296 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881 
The United States wheat crop this year is estimated 
at 400,000,000 bushels, against 480,000 ; 000 bushels 
lust year. The stock on hand is now 41,000,000 
bushels above this time last year, so the export sur- 
plus will not fall off to the full extent of the decline 
in the crop aggregate. — Ibid. 
Dearth oe Potatoes in Colombo. — Potatoes have 
been at fourpence and sixpence a pound for the last 
fortnight. When will a fresh shipment arrive ? Their 
proper price here is from five to eight cents per lb. 
according to the supply. What are up-country cul- 
tivators about ? 
Gammie's Sulphate op Quinine.— The Calcutta 
" Englishman" having inspected samples of the sulphate 
of quinine prepared in India by a new process by Mr. 
Gammie, and the crystalline febrifuge which the same 
gentleman has succeeded in producing, says : — " The 
sulphate of quinine appears in every respect equal to 
the best sulphate of quinine of commerce. A pro- 
fessional analysis shows it to contain, in every hundred 
parts, quinine 76 - 88 ; sulphuric acid 11 "62; water 
11 "50. The crystalline febrifuge is a sulphate of the 
whole of the alkaloids of the red bark, except the 
uncrystallisable amorphous alkaloid, which is believed 
to be the sole cause of the nausea produced in eome 
constitutions by the uncrystallised febrifuge hitherto 
manufactured by the Government. It is more granular 
in texture, and only slightly less white in colour, than 
sulphate of quinine, and, if it can be sold at a pro- 
portionate price, will probably supersede the cinchona 
febrifuge. Arrangements are now being made to manu- 
facture the sulphate of quinine ou a large scale, and 
it is hoped that it will be possible in a few years, to 
meet all the demands of the Government for this drug." 
- — -Madras Mail. 
Plantations of casuarinas have been largely cul- 
tivated in the neighbourhood of Madras for supplies 
of firewood to the railway, as well as to the city. An 
old Ceylon planter, Mr. Maclntyre, one of the tri- 
umvirate ( Stewart, Brown and Maclntyre ), who 
opened Glenapine and other Uva estates in the early 
days, was interested in this casuarina cultivation in 
the Madras district. The finest casuarina trees in 
Ceylon are probably those in front of the Galle Face 
Boarding-house, which newcomers from the "North 
Countree " have very frequently taken for Scotch 
firs. The timber of well-grown trees ought to be 
useful for other purposes than firewood, but the latter 
ensures a speedy return from quick-growing trees. To 
ensure success, however, it is needful that the planta- 
tion should be within easy reach of the railway 
or city. Mr P. O'B. Horsford, who is Superintendent 
of the Railway Firewood Supplies in the Western 
Province, is very confident that planters cultivating 
a regular plantation of quick-growing trees for fire- 
wood purposes at any spot not far from -.'the line between 
Peradeniya and Nawalapitiya ought to find it a vpry 
remunerative speculation, the demand for firewood 
being greatly increased when trains begin to run up 
to Nanuoya. We are not sure, though, that the 
casuarina would be the best tree for up-country culti- 
vation : it is certainly not likely to succeed in a 
paddy field, and apparently prefers dry sandy soil. 
Our Maturata correspondent will find that casuarina 
seed is procurable from the Director of Botanic Gard- 
ens at R 5 per ounce. 
Glycerine. — We learn from the Pharmaceittical 
Journal that the price of refined glycerine has during 
the last two years advanced from about £30 to £103 
per ton. This enormous advance is due partly to in- 
creased consumption, diminished production, and the 
influence of speculation working on a market devoid 
of stocks. In view of the present position of the 
article and the prospect of a continuance of high 
prices for a considerable time to come, the attention 
of soapmakers is now being turned to the utilization 
of their waste "leys," and various new processes for 
recovering the glycerine contained in these liquors 
have lately been tried with more or less successful 
results Apart from minor impurities, waste soap 
'leys,' are generally found to contain glycerine, car- 
bonate of soda or caustic soda, chloride of sodium, 
gelatin, and albumen. One of the processes for re- 
covering the glycerine which promise to be the most 
economical and the most successful begins with con- 
centrating the liquor until the salts contained therein 
begin to crystalize. The liquid is then cooled and 
filtered to rid it of gelatin and albumen. It is after- 
wards made to absorb carbonic acid, which precipi- 
tates bicarbonate of soda, and first is separated from 
the liquor in the usual way. After undergoing this 
process the liquor is then made to absorb gaseous hyd- 
rochloric acid until what remains of carbonate of soda 
h;is been converted into chloride, and further, until all, 
or almost all the chlorid of sodium has been precipitated 
and separated from the liquor in the usual manner. 
Arrived at this stage, the liquor contains water, gly- 
cerine, and hydrochloric acid. The acid is then eva- 
porated entirely and absorbed in water for using 
afresh. The dilute glycerine remaining can be puri- 
fied by filtering it through animal charcoal or by 
concentrating and distilling it in the usual way. 
Messrs. Price & Co., the well-known candle manu- 
facturers, were, we believe, the first to utilize this 
formerly wasted product, the value of which has in- 
creased so enormously. 
Cinchona. — The following appears in the July 
numbpr of the Chemist and Druggist : — " Cinchona 
is accumulating to a very large extent, the stock in 
the port of London amounting to over 37,000 packages. 
The point seems to have been reached when the 
supply can more than meet the demand, unless under 
very exceptional circumstances, and it is likely that 
a period of low price for quinine will now set in. 
At present, as will be seen, the prices for English 
and French manufacture are abnormally high in com- 
parison with those for German make, in consequence 
of special contracts. It is quite certain that, for some 
time to come, the arrivals of the bark will continue 
to increase, and it is probable that the proportion of 
the imports rich enough in alkaloid to be worth 
working will also become larger. That a further 
reduction will result in the price of quinine, if no 
exceptional demand occur, is almost certain, and it 
may be considerable. Holders of South American 
barks, who have tried to maintain prices for some 
time and have refused to let their stocks go, have 
shown more inclination to meet the market, and the 
consequence has been more extensive transactions at 
declining prices. It must be noted that buyers at 
the last sales seemed more willing to do business, and 
the demsnd is evidently strong. As there is often 
a large market for quinine in the summer, a temporary 
improvement would not be suprising. One of the 
chief influences affecting the cinchona market has 
been the introduction of the so-called cuprea barks, 
which seem to be well suited for manufacturing pur- 
poses. These barks come from the State of Santander, 
in Columbia, and it is yet unknown, we believe, to 
what extent a supply from that source may be expected. 
The bark is named " cuprea " from its copper-look- 
ing appearance. Present prices for this bark vary 
from Is. lOd. to 2s. 6d." Under the head "Cinchona 
in Africa " we are informed that a very interesting 
experiment is to be tried in West Central Africa by 
the members of the Livingstone (Congo) Inland Mis- 
sion and that seeds of the different species of cinchona, 
which have been obtained from the Government 
plantations in India, are to be sent out to them with 
a view to ascertaining whether it could be success- 
fully cultivated in the mountain valleys of the 
Congo." 
