690 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 'April 1, 1899. 
CINCHONA BARK AND QUININE. 
REPORT FOR "l898. 
Few articles of omuierce have ever been depre- 
ciated 80 much iu value in consequence of over- 
production as have cinchona bark and quinine. 
The following atatistice, taken from the Board of 
Trade Returns, give some idea of the extent of the 
fall in values ; — 
Imported into 
U. K. Valued at 
lb. £ 
1678 .. C,131,.'')52 053,228 
1881 .. 11,021,304 1,812.501 
188(i .. 10,281,104 801,.3.53 
1891 .. Il,'.m3,712 200,G97 
mm . . 3,9.')2,r)92 ei .578 
1898 .. .'■),H3,010 93,1.32 
The above figures are manifestly only approximate, 
ai whilat the supplies in 1879 mainly consisted of 
Columbian barks with an analysis of rather -under 
2 per cent of quinine, the Ceylon and East India 
barks were considerably richer, and contained an 
average 2 to 3 per cent., whilst the average per- 
centage in Java barks has of late been over 5 
per cent. 
Mr. Clements Marldiam, in his book on Peruvian 
bark, states that the sources of supply of bark to 
the London market from all parts of the world 
from Juue, 1870, to June 1880, were : — 
lb. 
From Columbia .. .. fi,0U2,000 
Do Indiaand Ceylon .. 1,172,000 
Do South America (except 
Columbia) .. .. 959,000 
Do *Java . . . . 70.C00 
Do Jamaica .. about 21.000 
8,221,000 
* To the Amsterdam market. 
In addition about 1,000,000 lb. South American were 
shipped direct to the United States. 
The highest price ever paid for Bark in the London 
market was in 1877, when some renewed Officinalis 
Bark from the Nilgiri Plantations was sold at ]5s 
8d per lb. ; supposing this parcel to have contained 
6 per cent of Crystallised Sulphate of Quinine, tha 
value of the unit would have been at that time over 
23 Od per lb. ! as late, however, as the year 1880 
considerable quantities of Bark were sold about 23 
per unit per lb. From that time the market has 
been steadily declining until the lowest noint was 
I'eached in January, 1897, when the Public Sales in 
Holland sold at an average unit of 2'12 cents per 
§-kilo (equivalent to under id per lb.) In 1S77 
" Howard's " Quinine (in bottles) was snld at 1.53 per 
oz. ; on the Slst December, 1878, their quotation was 
123 6d per oz., on 31st December, 1886, 2s 6d per oz., 
' falling by degrees, in sympathy with Bark, till the 
lowest point was touched in 1897, when business was 
done at lOJ per oz. ; at this time sales of Gernian 
Quinine (best marks) were made at 7|d to 8d per 
oz. — the lowest price on record. 
The cause of this great depreciation in value is 
not far to seek ; in 1880 the discovery of Cuprea Bark 
from the United States of Columbia, large quantities 
of which were imported in the years 18S0 to 1S85, 
gave the first shock to the market, hut it was the 
enormous supplies shipped from Ceylon (these in the 
year 1886 reached their maximum of 15.000,000 lb. 
■which, after first destroying the South American trade, 
brought prices down so low that it was no longer 
profitable to ship, and in most of the Ceylon Estates 
the Bark was uprooted and Tea was planted instead. 
The exports from British luHia havo ne-'er reached 
more than 4,000,000 lb., and here as in Ceylon planters 
have generally (except on a few estates in the Travan- 
oore district) given up its cultivation. Java, however, 
owing to the supei'ior quality of its Bark, has been 
able to hold its own, and exports have steadily in- 
creased until now it has practically the control of 
the market. 
The present Bt^tiutical position i« we (Link a 
strong one, the Ini porta and Exports of bark in 
United Kingdom and HoUaid for the three year* 
189i> {t8 conjpare with the prbviooa • three yetrs ai 
follows :— 
iMPonrs i:-i;j Jb. Eng. lb. 
into U. K. .. ll.K.Vifjoo 18,7:i.J,000 
„ Holland 31.019,iX)0 28,«99,oo« 
Total 
Exponxs 
from U, K 
„ Uolland 
■13,'A2.0<» 47,022,000 
8 777,fXX» 
31 I'jl.OX) 
lM,f>29 <»00 
gl.Gii.'oOO 
•13.2CH,0<IO 39,581,000 
Left for English and-, 
Amsterdam quinintM 
Manufacturer* and V 234,000 8,038,00) 
for replenishing I 
Stocks ,J 
thus showing that, Pven with the inereaew! Bnpplie* 
received in 1898, consumptiou ban of late practi- 
cally overtaki u production. (It ii worthy of uuta 
that the Exports from Holland during isyG.<»8 ex- 
ceeded the Imports by n-.arly 3,01.10 .(M>0 lb.) TLi* 
probability is liirlher condriiied by the maliiiiics of 
quinine; thus we liad the Exports of quinine 
and quinine sails from Geimany during the same 
periods were : — 
1896 9B. 1893 96. 
oz. ct. 
Total . . 22,900,000 15.300,000 
As regards the prospects of supplies in the future, 
we have seen that shipments fioin Java, if m»ia'- 
tained as at present, are barely sufficient lor con- 
sumption, even when enpp emented m ibey were 
last year by larger impoils from British Indiiaud 
Bolivia. But advices from India state there is very 
little bark left there, and shipments will show a 
lar^e fallint^-ofT in future. 
Quinine is mnre or leas a war article, and i« a 
necessity for troops fighting in the tropics or in 
marshy districts. AVith the enterprise shown of 
late years by most nations in securing colonies 
in Africa, Ac, and whilst the sudden openinff 
up of China by railways, &c., it seems probable 
that the consumption of quinine is more likely 
to increase than to diminish, and should 
any extraordinary demand arise, it is difficult 
to see where supplies of b^rk are to come from 
unless Java planters continued to extend their plant- 
ations on a large scale at .i time when the market 
was most depressed, which we think is hardly pro- 
bable. Of course, any great ri?e in prices would 
induce planters all over the world to groiv Bark, bnt 
it would be some years before any large supplies 
would be available, and in the meantime prices might 
be forced up considerably. 
The market has been for tha Ia.st year or so in 
a sensitive state ; in 1897 a slight falling off in ship- 
ments from Java caused a rise in the value of the 
unit from under H per lb. to lid per lb., and though 
prices have since declined to about Id per unit, the 
circumstance of a small Dutch .'^ale being advertized 
for 16th inst., coupled with advice of moderate .ship- 
ments from Java for January, have brought specala- 
tors into the market for Quinine, and prices have 
advanced about 20 per cent, from lOjd per ounce 
to Is OJd per ounce, 
To sum up, it appears that consumntion ' has at 
last overtaken production, and increasM shipments 
from Java will be required to snpph- manuldcturers 
and make up for the expected deSaieucy fu.m B-llich 
India and Ceylon, and in any case we f..<ncy the -ihvs 
of Quinine selling below Is" per oz. are numbered, 
and we think it is safe to prophesv that the average 
value of the unit during the next three years wTll 
be above the average of 1896-1898. 
. C. M. <fe C. WOODHOUSE. 
30, Mmcing Lane, 9th Feb., 1899. 
