286 



loicls the proportious of cincliouidiue, aud even more inert alkaloids, will 

 be variable aud doubtful. 



Cinchouidiue is about one-third the value of quinine, and its crystals 

 are exceedingly like those of quinine. There is very little quinine in 

 general use at present that is not deeply adulterated with cinchonidiue. 

 Should the production of precipitated alkaloids be carried on upon a 

 large scale, it would be possible to thoroughly mix a large quantity, 

 analyze a sample, and then issue it with the percentage of quinine and 

 cinchonidiue certified on the labels of the bottles. 



After protracted experiments, Mr. Clarke states it as his o]iinion that 

 the successful manufacture of quinine is not a particular secret, or tlie 

 adoption of any particular routine, but is the result of the application 

 of skillful manipulation and minute experience at each step and turn ot 

 the work. 



The prunings and thinnings of this season are estimated to produce 

 about 1,500 pounds of bark, of which nearly 1,000 pounds will be bark 

 from wood three or four years old, the remainder from second year 

 bark. 



In the bark, from very young shoots, the quantity of resin present is 

 large, and it must be dealt with by boiling in alkaloid water, notwith- 

 standing the sacrifice of a percentage of the small quantity of quinine 

 present, consequent upon the operation. 



In regard to working fresh bark Mr. Clarke says : 



It has been stated that bark gives ux) its quinine more readily in a fresh state. I 

 have tried the fresli bark aud have not obtained a good result. I have little doubt 

 that this failure was because iny bark was not cut liue enough. Indeed, I could see 

 that the dilute acid discolors the bark hardly one-fortieth of an inch deep. There will 

 always be a great practical difficulty in working the fresh bark on a large scale. The 

 fresh bark cannot safely be stored, as it soon ferments. Now the bark only "rises;" 

 that is, is fit for stripping at c^'rtain times ; so that in the factory, if we worked fresh, 

 we should be compelled to provide a very large quantity of machinery indeed, so as 

 to be able to take in hand, at once, the bark that would come in upon us irregularly 

 in masses. By working it dry we can work it regularly at our leisure. 



The number and distribution of cinchona plants in the government 

 plantations at Darjeeliug on the 1st of April, 1870, are stated as fol- 

 lows : Of all species, number in permanent plantations, 1,500,658 ; num- 

 ber of stock plants for propagation, 40,000 ; number of seedlings or 

 rooted cuttings, in nursery beds for permanent plantations, 379,325; 

 number of rooted plants in cutting beds, 340,127 ; number of «uttings 

 made during the month, 2,000 ; total number of plants, cuttings, and 

 seedlings, 2,202,110. 



WHEAT CULTUEE IN ENGLAND. 



At a late meeting of the Kingscote Association, England, Mr. Burnett 

 stated that a much larger quantity of wheat and barley per acre is now 

 produced on the Cotswold hills than was grown thirty years ago. This, 

 he said, does not result from the adoption of any new system of cultiva- 

 tion, but from improvement of the old — in the time of planting, the use 

 of drills instead of broadcast sowing, in the use of improved implements 

 for preparing the soil, and in the application of richer manure. Whether 

 the present system of wheat cultivation can be so improved as to yield 

 a greater remuneration without injury to the crops that follow is an 

 important question. Steam ctdtivation is one of the great improvements 

 of the day on heavy lands, but where we can plow an acre a day with 

 a pair of horses the steam culture will not pay. In this neighborhood 

 deep cultivation has been tried and has failed. 



