%r-i 



•tmS. TROPICAL AGKICULTUKlS-r. [Feb. i, 1886. 



QTTINOLOniOAL AVOBK IN THE MADRAS 



CINCHONA PLANTATIONS. 



By David Hooper, F. O. S., 



Oovernmeiit QuinoJogist. 



Since the disappearance of Mr. John Eroughton 

 from the Madras Presidency in the year 1875 no 

 systematic chemical work had been conducted in cin- 

 chona culture on the Nilgiris. Theauthor. who had been 

 a-ppoiuted early last year, entered into his dutii.'s 

 la st October. The appointment was made with a 

 V ew to advance the practice of cincliona culture at 

 the Ooveinment plantations, " by analj'sing the bark 

 of a very large number of their trees in different 

 stages of their growth, when treated under different 

 systems and when grown at different altitudes." 



Mr. Hooper gave a table of analyses showing the 

 quinine and the other alkaloidal value of a number 

 of different kinds of bark. These results were the 

 averages of numerous analyses. So far as they go 

 it appears that in regard to Cinchona Officinalis the 

 younger trees are superior to the older ones, and 

 the narrow-leaved variety to the broad-leaved. The 

 following amounts of quinine were determined iu 

 three kinds of crown bark from trees of the .same 



age: 



Broad-leaf. 

 ... 2-95 

 ... 3-47 

 3-85 



Narrow-leaf. 



Natural 285 



Mossed 4-03 



Renewed 448 



The varit'ty of officinalis named anr/fHifolia some 

 years ago creatitd a widespread interest on account 

 of the extraordinary amount of quinine found in it 

 by Ilroughton and Howard. Mr. Hooper's samph^s 

 were taken from tree twenty years old, 10 feet high, 

 and with a circumference of 18 inches. Mossed 

 gave 5'G(I, and renewed 4 91 per cent of (juinine. 

 The results show its superiority over ordinary crown 

 barks, but in its present condition it appears to 

 have no cUim to be n prodigy in cinchona culture. 

 Barks from hybrids lj..Lween C. officinalis and ('. 

 st'crir/ihra have received of late a great deal of 

 attention from planters. These, named respectively 

 C. inaffnifolia and 0, pnbescens, yielded from 2'73 to 

 3'32 per cent of quinine, the C. pjdifscens yielding 

 the largest amount of this alkaloid. 



The piiajjends bark is characterised by yielding an 

 unusual quantity of the alkaloid quinidine. 



The analysis of the Ledgerinna tree at Naduvatam I 

 (quinine 558, cinchonidiue 1*24, no quinidine, cincho- 

 nine '23, amorphous alkaloids '62) is fairly represent- 

 ative. Ledger bark from the South Wynaad, yielding 

 8"41 of quinine, was an average sample of shavings taken 

 from twenty-one trees of five and a half years old; 

 the amount of quinine is equiv.ilent to 1131 per cent 

 of the crystalli.sed sulphate ; this is one of the highest 

 results obtained in South India. 



In this paper was also reported the examination of 

 a tree of Cinchona succirubra to discover the distribu- 

 tion of alkaloids iu its various parts. The tree was ' 

 twenty-three years old and 31 feet high ; it had grown 

 iu ill) exposed situation, and had never been barked 

 or iDoaeed. The whole yielrled of dry bark 271b. 

 14 oz. ;---Eoot, 2 lb. S oz, i stem. I'O lb. 14 oz. ; branch, 

 3 lb, 2 or.. ; twig, 1 lb, H oz. ; dried leavc.% 2 lb. 



The root biirk coutRlned 5-3(> per cent oi total alkal- 

 oid.'i, the bark of the stem below ground 4'i'l per 

 bent, ttliile most other portions of the stem bark 

 yielded under 4 per cent. The leaves only yielded "0 

 per cefit. 



Other evperimeilt." seemed to show that shade was 

 very faVcilllablH to the development of quinine and 

 cinchouidine. 



From a .short series of e.iperiments on mossing old 

 trees, Mr. Hooper thinks that getierally old and original 

 trees if of vigorous growth may still be improved by j 

 the mossing system. | 



[The Tresideut said he regretted that it had been ne- 

 cessary to merely read an abstract of the paper, for - 

 it was a most interesting one throughout, and would 

 amply repay very careful study.] — Chemist and I 

 DriiyyUi. I 



COFFEE AND CINCHONA. 



