lit 



Medicinal Plant*. 



other plantations, and the samo weeding out of the inferior plants repeated. 

 The result has been wonderful. The richest bark from South America, such as 

 no doubt Ledger's seed came from, yielded up to 1 per cent, of quinine alkaloid ; 

 we now find in the Amsterdam sales, whole parcels of bark giving 10 per 

 cent, of quinine alkaloid. Where the plant finds room for it, it is hard to 

 guess. It is a curious question— what use if any, the alkaloid is to the life of the 

 tree. The alkaloid is only produced in favourable soil and en vironmeats, and at 

 high elevations. The trees may apparently flourish at low elevations or in hot 

 houses, but in those circumstances the yield of alkaloid is very small. It is clear 

 that the fault is in the circumstances not in the trees, for some of the richest 

 officinalis bark in the Nilgiris was obtained from trees which were the offsprings 

 of trees grown from the cuttings sent out by my uncle, J. E. Howard, P.R.S., from 

 plants grown in England. These mother plants out-grew his hot houses, and had 

 to be cut down ; their bark contained but little quinine. 



The wonderful strain of calisaya, called after Ledger ledgeriana, was eagerly 

 cultivated with all the Dutch skill in gardening, and now the yield of ledgeriana 

 bark from Java is about 12,000,000 pounds per annum. I hear of dividends of 60 

 per cent, from plantations in Java, and Ledger got nothing ! 



In the rich deep soil of Java the trees flourish marvellously and sprout so 

 freely from the root that coppicing, instead of the laborious process of renew- 

 ing, is universally adopted. In six years the plantation begins to yield, and 

 may go on for many years. 



Now, as it is cheaper to grow 6 to 10 per cent, bark in Java than 2 to 

 5 per cent, bark in British India, it is not wonderful that the English planters were 

 beaten out of the field, and the Dutch planters, by growing more than the market 

 could possibly stand, and recklessly competing in their efforts to sell, got the price 

 down to 0'4 of a penny per unit. They were profoundly convinced of the wicked- 

 ness of the quinine manufacturers of the world, but learned their lesson, and by 

 allowing the demand to overtake the supplies, got the unit up to 2d. Over 

 production again followed, and the price is down to Id. and falling still. 



A good deal of " hybrid " bark is sent from Java without very clear inti- 

 mation of its origin, it gives a sporting interest to the analysis, as one never 

 knows if it will turn out as calisaya or succirubra, and bark is also sent as 

 succirubra which from its test must be robusta. Another very interesting 

 study is given us by the grafted bark of which a good deal has been grown, 

 ledgeriana being grafted on a succirubra stock; this " enten baast" generally 

 gives excellent tests, but lately some of the plantations seem to have worn 

 out and the root bark has been sent over ; it is most interesting to find that 

 this gives exactly the test of succirubra root, and " enten wortel " and "enten 

 baast" are as different as the bark of the stock and the bark of the graft 

 originally were. This shows that there is no transference of the alkaloid from 

 the above downwards ; that the descending sap cannot carry the alkaloid as 

 such, but that the stem and the root each elaborate after their own kind. 



The success of the Dutch in knocking out all their rivals, and it must 

 have required the dogged ness of a Hollander to hold on, even in Java at 2} cents, 

 has prevented other plantations of cultivated bark having the success they deserve. 



We receive, however, cultivated calisaya from the Andes, and some 

 wonderful cultivated " soft Colombian bark " has lately been brought to London. 

 The cultivation in Jamaica is only a question of price, and we get the very richest 

 succirubra bark from West Africa, bwt as people do not take quinine for enjoy- 

 ment because it is cheap, but only when they want it, the supply now seems to 



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