XXI CINCHONA TREES IN INDIA 311 
the surface covering of leaves and leaf-mould. He 
states that during the dry season, from June to 
December, there was rain (more or less) on about ten 
days in each month, and that during the whole six 
months there were only thirty-one days on which 
there was neither rain, mist, nor fog. This would 
appear to be a very different type of climate from that 
of either Sikhim or the Neilgherries, although the 
mean temperature may not be very dissimilar. It 
seems to rrie probable that the districts most nearly 
approaching in climate to that of the Cinchona 
forests would be the mountain slopes above 2000 
feet in the Federated Malay States, or in the 
Sarawak territory in Borneo, both of which have a 
similar distribution of rainfall throughout the year. 
The official Report of June 1907 states "the 
Cinchona industry in the Neilgherry is rapidly 
diminishing," and that many of the estates are 
being abandoned, which can only be due to its 
being not permanently profitable. Everything 
therefore seems to point to the fact that the best 
natural conditions for the growth of these valuable 
trees has not yet been found.] 
