420 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1889. 
a room or shed in a heap with plenty of banana or 
pla tain leaves over them. After fiom 4 to 6 davs, 
fpread 'hem out in a thin layer in the sun. In the 
mid le of the day when the sun is too strong, shade 
them. Turn them over now aud then, rub beween 
the hands, and pick out the tra-h. After 4 or 5 days 
the beans will be cured, if they break easily ; if the 
colour is dark chocolate, not red ; if there it no white 
skin inside. ; if it tastes sweet, not bitter. 
+ 
NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 
This moBt useful fibre-producing plant wherever 
tying, bundling, aud hauling have to b^ done, has, I 
notice, and will continue, I am cnrifi ient, to be the 
eubj. ct of continuous discussion. Your correspondent 
"R. A." is making irquiry about it at the present 
time (p. 200, August 17, 1889), aud others will fellow 
suit. Fibre-producing plants are and will ontiuuo to 
be in request; the textile characteristics of this, in 
particular, make it the subject of attention on the pa>t 
ot those who are interested in the manufacture of 
oordage and textile fabrics, in their great variety of 
forms and innumerable uses. 
Experience proves your opinion to be well founded 
as to its not being a remunerative crop to grow for 
manufacturing purposes. The difficulties attending 
cleansing the fibre are not so great as is generally 
suppose!; boiling it in water removes the gluten; 
careful combing makes it soft ad pliable. I daresay 
especial machinery may be requisite for the prepara- 
tion of large quantities economically, aud, when pre- 
pared, it is not comparable to Hemp for durability, 
although in a fresh or half-dried state it is the stronger 
fibre of the two, aud will bear the greater strain. 
It will not bear exposure, and is subject to dtcay, 
when it is so friable that it i-i easily broken. Ropes 
manufactured fiom it, subject to alternating heat and 
moisture, canDOt be depended upon after they have 
been in use for a short time. 
But it is not as a textile or manufacturing plant 
that I regard it as most useful. I am a practical 
gardener and farmer. It is more as an useful and 
necessary plant on the farm and garden that I re- 
gard it. Manufacturers will, of course, look at it from 
a different and equally legitimate point of view, and 
I trust they may realise their hopes and wishes. 
Grown in a moderately rich soil, damp in preference, 
Phormium tenax produces leaves from 3 to 6 feet 
long, which mav be cut for use at any period of 
their growth. These leaves may be stripped in bands 
as long and as strong as may be required, and are 
useful for tying plants, trees, vegetables, Wheat, Hay, 
faggots, &c. ; I use them for all th.-se purposes, and 
find it very convenient to have them always at com- 
mand. 
The plants are hardy, resisting many degrees of 
frost without injury. The old leaves do not suffer 
if allowed sufficient room aud air to prevent exces- 
sive moisture from hanging about them during the 
winter months, which causes them to rot. 
Compared with Russian matting and raffia, the 
leaves and ties are stronger and more economical in 
use, as there is less waste. It is self-evident that it 
is cheaper to grow than to buy ; and a perch of 
ground devoted to the purpose produces a large supply, 
and lasts many years when established. 
It is easily propagated, either from seed or the 
division of the crowns. The plants, in a young state, 
require care, but when sufficiently strong for planting 
out, they grow rapidly. The p'auts are impatient of 
removal, and should be planted in some spare corner, 
avoiding the drip of trees. It grows quite as freely 
in the shade as when fully exposed. I forward you 
specimens of the gr en leaf and the dressed fibre. 
0. B. S., Jersey. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
. — . 
CINCHONA AND QUININE PRODUCTION 
IN INDIA. 
