Subordinate itaj'.—ln December last the Director 

 reported that extensive defalcations and framis had 

 been discovered in connection with the Naduvatam 

 e.^tate. The (Jollector of the Ndgiris was at once 

 directed to institute a thorough inquiry and scrutiny 

 of the accounts with the assistance of Mr. Lawsou, 

 whose establishment was not suited for such work. 

 It appeared from the Director's report that Mr. 

 Hillier, the head overseer of the Nailuv.ifam estate, 

 was luiable to accoiuit satisfactorily for sums received 

 by him on account of the estate, amounting in the 

 aggregate to Kl. 005-5-1(1, and that he had also mis- 

 appropriated about eighty pieces of corrugated iron, 

 besides timber, window frames, &c., from the nniter- 

 ials of the dismantled jail. The result of the Col- 

 lector's inquiry was that Mr. Hillier was prosecuted 

 for crinnnal breach of trust as a public servant and 

 sentenced to rigorous imprisonment ior two years and a 

 fine of K155. Sams aggregating K 1,227-7-3 had to be 

 written off the accounts as irrecoverable, while, as 

 regards an outstanding advance of ii242-I3-8, a final 

 report is still awaited. The Manager of the Director's 

 (->(iice, V'enkataratnam Nai<lu, was also prosecuted for 

 misappropriating R200, the property of Government, 

 and for accepting an illegal gratification from a con- 

 tractor. On the first charge ho was convicted l)y the 

 Sessions Court, but was eventually acquitted by the 

 High Court on appeal. A departmental code of rules 

 and forms of account is now under prepanition by the 

 Treasury Deputy Collector of the Ndgiris. who has 

 also been requested to undertake the annual audit 

 of the head office accounts. 



15. Jlaniifmtmv nf Quinine, ij'x-.— Proposals have 

 from time to time been nvide for the establishment 

 of a private quinine facti>ry in this coiintry. Certain 

 concessions were asked for in regard to fuel and the 

 supply of bark from Government est«tes, but these 

 the Kight Honorable the Secretary of State was not 

 prepared to grant. Certain English capitalists resolved, 

 however, to send out a .scientific chemist. Dr. E. L. 

 Clc.xver, for the purpose of conducting experiments ; 

 and from a letter addressed to Government by Mossrs. 



