336 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1888. 
be put as averaging 3 per cent, sulphate of quinine, 
and yielding a net amount (deducting 13c per £ kilo, 
for freight and Bale expenses) of 252h\, at the rate 
of 12c. per unit. From the fifth until the end of 
the tenth year the plantation would require an annual 
expenditure of 30 fl. per bahoe for working expenses, 
&c, to which compound interest at the rate of 10 per 
cent, per annum must be added, but concurrently with 
this expenditure the annual yield and average alkal- 
oidal richness of the bark increases considerably, 
although at the same time the unit value in Europe 
is supposed to fall from 12c. to 7c. per unit. The 
yield and alkaloidal richness of the bark obtained 
average as follows: — 
Yield per Bahoe from Stripping. 
Fourth year l,200i kilos., assaying 3 per cent., unit 12e. 
Fifth „ 1,700 „ „ 3| „ „ 10c. 
Sixth „ 2,300 „ „ 4 „ „ 9c. 
Seventh „ 3,100 „ „ 4§ „ „ 8c. 
Eighth „ 4,200 „ „ 5 „ » 8c. 
Ninth „ 5,700 „ „ 5J „ „ 7c 
Tenth ,, 7,500 „ „ 6 „ „ 7c. 
Yield per Bahoe from Thinning and Prunhiq. 
Fifth year 5001 kilos., assaying 2 J per cent., unit 12c. 
Sixth „ 620 „ „ 3 „ „ 12c. 
Seventh „ 740 „ „ 3§ „ „ 9c. 
Eighth „ 900 „ „ 4 „ „ 8c. 
Ninth „ 1,100 „ „ 4| „ „ 8c. 
Tenth „ 1,350 „ „ 5 „ „ 7c 
This typical plantation, therefore, during the first 
three years yields absolutely nothing; from the third 
to the end of the seventh year it is carried on at 
a dead loss, though the actual deficiency diminishes 
each year; but the profits during the eighth, ninth, 
and tenth years more than recoup the planter for 
his previous disbursements. At the end of the fourth 
year there would be a. loss of 348fl. per bahoe, but 
from that time the planter commences to sent bark 
for sale to Europe, and at the close of the fifth 
year he only finds himself 303fl. out of pocket, which 
amount further diminishes to 18311. after the sixth, 
and to 1611. after the seventh season. The balance 
then turns to the right side, for at the close of the 
eighth year the profits are 436fl. per bahoe, 813fl. 
after the ninth, and l,683fl. after the tenth season. 
Of course, the actual figures will vary on almost 
every plantation, and Mr. Berkhout's statistics are in- 
tended merely to illustrate the importance of not 
stripping the bark from the trees too quickly, even 
though the unit value should be on the decline, and 
to demonstrate that, even if the unit should fall below 
7c per half- kilo, (or 1 3-15ths. per lb.), a well-man- 
aged plantation of full-grown trees may still be carried 
on at a profit. 
In the second part of his paper Mr. Berkhout ur- 
ges cinchona-planters to carefully tabulate the cost 
and the yield of their trees year by year, and to 
divide their plantations in sections, each of which 
should be tabulated under a separate heading. It is 
not necessary to mark the limits of the various 
sections by paths, but bright-leaved shrubs (of which, 
perhaps, a profit may be made at the same time), 
should be grown between the plots as a line of de- 
marcation. During the first three or four years the 
average height of the trees should be ascertained 
annually, and after that time the quantity of bark 
contained on the trees in each section would have to 
bn calculated and checked at each succeeding seasons. 
