June i, 1892.] THe TROPIOAU 
AGRIOULTURIST. 
PROPOSED CINCHONA CULTIVATION 
IN VICTORIA. 
If ever it becomes worth wbila to cultivate the 
cinchona plants in Australia, a writer in the 
Melbourne Leader, whose article we reproduce, 
ought surely to have seen that the ecenfs of 
culture ouRht to bo chosen in the tropical porl ions 
of Australia, Nnrthorn Queensland and the Nor(hcrn 
Territory of South Australia. But if the enter- 
prise has ceased to be rfnaunerative in Ceylon, 
with its advflntagfs of climate, In-bour and expe- 
rience, it surply is not lilcly that the culture would 
pay anywhere in Australia with the wages of labour 
at a standard at least six times higher than that 
which prevails in Ceylon, India and Java. The 
interest of the question, therefore, for Australians in 
general and Victorians in particular is merely theo- 
retical The writer of the article had pos- 
sessed himself of a copy of Mr. T. 0. Owen's 
valuable manual of cinchona culture, published 
Bt the Observer cfBce, so that the information he 
affords is generally correct. But there are ex- 
ceptions ; a^ d how on earth the English Mr. Ledger, 
who gave hia name to the richest of all the 
quinine-yieUiirg barks, came to be transformed 
into "Mon. Ledger," would be inpsplicable but 
for the faet that the chief names connected 
with the history of research into cinchona 
were French. The name of the Countess of 
Chinchon is wrongly spelt, after the error which 
Linnreus committed and which has been perpe- 
tuated and will be, in spite of all Mr. Mark- 
ham'a protests. The rame ot Mr. Molvor of 
the Nilgiri plantations is wrongly associated with 
that of Mr. Gammie as connected _ with the 
manufncture of cicchooa febrifuf-e, which, by the 
way, Mr Howard did not recommend— quite the 
contrary — his commendation was confined to the 
qualities of the bark grown by Mr. Muclvor on 
the Nllgiris, especially the crown or officinolis 
barks. Mr. Molvor never took any part in the 
manufacture of a febrifuge from cinchona bark, 
experimpnts in that direction in Southern India being 
entrusted to a quinoiogist, criticism of whose work it 
is believed led to his suicide. Mr. Gammie of the 
Northern India plantations baa been successful in 
the culture of the bark and in the manufacture 
from it successively o' a mixed febrifuge and of 
pure quinine. Mr. Molvor, besides his success in 
the cultivation of the cinchonas, invented the pro- 
cess of removing alternate strips of the bark, which 
has been confounded by the writer in the Leader 
with the still better shsving process adopted by 
Mr. Moens of Java. Tbe reference to the richness 
of the Ledger b^rk in Java, and the enormous 
profits from an acre of those trees, at first realized, 
reads now like a chapter of old world romance. 
Alas 1 for the glory dcpRrted and the profit which 
has ceased to bo made from cinchona, ovrr- 
produotion in Ceylon being the chief cause. 
We wish we could agree with the writer that 
there are any special evidences of improvement 
apparent. The use ot quinine still needs to be 
populorized ; but the preliminary of cheapening 
the product can scarcely be carried further than 
it has been, seeing that in less th^n a generation 
the price has gone down from :t;l, and 12s, per 
ounce to 9d ! At that price it can scarcely pny 
the mannfftotiirers, and certainly it affords no prolit 
to the growrra. ,Tn naioa is not likely lo occupy the 
field from which Coylon, after an export of 1(1 millions 
of pounds of hark in one year, is gradually retiring. 
Java, which grows the very best quinino-yiolding 
bark as yet known, is likely to bo ultimately the 
source of the world's supply of the valuahlo 
prophylactic, febrifuge and tonic ; and it will 
certainly be cheaper for Australia to buy the 
product of her n' ar neighbours in the tropio 
island of cheap labour than to attempt to grow 
and manufacture on her own account, 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE CINCHONA. 
Qaiuiue is the medicitie par excellence of the in- 
flatnza epidemic, which for tbe last jcar or two hnr 
proved ilself such a ooRmopolitao curse to buniRDity. 
