July 2, 1888.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
+5 
out or pruning, naturally also falls to the ground. 
In the method of harvesting now followed thiuning 
out and pruning go hand in hand. The question, to 
what height pruning should be carried, remains still 
to be answered. For the ledgerianas, and among 
them ospeoially the richest kinds have a steady tend- 
ency to more or less shrubby growth, a tendency which 
is promoted by the acute angle at which the branches 
are placed. The system of scraping was not practised 
during the pant year. Measurements taken showed, 
that at the close of one year the undisturbed portion 
of the tree shaved over half its surface bears a pro- 
portion to the shaved portion in 6 to 7 year old plants 
of 4 to 3, while it is moreover presumed that on the 
expiry of two years the proportion is yet more 
unfavourable for the shaved portion. The exist- 
ing drying ovens at Nagrak and Tjinjiroean con- 
tinued to perform good service, but the drying re- 
quires a good deal of manual labour on account of the 
continual moving of the bark, and the drying did not 
progress rapidly. On the other establishments the want 
of drying apparatus was more and more felt, and the 
still existing want of artificial means of drying is the 
cause that not nearly the amount of bark was obtained 
that might and ought to have been expected. At the 
end of the year a Davidson's T sirocoo was on tbe way. 
The outturn of the harvest of 1885 was sold publicly at 
two auctions held iu Amsterdam on 15th April and 
2'.)th September 1886. The prices obtained at the first 
sale were considerably higher than those realized at 
the second. The following prices per half kilogram 
were obtained :— 1st Sale. 2nd Sale. 
0. suodrubra ... 33 at 107c 19 at 130c 
G. joscphiana (C. calisaya 
BChuhkraft) ... 13 at 154o 12 at 212c 
C. calisaya (0. calisaya ja- 
vanica) ... 30 at 386o — — 
C. calisaya anylica, ... — — 19 at 8gc 
C.ledgeriana ... 65 at 185c 35 at 106c 
C. officinalis ...103 at 131c 52 at ll9 c 
O. tin in folia ... 20 at 41c — — 
The average price obtained at both sales was /0'70G", 
per half kilogram and the gross amount realized 
/305,713-23. 
5. Staff: Expenditure. — A great loss wns sustained 
in the death of the former Director of the Government 
cinchona enterprise, J. C. Bernelot Moens, iu whom 
the manager of the culture ever found a willing ad- 
viser, whose hints and suggestions have contributed, 
in a large degree, to the increasing success of the 
enterprise. The only change in the European staff 
was caused by the retirement, full of honors, of the 
manager of" pupils, which vacancy was immediately 
filled up. The fixed native starf consisted at the end 
of December of 1 carpenters, 1 packinghouse man- 
door, also postman, 23 mandoors and 203 boedjongs. 
