April i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
683 
end of the past year with the replanting of fieWs of 
inferior varieties uprooted during 1887. Insofar as 
♦he replanting was carried on with C. ledgeriana, excep- 
tionally typical forms were used, and only very well- 
grown plants were put out in the open ground. For 
planting out only the tallest plants were removed 
from the nurseries, by which means the rest h>id the 
opportunity, on account of more light and space, of 
fuller growth. By the strict observance of this rule 
well-grown plants oontinue to be obtained without 
extending the nurseries unnecessarily. The planting 
out of grafts at Tirtasari was continued even in the 
driest part of the year. The grafts raised in pots suffer 
little from being transplanted, and, as two feet deep 
holes are dug beforehand, there was also no danger 
that by the setting in of a severe east monsoon the 
soil should be dried up and the plauts consequently 
die off. Thus the planted grafts, the operation being 
performed in the driest season of the year, have 
grown well, and supplies were soarcely needed. In 
consequence of the mild east monsoon of 1886 the 
blossoming of ledgerianas and succirubras was very 
small, so that in the course of 1887 it was possible 
to hold but a single sale of seed. By means of 
the large quantities of excellent ledgeriana seed sold 
at public auction in the latter part of 1886, most of 
the cinohona planters, at least in the Preanger 
Regencies, obtained supplies of seed at very moderate 
prices, so that there was scarcely any need of extend- 
ing the seed nurseries. In consequence of the 
diminished confidence in cinchona cultivation only 
20 grams of ledgeriana seed found buyers at the sale 
of 30th Deoember 1887 at the fixed upset price of fl 
per gram. A batoh of seven hundred grams of suoci- 
rubra seed was sold at the auction at- the upset price 
of /0-20 per gram. The method (more and more 
praotised) of grafting in the open air is certainly a 
reason why succirubra seed found more buyers. Of 
the ledgeriana grafts offered not a single one was sold 
at the fixed upset price of flO eaoh. The total result 
of the sale of seed was /160 gross. Small quantities 
of ledgeriana and succirubra seed were applied for by 
botanists and representatives of scientific institutions 
or foreign Governments. The applications of forestem 
for sucoirubra seed were also of little consequenoe. 
The extensive seed-beds laid out on the Government 
gardens in the latter part of 1886 will be able to 
yield sufficient plants for another couple Jof years, so 
that it was not necessary to lay out beds from the 
small seed crop of 1887. At the end of the past year 
many original ledgerianas, and also many grafts, began 
to blossom at Tirtasari, so that in 1888 a tolerable crop 
of cinohona seed may be expected. 
3. Clearing and Upkeep. — During 1887 twenty bouws 
of jungle land were cleared, intended for the putting 
in of graft plants. Near the Tjinjiroean establishment 
also some bouws of jungle land were felled and 
oleared insofar as the pieces of land happened to 
come within the new roads whioh were formed for the 
rounding off of the establishment. This establishment 
did not however undergo a regular extension, because 
an equally large extent has to be considered which 
after the rooting out of the plants therein will not be re- 
planted on account of the difficult position of the land. 
The planting up of the fields at Tirtasari was com- 
menced as soon as a sufficient number of well-grown 
grafts was available, whilst a beginning was made 
during November 1887 with the replanting of the 
uprooted portions. These operations are being carried 
out regularly as often as the nurseries yield well-grown 
plants, and will be brought to a conclusion during the 
first quarter of 1888. At Tirtasari, where grafts 
raised in pots were exclusively planted out, whioh 
suffered little or nothing from the transporting and 
planting out, the plantations formed in the latter part 
of the west monsoon gave the best results. At Nagrak 
on the Tangkoeban-Prahoe mountains, where the subsoil 
is very hard and not very rioh, the soil also for some 
depth scarcely allows the rain-water to percolate, and 
the plants, especially the young ones, suffer from root 
disease, important alterations in the mode of cultiva- 
tion were adopted. On the uprooted portions of land 
no terraoes were formed, and the washing away of the 
surface soil was prevented by horizontal rows of weeds, 
which allowed the superfluous rainwater to flow slowly 
above ground, but to retain all portions of soil. 
Plant-holes in these plantations were made not larger 
than was absolutely necessary for the reception of the 
plants, whilst working of the soil was, to commence 
with, practised only extremely superficially. The results, 
insofar as can be judged after the brief practise of 
this altered method, give every prospect of success: 
the young plants have grown better and have suffered 
from root disease to a far less degree than those that 
in former years were placed in terraces. From the 
results obtained it appears to be very evident how 
difficult it is to fix universally applicable rules for the 
laying out of plantations and stirring of the soil. 
Whilst in the sandy soil of the Malabar mountains 
deep plant-holes make their influence on the growth 
of the plants strongly felt at the end of two or three 
years, at Nagrak on the Tangkoeban-Prahoe moun- 
tains they give rise to nothing but disappointment. 
Great care was bestowed during the past year also 
on the upkeep of the plantations. The young gardens 
were superficially dug with the patjod [hoe] 
as soon as the plants came in conflict with the up- 
springing weeds, whilst when the plants developed 
properly the soil was dug deeper. It is specially the 
pieces of land that have been replanted for the 
second or third time that require a continued and 
often a repeated stirring of the soil, since the plants 
put into such lands at first grow less vigorously, and 
less hurtful weeds, consisting chiefly of varieties of 
grass, which spread by means of rhizomes, usually 
make their appearance there. In older plantations, 
where the plants have already finished their warfaro 
with the upspringiug weeds, the grounds were dug 
deep several times, in order to aliow the air to obtain 
free access to the soil, to expose the lower strata of 
earth to the influence of the air and thus to extend 
the surface of the soil. On account of the great and 
continuous fall of rain the stirring of the soil by means 
of trenches was practised less than in previous years, 
principally because the excavated earth, consisting 
for a large part of light clay, was covered by the 
heavy and continued rain with a less' pervious layer, 
whereby the penetration of the air to the soil was 
prevented. Trenches were dug principally on those 
places where the washing away of the surface soil 
was feared. In consequence of the great pains 
bestowed on the stirring of the soil the plants as a 
rule have grown well, less however than in 1886, 
apparently in consequence of the mild east monsoon 
of 1886, in which year the surface soil had, owing to 
the great amount of rain, less opportunity of 
weathering. Satisfactory though are the results 
obtained from the manuring of the plantations, the 
small quantities of manure that are to be obtained on 
or in the neighbourhood of the establishments were 
the cause of its being possible only moderately to 
utilize this means of improving the plantations. 
At Nagrak and Lembang m&nurial substances were 
bought from the population in the neighbourhood of 
the establishments mentioned. As in previous years 
the formation and continuance of dense plantations was 
aimed at. The favorable results, both with regard 
to crop and economical upkeep of the plantations, 
obtained with close planting, the chemical and 
physical improvement of the soil, which is a result 
thereof, are so many reasons for as olosely as possible 
adhering to the methods of operation practised of 
late years. In the annual report for 1886 mention 
was made of the adoption of a system of pruning 
having for its object the obtaining of single-stemmed 
trees. The experiments made immediately gave suoh 
good results, that the method of pruning was more 
generally adopted. Sanguine as were the anticipations 
found regarding it, the results even exceeded ant cipa- 
tions, and it is therefore now universally adopted. In the 
execution of the directions given, which at first 
certainly left somewhat to be desired, there was dur- 
ing the past year a manifest improvement, and a 
body of men is being gradually formed who are 
accustomed to the practice of a rational system of 
pruning. The young plants have now generally 
