Dec-  i,  1892,] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
37.1 
sected  with  ranges  of  hills  beautifully  tinted  in 
varied  colours,  and  interspersed  with  what  appears 
in  the  distance  to  be  lakes,  and  rivers,  and  this 
comprises  the  Mysore  country.  Mysore  itself  can  I 
believe  be  seen  on  a clear  day  from  Naduvatam. 
At  our  back  and  towering  over  us,  mountain  upon 
mountain,  are  the  Ootacamund  hills ; with  the 
Sanatorium  in  the  centre.  The  whole  makes  a wild 
and  charming  picture  which  language  is  quite  in- 
adequate to  describe. 
The  Cinchona  at  Naduvatam  is  planted  in  two 
deep  and  well  sheltered  valleys  running  down  parallel 
on  each  side  of  the  bungalow. 
The  lay  of  land  is  very  steep  in  parts,  and  in- 
deed the  trees  seem  to  thrive  and  grow  best  on 
round  of  .that  nature,  owing  no  doubt,  to  the  drainage 
eing  better,  and  no  moisture  lodging  at  the  roots. 
Both  the  climatic  conditions  and  soil  at  Naduvatam 
are  similar  to  those  already  described  at  Dodabetta  ; 
and  are  equally  favourable  to  the  growth  of  Cinchona. 
The  principal  cultivated  variety  is  Succirubra  ; but 
Pubescens  mixed  with  a good  many  different  species 
of  Hybrids  is  also  in  evidence.  In  fact  I recognised 
most  of  the  Cinchonas  grown  in  our  Island.  There 
are  some  younger  fields,  but  the  principal  part  of  the 
cultivated  area  consists  of  trees  from  25  to  30  years 
old, which  are  beautifully  grown  with  magnificent  stems, 
and  form  quite  a forest,  this  being  by  far  the  finest 
show  of  Cinchonas  I h ive  ever  seen.  There  is  nothing 
in  Ceylon  to  equal  the  size  or  evenness  of  the  trees, 
but  of  course  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  possess 
none  of  the  same  age. 
What  pleased  n\e  moat  was  the  extremely  healthy 
appearance  of  the  trees  which  appeared  to  have  taken 
a firm  hold  as  if  in  their  natural  habitat  ; not  a single 
cankered  tree  could  I discover  anywhere,  though  I 
searched  for  one  in  every  direction. 
The  whole  cultivated  area  is  well  roaded,  and  in  ex- 
cellent order.  I was  there  during  the  dry  season,  and 
the  weeds  had  mostly  been  carefully  trenched,  or  dug 
unler,  and  the  land  had  a highly  cultivated  appearance. 
Mr.  Lawson  told  me  that  fourteen  acres  of  25  years 
old  Succirbras  on  the  Naduvatam  Estate,  which  had 
been  barked  7 or  8 times,  yielded  on  being  coppiced 
3,250  lb.  of  dry  bark  per  acre.  The  trees  were  on 
poor  ground,  and  many  of  them  were  dying. 
I had  long  and  most  interesting  conversations  with 
Mr.  Lawson  on  cinchona  cultivation,  and  got  an 
immense  amount  of  valuable  information  from  him 
on  the  subject ; but  there  were  many  points  on  which 
we  did  not  agree. 
I explained  that  we  had  suffered  most  in  Ceylon 
from  canker,  brought  on  by  the  excessive  moisture  of 
the  climate ; clayey,  or  damp  soil,  and  consequent 
“ Wet  feet,”*  But  this  Mr.  Lawson  would  not  on  any 
account  agree  to,  and  attributed  canker  in  cinchona 
to  poor  soil  and  bad  cultivation.  Canker,  he  says  can 
be  surmounted,  and  almost  invariably  eradicated,  pro- 
vided the  disease  has  not  proceeded  too  far,  by  the 
following  mode  of  cultivation  : — 
Cut  parallel  trenches  10  feet  apart  running 
across  the  face  of  the  hill,  and  make  them 
2 feet  deep  by  1 foot  broad,  and  into  this  put  your 
manure,  if  procurable ; and  then  scrape  in  and 
mix  well  together  all  leaves  which  are  lying  nbout, 
with  weeds  and  top  soil,  till  the  trench  is  well  filled  up. 
Mr.  LawBOn  considers  that  excessive  moisture  at 
the  roots,  amounting  to  “ Wet  feet”  has  nothing  to 
do  with  Canker,  and  that  it  arises  simply  from 
poverty  or  exhaustion  of  tho  soil,  and  cm,  if  taken 
in  time,  be  destroyed  by  a thorough  system  of  culti- 
vation as  desoribod  above;  moreover,  be  is  of  opinion, 
that  weeds  do  little  or  no  harm  to  Cinchona,  and  that 
it  will  be  quite  lufficient  if  they  are  cut  down  once 
duting  the  twelve  months. 
