app. d. in southern indta. 569 



plants out, wliich were placetl in the open, wo of course saw from the first 

 that with the young plants we had to combat the bad effects of excessive 

 evajwration during our dry season, under a bright and scorching sun ; we 

 also saw the injury likely to be done to the plants by radiation during 

 bright and cloudless nights. To obviate these disadvantages the plants 

 were sheltered on the approach of the diy season by a rough enclosure of 

 bamboo-branches, with the leaves adhering to them, so as to give them 

 sufficient shade both from the effects of evaporation and radiation. The 

 enclosure is left open on the north side, and enclosed on the south, east, 

 and west ; the sun's declination being south during the dry weather. The 

 ground will not be impoverished by the roots of other trees, and the whole 

 of its nourishment is preserved for the Chinchona-plants. At the same 

 time they will, by this treatment, be far more efficiently protected from 

 evaporation and radiation than they would be by the use of living shade, 

 whether caused by forest-trees or by the admixture of faster-gi-owing plants. 

 In addition to this shade of the branches of cut bamboos, the soil aroiind 

 the roots of some of the young Chinchona-plants was covered one or 

 two inches in thickness with half-decayed leaves, and the plants thus 

 treated show a very great luxuriance, which is not exceeded by any of the 

 plants in our propagating-houses. To ascertain the cause of this luxuriance 

 a few of the plants were recently examined, and although at the end of 

 the dry season the soil about the roots was found to be perfectly moist ; 

 thousands of young rootlets of great strength were found to have been 

 thrown into the covering of decayed leaves, so that it had become one 

 matted mass of beautiful white roots, many of them nearly the thickness 

 of a crow-quill. On the strength of these observations we have resolved 

 to place out this season seventy-five acres of Chinchona-plants in cleared 

 land, and exactly under the conditions and treatment last described ; we 

 also propose planting seventy-five acres under various degrees of hving 

 shade, in which every attempt will be made to mitigate as much as 

 possible the injurious effects of this system already described. The culti- 

 vation of these plants being experimental, it is necessary that we should 

 give every method of crdtivation which appears reasonable a fair trial, and 

 that only developed facts should influence us in giving preference to one 

 method of cultivation over that of another. The distances at which we 

 have prepared to place the plants are for the larger growing species from 

 nine to ten feet apart, for the sorts of medium size eight feet, and for the 

 shi-ubby sorts seven feet : these distances are of course too close to admit of 

 the plants attaining a full size, but we believe that it will be advantageous 

 to plant them close in the first instance, and thin them out afterwards. In 

 order to illustrate the extreme growth of our plants, it is worthy of note 

 that one or two of them, although not yet twelve months old, have 

 attained a height of about five feet by three and a half feet in diameter 

 through the branches ; we may therefore conclude that the plants will in 

 about two years fairly cover the ground if placed at the distances given 

 above, Wlien they begin to crowd and impede the growth of each otlier 



