May i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
967 
justice to Mr. Symons that 1 should state that I have 
recently put down some C. Ledgeriana seed that he 
was good enough to forward me, and that, although 
it whs eown but 18 clays since, it is germinating 
very freely, more so even than that Bupplied me of 
the best class of "Yarrow" seed. I am so pleased 
with it, from what I can see at present, that I in- 
tend to invest in some more of the same. 
I think I noticed, in a recent T. A. , some remarks 
about the reason of silver skin in some instances 
adhering more firmly to the coffee bean than 
,in others, and attributing its doing so to slow dry- 
ing. Iu Mysore, the crop reason is a hot one, almost 
invariably free from rain, and our old hands (I have I 
beou ut it here for the last 20 years) always dried their j 
parpbment thoroughly before despatching to coast for 
preparation ; so much so that I have on several oc- 
casions been told by various carers that they tike 
getting crop to prepare from this district, as it is 
generally lit to put almost at once into the peelers, 
and, I believe, it is a well-known fact that Mysore 
coffee is remarkable for the large amount of silver 
skin adhering to the bean. If our parchment coll'ee, 
after drying, becomes damp and is again dried, the 
silver skin becomes loose and is easily removed by 
trituration. I have, therefore, concluded from my ex- 
perience that the quicker the parchment coffee is 
thoroughly dried after removal from the cisterns the 
less chance there is of silver skin peeling off. 
In the Planters' Gazette of February 1st, it is stated 
that, "supposing that a large tree of Ledgeriana gives 
30U lb. of bark, yielding G to 13 per cent of sulphate of 
quinino, a large tree of (J. Verde of the same age would 
yield GOO lb., containing 5 to 0 per cent of sulphate of 
quinine, and thus give actually double tho amount 
that the Ledgeriana does in the same time." 
From statistics of cinchona cultivation that I have 
been recently reading, and having no other experience 
of it, I had concluded that at most a few pounds of 
bark could be harvested from each tree, and am 
naturally much astonished all at once to hear that 
Ledgerianas give only about 300 lb. per iree. At that 
rate it would not require many acres of it to make 
a man's fortune, even though the market falls much 
below its present rate". Have auy of your energetic 
Ceylon planters procured either C. Verde or C. Morada 
seed, and, if so, would they kindly give their neigh- 
bours a wriukle as to iheir success or otherwise and 
elevatiou at which they thrive?— I am, dear sir, yours 
truly, MAHSEER. 
P.S. — 1 enclose my card. 
NO. II. 
CINCHONA CALISAYA VERDE AND HYBRIDS. 
Uva, March 7th 1882. 
OjRAB Sir,— The following is an extract from the 
coluin >s ot a local contemporary headed " From 
Our l.o don Corresp ndont " : — 
li la difficult to credit all that has been soldo! lute in ceri- 
um periodicals at home, as to the marvellous yield u( the latest 
m-w variety of cinchona, the Calisaya Verde, but however this 
111 iy I"-. we ir. assured that there has been quite a scramble 
for a •.mull pur •■! of tin- « U imported by a Loudon linn. The 
juice £10 per ot., and yet we are assured the importers had 
two otters fur the whole lot, one from the Hutch Government 
nml the oile r from 11 Mincing Line tinn. The price looks heavv 
at tir-t s.Kht. but comidcrinn thai an ounce contains alsiul a'l.nOll 
needs, it docs nut really amount lo very much after all. We 
learn that several little unreels o( this seed will hud their way 
to Ceylon. 
In your o«n columns or elsewhere, I have seen it 
stated tnat trees of this variety of cinchona (Calisaya 
Vordo) yielil melt orcr^j ton of tret bark or frotn ;"i0() lb. 
to tiOi) lb. of dry bark from each tree. Can you tell 
mi, if such statements have been made on reliable 
authority, for, if so, wo ought to know without loss | 
of time 111010 about this extraordinary variety of j 
cinchona said, to be exceedingly rich in quinine. One 
would like to' know, for instance what amount of dry 
bark they would properly yield when 5, 7 or 10 
years old, and the probahle percentage of quinine at 
these ages. Whether or not the world comes to an 
end in fifteen years, one would certainly not care to 
invest iu a plantation of trees, yielding eventually such 
prodigious results, if they did not come to some sort 
of maturity within a reasonable time. Surely, trees 
yielding 500 lb. to GOO lb. of dry bark rich in quinine 
must have been planted ages ago ? If, however, they 
should turn out to be quick-growing trees, producing 
appreciable quantities of quinine at a comparatively 
early stage, then the sooner we take them into serious 
consideration the better. It would also be interesting 
to kno v at what elevation trees of this description 
have been grown. 
Hybrids (C. robusta). — The information you have 
lately afforded your readers with respect to the great 
value of this variety of cinchona will doubtli be 
much appreciated. Quite recently, I have heard of 
purchasers of seed taken from C. robusta trees, 7 
years old, growing in Maturata and now giving seed 
for the first time, the bark of which trees yield over 
4 per cent of pure sulp. of quinine and G£ per cent 
of total alkaloids, such seed being valued by the 
analyst at fully R10 per ounce. Seed from other C. 
robusta trees (which matured ea' her) has shewn most 
favourable results, the consequence be ng that thousands 
are now growing on the estate where it is in con- 
templation to bark and uproot the succirubra trees, 
planting up in their place C. roburta, which, 
it is said, are faster growing and stronger than 
Buccirubra. 
If any of your reader's experience in any way differs 
from the above, they would do the planting com- 
munity a service by making known their facts. But 
there are hybrids and hybrids, but all are not necess- 
arily C. robu-ta hybrids, nor are all C. robusta neces- 
sarily of equal value. — Yours truly, PLANTER. 
[ 1'he following 13 Markham's reference to the " Cali- 
saya verde ;" but when he speaks of from 300 lb. 
to 1,000 lb of bark from single trees, whether wet 
or dry is not mentioned, he undoubtedly means old 
full-grown trees : — 
Gironda and Martinez told me that there were tim e kinds 
of Calisaya trees; namely, the Calisaya ftna (C. Calisaya a 
vera, Wedd). the Calisaya morada (C. Bolivana Wedd.), 
and the tall Calisaya verde- They added that the latter 
was a very large tree, without any red colour in the veins 
of the leaves, and generally growing far down the valleys, 
almost iu the open plain. A tree of this variety yields 
six or seven quintals of bark, while the Calisaya fiiut only 
yields three or four quintals; and Cirouda declared that 
he had seen one, in the province of Muneeas in Bolivia, 
which had yielded ten quintals of tab/a or trunk-bark alone. 
-Ed.] 
INFORM A HON ABOUT MANITOBA PROM 
MR. REA. 
LinduU, March 10th, 1882, 
Sir,— My attention has been directed to a letter 
in tho Observer of the 28th ultimo, in which lurther 
information regarding Manitoba is required. I shall 
endeavour as briefly as possible to answer your cor- 
respondent's questions, and then offer lome observa- 
tions of my own on Manitoba and its ndvnt.ige.s. 
Tho winter in Manit- ba is no doubt long snow 
setting 111 generally from the beginning of December, 
or oven from the middle of Novembe and remain- 
ing on tho ground till ti e month ( I March, when 
it rapidly disappears, and by the 1st April ploughing 
is general. Although the thermometer records a much 
greater degree of cold thai, in England yet the air 
