Chap. XXVIII. IN THE NEILGHERRY HILLS. 485 



unnecessary, and which have more than once threatened 

 to render success impossible. These dangers are now, fortu- 

 nately, at an end ; and the interest taken by Sir William 

 Denison, the present Governor of Madras, in a measure 

 calculated to confer so great a benefit on the people of Intha, 

 ensures to it a fair trial, and is one of the best guarantees of 

 ultimate success. 



Mr. Mclvor's zeal and ability, his intimate knowledge of 

 his profession, of the Neilgherry hills, and of all questions 

 bearing on the subject of chiuchona-plants, and his acquire- 

 ments as a scientific as well as a practical gardener, justify the 

 confidence which has thus been placed in him by the Secretary 

 of State in Council, and by the Madras Government. He 

 has also had the advantage of personal intercourse, for weeks 

 together, with Mr. Cross, Mr. Weir, and myself, after we had 

 explored and carefully examined the chinchona forests in 

 South America ; but his subsequent experience in the culti- 

 vation of the plants under his charge has furnished him with 

 means of observation wliich now gives his opinion greater 

 weight than those of persons whose knowledge is derived 

 from books, from short visits to the plantations in Java, or 

 even from personal examination of the South American 

 forests. 



In offering my opinion on the best method of cultivating 

 the chinchona-plants, I have the satisfaction of knowing that 

 my conclusions substantially agree with those of Mr. Mclvor 

 — mine being founded on experience gained in the chinchona 

 forests, and his on careful observation of the plants which he 

 has reared in India. That these views should be concurred 

 in by Dr. Weddell, Mr. Howard, and Mr. Spruce, is most 

 satisfactory, as it supplies an additional presumption of their 

 correctness. 



I wiU now proceed to give an account of the progress of 

 the chinchona cultivation in the Neilgherry hills. Tlie first 

 batch of seeds, being those of the " grey-bark " species from 



