3^6 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. ], 1899. 
is expected that wiih a rotation of 30 or 40 ye;irs, 
in places suited to the species, it would give a suit- 
able sized tsee for pulp purposes. When onoe a 
regular youug forest was formed, the age at which 
the mean annual iucrement per acre culmiu-ited 
would be determined, and that age fixed for future 
rotations. It i.3 very possible that, if experiments 
were made at the factory, it would be found that 
silver fir could also be utilized, in which case it 
would be advantageous to grow a mixed forest of 
spruce and silver fir. 
It is, indeed, to be hoped that a market will soon 
be developed for spruce, as it is too heart-rending 
a sight to see all the grand trees now growing being 
absolutely wasted; and, as mentioned before, being 
girdled and allowed to rot wherever they interfere 
with deodar, even though the latter be seedliugs, 
a few years old. 
P. H. CLUTTEEBUCK. 
Jaur.sar, May 1899. 
0 THE NILGIRIS. 
[raOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.J 
Since the Madras Government abandoned the com- 
mercial aspect of its cinchona experiment and 
adopted the philanthropic, it has ceased to give the 
public any information regading the manner of work- 
ing its cinchona plantations on the Nilgiris, which 
is to be regretted. But notwithstanding this cir- 
cumstance occasional reports fall into the hands 
of members of the Press, and we learn what is 
being done. It is from such a stray copy for 1898-99 
that I am in a position to give you the following 
account, wich I hope will interest your planting 
readers. 
This is the second year of the experiment of Govern- 
ment purchasing bark from private planters for 
working up in its Nedduvottun quinine factory, and 
it is one of Larger transactions. In 1897-98 only 
108.934 pounds were bought for this purpose, but in 
the year uuder review no less than 405,074 pounds were 
purchased at E83,120-4-B. Prom the Government 
plantations 101,307 pounds of dry bark were taken, 
but from the combined sources only 461,941 pounds 
were used up in the factory to produce the 12,603 
pounds of sulphate of quinine and the 7,233 pounds 
of febrifuge turned out by it, costing at the rate 
of 117-11-7 including, and E2-4-6 excluding, the 
value of the bark per pound of alkaloid; or taking 
Quinine alone, it cost E9,9-6 to produce a pound, 
that in sale transactions is valued at E18. Though 
this ia not the price at which quinine is issued to 
public institutions, charged at the rate of E15 per 
pond. The quantity of quinine issued by the Cin- 
chona Department during the year to all buyers was 
enly 4,629J pounds, or something more than a third 
of what was manufactured. A fact attributed to 
the falling off in the demand for quinine from 
Bombay and from the Punjab during the year, 
having been supplied by the Bengal plantatioas 
instead of by the Madras, as heretofore. 
Mr. Standen says that the Nedduvuttnn Factory 
as at present equipped, can work up to 450,000 pounds 
of bark per annum. The actual expenditure on the 
Department 1898-99 was El,94,6o3-i4-l and the actual 
lecipts for the same period amounted to only E91,039-2-8 
the balance having been provided out of a special grant 
by the Government of India of El,02,000 made for the 
purchase of private bark. 
The year was also marked by the resumption, after 
a long period, I think of 20 years, of extension of 
cultivation on the Government plantations so much 
condemned by the planters as a breach of faith on 
the part of Government with them. The extension 
at Pykai'a, on the Hooker Estate, inoasurea 80 acres 
and is completed, but there is a further extension 
being made in the same locality or another 80 acres 
which will bo noticed in the report for 1899-1900. 
Eeferring to ths raising of nursery plants for this 
purpose and for replanting failures, Mr. fcJtanden notices 
a disaster that was dealt with successfully by his 
Buperintendent at Dadabett. It was found thftt a 
number of small thread worms girdled the roots of the 
seedlings and caused their death. The insects were 
found in the baskets in which they are established 
before planting out, and the damage done by them 
wa? revealed by the microscope. To destroy the 
worms the baskets, plant and all were immersed in a 
strong solution of salt and placed in beds covered 
with saw dust that had been spricked with kerosine 
oil. The result was that no worms were to be found in 
the soil in the baskets afterwards, but lest the soil itself 
might be thus affected it was used, afrer being burned, 
for subsequent nursery purposes. 
Dadabett is the Government cinchona plantation of 
the greatest age, and it is satisfactory to note here 
that the oldest trees are the healthiest, the most 
vigorous, and the most ready to respond to cultivation 
and manuring. Speaking of the wont of success in 
planting operations in previous years, Mr. Standen 
attributes it to soil exhaustion, for such operations 
are quite satisfactory when carried out on new land; 
and this led him to recommend that land with cin- 
chona, on being cleared after uprootal, should be 
replanted with fuel trees. 
Similar appearances were observed at NedduvuttuD, 
the oldest p^irts of that plantation being the best and 
here the replanted land growing the only sickly trees. 
From the statistics a ttached to the report I gather 
that the entire number of trees on the Government 
nlantations on the Nilgiris aggregate 1,675,103; that 
between stripping and coppicing since the commen- 
cement of this enterprise by Government as many 
as 3,402, 634i pounds of bark have been taken and 
either sold or worked up into quinine and febri- 
fuge. That the plantations, as they st'-nd, repre- 
sent a surplus of receipts over expenditure of 
E13,80,4''i3; that in 1875,76 expenditure exceeded 
receipts by Ell,22,117, which has been overtake by 
the presetit surplus. This, I suppose, means that 
since 1875, the plantations have been working at a 
profi', the aggregate to date being E25,02,500, a 
highly satisfactory result, if it does not only exiat 
on paper. 
For the year under review, Mr. Standen says that 
a profit was realized of E35,S77-3-3. 
Mr. Standen early in the current year visited 
Java by order of Government, and concludes a 
lengthy, interesting and suggestive report with the 
following five practical suggestions, which will com- 
mend themselves to growers of cinchona who wish 
to be abreast of the times in the details of their 
industry. The suggestions are— fl^ That further 
attempts should be made to cultivate ledgers from 
seed obtained from Java. They should be grown at 
an elevation of from four to five thousand feet, in 
rich, well drained soil, and the richest trees only 
should be propagated from. (2) The grafting of led- 
ger on sbccirubras at low elevation and of officinalis 
on auocirubras at higher elevations should be tried. 
(3) Officinalis seed should be taken only from 
trees showing a high percentage of quinine. (4) 
Succirubra bark should be shipped in the from of 
quills; and (6 J high cultivation should be adopted 
and where the lay of land and nature of the soil 
are suitable the ground should be terraced before 
planting. — Planter, 
« , 
United State.s Experimental Tea Garden, 
The only tea plantation in the United .states', at 
Sumiuerville, S.C. The estate, known as Pine- 
liurst, covers 700 acres, of which fifty are devoted 
to the cultivation of tea. The first " Rose 
Garden " was planted in 1890. In 1894, 151 pounds 
of tea leaves were harvested ; in 1895, 333 
pounds ; in 1896, 600 pounds ; in 1897, 648 pounds ; 
in 1898, 1,200 pounds. On the basis of 900 plants, 
the production per hush is almost five ounces of 
tea. This tea has a distinctive character, and 
retails in the local market at $1 per pound. It 
compares favourably with tea bringing 25 cents 
at pound in lines in the New York Market— 
Planting Opinion, Nov, 11, 
