8a 
THE  TROPICAI 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  I,  1896. 
HE  MIGRATIONS  OF  THE  TOBACCO 
PLANT,  THE  FARNESlAN  CASSIA, 
AND  THE  LOMBARDY  POPLAR. 
I would  solicit  a brief  space  to  record  ia  the  Joania! 
of  the  Society  of  Art n some  criticisms  I have  received 
from  a scientist  of  the  highest  authority,  in  correction 
of  statements  made  by  me  in  the  course  of  my  remarks 
on  Mr.  Tripp’s  recent  paper  on  “The  Tobacco 
Industry  of  India  and  the  Far  East.” 
1.  My  correspondent  writes: — “ It  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  the  Old  World  owes  the  Farnesiau 
Acacia  to  the  New.  It  appears  to  be  indigenous  to 
Australia,  and  not  impossiblj'  to  Asia.” 
I was  aware  that  the  Acacia  Farncsiana  had  been 
identified  by  Fraas  with  the  “white  Acacia”  of 
Theophrastus,  and  the  “ Acacia  in  Cappadocia,”  &c., 
of  Dmscorides;  but  I know  of  no  solid  ground  for 
this  identification;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  described  as  a native  Chilian  plant  by  Molina,  11 
the  16th  century,  from  which  date  it  is  gradually 
trace  through  a succession  of  writers  eastward,  in 
Italy  the  Morea  and  Greek  Islands,  in  the  gardens 
of  Egypt  and  Arbia,  and  in  Western  India.  From 
Buenos  Ayres,  it  was  carried  by  Europeans  into 
Louisiana,  and  as  far  north  as  Charleston,  and  again 
by  Europeans  it  was  carried  from  America  westwar  1 
to  Tahiti  and  the  Philippines,  to  Timor  and  Javr, 
and  appearently  to  Burni  lu  and  the  Coromandel  coast 
of  India.  It  has  now  overspread  all  India.  Every- 
where its  name  seems  to  be  derived  from  its  exquisite 
“aroma,”  and  astlu  Greek  wr.ters  do  not  refer  to 
this  its  overwhelming  characteristic,  1 accepted  it 
as  a plant  of  exclusively  American  origin,  and  one 
of  the  most  delightful  gifts  of  the  old  world  to  tl.o 
new.  It  is  first  botanically  described  by  Hyaciuthus 
Ambrosinus  a.d.  1605  7‘2. 
2.  My  correspondent  writes;— The  ‘Lombardy 
Poplar’  is  only  a fastigiatj  varie  y of  our  Populus 
niyra,  and  is  certainly  not  American.”  And  again: 
—“The  ‘Lombardy  Poplar’  is  European,  but  the 
‘ Black  Italian’  is  American.” 
I am  not  entitled  to  gainsay  this  dictum,  but  I 
reasoned  thus.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  knew  only 
the  three  following  poplars  — 
Populus  alba,  Linn.:  the  cherois  [fe.,  “of  Acheron”] 
of  Iliad  xiii.  389  and  xvi.  482,  the  “ lenke  ” of  Theoph- 
ratus  and  others,  and  the  “populus  alba”  of  Pliny 
xvi.  35  (23) ; 
p.  niyra,  Linn.:  the“aigeiros  ” of  Iliad  iv.482,  Odyssey 
ix.  141  and  x.  510,  and  of  Theophrastus,  and  Hippocrates, 
and  the  “populus  nigra  ’of  Pliny,  loco  cit. 
P.  tremula,  Linn-:  the  ” aigeiros  makednos“  of  Odys- 
sey vii.  106,  and  “ populus  Lybica  ” of  Pliny  in  loco  cit. 
These  three  P.  (canesceres  being  regarded  as  a 
variety  of  P.  aU>a,  and  P.  yrwca  of  P.  tremula)  would 
seem  to  be  the  only  poplars  truly  indigenous  to 
Europe;  the  rest  being  nearly  nil  Americau  species. 
But  to-day  there  is  to  be  seen  everywhere  through- 
out Europe  the  pyramidal  “ Lombardy  Poplar,  ’’populus 
fastiyiata,  said  to  be  a variety,  but  if  so  a powerfully 
‘differentiated  variety  of  I',  niyra.  Some  regard  it  as 
a native  of  Central  Asia  others  of  North  America, 
i.e.  of  Carolina’  and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
It  ' is  the  P.  italica-carolouensis  of  Brugsdorf;  aud 
inasmuch  as  it  was  not  introduced  into  Lombardy, 
between  Milan  and  Pavia,  before  the  17th  century, 
nor  into  Franco  and  Great  Britain  before  the  18th 
century  I concluded  that  it  came  into  Europe 
rather  from  the  Mississippi  than  from  Persia. 
Had  this  “Kensp  kle”  poplar  been  a native  ofAu- 
terior  Asia  it  seems  to  me  that  Homer  would  certainly 
have  known  of  it,  and  given  it  a discriminating 
epithet,  “ puramidikos  ” or  the  like. 
3. My  correspondent  writes:— “There  are  only  two 
tobaccos  used,  the  pink  flowered  i\icoiui«a  Tabacum, 
and  the  yellow  N.  rustica.  I doubt  if  the  latter  is  much 
crown  except  in  the  Levant,  for  cigarettes.  I do 
not  believe  it  furnishes  Brazilian,  Germany  and 
Hungarian  tobacco.  You  perpetuate  a very  old 
error  about  Persian  or  Sh  rzaz  tobacco. 
