MANUAL iM' THK NtLAGIRl DISTRICT. 667 



Of such transfer we have other examples, as in the case of Loran- CH. XXX, 

 thaceous parasites growing on Ntc£ vomica trees, the alkaloid consti- ^^^^^^^^,^ 

 tuents of the host, viz., strychnia and brucia, being transferred to the Culture. 



parasite.' If this transfer in the case of the cinchonas be confirmed 



by future observations, it will follow that the main advantage of the 

 mossing process will be the production of a superior product by the 

 concentration of the alkaloid constituents of the tree generally in the 

 strips of renewed bark. One good point of the mossing system, or of 

 combined mossing and coppicing, is, that a crop can be got from the 

 trees at an earlier age than would be desirable if coppicing alone or 

 uprooting were adopted, as under either of the latter systems it would 

 be uneconomical to collect the bark before it reached the stage of 

 maximum yield. The process of mossing can only be conducted 

 during the monsoon, when the trees are full of sap, as if done in the 

 dry season the bark will not lift, and is renewed with difficulty. The 

 collection of the bark at that time is, however, attended with some 

 disadvantages, as that is the period of the year at which the cinchona 

 contains the smallest amount of alkaloids." 



So far the moss-reuewing process, which is that generally 

 practised in the district, may, on the whole, be pronounced a 

 decided success ; bat it is of the first importance to remember that 

 the essence of the system is the renetval of the bark, under moss, 

 for the application of moss to the stem may be adopted with 

 advantage in all the other systems of treating the bark. The 

 system of up-rooting, that is, digging up the tree and removing the 

 bark from the roots — generally rich in alkaloids— as well as the 

 stem, though practised in Sikkim, has not been introduced. The 

 system of scraping or shaving off the outer layers of the bark, 

 leaving the inner layer or liber to protect the camhium — which has 

 been recently introduced by the Dutch in Java— is being experi- 

 mentally tried on some estates, but its suitability for the conditions 

 of climate prevailing on the Nilagiris has yet to be ascer- 

 tained. The allegf^d advantages of the system are (1) that it 

 involves the removal of only the valuable portions of the bark, 

 (2) that all such is removed, whilst under Mr. Mclvor's process 

 only sections are removed, (3) that the bark renews in a shorter 

 period, (4) that the health of the tree is not affected, (5) that 

 the protection of moss is not essential for renewal. 



It is necessary that the bark should be dried in partial shade, as Drying the 

 the action of sunlight and exposure to the heat of a fire dissipates ^^^'^• 

 the alkaloids. Sheds with shelves of bamboo laths, so as to 

 admit of a free current of air, should be erected in convenient 

 localities. When the bark is tolerably dry, it should be placed 

 in a room artificially heated so as to evaporate the remaining 

 moisture in it. The room may be heated by flues or charcoal 



page 375, O'Shaughnessy's Bengal Dispensatonj, 



1842. 