Whether owing to this tBct, or to tbe sneeesB of in- 
divirtudl (xperiments in rultivation is not ascertained, 
hilt it is certain that mmiy irqiiiriea have appeared 
of late repardinB tbe probability of OincboDB, the 
qiiioino giving tree, proviD(/ a vftloab'e addition to 
the products of Australia. A slight sketeh of th9 his- 
tory of this plant and of its varieties, aa chieflyoolti- 
vated by Enropi'ars, mey therefrro prove of interest 
to the readers of The Leader. Uutil a comparatively 
teoeiit dote Peruvian bark wes the KCueric name of 
Ibis invaluable drug, and chemisiB eay it is still not 
infrequently aeted U>t ae simply the bark. This sonDda 
commonplece enough, but the origm of qainine ia 
ntverlheless bound up ^\ith one of tbe most brilliant 
Rrid romantic periods of the world's hiotory. In 1532 
tbe intrepid Pizario, with a band of SpaniBb adven- 
tnrors, dercecdrd upon Peru. Lnckily for tbem they 
found tbe nnturally rich and wonderfully developed 
country of the lucns a prey to civil war, owing to the 
great Inea when dying, having bequeathed a division of 
the kingdom which was foreign to customs. With his 
usual astutencFs Pizarro at once decided to offer it as 
an " ar'ditiotiBl jewel to tbe already brilliant diadem 
of Spain." Stiziog the pdvaiitsge he therefore soon 
became master of the connlry, but before long in- 
suirectiocs, naturally incident to such a conquest, 
arose, and were suppressed with (>nch incredible cruel- 
lies by the adventurers that Spuiu decided to form 
Peru into f ne of its South American viceroyalties. 
About the middle of the 17th century the Oonntesa 
Del Cinchon, a very talented and shrewd womaOi 
wa.i at Lima with her hm-band, the then vice y 
suffering Ircm the fever of thecoimtry, an intermittPnt 
ague. She niin much stiuck with the marvellous pro- 
perties of arowdered hark procured Irom an indigenous 
tree, the Kir a, tber.ce quir.iue, and on her retora to 
Europe largely exerted herself to secure a constant 
supply and eucouroged its use among the fever 
i-tricke n people c f tbe Spanish Vtgas. In course of 
licDO Linneue, with due courtesy, in recognition of the 
immense service with the countess had rendered 
njitned the plsnt Cinch' ta, and under this name all 
tha varieties of tbe tree since dieoovered or propa- 
gated are classified. While Spain held her as- 
cendancy in Europe, quinine, >.8 we shall now 
call the Kina powder, made rapid strides as an 
ingredient in fever meJioinea. Unfortunately, it was 
however, more or less a monopoly of the Jesuits; Pro- 
testants absolutely declined to be doctored by "Priests' 
powder," and thus the invaluable drug fell for almost a 
century into comparative disuse, altrading attention 
onli' I hr< ugh sueh chaunela as French quacks or ad- 
viucod apothecaries. Italy hts low perhaps the 
largest quiniue factories in the world. Germany also 
absorbs large stocks of bark, chiefly foe brewing purpo- 
ses, but on tbe whole its place in continental pharmacy 
is still f<ar too low. On the ether hand, it attained 
abeut the er d of last century a rapid celebrity among 
the leading physicians iu England, and thus quickly 
as has been eaid, " opened up a new departure in the 
history of medicine." Its value in time of war and 
epidemics has long beejn indisputable, and now that 
it is tbe chief factor in grappling with the greatest 
posce fcourge of our time any effort which might 
eventuHlly tend to cbeaptn or popnlause the febiifug-e 
sbo.ild not lightly be difcouragcd. Seed or plants 
ill wardiau cases can n»si!y be procured, and at a com- 
pnrAtivoly small cost, frtim India, Java or Oeylou, 
and there are portions of Violorin cnrabiiiing a free 
dry soil with niQieinet moistiue, wlrcb indicates tbe 
stiong possibility of a suitable habitat. 
To those iutere.sted in this remarkable plant, it 
may bu of interest to trace some of tho extreme difli- 