This calculation is one of the most difficult problems 
iu connection with cinchona cultivation, it being im- 
[j ,s i bio to accurately estimate the quantity of bark 
on the trees by merely inspecting the section. The 
author, therefore, recommends that the ascertaiueil 
\ of different cinchona plantations in the island 
should be collated and published, and that these 
gardens, according to the size of the trees, their soil, 
elevation, &c., should be classified into several grades, 
so that a plauier wiijjpng to estimate the quantity of 
the bark OQ the trees of his own plantation may be 
guided by the ascertained results of other ptantations 
situated similarly to his own. The calculations at 
present re.-ortod to are not founded upon any sound 
basis, beiij b ' generally arrived at iu the following 
manner : — In a p'antation a large number of six-year- 
old trees, say 1,000, are stripped, and found to give 
2,000 kilos, bark. The probable yield of another six- 
year-old plantation, containing 800 trees per bahoe, 
is then calculated by taking 800 times the average of 
the yield of the 1,000 trees already stripped. Such 
an estimate does not take into account that on soil 
where trees are planted too close tione another the 
proportionate yield of branch and root bark is less 
than where there is a considerable distance left 
between the trees, and also that trees at the border 
of plantations are always stouter than those in the 
centre. 
Mr. Berkhout thinks that one of the best methods 
to estimate the proportionate yield of bark of two 
plantations will be found to be the following > — Given 
two plantations having trees of similar average 
height and shape, but the one containing 800 trees, 
averaging 9 centimetres in diameter at 5 feet from 
the ground, and 4-5ths centimetre average thickness 
of bark, while the other has 1,000 trees of 7 centi- 
metres diameter and 3-oths centimetre bark thick, 
ness, it is required to ascertain which plantation will 
yield most bark. To cilculats this, imagine rings of 
barks stripped from all the trees at a height of 5 
feet, and placed side by side in strips. Those of 
the first plantation would cover a superficial area of 
9 J a; (9—2 x 4-5ths.) n -x 
— x 800=1,65 square metres. 
4 4 
and those of the second garden 
7 a « (7—2 x 3-5ths.) H- 
x 1,000 = 1,21 square metres. 
4 4 
It is only, Mr. Berkhout thinks, by managing their 
plantations upon scientific and carefully considered 
principles that the Java planters will be able, after 
a certain time, to gain that control over the cinchona 
market to which the extent and the richness of their 
plantations entitle them. — Chemist and Druggist. 
Silk Culture. — Last mail brought us copies 
of Mr. Thomas Wardle'a work on " Silk : its 
Entomology, History and Manufacture as Exemplified 
at the Manchester Jubilee Exhibition," which includes 
a large number of illustrative engravings ; also 
a pamphlet with "Paper and Discussion on the Silk 
Trade of England and the Continent" read before 
the British Association by Mr. Wardle. Should 
any of our Matale friends wish to have a perusal 
of these works they are very welcome. 
A New Kind of Fuel. — If it be correct that Dr. 
Kauffmann has discovered a method of converting 
petroleum into solid fuel which burns slowly without 
smoke, and with only 2 per cent of cinder, petroleum 
stands revealed more clearly than ever as the fuel of 
the future. Dr. Kauffmann's method is very simple. 
He heats the petroleum, and mixes with it from 1 to 
3 per cent of soap. When the mixture co.ols it 
solidifies in a mass, which looks like cement and 
feels like tallow. It is not stated whether the solid 
petroleum burns without smell. For domestio use 
that is indispensable. — European Mail, Sept. 21st. 
Peospects of the Coffee Cecp in Ooorg. — The 
outturn of the Coffee Crop in Ooorg for the season 
1888-89 is estimated at 5,180 tons ; the average annual 
exports for the last ten years having been 4,500 tons. 
The Commissioner of Ooorg writes: — "The total area 
of Coffee plantations, European and Native, is 80,389 
acres, of which 59,124 acres are actually planted: Of 
this area, 33,141 acres are held by Europeans, and 
forecast returns have been furnished for the bulk of 
these estates. The Native holdings comprise 25,983, 
for the greater portion of which no returns are obtain- 
able. The present forecast has been based, as far as 
practicable, on the returns furnished, and for the rest 
a rough estimate has been framed, giving a total of 
5,180 tons." — Governnent of India. Revenue and Agri- 
cultural Department, Simla, the 28th Sept. 1888. 
