July i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
i7 
To the Editor of the Ceylon Observer. 
TEA, CINCHONA, AND COFFEE CULTIVATION : 
—IN EXPLANATION. 
The Tea and Cinchona Plantations Co., Limited. 
Dear Sir, — In the prospectus of this Company is 
printed the following from Mr. H. J. Seymour, dated 
Jany. 25th, 1881 :— 
" I am glad to be able to give you some informa- 
tion respecting tea in Rakwana and Morawa Korale 
district (the district in which the whole of theCom- 
pany's properties are situated). I was in charge of 
' Barra ' estate (about five miles from the Company's 
land) for a year or so, and we did very well with 
our tea which was planted on abandoned coffee land. 
I am not sure as to the yield of leaf, but think we 
got between 500 to 600 lbs. per acre, &c." 
You will note Rakwana and Morawak Korale are 
made out to be one district, and Panilkande and 
Anningkande are said to be ouly five miles from 
Barra. Now the real distance is quite fifteen miles, 
and although, no doubt, tea grows exceedingly well 
in Morawak Korale, the Rakwana and Morawak Korale 
districts are very different in most respects. On 
"Barra" there is still fine coffee which was old when 
Morawak Korale district was opened, whereas the 
Morawak Korale coffee is already almost entirely aban- 
doned. 
Agaiu, Mr. Seymour had really nothing to do with 
tea on "Barra." Mr. Ryves was in charge of it, and 
I have the very best authority for saying that the 
yield per acre was then just about half of the quantity 
above stated. In fact, there were only about twelve 
acres in partial bearing, and none in full bearing at 
the time Mr. Seymour was on " Barra." 
I adhere to the "facts" mentioned in your corre- 
spondent's letter, as to "Venture" audits crops and 
manures. Up to quite recently the bulk of the manure 
was bones and poonac. The quantity and composition 
of the mixture are in my possession, having been given 
to ine by the proprietor and superintendent of the 
emtate. 
But, a9 you have pointed out to me, you did 
not say Mr. Ross had already got 3 to 4 cwts. extra 
per acre from his manure, but merely that if he did 
get that quantity at an expenditure in manuring of 
R70 per acre it would repay him, I quite agree with 
you. Many others besides me understood you to 
imply that he had already increased his crop by 3 
to 4 cwts per acre. 
That Mr. Ross does not now use bones and poonac 
proves that ho is st'll experimenting ; and, as his ex- 
periments are under the guidance of one of the best 
practical chemist's in Britain, we may depend upon 
everything being clone in accordance with the best 
principles. That he may succeed must be the fervent 
wish of all who arc interested in coffee ; that he de- 
serves sue'eees all who know him w ill admit. He has 
long been recognized as one of our most plucky, in- 
telligent, and enterprising planters. W. M. K. 
Mr. /io«'s manure of 1878-79. 
Herewith copy of prescription for manure handed 
to me 2} years ago : — £ s. 
5 tons dissolved phosphates @8 10 
7 ,, sifted guano (Peruvian) ... 13 0 
8 ,, muriate of potash 8 10 
4 ,, sulphate of magnesia 4 15 
4 ,, nitrate of soda Hi 15 
To above add 30 tons bones and GO tons castor or 
other cake. 
30 
C. SUCCIRUBRA AND THE CINCHONA 
ALKALOIDS. 
Royal Botanical Garden, Beradeniya, 23rd May, 1881- 
Dear Sir, — I fear from a remark in your columns 
on Saturday that the observations I made in my 
annual report for last year on the cultivation ot 
cinchonas have been misunderstood in one point by 
you, and I am anxious to put myself right. It was 
very far indeed from my intention in those recom- 
mendations to " wurn planters against succirubra." 
On the contrary, as many plauters are well aware, 
I have been strongly recommending them to keep 
up a good back-bone of that species so as to be 
prepared for possible changes. The advice in the 
report whs addressed to those who are so fortunate 
as to possess plants of Ledgeriana, the inferior sorts 
alluded to being specially the various Calisayas, so 
liable to be mistaken for it. I also expressly guarded 
my observations by the remark "assuming that 
quinine retains its commercial pre-eminence over the 
other alkaloids," for, of course, a change in this res- 
pect materially alters the whole conditions of the 
enterprise. 
He would be a rash man who ventured to predict 
the future course of events ; but though the ultimate 
issue may not improbably be that a pure mhtuieof 
the four alkaloids without any other substance mixed 
with them will be generally used, there are no signs 
of any speedy change in the present state of things, 
and therefore I feel justified in the advice I have given. 
Fashion and custom have extraordinary power in 
Pharmacy (extending even to the constant prescrip- 
tion of drugs which are known to be almost inert, 
though possessing a high popular prestige), and the 
great quinine-manufacturers, whose power is undoubted, 
may be expected to resist with all their strength any 
change in the present estimation of quinine. 
There is another matter in which C. succirubra 
plays an important part ; that is "bark" itself as a 
drug. It must be remembered that cinchona bark is 
still largely presciibed for many complaints. In con- 
nection with this, I send you a copy of the Phar- 
maceutical Journal just received, in which attention 
is drawn to an important article by Professor Fliickiger 
of Strassburg, the leading pharmaceutist in Europe. 
I have been lately in correspondence with him on 
the subject of this article, and was able to assure him 
that we in Ceylon grew extensively the true G. succi- 
rubra as understood by Howard. You will see that 
he gives his reasons for fixing upon the bark of 
Indian grown C. succirubra as the official bark of the 
new German Pharmacopeia to the almost complete 
exclusion of other kinds. 
This decision is of especial importance When it is 
remembered that the necessity of an international 
Pharmacopeia is now generally recognized and likely 
to be actually undertaken, in which case the action 
of Germany in this matter of hark might not im- 
probably be generally adopted. — I am, sir. yours 
faithfully, HENRY THIMEN. 
The article referred to is as follows : — 
CINCHONA BARK AS AN ARTICLE OF THE 
OFFICIAL MATERIA MEDICA. 
In a recent, number of the Pharmnceutixcht Ztitung 
Professor Fliickiger has drawn attention to the un- 
certainty now prevailing as to the kind of cinchona 
bark that would be best to use for pharmaceutical 
purposes, tic considers that from the importance of 
that dlJUg as a medicine this circumstance alone is 
sufficient to justify the existing desire for a revision 
of the German Pharmacopoeia, and the same view may 
be applied to the Pharmacopoeias of most other countries. 
One of Professor Fliickiger's objections to the three 
kinds of cinchona^ bark now officially prescribed is 
