£18 



Selections. 



[NO. 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 down, 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 beneath 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 4,000 

 quintals, or 40,000 Spenish pound?. The restriction imposed in this case was 



