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Medicinal Plants. 



selves beneath the loose soil at the bottom of the plant. When they have 

 done with one plant, they make a nightly rai:l on another. The cultivator is some- 

 times wise enough to remove them before they hide themselves beneath the 

 loose soil. There is no bad smell when these worms afflict the plants. 

 Kaberiroge or Kolaekilima, is a form of disease from which the leaves of the 

 tobacco plant get curled up. Single plants are afflicted with this disease, and 

 before it becomes a danger to the others, it should be immediately rooted up. 

 Pattaroge, the last disease which I am able to mention, is a sort of paralytic 

 complaint which seems to make one side of the plant wither away. The leaves 

 on the diseased side are rendered useless. The disease first attacks the roots on 

 one side and then mounts upward along the stem. 



MODE OF CURING. 



I do not propose in this paper to dwell at any length on the mode of 

 curing the leaves. It deserves to be separately dealt with owing to the highly 

 difficult and at the same time interesting manner in which the curing is pro- 

 ceeded with. I shall make only a few general observations. The curing of tobacco 

 is done by a process of drying the leaves in the sun, which at each time ranges 

 from 15 minutes to a whole day. A separate cadjan shed is put up for the 

 purpose, where the leaves after being allowed to dry in the sun are daily 

 stacked in bundles of 25 to 30 and placed lengthwise against the sides of the 

 shed. This is done for a period which lasts from four to six weeks. The curing 

 of the leaves of 4,000 plants could be done by four men during the above period. 

 The chief curer is generally paid Rs. 20 per mensem exclusive of his diet, the 

 other three are paid less. The cost of planting up $n acre of tobacco containing 

 4,000 plants varies from Rs. 160 to 200. The tobacco if properly grown would 

 sell for Rs. 400 before curing. After curing, the tobacco would be worth 

 Rs. 700. The different sorts of tobacco which may be gathered are as follows : — 

 Dunkale, Tuniya, Hondaketiya, Balaketiya, Sivala, Kalaviya, Bala Kalaviya 

 and Alagu. The term Alagu is applied to a quantity of the best tobacco, each 

 leaf large in size and well cured. They are said to cost Rs. 16 per 100 leaves. 



CULTIVATION OF CINCHONAS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 



We make the following extracts from a paper read before the Lewis and Clark 

 Pharmaceutical Congress, Portland, U.S.A., by Mr. Albert Schneider, m.d :— 



The object of this paper is to review very briefly the subject of the culti- 

 vation of cinchonas in Java, India, South America, West Indies and other countries, 

 and to discuss more fully the possible successful inti-oduction of the more hardy 

 varieties of cinchona into the immediate coast ranges of portions of California. 

 The more important literature on the subject is cited for the benefit of those who 

 may be interested. It is hoped that the paper will aid in promulgating thorough 

 and scientifically conducted co-operative efforts to introduce cinchonas into the 

 United States. 



HISTORY OF CINCHONA CULTIVATION. 



The history of the establishment of cinchona plantations is full of interest. 

 It records the usual difficulties and obstacles in the way of progress. There was 

 open opposition, shortsightedn ess and the usual lethargy. The voice of authority 

 was often ignored and the momentary flicker of interest died as suddenly as it 

 was stirred into life. From 1792, when Ruiz first advanced the idea of cultivating 

 cinchonas out of their native homes, until 1850, when the first seeds were germinated 

 in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris is a long time to produce so slight a result. As 

 with many other plant-culture industries, the Dutch were the first to establish 



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