410 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURIST. 
[December i, 1891 . 
THE LOCAL MANUFACTUKE OF 
QUININE. 
Some iutorent has been aroused amongst ludiau 
plaotcra by the aiiuouuccmeiit that growers uf 
cinchona iu Java iuteud to establish « quinine 
factory, uod to make quinine on the spot, 
instead of c.xportiu>( their bark to Europe. To tie 
planter the advantages of aach a procedure would bo 
very great. Tlic objection t) it would come from those 
having veated interosts in tho present course of buni- 
ueas ; at any rate, much aupport could not bo looki-d 
for from this quarter. Largo Companies or private 
firms with tlieir liead quarters iu London would pro- 
bably not be very entbu«ia«tic about the solierae. But 
it is well worth the individual planter's while to look 
into tho matter for him*elf. A few figures will prove 
this. Suppose a planter to have had 12,000 lb. of 
SuQcirubra at thu end of last} evr, which hu could soil 
iu tho London market nt 2d per lb, or for XI 00. As 
tho London bayer takc^ the co.st of extracting tie 
quioine into consideration, tho local factory could 
afford to pay the same price. The cost of harve.sting 
and transport to tho i)Drt of shipment is about id ; 
so the planter would have had tho equivalent of £76 
clear if lie had sold his bark iu India. But what bo 
really got was much loan. Tho first deduction was for 
baling and hhippieg nt K45 per ton ; this amounted to 
11225 (say £lGl« The cost of freight to Loudon, in- 
surance, dock dues, rent for WArehousiu/, analysi.**, 
brokerage and comiuUsiou usually oomesto 20 per cent 
on tho salo value of tho con^igumoDt, Sometimea it 
is rather more. But putting it at per cent, the 
account stands thuai-^ 
Value of bark ... £100 
Leas coBt of liatve^tiug .»• £25 U <0 
“Coast charges,*' (Baling etc.)l0«O-O 
London charges (20 per cemt) 20*0.0 
* Total deductiouB £01.0*0 
In addition to this the planter hnd to wait for his 
luonoy for about four or five tuonths. These figures 
Kpoak for thcmsolvo.^. Tiie charge for baling and ship- 
juug is to be reduced this sunaon to about R81 per 
ton, but therein no rign of Mmilar movement among 
the London brokers, Hhipping la»'k to London at 
present prices, if there is a ebanoa of getting the 
quinine extracted in this country, acems almost as 
great an extravagance ns it would be to ship tho 
quartz from the Mysore mines instead of orushifig it 
on the spot.— J/. Mailf Oct. 20th. 
[Our readers can compare this statement with the 
adverse opinion regarding local manufactare formed 
by Mr. John Ferguson after visiting tho Waldhof 
quinine works.— En, T, J.] 
A CORNER IN COFFEE. 
We liave fretiuenlly remarked that tho coffee b<jau is 
often regarded as Utile bettor than a gambling counter, 
and that the manipulations of clevor commercial geutlo- 
mon have a greater iriilueuoe on the vnlues of ruffee 
than the reported e.stimato of a Krszilian crop of ten 
million bags. Wo need not apologiso for quoting in full 
this article wliich appeared in a rocont issue of the 
Ji'inancial "Not only the Mincing-Une market 
but tho oofffo marketfl of Uavre, llaiuburg, and Antwerp 
have lately been disturbed by a clique wtio tried their 
very bOftt to corner coffee. The ringlesdor in (his 
combination was theOormon pariuor of a New York 
coffee house, which of late years haa taken a front raiik 
in the American coffee trade, but which, also, has acquired 
au unenviable uotor e y for being connected with 
cofQGrtng operaiions. Thus in June, ISfiS, this house 
in oonjunctioo with another firm in tho same city, so 
mauipuiatod thoNow York market that they forced tho 
price of coffee for delivery in June that year up from 
12-80 cents per lb. to ZOfiO cents por lb. iu ouo 
day. This rig led to a change in the management 
of tho exchange, from which the cornerors were 
excluded, and Utor on new rults wore adopted which 
made it much more difficult for any Hiiiglo firm 