In a blue bonk just issued, giving various statistics 
to exhibit the material progrei-s and condition of India 
during the year 1887-88, the section devoted to agri- 
culture contains some information respecting cinohona 
cultivation and its results. It appears that the area 
then under cinchona in the Government plantations 
of the Darjeeling district in Bengal was 2208 acres, 
on which were growing 4,851,000 cinchona trees in 
permanent plantations. It is stated that more than 
one-half of these trees belonged to the caii ava or 
quinine yielding variety, and during the year 424,000 
trees of this variety were planted out. The propor- 
tion of succirubra trees is also etated to be more than 
one-half of the above number, so that there is evi- 
dently t ome iuacru acy in one or other of these state- 
ments. The num' er of succirubra trees uprooted for 
their bark was 375,000. The total crop of bark ob- 
tained was 290,000 lb. in a dry state. The whole of 
that suppli, wi h the excep.io :j of 855 1b., was made 
over to the factory, which manufactured from it 331 
lb. of quinine sulphate and 6916 lb. of cinchona febri- 
fuge. Taking the yield of quinine sulphate from suc- 
cirubra bark at 15 per cent., the quantity consumed 
for producing the quantity above mentioned would be 
22,066 lb., leaving 267,079" lb. for the cinchona febri- 
fuge, the yield of which would thus amouut to about 
2-5 per cent of the bark used. That would be but 
a poor yield for good succirubra bark, and if it re- 
presents the actual contents of alkaloid, the bark 
must have been of poor average quality. The coat of 
the plantations is stated to have been 76,700 rupees, but 
that was irrespective of interest on capital. The 
money yield of the factory at the rate of 14 rupees 
per pound for febrifuge and 20J rupees per pound for 
quinine wa6 during the year 137,510 rupees on the 
products issued to the Government department and 
to the public; but some part of that supply appears 
to have been drawn from the produce of the pre- 
vious year, since it was larger than the total quantity 
of products manufactured, while there was also at tbe 
end of the year a stock of bark, more than half 
calisaya, amounting to 296,000 lb. It is diffic ult, 
therefore, in the absence of further data to arrive at 
any estimate of the actual relatiou of the cost of pro- 
duction and return realised. 
Mention is made of a new method of manufactur- 
ing quinine by steeping the powdered bark in cold 
oil as having been peiffct-ed during the year, and it 
is said to yield a " pa'ticularly goid quinine." but 
no data are given by means of which an idea can 
be arrived at as to the cost of this method and its 
efficiency for the extraction of the alkaloid fiom the 
bark. It may, howevc r, be pointed out that the price 
above quoted for quinine sulphate of 20§ rupees per 
pound would make the quinine about double the price 
that this article has been sold for in England and 
America during the last few months. That also is 
taking the rupee as being equal to only one shilling 
and sixpence, and so far there does not appear to be 
any treat advantage in the production of quinine 
sulphate in India. 
The area under cinchona in the Government planta- 
tions of the Nikiri district in Madras is stated to be 
908 acres, on which were growing 1,740,000 cinchona 
trees in permanent plantations. This is a smaller 
number by 198,000 than was returned in the report 
of the previous year, as part of one plantation had 
been abandoned and the trees uprooted. The err p for 
the year amounted to 93,000 lb. of dry bark, of which 
7000 lb. was issued and the remainder stored, making 
the total quantity in stock at the end of the year 
251,000 lb. It is the intention to convert this bark 
into quinine sulphate and cinchona febrifuge, on the 
plan that has been adopted in the Bengal plantations, 
and buildings with machinery for that purpose are 
being erected. The outlay on the plantations during 
the year is stated to have been 72,160 rupees, but 
in respect to return, it is merely stated that the 
7000 lb. of bark issued was valued at 1200 rupees. 
Here again theieareno data for any estimate of the 
relation between cost and return. 
The area under cinohona on private plantations is 
returned at 1355 acres in Bengal, 6444 acres in 
Madras, and about 2000 acres in Cnorg an d Myore. 
The export of cinchona bark from India has risen 
from 1,286,900 lb. in 1886-87 to 1,449,313 lb. in 1887-88, 
and to 3,074,098 lb. in 1888-89.— Pharmaceutical Journal. 
