638 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Januarv 2, 1882. 
43. Red Barks (Succi rubra). — Although this tree is 
not adapted to grass land on the Nilgiris, it grows very 
well in shola soil at Naduvataui, and at lower eleva- 
tions ; Ootacamund is of course too high for it. The 
bark is not nearly so rich in quinine as the " Officin- 
alis," " Calisaya," and some others ; hut it is perhaps 
the richest of all the species in the total yield of alkaloids, 
and on account of its easy culture, robust growth, and 
great yield of bark will probably always be the one 
most cultivated in the Wynaad, Coorg, &c, at elevations 
of 2,500 feet and upwards. It will grow almost every- 
where on our western mountains between 2,000 or 2,500 
up to about G,000 feet, if forest soil be selected and a 
sloping situation ; it is however apt to die out on flats 
as it did in Travancore, unless the subsoil drainage is 
carefully attended to ; and it has been proved that it is 
useless to attempt its cultivation in the drier climates 
in the eastern or central parts of this Presidency. "Succi- 
rubra " should never again be planted on grass land at 
Naduvatam, and what there now is on this soil should 
be gradually uprooted and replaced by " Officinalis " or 
by " Pubescens." 
[See page 593 for part here omitted, referring to 
Pubescens. — Ed. T. A.~\ 
Narrainsawmy of Dodabetta informs me that he sent 
it home to market for the first time in December 1880, 
and that two bales were forwarded, viz., Ill lb. of 
mossed " Pubescens " (not renewed) and 138 lb. of natural 
"Pubescens"; the report on this is not yet to hand, 
and will be of the greatest interest. There is not a tree 
of "Succirubra" in Dodabetta fit to be barked, so it 
is doubtlessly all from the true "Pubescens" or "Pata 
de Gallinazo " of Mr. Cross ; it is besides nearly all 
from the glabrous variety as very few trees of the pub- 
escent form exist in this plantation. No bark of these 
sorts has as yet gone to market from Naduwatam, so 
I think that some, both of the pubescent and glabrous 
varieties (from grass land and from forest soil separ- 
ately), should be forwarded without further delay. If 
this species is really far more valuable in its yield than 
" Succirubra," Government have been losing enormously 
by the extensive propagation of the latter to the ex- 
clusion of the former. Mr. Cross states that it grows 
-at a much higher elevation in its native, country, and 
this is borne out by the fact that it is growing vigor- 
ously on Dodabetta above 7,000 feet elevation (where 
" Succirubra " is a complete failure), and by its more 
vigoiw.s growth at Naduvatam in exposed situations. 
The questions, however ; first, whether it is to oust 
" Succirubra " from the forest soil at Naduvatam, and 
second, to what extent it is to be planted on grass 
land to the exclusion of " Officinalis " must entirely 
depend on the report on the analysis of a sufficient 
quantity of its bark. 
Mr. Rowson informs me that he has 5,000 " Magni- 
folia " on the Hooker plantation and 2,000 at Nadu- 
vatam, 5,000 "Pubescens" on the Hooker and 4,000 at 
Naduvatam, and there are about 1,000 at Dodabetta, 
chiefly " Magnifolia." 
In the 1869 planting at Naduvatam 20 per cent of the 
trees are of this species. 
45. Unknown Species* — I found five trees of a curious 
* Since this report has besn copied I got Mr. Cross 
to examine these, trees. He writes : " great discovery ! 
incredible fact! I the celebrated ' Chinchona Crispa ' of 
the Loxa mountains, a packet of the seed of which we 
collected when collecting the Officinalis." He also tells 
me that it is a very valuable bark, that the plant is 
probably almost unknown and was only collected by 
himself, and that the seeds which were sent to the 
Nilgiris were said never to have germinated. 
