21? 
Selections. 
[XO. 2. NEW SERIES. 
be not discovered of counteracting the ruinous and wasteful me- 
thod adopted, our descendants -will inevitably have to regret the 
entire or at least partial extinction of the different varieties of cin- 
chona. 
" The opinion of those who calculate upon the forests being re- 
stocked from seeds, and from suckers thrown out from the stumps 
of the fallen trees, is more nearly in accordance with truth ; but, 
as will be seen, even this source of renewed supply can only be de- 
pended upon to a certain extent. Too often the suckers, reckless- 
ly cut dowT), perish with the trunks to which they were attached ; 
and the young trees, which very slowly attain to a certain degree 
of development, fall in their turn beneatli the hatchet, never again 
to appear. The same may also be said of the seeds. A supervision 
and control exercised over the cutters, by means of inspectors, 
would, to a certain extent check this vandalism, but, unfortunately 
could not practically be carried into operation. The inspection of 
the woods in our country is a very different thing from inspecting 
a forest in the New World, especially if this forest cover 20,000 
square miles. 
" In fact, it appears to me that there are but two methods which 
could be adopted for preventing the rapid destruction of the cinchona 
trees. One is to limit the exportation to a quantity proportionate 
to the sustainable produce of the forest : the other, that of making 
the trees objects of regular cultivation. To limit the exportation 
would certainly be the most efficacious method : but is it not to 
be feared that the disproportion between the consumption and 
production is already too great to admit of the balance being thus 
restored : and moreover, are not our wants too pressing to give 
way to considerations effecting only the future:* There remains 
the cultivation, and this must be resorted to. If there be a tree 
which is worthy of being acclimated in a French colony, it is, cer- 
tainly, the cinchona, and posterity will be grateful to those who 
may succeed in putting this plan into execution. 
* In support cf this view of the subject we may cite the case of the Company 
of La Paz, to whom the Bolivian government conceded the monopoly of the com- 
merce of the cinchonas of Bolivia, with the power of annually exporting 4,00) 
quintals, or 40,O'.«0 Spanish pound;. The re-triction imposed in this case wts 
