7 i8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February x, 1882. 
of the Planters' Association with the Chairman at then* 
head, for if it he, as described, an oasis in the midst 
of an epidemic of disease visibly spread over all the other 
coffee in the district, it should he at this moment the 
most interesting spot in the island to our coffee planters. 
" FKOM ~THB^1rIILLS 7r OF CEYLON. 
clnchoma and blue-gums to replace natural 
forest; Brewing. 
January 1882. 
Nuwara Eliya has lost one of its haunts richest in 
beauty and botanical interest, a strong responsibility 
rests on the workers of the ruin (estimable in all the 
ordinary relations of life) to repair that ruin as rapidly 
as possible by the growth not only of the cinchonas 
and blue-gums which have already gone far to reclothe 
"One Tree Hill" but of other exotic and natural plants, 
combining b?auty with utility. CinchonaB and blue-gums 
in combination have certainly done much to redeem the 
steep-hill side beyond the "Lover's Leap" waterfall. 
To us, who, so many years before this plantation was 
formed, urged the liberal use of encalypti, grevilleas 
and other Australian trees as breakwinds, and with re- 
ference to the ultimate value of the timber, it was very 
gratifying to see and hear of the success of the ex- 
periment of running rows of such trees between fields 
of cinchonas. In the case of the "Lover's Leap" plant- 
ation, it is very striking to see the effect of the long 
rows of bluish-green eucalyp i running straight down 
hill, contrasting with the rich green of the fever trees. 
These latter, we have been assured, have benefited 
greatly, not merely by the shelter of the gums but 
by the mechanical action of the roots of the Australian 
trees, in loosening and rendering free the soil, for the 
more tender roots of the American plants. If, ultim- 
ately, stiff soils, where at present cinchonas refuse 
to grow, can be rendered suitable for their cultiv- 
ation, then the benefits conferred on us by the 
introduction and growth of the so-called "gum-trees" 
of Australia will be greater than most of us anticipated. 
The difficulty is that on such soil, in exposed situations, 
the blue-gums themselves are sometimes slow of growth 
and apt to die off. Probably deeper aud wider holes 
may largely remedy this difficulty. Certainly the 
rapid and effectual manner in which blue-gums have 
restored the shelter of forest to the eyrie on Oliphant, 
at an elevation of about 6,600 feet above sea-level, 
shews that these singularly cosmopolitan trees are 
capable of flourishing where altitude is great and 
exposure to wind extreme. They are, however, impatient 
of t the transplanting process, and if proper weather could 
be calculated on, no doubt the most successful mode of 
growing them would be in situ, spaces at proper 
distances being prepared and a few seeds dropped into 
each. Then the most robust and promising of the 
resulting seedlings could be retained. 
But to revert to cinchonas. The shaving process, so 
simple and, when only applied to one side of a tree 
at a time, productive of so much less of shock to 
vitality, than stripping, is, naturally, largely resorted 
to. Some do not apply any covering, in which case the 
bark, as it renews, is liable to become cracked and 
perhaps corky. Others, and amongst them a neighbour 
of mine who has given considerable attention to the 
subject, insist on a covering of grass or straw ; mana 
grass can generally bo procured. But I have been con- 
cerned to hear that Mr. Whifl'en, the quinologist, who 
has recently been travelling amidst the cinchona plant- 
ations of Ceylon, aud has been, on the whole, favourably 
impressed, has been advising planters not to shave 
their bark, on the ground that the succeeding 
crop is far inferior to the first. If M''. Whiffeu 
has been correctly represented, the question arises 
whether the secondary bark he has tested 
had Lcen allowed sufficient time to mature. It is 
only consonant with reason that very young renewed 
bark should not be compared with mature natural bark. 
But surely the shaving process has now been long 
enough tried in Ceylon, to allow of renewed bark of 
one and two years growth, subsequent to the shaving 
process, to be gathered and its value in alkaloids 
ascertained? If not, it is certainly time the question 
were settled either by analysis on the spot or by sale 
of the bark in London. A planter whom I met in 
Nuwara Eliya has promised to supply a well-grown 
sample of bark renewed after the shaving process, as 
also details of the ingenious but simple and effectual 
mode of removing bark from cinchona twigs, by the 
application of a bottle filled with sand or earth. The 
introduction of this simple process of rubbing the pol- 
ished surface of the weighted bottle down the twig 
has largely economized labour while securing the max- 
imum of bark. 
Prom Cinchona Bark to Beer Brewing is not so 
violent a transition as might be imagined, for some 
of the German brewers are said to use the bitter bark 
as a substitute for "hops. My friends in Australia 
told me that trials there resulted in a decision favour- 
able to the orthodox use of hops, of which splendid 
specimens were shewn at the Melbourne International 
Exhibition, some grown by the aborigines of Victoria 
under European superintendence at Corranderk, en route 
from Melbourne to Fernshaw, The plant flourishes in 
the alluvials by the sides of the beautiful Mitchell river, 
near Bairnsdale in Gippsland. It was winter time 
(July) when I saw the Gippsland hop fields, and 
the most striking objects were the pyramidal stacks 
of poles, made from the ti (popularly tea)' scrub, 
which flourishes in swamps so as to be, in the temp- 
erate regions of Australia, the equivalent of the 
various species of mangrove in the tropical latitudes. 
Finer and straight r poles than are yielded by the 
swamp-growing ti trees (there are several species, one 
of which lines the banks of Hobson's Bay, and is beauti- 
ful when covered with white blossom) it would be 
difficult anywhere to find, and from Victoria and 
Tasmania there is a large export of poles for fencing 
purposes to those parts of New Zealand where timber 
is scarce. The various colonies are competing with 
each other in the growth of bops, and the largest 
growers in Australia^ (having been the first to go into 
the enterprise), the Messrs Shoobridge of Norfolk Valley, 
Tasmania, are heavily handicapped by the protective 
duty which, according to her narrow policy, Victoria 
has imposed on their produce. A similar duty on 
fruit ruined the once flourishing orchards, which may 
still be seen studding the sides of the Tamar as 
Launceston is approac! ed. It says much for the 
superior quality of the hops produced at Bushey Park, 
on the side of the noble Derwent and close to the 
dark waters of the appropriately named Styx, that 
they are able to hold theii own in Victoria notwith- 
standing a duty, the intention of which was to shut 
them out ; while in England Shoobridge's Tasmanian 
(Bushey Park) bops take rank with the very best 
Kentish. Visitors to Messrs. James Henty & Co.'s 
office and stores in Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 
will be struck with a sweetish odour, more-apparent 
even than the aroma of their specimens of fine teas. 
After a time we learned to recognizo this odour as 
due to the magnificent specimens of Shoobridge's 
hops which were always on show and the transactions 
in which were large, for the supply of local brewers. 
Prominent amongst these is the Hon. Nicholas Fitz- 
gerald, son-in-law of Sir John O'Shanassy (and formerly 
connected with the firm of Parlett, O'Hallorau & Co., 
Colombo) whose "Castlemaine Brewery" ales are famous 
all over the colonies, It was New Zealand ales, how- 
ever, which won the first prizes at the Melbourne 
Exhibition, the colder climate probably giving them 
superior advantages. If we have judged rightly, then 
