572 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1881 
50 half-chests Cachar pekoe souchong 401b. Grey- 
ish black well curled crisp leaf strong full ripe 
rich flavory. Good tea to drink alone. Is 
40 half-chests Cachar pekoe (souchong 391b. 
Bather large boldish black even leaf pungei t and 
full brisk pekoe kind. Strong tea. Is 
50 half-chests Cachar pekoe souchong 351b. 
Greyish Hack even wiry leaf rich ripe full strong 
pekoe flavor. Fine mixer. Is 
l£d. 
A CEYLON PLANTER IN MANITOBA. 
A correspondent writes: — "I send herewith copy 
of a portion of a letter received this morning from a 
friend of mine, formerly a Ceylon planter, lately 
settled in Manitoba, as the publication of it may 
prove interesting to some of your readers." 
Portion of letter referred to : — 
" I arrived by rail at Emerson on the 5th of August, 
and am living with my brother here, He has a good 
two-storied house, and a farm of six hundred and 
forty acres — about 120 in crop, and 60,headiof cattle. 
Altogether he is doing well, but farming does not pay 
very well here as yet, as there is so much public 
work going on, in the way of railways &c, that 
labour keeps very dear— 8s. 4d. a day and board, 
in harvest time ! My own land is about three miles 
from here, and I expect to be able to work it from 
here, if I can get a good man as overseer. I have 
640 acres at present, 100 acres ploughed, and will be 
cropped next year. I am in treaty to buy another 
640 acres adjoining it. 
"I believe that one cannot well go wrong in buying 
country-land here, a3 it is now worth 15s. to £1 per 
acre, and, as far as I can see, must be worth £5, at 
least, in a few years ; so that, if one can make a living 
off it meantime, he is not doing badly. We are 
twelve miles from Emerson, which is situated where 
the Red Eiver crosses the State's boundary, and our 
nearest railway station is only six miles from my 
land. 
"The life here is one of ease compared to Ceylon, 
but there are occasional spurts of hard mauual work, 
as, when threshing, for instance. The general living is 
less comfortable than in Ceylon, as servants are 
expensive." 
NEW CINCHONA PLANTATIONS. 
About five and tl irty years ago little was known 
of Darjeeling beyond the fact that it was a pleasant 
hill station, romantically situated and highly favorable 
to the renovation of health. At the period we quote, 
the man would have been suspected as a monomaniac 
who spoke of its capabilities for the cultivation of tea 
and cinchona, but it was not till that prince of utilita- 
rian botanists, Dr. Eoyle, suggested the possibility of 
naturalising the most useful varieties of the cinchonas 
of British India, that Darjeeling came to occupy the posi- 
tion it does now as a tea and cinchona-producing dis- 
trict. Knowing so much of the South American cin- 
chona forests, he was led by an exhaustive comparison 
ef the flora and climates of the Darjeeling, Cossiah and 
Neilgherry Hills to come to the conclusion that, with 
the usual precautions, they could be got to produce the 
bark now so eagerly looked for and prized everywhere. 
It is now upwai ds of thirty years since Dr. Royle gave 
expression to his belief of the capabilities ofDaijeeling 
as a cinchona-producing field, but the question was sub- 
sequently taken up by other experienced botanists, Doc- 
tor Anderson among the rest, with the happy effect of 
inducing the Government to undertake experiments on 
a scale commensurate with the importance of the under- 
taking. It is not to relate how and through what several 
stages cinchona-cultivation passed as an experiment that 
we make our present obervations, but to ask whether I 
other localities besides those we had already entered 
upon might not be selected for similar experiments, and 
it would bo worth whilo, we think, for Government to 
invite opinion as to other promising spots. Gigantic 
difficulties, to doubt, will have to be encountered and 
overcome, just as was the case at Darjeeling, but un- 
flagging preseverance, and botanical knowledge will be 
equal to the attempt. British Sikkim eeenied at one 
time to be a very discouraging field, but that opinion 
has since been reversed by the successful naturalisation 
of the C. Succirubra, C. Officinalis and C. Califaya. 
These are by far the most valuable, of all the cincho- 
nas, and if they can be got to flourish at suitable heights 
in Northern India, we see no reason why they should 
not be equally successful on certain other equally- 
favored spols in other parts of India. It is almost im- 
possible to estimate aright the universal benefits which 
will be conferred upon the inhabitants of marshy and 
malarial districts, when quinine and its allied alkaloids 
are brought within easy reach of the poor< st in the land. 
Quiniainaia in no whit inferior to quinine itself, as most 
of your readers are aware, and being less costly it could 
be brought within every one's reach. The extension 
of the growth of so valuable a febrifuge ought to com- 
mend itself to Government, and I trust to hear that a 
commission is appointed to report upon the eligibility 
of other spots besides those that are already known as 
cinchona-yielding districts. — Cinchona. — Madras Times. 
1 05 
SALE OF CINCHONA BARK. 
Messrs. Robinson & Dunlop put up for public 
sale, at their offices to-day Nov. 4th the undermentioned 
lots of cinchona bark : — 
lb. R. c. 
East Holyrood— 42S succirubra twigs sold for ... 0 30 
275 ,, stem quill ... 0 80 
606 „ ,, broken 0 90 
55 ,, ,, renewed 
660 „ „ „ ! 
From 5 to 6 year old trees, elevation 4,000 feet,. 
Dimbula district. 
Analysis dated 31st October, by Mr. M. Cochran, 
of the parcel of 6601b. renewed : stem quill shews : — 
total alkaloids ... ... ... 4"80 
sulphate quinine... 2'21 
driage ... 12 '38 R. c. 
Waverley — 1,0001b. officinalis stem shavings 1 60 
From trees 5 year old, elevation 5,000 feet, Agra- 
patana. Analysis, dated 2nd November, by Mr. M. 
Cochran, shews : — total alkaloids ... 4'86 
sulphate quinine ... 3 "03 
driage 12-88 
Though the quantity offered was small, the at- 
tendance of regular buyers was good, and biddings 
spirited, especially for the renewed succirubra and 
officinalis shavings, shewing that, for good sized lots 
of really good quality, there is a locally a good 
sale. 
Osthich Feathebs. — The French Consul at Tripoli 
notices the remarkable increase in the quantity of 
ostrieh feathers despatched thence to France last year. 
The total value is estimated at nearly 5,500,000f., 
against less than 3,500,000f. in the previous year. 
This increase is mainly attributed to the fall in th6 
price, consequent upon the arrival in England of great 
quantities of feathers from the Cape of Good Hope. 
In England it is remarked that the Cape specimens 
are preferred, as being perfectly white and full feath- 
ered, and lending themselves easily to those harmoni- 
ous tints of colour in vogue nowadays. In Paris,, 
North African feathers seem to be held in less disfavour- 
and hence strenuous efforts are being made to acclim 
atise ostriches from Tripoli in Algeria. — British Trade 
Journal. 
