1* 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July r, 1881. 
Of the more valuable C. Ledgeriana, it is a matter for regret that I am not able 
to report a larger stock in the Government garden at Hakgala. There are at present about 
3,000 seedlings, mostly raised from the seed received from Java in 1878, but some from a 
little seed received this year. I was able to meet the great desire of planters to posses* 
themselves of this important plant only to a very small extent; but a distribution of 1,250 
young plants to 32 applicants was made. However I have satisfied myself that there are 
scattered over several estates a considerable number of C. Ledgeriana from seed obtained 
by private application from the Government gardens in Java, Darjiling or the Nilgiris, 
the whole being the descendants of the seed originally brought over by Mr. Ledger. I 
desire to press upon the attention of the owners of these trees — many of which are now 
commencing to flower — the extreme importance of minimizing the chances of their being 
crossed by the pollen of other and inferior kinds. If any of these be in the immediate 
neighbourhood, they should be destroyed. Selected and marked or numbered trees should 
be analysed by a competent chemist, and the results compared with the characters of the 
trees. Those with a good bark-analysis should be kept as seed-trees, those with a bad 
one ruthlessly destroyed. In this way alone it is possible after a few years to obtain seed 
which will come true. No pains should be spared in this matter. It is important that 
growers should realize that before long (assuming that quinine retains its commercial pre- 
eminence over the other alkaloids) it will be only the best barks that will secure good 
prices ; the inferior must hang on hand and only be disposed of at reduced rates. 
Though C. Ledgeriana (like its close ally C. Calisaya in all its forms, of which indeed it 
may be one) is difficult to propagate by cuttings, it is without difficulty grafted on C. succl- 
rubra. The method consists merely in cutting a straight flat flap in the stock and inserting 
the sloping end of the graft (also cut perfectly flat) so that the naked surface of its wood, 
cambium and bark shall be in accurate contact with the same portions of the stock. The flap 
of bark embraces the graft on the outside, and the whole is kept in position by a firm band- 
age of soft thread. The plants require to be kept in an equable temperature and protected 
from draughts till union is complete, when the upper portion of the stock may be removed. 
Twelve plants of the hard Carthagena bark (believed to be C. cordifolla) were sent from 
Kew under the charge of Mr. Clark. In spite of his attention, they suffered greatly in 
the passage through the Red Sea, and it is much to be regretted that only two recovered 
sufficiently to be sent on to Hakgala. Should they ultimately not survive there, it is 
confidently hoped that some fresh ones may be obtained from Darjiling, where Mr. Gammie 
has been very successful in its propagation. 
I have also received from the Government plantation at Neddiwuttuin, Nilgiris, a 
Wardian case with some young plants of the kind called C. officinalis var. pubescens by 
Mr. Howard but considered a hybrid by the late Mr. Mclvor. Owing to remarkably careless 
packing these were nearly all dead on arrival, but a few have survived and are doing well, 
they possess much the appearance of C. succlrubra at present. 
In September I had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. Moeus, the Director of the 
Government Cinchona Plantations in Java, on a tour of inspection through a part of our 
hill-country estates, and of gaining much useful information about the methods employed 
by him in his successful management of the Dutch plantations. 
Cacao.— The Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the representation that there are 
superior varieties of cacao grown in Trinidad not yet in cultivation in the East, has caused 
young plants of them to be sent from that colony to Ceylon. The plants were selected and 
packed by Mr. Prestoe, Government Botanist at Trinidad, and despatched to Kew on 8th 
September. Here they remained but a few days, being brought on at once by Mr. Clark in 
six Wardian cases and arriving here on 5th November. In spite of the long double journey 
and indifferent packing, they arrived in fair condition. The varieties are eleven in number. 
It is intended that a proportion of these shall be forwarded to the colonies of Singapore and 
Fiji. Mr. Prestoe, in his report accompanying the plants, points out that some variation from 
parental characters may be expected in these seedlings, also that the varieties are so 
slightly marked as to be generally ignored by growers in Trinidad. He also remarks that it 
is "certain (hat some of the best varieties of cocoa are already in Ceylon." 
This valuable consignment was accompanied by fifty young plants of the shade-tree 
generally grown with cacao in the West, Ergtkrl.ua umbrom (also called " Bucare" and 
" Boia immortelle"), and a packet of seed of the same species had been previously received 
