154 
THE T^^OPICAL AQRICULTURISt. 
[September i, 1890 . 
should deem to be, for the present at least, economi' ; 
oally impracticable — to restore their fertility by 
manuring. There are doubtless scientists among 
us who could say whether the suggestion made to 
us may or may not be of a hopeful or possible 
character. 
The patana soils are many of them barren from 
the presence of ironin forms most unfavourable to 
fertility, while considerable portions are composed 
of quartzite. Then in such places as Nuwara Eliya 
and in swamps near Colombo and elsewhere, 
there are black pseudo-peat soils, which are 
unproductive from the opposite cause : the absence 
of mineral matter amongst the humus. In 
each case improvement might be effected by 
aeration, as we have already indicated ; by a 
full dressing of lime (especially in the case of the 
black vegetable soils) ; and by tillage. The experi- 
ment of draining, liming and carefully tilling of some 
of the Nuwara Eliya swamps, ought to be amongst 
the measures adopted for the improvement of our 
sanatorium, now the subject of discussion. Ex- 
perience thus obtained might be a valuable 
guide for the reclamation of similar formations 
elsewhere. In attempts which have been made to 
cultivate portions of the upland prairies called 
patanas, we are bound, however, to state that for the 
first few years at any rate, a perfect plague of 
cockchafer grubs has had to be contended with. 
On Meddecumbera, we believe, that even aloe plants 
were destroyed by these pests, which, we know, 
played havoc with cinchonas grown on grass land 
in another part of Dimbula. But caustic lime ought 
to go far as a remedy for the beetle larva3. 
^ — 
GAMBIEE IN CEYLON. 
A planting correspondent wrote to us the other 
day about an article in the “ Magazine of the 
School of Agriculture ” (incorporated with our 
monthly issue) which, according to him, stated 
that. 
“ Qambier (f/iwcana GamUer)is indigenous to the 
island and a common plant near Colombo, Galle, 
Deitota and Dumbara and that the late Mr. W. 
Ferguson made an extract from the shrub, — but he 
omits the native name — and I see no mention of 
gambler in your new book. As this is cultivated 
80 largely in Singapore, it appears strange that it 
is comparatively unknown here, and now we are 
told that it is a common plant.” 
A correspondent favours us with a fuller summary of 
the Magazine paper as follows : — 
The identity of the plant which produces the valu- 
able substance known as gambier or Terra Japo- 
nioa has been the subject of a good deal of discussion 
and has well illustrated the old adage of doc'ors (in 
this ease botanical doctors) disagreeing. While Dr. 
Thwaites held that the species of Uncaria found in 
Ceylon was the Uncaria Ganibier, leaving it on record 
in his “Enumeratio” that he cannot doubt that the 
indigenous plant is identical with that of Roxburgh, 
Dr. Trimen avers that the two are distinct. 
j|No, there has been no disagreement whatever, 
0 ,'ly an advance in knowledge. — En. T. A.] Mr. 
WiliVtni Ferguson, f.l 3., in his interesting notes on 
Ceylon Gmber trees, states that the extract from the 
indigenous Uncaria is the gambler or terra japonica 
of commerce what is more, he claims to be the 
first to have’ pre^ *1^® substance from the Ceylon 
Dr. Trimen, however, Joseph Hooker 
lia« shown (hat the indigenous apecies is not Uncaria 
lOainbier but is to be referred as a variety Thwaitesii 
to U. dasnonivra, and moreover that it aftords no 
•gambler, at least tliat he (Dr. T.) was unable to 
{■rudnee anything like the substance. Dp to this 
time then, to gather from Dr Trimen’s last report, 
Iberc ii DO plant of tije truB gambier in the island, 
and all efforts to introduce it have been unsuccessful 
So much for the identity of the plant: but if a 
substance with all the valuable properties of the true 
Terra Oaponica can be extracted from our indigenous 
variety, then we may well exclaim “ What ’s in a 
name 1 ” and go in for cultivation as hard as ever, for 
did not Evans of Stackpole Street promise to take 8 to 
10,000 tons of gambier from us every year ? 
On this subject, Dr, Trimen is good enough to 
write : — 
Uncabi A Ejtteact. — As regards the extract from our 
wild Oeylon species of Uncaria my experience was re- 
corded in the Beport of the Royal Gardens Kew for 
1880 (p. 37) as follows : — “ Dr. Trimen, Director of the 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, writes (September 
24th) : — ‘ In the urgent demand for “ new products” 
here, one of the first things I tried was to make some 
Gambier for our plant. It grows commonly not far 
from the Garden. I followed the account given in the 
books but could not succeed in producing the correct 
article. A very excellently astringent extract iB^a^ily 
obtained, but it is black like liquorice or the acacia 
catechu exactly, and not atall like terra japonioa.’” 
V/hatthe extract was like that was made by the late 
Mr. W. Ferguson (as recorded by him in 1863) it is 
not now possible to discover, but in all probability it 
was the same as that obtaired by me. The true Gam- 
bier, catechu pallidum, or terra japonica of commerce 
produced at Singapore is a pale yellowish-brown earthy 
substance. 
It should be borne in mind that at the time Mr. Fer- 
guson experimented, no one had any reason to suppose 
that our plant was not the same as the Singapore one ; 
it was not till 1880 (FI. Brit, India III. p. 31) that Sir 
J. Hooker showed the botanical differences. 
I may add that I have recently rceived a case of 
living plants of the true Uncaria Gambier from 
Singapore, and that young specimens are now grow- 
ing at Peradeniya and Heneratgoda Gardens. — Henry 
Teimen. 
At the same time it is quite possible that the 
“ black extract ” from the local plant might be 
found of some commercial value, and Dr. Trimen 
quite agrees that it would be worth while to 
try the market with it. Here again is a para- 
graph with some practical information bearing on 
the subject: — 
Gambibe-planting in Java. — The cultivation of 
gambier in Java has been tried many times, but although 
the plant grows excellently, extraction has on every 
occasion yielded a kind of gambier inferior in quality 
to that produced by the Chinese around Singapore. 
It is believed that the cause of this inferiority must 
he sought in the fact that the Chinese during the 
boiling process add a decoction of the poppy, but the 
preparation of this decoc tion and the parts ol the poppy 
used in its manufacture are a secret. As the sale of 
opium is a strict Government monopoly in the Dutch 
colonies, and the cultivation of the poppy is not per- 
mitted there, it is believed that there is no possibility 
for the Java planters to compete successfully in this 
industry. 
It is quite possible therefore that even when the 
true plant becomes plentiful in Ceylon we may 
have to send to Singapore to obtain the secret of 
the best means of preparation of the extract for 
market. We may add that gambier cultivation in 
Singapore has led to almost as great exhaustion 
of soil as tobacco cultivation in Java has effected. 
♦ 
CEYLON TEA IN LEAD PACKETS. 
To the Editor of the ‘■'Grocer." 
4, Mincing-lane, B,C., J une 18th. 
Sir, — It may calm the apprehensions of your Carres'* 
pondent, “ A Country Grocer,” to learn that by section 
2 of the Merchandise Marks Act of 1887 be cannot be 
held guilty of an offence under the Act, if he proves-?- 
(a) That having taken all reasonable precautions 
Dgaiost committipg an offence against this Act, be h»d 
