1058 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, 1882. 
of plants true to the best types. Dr. Trimen is a 1 
botanist of no mean standing, and our readers have I 
seen his protest against the hasty and unauthorized i 
conclusions of Col. Beddome : a very able mau, but 
not to be compared for scientific position to men like 
Hooker, Trimen, Moens, King, &c. Amongst practical 
planters in Ceylon there is Mr. Forbes Laurie, whose 
testimony to the tendency and the fact of hybridity 
amongs our cultivated cinchonas is emphatic ; the re- 
sult, he says, of experience extended aud observation 
of a careful and cumulative nature. That amongst 
blossoming cinchonas there is not only the danger 
of hybridity but the tendency to it, we feel it im- 
possible to deny. As to results, while in Java the 
inferior deteriorates the superior, many here hold, 
amongst them Mr. Forbes Laurie, that hybrids have 
arisen and may arise, far superior to either parent. 
0. robusta under its various designations, of 
pubescens, &c, is quoted as an example, and the 
belief seems to be that not only did the late Mr. 
Mclvor produce it artificially, but that it appeared 
spontaneously and does so still, wherever G. officinalis 
and C. succirubra are cultivated together. The case 
is one, however, which shews the wisdom of Dr. 
Trimen's caution in recommending the name of C. 
robxista as a temporary or intermediate name, until 
the question of hybrid or species is settled. Com- 
parisons with specimens at Kew seem to have settled 
the question that the Pdtd de GaUinazo of America 
the tree is not, but there has been no decision by 
scientific men that, beyond all question, this particular 
tree, so valuable in many respects, is really a hybrid. 
Indeed, the statements made by Mr. Smith aud espe- 
cially what Mr. Gammie writes, backed, we may say, 
by our own recollection and observation, would go to 
prove that, if the plant is a hybrid, the process of 
hybridization took place in its native habitat on the 
sides of the Andes. There can be little or no ques- 
tion that large numbers of the large-leaved, robust- 
growing plants appeared amongst the earliest cuttings 
from Hakgala, especially amongst those of C. officinalis. 
As Mr. Gammie says, Dr. Thwaites alone can settle 
trie questiou as to whether specimens of the 
tree did not grow in Hakgala from some of 
the seed first sent thither, and we trust he 
Will, from his honourable retirement, do what" 
he can to finally settle a question which both from 
a scientific and practical point of view is so important. 
The evident leaning of Dr. Bidie's mind is to the 
belief that on the' Nilgiris the tree grew up with 
the original succirubras, officinalis and calieayas ; but 
if so, how can we account for Mr, Mclvor's an- 
nouncement to Mr. Howard, that, as the result of 
careful and large experiments in artificial hybridizing, 
he had procured two really good forms, which appear 
to have been the tree in question, in its pubescent 
and glabrous varieties. Seeds from plants so produced, 
used by Mr. Mclvor on his own private property 
and sent to us and others in Ceylon (under, at first, 
the name of Lanosa), came true to type ; and so it 
seems to have been with seed procured from Mr. 
Rowson. It really does seem possible that " C. robusta" 
came to India and Ceylon amongst the seeds originally 
received, and that the very same form resulted from 
Mclvor'e experiments. If this should be proved and 
admitted, it will follow that, after all, the plant is a 
hybrid, but a hybrid originating in the forests of the 
Andes, and, once originated, bearing a vigorous and 
permanent form. Whatever we may think of the 
doctrine of hybridity, we feel confident that the bulk 
of the seeds from a good Ledgeriana will give good 
Ledgeriana seedlings ; and from all we have heard the 
same principle seems to hold good in the case of 
" C. ROBUSTA." 
In the case of Doth, however, and of all superior 
species or varieties, no doubt certainty of type can 
better be preserved by the processes of taking cuttings, 
of "budding," aud of "grafting." But for the fact, 
that the very valuable Ledgerianas are generally de- 
licate, the obvious mode of propagating them would 
be by cuttings. But in Java and other places it 
has been found that a large proportion of the cut- 
tings failed, and that in the case of either seedlings 
or plants grown from cuttings, a large number 
either failed to grow vigorously or died off. Mr. 
Moens, to whom the world owes so much of its 
knowledge of the most valuable species of the cin- 
chona tribe, was led, from the facts we bave men- 
tioned, at an early stage of his connection with the 
culture of Ledgerianas in Java, to try the experi- 
ment of grafting the delicate Ledgeriana on a stock 
of the robust growing succirubra. The trees united 
perfectly, and analysis proved that the Ledgeriana 
so grafted and growing on the succirubra stock 
preserved its valuable properties unaffected in the 
slightest degree by the juices of the stock which 
supported it. This led to extended experiments, 
which are still going on, with marked success, the 
only doubt we heard Mr. Moens express taking the 
form of an apprehension that bad results might 
follow the disproportionate growth of stock and 
stem. We believe all fear on this subject may be 
dismissed. What we did notice in the flourishing 
plantations of grafted trees, years old aud up- 
wards in the field, was that they grew with rather 
dwarfed forms, the tendency being to expend their 
vigour in lateral growth. When we drew Mr. 
Moens's attention to this fact, he stated he had care- 
fully observed it, and that he believed the pruning 
away of the lower branches, a process which was about 
to be carried out, would cure this defect and induce the 
trees to grow tall and straight. What Mr. M oens does is 
to prepare abundance of stock plants, growing them in pots 
until they are about a foot high. They are then taken 
into a conservatory, a slanting iucision is made in 
the stem, and into this is inserted a succulent cutting 
from the end of a branch or twig of a Ledgeriana 
of proved good quality. Care is, of course, taken, 
that at least on one side, (if on both, so much the 
better) the bark of stock and graft meet. Otherwise 
they will not unite, and with all the care taken there are 
a good many failures. Thread from old gunnies is wrap- 
ped round stock plant and graft at the junction, the native 
we saw at work being able to complete the process on 
300 plants per diem. When the tying is done, the 
pots are put into melon frames slanting for conveni- 
ence sake. They .ire thus under a double protection 
of glass. In about six weeks, it can be seen whether 
