THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[October i, 1881. 
of a hybrid on this estate, I may be pardoned if 
I am mistaken in supposing that you refer to it, 
and I hope you will forgive me for venturing to 
correct you. Two gentlemen, who, by the way, have 
never studied under Mr. Moens, but certainly have 
paid close attention to the subject, selected by the 
eye 10 trees out of 190 on this estate. Of these len they 
again selected four which proved on analysis to be 
by far the best of the ten. One of the chief guides 
in this second selection was the outturn of dry bark, 
for it is obvious that a tree yielding 50 per cent, of dry 
bark will pay better than a tree yielding only 33 per 
cent, the percentage of quinine and the size of tbe tree 
being the fame in each case. These gentlemen, how- 
ever, are of opinion that there is no comparison between 
the selection by the eye of C. Ledgeriana and chance- 
bred hybrids, and that consequently in tbe ease of the lat- 
ier there is a far greater necessity for the assistance of 
the analyst. —1 remain, dear sir, yours faithfully. 
MOWBRAY C. BULL EE. 
[We think " we told the tale as 't was told to us" by 
an authority who is very anxious to urge the appoint- 
ment of a Government Cinchona Analyst. Neither the 
name of the estate nor of the gentlemen concerned was 
given to us ; but if it should turn out to be the same c»se 
as Mr. Buller refers to, — as doubtless it must, unless 
two stories have been mixed up together — it will be very 
satisfactory to find that local ability to recognise 
good types of cinchona by the outward appearance is 
so clearly proved. — Ed.] 
Maskeliya, (Ceylon) 7th Sept.— The recent spell of 
planting weather has been succeeded by sunshine, 
doing some damage to the lately put out plants. Tbe 
effects of leaf disease, wind, and grub are here and 
there visible, though in the opiuion of some "pro- 
spects for next year have never been better" ! This 
year, however, estimates will not be exceeded. Cin- 
chona proves a success, and, considering the age of 
the trees, the proprietors of Hamilton are to be 
congratulated on the prices recently realized by their 
bark. Young cinchonas in the upper end of the 
valley grow apace, but it is to be regretted that 
the Calisayas are chiefly of the inferior kinds. Ge neral 
satisfaction was felt by those present in Dikoya court to- 
day, when an attempted murderous assault on a resident 
in an outlying valley secured for its perpetrator six 
months' free board and lodging. On dit : that, owing to 
the unusual officiousness of the medical auditors, the 
Secretary has resigned his post. We hope that the 
rumour is untrue, as the district will have some 
difficulty in getting another like him. 
Gammie's Sulphate of Quinine.— The follow^ 
ing is from the Pioneer of the 30th ult :— That "ex- 
cellent substitute for quinine" — whose virtues are 
familiar to readers of the advertisements in the various 
Gazettes— is likely before long to find its function 
gone. The Government cinchona factory in British 
SikUim have recently succeeded, for the first time in 
this country, in manufacturing from the cinchona bark 
some sulphate of quinine, samples of which have been 
pronounced under analysis to be capable of bearing 
comparison with the J3uie sulphate of quinine of com- 
merce. Preparations are being made for undertaking 
the manufacture on a larger scale, and Dr. King 
hopes in due time to be able to supply the entire 
Quantity needed by the Government in India. An- 
other new production of the same factory which claims 
to be an improvement on the cinchona febrifuge is a 
"Crystalline febrifuge." The peculiarity of this pre- 
paration is that it consists of the mixed sulphates of the 
crystallisable alkaloids only : by rejecting those that 
are non-crystallisable, it is expected that the nausea 
which sometimes follows the taking of the febrifuge 
will also be eliminated. 
Lower Unzimkulu, Natal.— An old Ceylon planter 
writes : — "I have some beautiful coffee nurseries out 
here : no leaf diease ; and the small patches of au 
acre or so of old coffee growing rouud about are sim- 
ply splendid. Trees bear in a way out here never 
seen in Ceylon for years, I suppose. 3 lb. of cured 
coffee per tree is very often picked. The trees are 
never manured and never pruned, except being cut 
down with a blunt axe now and again when they get 
too high. I have a few officinalis alive from the seed 
I got from Abbotsford just before I left ; but the 
climate does not seem to suit it. I think succirubra 
■would thrive better and mean to try it. I hope the 
favourable blossoms I read about in the Observer have 
set equally well. I will have 50 acres of bush ready 
to burn off at the end of tbe present month." 
The Prospects of the Indian Tea Ccop.— The 
local paper, says the Englishman, is jubilant over the 
prospects of tea planters in the Darjiling districts, 
and "doubts if they have ever been so bright as they 
are now." Our contemporary is confident that the 
outturn "will be fully equal to that of last year," as 
although the weather was unfavourable at the begin- 
ning of the season, it has been all that could be de- 
sired during the last two months, which has "enabled 
planters to make an unusually large quantity of really 
good tea in July." Furthermore the prices realised 
have been satisfactory. After all these favourable 
circumstances the writer arrives at the conclusion that 
" with an increased and increasing Home consumption, 
as well as with a new market opened out and capable 
of indefinite expansion, we think that even the most 
desponding will agree with us that the bad times for 
Darjeeling tea are over, and that a very bright future 
is before allengaged in the industry." Let us hope 
that he may prove right. 
" The Jamaica Tobacco Plantations Company." 
— The capital of this Company is fixed at £100,000 
in £1 shares, application for 50,000 of which is now 
invited in the usual way :— " The prospectus states 
that the Company is formed for the purpose 
of acquiring and developing two Freehold Tobacco 
Estates in this Island of Jamaica — namely, Morgan's 
Valley and Retreat, comprising together an area of 
1,656 acres, of which about 210 acres are now under 
tobacco cultivation, and the Leasehold Estate of 
Malmsbury Valley, of which 40 acres are under to- 
bacco cultivation. These estates were originally se- 
lected by Cuban planters as suitable for tobacco 
growing; and although there are only 260 acres, or 
thereabouts, under tobacco cultivatiou, the yield has, 
it is affirmed, hitherto been satisfactory. Consider- 
able working Capital is required for the purpose of 
extending the cultivation and doing full justice to the 
productive capabdities of the properties. The vendor, 
not being in a position to provide this, has agreed 
to sell the estate to the Company. The Directors 
speak highly of the tobacco, referring for support to 
a Parliamentary Report of Sir Joseph Hooker. The 
prospectus goes on to estimate that this year's crop 
will exceed 1,200 bales of fine tobacco. One half of 
this quantity would produce, it is calculated, over 
four million of cigars of average size. The profits 
on these (based on the best information the Directors 
could procure) should exceed £12,500 or sufficient to 
pay a dividend of £25 per cent upon a capital of 
£50,000 ; if however, all were sold in the leaf, it should 
yield about £12 percent. In addition to tobacco, a 
portion of the land is also suitable for the production of 
coffee, of which some has been planted, the berries being 
of fair quality ; and an increased dividend is anticipated 
from this source. A portion of tbe estate is covered with 
logwood, and there is a considerable quantity of pasture 
land. The Directors propose, if favourable opportunities 
offer, to acquire and bring under tobacco cultivation 
other estates in Jamaica." — Gall's News Letter. 