I told  Mr.  Lawson  that  I had  never  before  heard  of 
manuring  Cinchona;  hut  he  said  it  requires  suston- 
ance  equally  with  any  o' her  plant,  and  that  he  pre- 
ferred his  system  of  manuring  as  already  described 
to  ours  of  pittiug  or  forking-iu,  for  the  following 
reasons;  the  advantages  of  the  system  according  to 
Mr.  Lawsons’  idea  being  3 fold,  viz.  : — 
1.  It  cuts  all  the  whiplike  roots  on  one  side  of  tb 
* We  take  leave  to  dissent. — Ed.  T.A. 
tree  within  2 feat  of  the  stem ; these  rcots  producing 
very  few  fe°diDg  fibres ; wherens  from  tho  cut  ends 
of  tbs  roots  large  bunches  of  fresh  feeding  fibres  are 
sent  out  into  the  trenches  amongst  the  fresh  soil  and 
oool  damp  earth  ; and  well  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
drying  influence  of  tbetryingsuu  during  thehot  weather. 
2,  It  is  much  cheaper  than  pitting,  in  the  same 
proportion  as  digging  a ditch  to  digging  wells,  the 
cost  on  the  Government  Estates  being  from  B13  to 
K30  per  acre. 
3.  By  treating  the  land  in  this  manner  you  bring 
up  subsoil  which  eventually  is  made  into  rich  surface 
loam,  and  thus  the  whole  estate  in  the  course  of  time, 
is  renovated  at  a small  outlay. 
The  great  point  is  to  cut  the  roots  and  let  them  get 
into  fresh  and  free  soil. 
Most  Ceylon  planters,  equally  with  myself,  will  be 
surprised  at  the  foregoing  views  regarding  cinchona 
cultivation,  as  we  generally  hold  to  the  belief  that 
cutting,  or  meddling  with  the  roots,  or  manuring  in 
any  form  whatsoever,  brings  on  canker,  which  speedily 
kills  the  tree.  That  Mr.  Lawson’s  treatment 
answers  on  the  Nilgiris  his  magnificent  fields  of 
cinchona  clearly  testify ; they  speak  for  themselves ; 
at  the  same  time,  I must  beg  to  differ  from  my  learned 
friend,  as  I consider  his  great  success  is  not  altogether 
owing  to  the  mode  of  cultivation,  but  is  due,  in  a great 
measure,  to  the  perfect  climate  and  soil  of  the  Nilgiris 
which  are  so  admirably  adapted  to  this  plant. 
I came  away  deeply  imbued  with  the  impression 
that  the  [quinine]  manufactory  in  a commercial  sense 
is  not  a success ; and  that  it  would  never  answer,  or 
pay,  to  start  a similar  establishment  at  Nuwara 
Eliya,  as  was  at  one  time  contemplated. 
Another  point  which  exercised  my  mind  not  a 
little,  was  the  idea  that  the  febrifuge  is  not  all,  or 
nearly  all  of  it,  extracted  from  the  bark.  Whether 
this  is  owing  to  climate  influences,  the  water,  or 
both ; or  whether  it  arises  from  insufficiency,  or 
weakness  of  the  chemicals  and  appliances  used,  I am 
unable  to  say  ; still  I strongly  hold  to  the  opinion 
from  all  I saw  and  heard  on  the  subject,  that  nothing 
like  the  full  amount  is  extracted  from  the  raw  material. 
1 was  told  that  on  an  average  the  factory 
extracts  3 to  4 per  cent,  of  Quinine ; considering 
therefore  that  the  trees  from  which  the  bark  has 
been  harvested  are  25  to  30  years  old,  perfectly 
healthy,  an!  that  the  bark  is  mostly  renewed,  and 
very  often  is  Grown  bark,  tho  average  does  sesm 
absurdly  low. 
1 went  into  figures  with  Mr.  Lawson  as  to  the  acreage 
under  Cinchona  cultivation  in  Government  hands,  and 
into  the  approximate  estimate  of  yield,  were  the  whole 
to  be  coppiced,  with  the  following  result : — 
Dodabetta  cultivated 
Naduvatam  „ 
Pykara  „ 
320  acres 
350  „ 
250  „ 
Deduct  acreage  recently  coppiced 
and  young 
920  acres 
120  „ 
800  acres. 
There  are  therefore  800  aores  old,  and  well  grown 
Cinchona,  in  Government  hands,  which  I put  down 
at  an  average  of  3000  lb.  per  acre,  or  say  in  round 
numbers  2J  million  lb.  dry  bark  ; however,  X look 
upon  this  as  a very  safe  estimate,  and  consider  that 
3 or  even  3g  million  lb.  would  be  nearer  the  mark. 
There  are  several  Cinchona  Estates  in  this  neighbour- 
hood in  private  hands,  but  I had  no  spare  time  to  pay 
any  of  them  a visit,  however  much  I should  have 
liked  to  do  so.  Nevertheless  I cannot  help  remarking 
on  one  property  which  took  my  fanoy  immensely.  It 
faces  Naduvatam,  and  the  cart  road  to  Ooty  skirts  the 
estate.  It  is  called  “L'ddesdale”  and  belongs  to 
the  “ Nilgiri  Tea  and  Cinchona  Go.,  Ltd.,”  and  is  one 
unbroken  sheet  of  700  acres  old  Oinohona  : mostly 
Hybrids,  and  high  clats  varieties,  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  beat.  The  lay  of  land,  soil,  and  climate, 
of  this  valuable  property  are  very  similar  to  our  Agras. 
I came  across  three  or  four  small  tea  gardens  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Ooty  and  Naduvatam,  but  the 
plant  does  not  look  happy,  nor  does  it  answer  on  the 
