722 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February r, 1882. 
tudes, be'ng seized by the Chilians, and by them 
liberated and forwarded to the address on the 
bag. It shewed marks of having been opened 
several times. As the export of seed is entirely 
prohibited, the greatest precaution was taken not to 
identify the sender In any way, and an extremely 
scanty description was sent with the seed, saying 
that it came from one of the best varieties of cinchona 
trees. This seed I tested, and found to germinate 
well ; so I put it into circulation at once amongst 
your planters. From suggestions I received from many 
of thsm, letters were sent out, begging that leaves 
and liowers, as well as specimens of the bark, might 
be sent home with full descriptions. The leaves arrived 
with the names that the trees were known by locally. 
I then sent out a copy of a map of the district, shewing 
the hills and valleys, at the same time asking that 
some _of the seed might be collected and sent home 
from the actual trees that the former supply was 
obtained by Ledger's men. 
This request has been at last complied with, and 
seed is now on its way home to me, which I expect 
to arrive any day, if no mishap befalls it. 
By a singular accident, a gentleman has lately arrived 
here, from this very district, and he 'has brought 
with him specimens of the bark taken from the 
different varieties of trees which he considers to yield 
the best results commercially. The local names of 
these trees we have compared with those yielding 
the sample of the leaves that was sent direct from 
a planter in the same neighbourhood, and he at once 
explained to us the distinctive marks by which the 
trees were known. 
The leaves in only one instance corresponded 
with the names on the samples of bark that was pro- 
duced, thus shewing there were several valuable varie- 
ties. This gentleman perfectly well knew where the 
Ledger seed was obtained from, but his opinion is 
tik-.fc the bark and the leaves representing different 
varieties of cinchona yield a larger percentage of 
sulphate of quinine than the trees, which, for the sake 
of distinction, we will call the "Ledgeriaua." Hearing 
this, we have begged that supplies of the different varieties 
of seed may be collected and sent home. Taking an 
entirely commercial view of this subject, I followed 
up the question to find out where this bark went to, 
and I asked my friend, Mr. E. M. Holmes, Curator of 
the Pharmaceutical Society, to be present at one of 
the interviews. Mr. Holmes examined the Bamples 
of the bark, and, without an analysis, he pronounced it 
to be a very high quality. We learned that this 
bark was principally sent to Germany. We also extracted 
another piece of valuable information, viz. that, al- 
though the bark of certain varieties of trees yielded 
a larger percentage of sulphate and fetched con- 
sequently a higher price per lb., yet, for a planter, some 
of the varieties yielded a much larger percentage of 
bark, by having a more robust habit and consequently 
for a planter was a more economical tree to grow. 
I am trying to ascertain if the cinchona tree is 
governed by the soil, as the cocoa tree (" Theobroma 
cacao"). As far as I can learn at present this is not 
the case. They do not judge the trees by the flowers, 
but by the colour of the leaves and the veins in them. 
Should I be able to gather any more information 
of an important nature, I shall send it to you. — lam, 
sir, your obedient servant, T. N. CHRISTY. 
NUTMEG CULTIVATION. 
This morning's post has brought us from Pera- 
deniya Mr. Dobree's promised MS. — which bears decided 
marks of age and decay— and we take the liberty of 
quoting from Dr. Trimen's accompanying letter in 
order to see if any of our readers can help us to 
the Pharmaceutical Journal for 1852. There was no I 
Civil Medical Department then in Ceylon, and so, 
we fear, the file for that year will not be found in 
the island. If not, we must just do the best we can 
with the MS. as it stands. Dr. Trimen writes re- 
garding it 
•' Mr. Dobree sent _me the enclosed MS. some time 
back, and asked me when I had read it to send it 
on to you that you might use it for your Tropical 
Agriculturist if you pleased. 
" It refers to the cultivation of nutmegs and cloves 
in South Sumatra (Bencoolen) at a time when that 
district was part of the British Empire (1819-20) ; and 
contains much interesting and valuable information as to 
the first introduction aad early culture of these spices. 
" I am, however, under the impression that part 
or the whole has been already published : I think 
in the Pharmaceutical Journal for 1852. Is there a 
file of that journal in Colombo ? 
" Lumsdaine's remarks on the proportions of the 
sexes are important, and his expressions very amusing. 
The influence of the Linnean system of classification 
was then supreme, and writers did not hesitate to 
write about the sexes of plants in terms as warm 
as those he uses. I have not noticed any monoecious 
trees myself, nor do I recal any notice of them ; 
but in other dioecious plants, notably the hop, such 
an admixture of the flowers of both sexes on the 
same plant is not very unusual. 
" The first two pages are beyond my powers of 
restoration, and all the paper is very brittle. Should 
you print it, great care will be needed." 
LIBERIAN COFFEE CULTIVATION IN CEYLON : 
.AT A LOW ELEVATION. 
We received some days ago a sample of very fine 
large cherries picked from a Liberian coffee tree on 
Udapolla plantation, between Polgahawela and Kurune- 
gala. From this one tree there were gathered at 
one picking, previous to the 1st instant, as many as 
2,600 cherries from a blossom that came out on 21st 
January 1881. But this is not all, for the same tree 
still carries 2,900 cherries which are ripen- 
ing up satisfactorily along with the crop generally 
on the place. The tree which has thus been singled 
out for this calculation is by no means an exceptional 
one. It was an ordinary tree in the field and re- 
ceived precisely the same treatment as the rest. The 
result of the reckoning is that with about 800 trees 
to the acre planted 8 by 7 feet the crop at the 
above rate would be equal to two tons of coffee per 
acre. The unusually wet season has been very fa- 
vourable to the ripening up of crop in this district, 
but there can be no doubt of the margin for profi- 
table cultivation, shewn by an experience like theabove. 
FLOUEISHING AT 4,200 FEET ABOVE SEA-LEVEL IN 
CEYLON. 
Some 2\ years ago the senior editor of this paper 
handed two Liberian coffee plants to Mr. W. I. 
Cotton for trial in the district of New Galway, ex 
acting a promise that the result should be reported. 
Mr. Cotton has parted with his interest in the land 
in which the plants were placed, but the present 
proprietor states that the plants have blossomed and 
the berries set. The plants on which berries have 
thus set cannot be much over three years from the 
period of germination. Allowing for the fact that 
New Galway, like all the districts on the Uva side, 
possesses a specially genial climate, we think' Mr. 
Cotton is largely justified in writing : — " There is no 
saying at what elevation Liberian coffee will not 
grow and fruit." It may be that the seed may be 
so acclimatized as to enable the tree to flourish at 
high elevations on the western side of the mountain 
£one, as well as in Uya. 