During the past twenty-five years the coffee enter- 

 prise m Southern India has passed through some re- 

 markable vicissitudes. In 18(30 there were comparat- 

 ively few estates opened in Malabar, Coimbatore, 

 Coorg or Mysore, but several of the most fertile and 

 profitable properties now in existence were developed 

 prior to that date. This circumstance may be attrib- 

 utable to their possessing extraordinarily rich soil 

 to the coffee having been planted under natural shade' 

 within sheltered belts, or on land where the forest 

 had been felled, but unburned. A quarter of a century 

 ago, '• coHee planting," though restricted iu area, had 

 ^ proved a lucrative venture, and despite the reputed 

 unhealthiness of the climate, the paucity of roads 

 and the inexperience of the pioneers, a great deal of 

 Kuglish capital was attracted to the coffee districts. 

 The ensuing decade is memorable for a vast exten- 

 sion of the industry: large blocks of laud were felled 

 cleared, and planted, inclusive of much land which 

 was .subsequently found to be uu.suitable to the growth 

 of the bean. Notwithstanding the ravages of " borer " 

 which in 18116 and subsequently, created considerable 

 alarm, particularly in Coorg, the proprietor of a coffee 

 estate was generally regarded as an enviable individ- 

 ual, who was on the high road to making a fortune. 

 Many properties changed hands at figures profitable 

 to both vendors and purchasers, while handsome re- 

 turns were the rule on all such as were prudently 

 worked, even with " M. P." at £60 per ton. .Such 

 was the position of affairs, when, early in 1871 

 rumours reached India of the outbreak of a* formid- 

 able disorder inimical to coffee, which, unlike " borer " 

 primarily attracted attention in Ceylon, where its effects 

 were speedily apparent over a rapidly increasing 

 area. Towanls the close of the year " leaf disease " 

 had established itself on Indian plantations, showing 

 at first most acutely on estates adjacent to the Ghats, 

 whence it extended inland and assumed an epidemic 

 type. It is still a moot point, whether a form of 

 Uemihia Vastiitrij had not been prevalent in AVyuaad 

 some years previously, it being surmised that it con- 

 fined its attention to a particular variety of coffee 

 known as the "chick," which had been observed, so' 

 far back as 1867, to annunlly di.splay a deciduous 

 tendency about the month of September. Opinions 

 differ as to the origin of " leaf disease," and the pro- 

 blem still awaits solution, but no divergence of views 

 exists with regard to its disastrous effec's. These 

 embraced periodical destruction of the foliage and 

 bearing branches ; a falling off in the cropping capa- 

 city of the trees; the deterioration of the beau iu 

 substance and colour; and the stricken coffee, unless 

 liberally manured, remaming paralyzed for months 

 until it languished below a point at which all cultiv- 

 ation became unprofitable. The inevitable cousequeuce 

 has been reduced production, with diminished exports • 

 and though, during a spell of high prices, proprietors' 

 were enabled to carry on their properties, they were 

 gradually confronted with the necessity to relinquish 

 outlay on their least productive fields. 



In 1878, the uncertainty attending the future of 

 coffee induced a few planters to turn their attention 

 to the introduction of cinchona on their estates 

 project that received considerable stimulus from the 

 marked success which had attended its cultivation by 

 Captain Cox, in the Charambady District. The follow, 

 ing years witnessed the gradual diminution of the 

 area under coffee in Southern India, but they were 

 coincident with the progress of cinchona plantiog. and 

 at the commeucement of the present lustre a vigor- 

 ous effort had been made on the great ii:.i|„rjty of 

 estates to establi.vb the most aj.proved and best known 

 yariolies of red and yellow bark trees. At the outset, 

 it was imposible to forecast whether these ciucliouas 

 would flourish in Ooorg and Wyuaad, whether they 

 Would (to quote it sporliug term) "stay," or prove 

 ephemeral, .is has since be u the case' in Ceylon; 

 whether abandoned coffee lauds could lie utilised with 

 advantage, more especially for the growth of Sucoi- 

 rubras, and the effect the later would produce if planted 