The supply of labor was very plentiful during the whole 
year with tho exception of some months during the 
Sawah operations, and the coffee picking, and the labour 
forces offering could not always be utilized. The 
wives and children of the fixed boedjongs were sup- 
plied with work as much as possible, and they did 
good sorvice in the upkeep of the young gardens, the 
catching of injurious insects, and above all iu the har- 
vesting. For this last however labor has generally 
to bo obtained from outside;. More aud more women 
from tho dessas at not too great a distance from 
the establishments offered themselves for the. 1 har- 
vesting of cinchona bark, aud with the exception 
ol tin- period of tho cotl'ee picking the supply of female 
labor was at all times very large. The expenditure ou 
tho service of the enterprise in 18S0 consisted of : — 
Salarios of the Director, Assistant Direc- 
tor, and other European stall' ... ... 31,30000 
Stationery ... ... ... ... 360 00 
Travelling and halting expenses ... 2,36420 
Salaries and daily wagos of the nativo 
■toff, building and repair of propagating 
houses, purchase aud upkeep of tools, and 
other expenses ... ... ... ... 90,14120 
being /59l"60 les3 than was estimated in 
the budget for 1886. According to the 
annual report for 1885 the total expenses 
including the transport of the product to 
Batavia amounted during the year to ... 113,412'39 
The total cost of the transport of the 
product to the Netherlund beside that of sale 
&c. amounted to.,. ... ... ... 38,49263 
Total... 151,905-02 
The gross result of the sales held in 1886 at Am- 
sterdam was /305,713'23 , so that a clear gain was real- 
ized from tho harvest of 18s5of flo'AfiQwSl, not count- 
ing a sum of /16,201 - 2£> which was obtained by the 
sale of grafts and seed. The financial results of tho en- 
terprise for the year 1885 are thus considerably less than 
those for 1884, a consequence of the unfavourable 
result of the second Government sale, which was held 
at a point of time when the prices of cinchona bark 
had declined to the lowest limit hitherto known. On an 
average the total estimated expenditure per half kilogram 
of bark including the transport from Batavia amouuted 
03 
in the ease of the product of 1884 to /0'26 
1835 to /0'26 
21 
0 66 
Total... 121,30810 
„ „ 1830 to /0 23 u 
being a saving in 18S6 of /0 02 OD per half kilogram 
of bark, which saving must be attributed chiefly to the 
great increase in production. The exp-mse of trans- 
port to Europe, of salo .&c, of the product of 1885 
amouuted per half kilogram to / 0'08 9 ", so that the 
net gain per half kilogram of bark amounted to 
,/U'70 65 — (/0'26 21 + /0 08 90 ),i.tf.,/0-35 55 
It was determined by the Minister of the Colonies, in 
conspquence of a request to that effect from persons 
interested in the cinchona bark trade, and after con- 
sultation with the Netherlands Trading Company, that 
as an experiment a sale of Government bark shall take 
place eight times a year during the years 1887 and 188S. 
6. Condition and Prospects. — In the yearly report 
for 1885 it was demonstrated by means of figures, as 
has been mentioned above, that as yet no proper con- 
nection exists between the cost of production and the 
prices that are paid for cinchona bark in the Euro- 
pean market. On this account a regular decline in 
the prices of bark waB prophesied. The prophecy has 
been fulfilled all too sadly: the decline in prices Iu 
1886 took place even more rapidly than was anticipated. 
If the general anticipation, which was based on the 
absurdly high prices that were paid some years back 
for cinchona bark, has been thereby swept away, it 
cannot bo ignored that eveu now there is no connection 
between the cost of production and tho prices obtained 
at auction. For, although it must not be iguored that 
tho fancy prices of j'3'86 /2"12 per half kilogram 
bark which were obtained for certain lots of phar- 
maceutical bark at both the sales of 1886 are no criterion 
on which to base the future, it is yet a fact, that planta- 
tions which produced such rich bark also yielded a com- 
paratively small erop.as the bark of the thinner brunches 
aud twigs was left behind in the plantations as worth- 
less, and indeed that the product of these gardens, 
being the dust of the thicker branches and portions of 
the stems, yielded a direct loss at such prices as / 0" 13 
and fO 12 per half kilogram, since these prices gave no 
return for tho expenses of harvesting, drying, packing, 
transport, and sale. The dust of the young branches 
and twigs of tin: least valuable hybrids of ledgeriana, 
fetched at the sale of 29th September 1886 a pricey '0 ::;> 
per half kilogram, by which not only the above, 
mentioned expenses of harvesting &o,, were covered, 
but whereby all other expenses als"), such as those 
for Oveaight, orcction of buildings, laying out aud up- 
keep of nurseries, laying out a nil upkeep of plantations, 
&c, &e., wore recouped. And, finally, it appears from 
figures for production obtained, so far as those for 
Tirtasari are concerned, as well as from tho fact 
that tho establishment of 150 bouws at Xngrnk 
which iu 1880 yielded 19 1, 5'X) half kilogram* of bark, 