W versica  is  not  a variety,  but  a species.  It  is  tho 
same  as  A.  alata’  and  white  flowered  It  does  not 
vLld  tobacco.  The  blunder  is  due  to  Liudley;  and 
Bhirzaz  tobacco  ia  only  the  ordinary  N,  tabacum. 
1 relied  on  Bindley  and  Pereira,  but  on  referring  to 
the  “Kew  Bulletin,”  No.  52,  for  April,  1891.  for 
for  having  overlooked  which  until  to-day  I am  most 
blameworthy,  I find  that  Mr.  Thiselton  Dyer  has  there 
c'^nclusively  demonstrated  my  critic’s  contention  on 
il.is  point.  I erred  through  writing  “in  a castle  (of 
J ndolence) — cock-sure.” 
Geouge  Bihdwoop. 
— Juuninl  of  the  Society  of  Arts. 
THE  PROSPECTS  OF  THE  CINCHONA  AND 
QUININE  MARKICTS. 
It  is  not  a little  remarkable  that  one  of  the 
most  valuable  and  best-known  drugs,  namely,  qui- 
niue  and  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  best-known 
flivoiuring  agents,  namely,  vanilla,  should  quite  re- 
cently have  been  occupying  a considerable  amount  of 
commercial  attention ; the  first  in  consequence  of 
the  opening  of  a new  quinine  factory  in  Lon- 
don, and  the  second  in  consequence  of  the  extraor- 
dinary advance  in  the  price  of  vanilla,  which  has  been 
going  on  for  some  time.  In  reference  to  the  first, 
the  Chemist  and  Briujyist  makes  some  remarks  on 
the  commerical  prospects  of  the  company,  and  on 
t le  cinchona-bark  produce  generally.  In  the  first 
place,  it  expresses  an  opinion  that  the  establishment 
of  a new  factory  is  not  likely  to  have  any  serious 
effect  upon  the  market  position  of  the  drug,  though 
the  entire  output  of  the  factory  for  November 
was  said  to  have  been  sold  before  the  month  was 
hrlf  through.  “The  chief  point  of  interest  in  the 
situation,  ” it  is  said,  “ is  that  the  new  factory  is 
the  only  one  in  Europe  not  bound  by  the  ‘ agreement.’ 
‘ convention,’  or  ‘ understanding  ’ which  has  existed 
for  more  than  a year  among  the  older  makers,  and 
has  given  a healthy  tone  to  the  quinine  markets.” 
It  is  further  pointed  out  that  the  product  of  the 
new  company  is  an  unknown  brand,  and  that  it 
will  take  some  time  to  convince  the  average  con- 
sumer, especially  a British  one,  who  is  proverbially 
loth  to  leave  his  time-honoured  sources  of  supply, 
that  the  article  has  all  the  excellence  of  the  old 
brands.  The  possibility  of  the  new  makers  under- 
selling their  rivals  is  also  discussed,  and  should  the 
older  makers  declare  war  upon  the  new  comers,  it 
is  considered  possible  that  we  may  return  again  to 
the  price-cutting  days  of  1892,  when  quinine  was 
purchaseable  below  lOd.  per  oz.  “ The  new  factory 
starts  at  a time  when  the  older  manufacturers  were 
believed  be  to  contemplating  an  all-round  advance 
ill  their  quotations  early  in  the  coming  year.  From 
the  quinine-maker’s  point  of  view,  the  market  has 
been  mending  for  some  time,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  there  has  been  no  improvement  worth 
speaking  of  in  the  second-hand  quotations,  and  that 
the  maker’s  prices  have  remained  unaltered  for 
months.  The  second-hand  stock  of  quinine  in  London 
has  been  reduced  to  manageable  proportions ; the 
cinchona-bark  supply  in  this  country  is  too  small 
to  place  any  serious  impediment  in  the  way  of  a 
rise,  and  at  least  one  of  the  large  German  quinine 
work  has  been  deliberately  kept  closed  all  through 
the  summer  months.  Only  the  Java  producers  re- 
main hopelessly  disunited.  Their  exports  of  cinchona- 
bark  in  October  reached  the  enormous  total  of  over 
1,200,0001b.  (1,100,000  Amsterdam  lb.),  and  in  their 
present  disorganised  condition  they  are  almost  at 
the  mercy  of  the  quinine  makers  so  far  as  the  price 
of  their  produce  is  concerned.  At  the  present  time 
the  quinine  manufacturers  pay  for  the  quinine  iri 
the  bark  only  about  one-fourth  of  the  price  at  which 
they  quote  their  finished  product,  and  if  only  the 
second-hand  stock  of  quinine  were  smaller  than  it 
is  they  would  not  bo  at  all  badly  off.  The  facts 
here  stated  show  to  what  lengths  and  variations  the 
traffic  in  cinchona  b.ark  hasextendol  in  the  space 
of  time  within  tho  memory  of  m.iny,  when  the  bark 
was  drawn  from  its  native  South  American  forests 
and  when  the  manufactured  article,  quinine,  was  solci 
at  a guinea  an  wace.— Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts 