I can find oo description of C. "Crispa," and the 
nomenclature and synonym of the genus seems in a most 
confused state at present; it can, however, scarcely be 
the "Crispa" of Tafella mentioned in Triana's work 
species in the 1865 plantation on Dodabetta. It has 
most curious rough bark like that of the Cork tree 
(Millingtonia) quite unlike any other Chinchona, and its 
leaves are exceedingly hairy on both sides, and it has 
hairy capsules; nothing is known of its origin except 
that it was received with the oiiginal seeds or plants. 
Mr. Cross thinks from the character of its bark that it 
may be of great value. Dried specimens of this species 
and fragments of the bark (to show its character) 
accompany this report with other specimens. " Asperi- 
folia " Weddell is the only species I can find described 
at all like it in botanical works, but I have only De 
Candolle and Warpers for reference, not all the later 
works, such as Weddell's. There are very few species 
known with the leaves hairy on the upper surface. The 
bark of this has never been analyzed. 
46. Crown Barks.— Officinalis (Linn.) (of which Conda- 
minea (Lamb) is only a synonym) flourishes exceedingly 
well on grass land at Naduvatam, Pykara and Ootaca- 
mund, as well as on shola land. It is a small tree 
of no great girth, but this is, I believe, also its character- 
istic .in the Crown bark region in Loxa. 
Uritusinga. — The tree known by this name in the 
Dodabetta and Naduvatam plantations, and also called 
"strong-growing Condaminea" and "broad-leaved Con- 
danrinea "' is evidently only a variety of " Officinalis." 
It is of much stronger growth with broader leaves, and 
promises to be a much larger tree ; but twigs can often 
be gathered from ordinary " Officinalis," particularly from 
suckers or young growth, in which the leaves are quite 
indistinguishable from this " Uritusinga." Mr. Cross 
believes our tree to be the same as the " Uritusinga " 
of Pavon, which takes its name from a hill near Loxa, 
where he himself collected it, and which is now quoted 
in botanical works as a synonym of "Officinalis"; but 
it should certainly be considered as a variety, and its 
bark should be kept distinct from that of " Officinalis." 
Our plant is exceedingly strong growing and healthy, 
and I think it should be largely grown and receive more 
attention ; at present there are about 1,000 of it in 
Dodabetta, but only about a dozen at Naduvatam. "Uritu- 
singa " is a lofty tree in its native habitat. 
Angnstifolia. — Evidently only a variety of " Officin- 
alis "; it sometimes looks very distinct, the leaves being 
narrower and deeper coloured, but it is not always true 
to its characteristics, and broader leaves in no way 
distinguishable from " Officinalis " can often be gathered 
on it. There is none of this on the Naduwatam side ; 
some 700 rooted plants sent out from Ooty to Pykara 
as this variety have turned out to be ordinary " Officin- 
alis." There' are a few planted out in the Dodabetta 
plantations, but they do not show goocf growth, or pro- 
mise to be a success; it is supposed to yield a very 
large percentage of quinine, and there are now 10,000 
rooted cuttings in the Dodabetta nurseries propagated in 
the glass houses from the few stock plants. Considering 
its poor growth I cannot recommend its extended plant- 
ing until its treatment is better understood or a more 
favourable habitat is found for it. Mr. Jamieson inform s 
without description, as that is said scarcely to differ from 
"Officinalis," and is made a variety of it by most authors 
which this very distinct species could never be: If Mr. 
Cross is correct, the plants lately supposed to be "Crispa" 
are spurious, but I do not know where " Ciispa " 
is originally described or by whom. Whatever this may 
be its bark should be analyzed at once ; it has been in 
these plantations since 15 or 16 years without ever hav- 
ing been noticed ; it is in flower and seed now, and has 
probably been seeding for many years, and might be 
propagated largely if advisable ; in its bark, leaves and 
fruit it is utterly unlike anything else in any of the 
plantations. 
Mr. Cross says he found it at 10,000 feet elevation, 
and that it grows at a higher elevation than any other 
known species of the genus. 
