^ULY 1, 1901.1 THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
command a very limited sale. I again agree with 
your remark about the complaint " I can't drink tea" 
being so common now, but this mostly comes from 
people over forty, who are wise enough not to swallow 
a tea that would give them dyspepsia, or from the 
young who have not tasted a really enjoyable cup of 
choice China tea, and are quite disgusted with the 
bitter barnt flavour of cheap Indian tea.— I am, 
yours, etc., Cinque Ports. 
Boswell House, ]5olt Court, E. O., May 20, 1901. 
— Grocers' Journal, May 25. 
— jg, 
CINCHONA IN JAVA AND PROSPECTS. 
The condition of cinchona cultivation in Java is 
not altogether that of an open book, at Jeasst so far 
as knowledge in the London market is concerned, 
for it is a prey to ail sorts of rumours, especially as 
to cultivation being on the decline. We have during 
tlie past ten days had the opportunity of getting 
autlientic information on the matter from two 
gentlemen who are not primarily interested in cin- 
chona production. One resided in Java for nearly 
ten years, following a scientific pursuit, and the 
other .spent nearly two months in the island investi- 
gating the cinchona question. Both agree that 
cinciiona cultivation is on the up grade in 
Java, and that the cultivation of ledger trees there 
may be said to be in its infancy. Everything is 
giving way to ledger trees, whicli are all planted 
as graftings upon succirubra seedlings. These 
compound plants flourish exceedingly in tlie well- 
cultivated soil, which is kept as clean as any 
Surrey market-garden. There is no sign of any 
plantations going out of cultivation ; rather the 
contrary, as the whole tendency is to get bark of 
high quinine percentage, Much interest is taken 
by the planters in the Bandong Quinine-factory, 
and, as the planters can with advantage get their 
highest-yielding barks worked up there, they do 
not export the best barks. The factory is now 
the only one in Java, and it is slowly making its 
influence felt on the market. Last year it sold 
900,000 oz. of quinine by auction locally, the bulk 
of it going to the United States, We may note 
that the exports of quinine from Germany to the 
iJnited States decreased 1,000,000 oz, last year. It 
has often been asserted that the Java planters 
have the quinine situation in their own hands, if 
they would come to some agreement to restrict 
the output or control the supply of bark. 
This is just what they cannot, or will not, 
do. On the contrary, they ship larger quantities 
every season. For instance, the shipments for 
1898-1900 have averaged over 11,000,000 Amster- 
dam lb. perannum, agiinst an average of 9,000,000 
for 1895-1897. During the first four months of this 
year the shipments also show the large increase of 
nearly 1,000,000 Amsterdam lb. To this fact, taken 
together with the heavy London stock of quinine, 
is attributed the recent depression of the market 
and want of confidence among speculators. During 
this week there has been a slight revival, but it 
is thought to be merely a " move " with the idea 
ot giving a fillip to the bark auctions at Amster- 
dam at which the quantity offered is again large, 
representing nearly 1,080,000 oz. quinine in the 
bark, or over 30 tons. The result of these auctions 
will be found in our Trade Report, and will be 
eagerly awaited by quinine speculators and dealers 
generally, for upon it depends the immediate 
course of the quinine market. According to the 
drug statistics there was a stock of 3,330,000 oz of 
quinine in the London warehouses at the end of 
Aprilj aadj altUougU this is sligtitly less than the 
stock at the corresponding period of 1900, it has 
none the less disheartened speculators. The deliv- 
eries for April were only 37,0ii0 oz., while the imports 
reached the respectable total of 218,480 oz. The 
above stock is a heavy one, and theligures since the 
beginning of the year, month by month, show that 
it is normal in recent history :— 
1901 1900 
oz. oz. 
January 3,300,000 2,800,000 
February 3,100,000 3,090,000 
March 3,150,000 3,320,000 
April 3,330,000 3,430,000 
We may repeat, in regard to the heavy shipments 
of cinchona from Java, that they are not a matter 
of uprooting trees or anything of that kind, but are 
simply the natural outcome of a culture which is 
carried on with excessively cheap native labour, and 
under the best possible scientific conditions. There 
is no evidence, as far as we can gather, that this is 
done at a loss to the planters, and they are not in 
the slightest interested in wiiat will suit quinine 
speculators.— C'A,e?ms^ and Druggist, May 11th. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Pisciculture.— We are obliged to Mr. 
Farr for his suggestive note on this subject,' 
To improve the flsh supply of the island, to 
stock our large rivers, tanks, and lakes with 
new and suitable species, is a matter of as 
much importance to the Colony at large, in 
its own proportion, as to spend large sums on 
" irrigation " or " railways," Let our Legis- 
lative Councillors bestir themselves. 
A New Lobelia.— Mr W V Fitzgerald has 
published in the West Australian a description 
of a new species of lobelia, named L Gouldii, 
after Mr L H L Gould, of Mt. Malcolm, who 
forwarded the specimens from which the species 
is determined, lo flowers profusely late iu Septem- 
ber, forms large patches in ferruginous, gravelly, 
or sandy soil, and would be of horticultural value 
where a bedding-plant of violet colour was required. 
It is a little plant, two inches to four inches 
high, with large violet flowers, singly termina- 
ting in large branch-like peduncles, the corolla 
is three-quarters of an inch to nearly one inch 
long. —Chemist and Druggist. 
Tomatoes abe most helpful to the .system— 
when eaten raw, as the volatile oil they contain is 
dissipated by the heat of cooking. Green vegetables, 
such as spinach and cabbage, are invaluable as 
medical articles of diet, as they possess blDod- 
purifying properties and act indirectly on the liver. 
Turnips, are nutritious, while the young turnip- 
tops are possessed ot tonic properties. Parsley is 
a blood purifier, and should be eaten both raw 
and cooked. An almost exclusive diet of fruit 
and vegetables is supposed to induce purity of 
complexion.— Indian Aqriculturist, June 1. 
The Cultivation op Tea in Natal,— Some 
ten years since we gave a few figures respecting 
the erowth of Tea in Natal, supplied by the head 
of the Aricultural Department. At that time it 
was thought that a good market could be found 
in this country and at the Cape for all that could 
be spared after satisfying the needs of the pro- 
prietors of the Tea plantation. Progress has 
certainly been made, but not by leaps and bounds. 
The estimate for the supply of 1901 is IJ million 
of pounds, or an increase over the productfon of lastj 
yea,r of 250,000 Vos.'-GardenGrs' Chronicle, May 25, 