or combination t) manipulalc tho coffee market 
in New York. little did ihesu now rules pleaoo 
tho tirui in question that m August, 1890 they 
issued a circulnr, in which they ostenittiously 
intimated that they had concluded to withdraw from 
the commission option businesB iu coffee on and after 
lJeo£xnber 81st, 1890. They did not, however, explicitly 
state that they intended to discontinue option business 
on their owu accouut on the Ntw York Exchange ; 
but this may, perhaps, bo inferred tioni another 
paragraph in thu same circular, where they state that : 
** Wo shall continue one regular activity in tho im- 
portation of coffee, and wo also expect to deal more or 
Je» 6 , on such coffee exchanges where we think buyers 
and sellers will be tre ated on a parity, and whore wo 
can secure a coutraot that will repreFont a niorcbant- 
able average grade of Cuffue, such os is required fur 
cousnruptiou her© or in Europe.” During some oon- 
fiiderabJe time past the Gorman partner of this firm 
has been staling for long intervals iu Europe, and 
there is no doubt that Ids iufiuenco has been felt in 
all the Iluropcan term markets chiefly, however, iu 
Ihofe of Havre and Hamburg, In Jnly la&t this smart 
operator conceived the brilliant idea of oorneriug 
coffee in Europe in face of tho largest coffee crop 
ever marketed in Jirazil. A more madcap scheme, a 
more anbiiaineFs-Uko proceeding, could hardly be 
imagined. Warnings of tho utter rotteunesn of such 
au operation were not wanting; but they were com- 
pletely disregarded by this gambler, intoxicated with 
part sucoops. He we 8 dotormiued to corner “ Septem- 
ber, " an I, after .September, ho would oorner October, 
and after October, he would pat up tho price of tho 
Decomber option. After that lot the deluge como , ho 
would take gcod care to ho on tho hill-lop iliou. In 
order to play this little gaiuo out it was ncocasary to 
have ooDiederatos. lu Antwerp, as in Hamburg, ho 
fonnd them ready to hand; but Loudon had also to be 
drawn into the whirlpool. Henoo ft visit to London 
WHB decided ou, and so timed as to enable him to 
meet bis co-oporator in the New York corner of June, 
1888. Those two worthies tut iuconolavein Miucing 
lane in July l^at, aud ceiicucted the echome which, 
by-and by, was to be carried ont by the conspirators 
in each port. Unfortunately, two firms in London 
wero induced to join thin miserable oombiufttion. Thus 
the bail was set rolling, Tho September option in 
Havre was day by day pushed up ; other markets 
followed suit, us Uio cliquo oontinued to buy and drivo 
prioca bettor, no matter whether recipts in Braz 1 came 
largo or small— in fact, the larger tho roooipta the 
more they were pieparcd to pay for options. Tho 
ng was palpable, ana had a certain amount of success 
beORUBo of the disinchnation of roorohnots to sell 
Septembor * owing to the small stocks in Europe 
and the goncra ly strong statistical position at that 
time of lliQ article. Then the October positiun was 
takou in hand, and prices of this delivery wero also 
advanced by loapa and bounds, uitil at last morohanta 
tmt that the clique bad overstepped tho mark, and 
offered ireoly oaffeo for sbipmnnt from Brazil at lower 
ami lower prices, until the rig utterly collap-ed nnd 
Jeit (he ol quH yviih a large stock of highpriced coffee. 
Hie whole affair has been a complelo fiasco, ftud 
K lias involved tho clique in treraendoua losses, 
uno or the young London firma who joined it 
DOS been in dire dlstresB, whilo the other firm, who 
worked the oracle for the clique iu Mincing-laoe, has 
lost 111 avily iu money and still more heavily iu popu- 
larity and reputation. An old and moat respectable 
tirm m Antwerp has weathered tho storm only with 
groat racriftcB.% but comes out with an impaired name, 
rrom first to laat it was a disgraoefnl busiuCBa, reflect- 
ing the u(most dUoredit upon everyone engaged in it. 
in less than six weeks ooffco has doclinod from 15a to 
per cwt. in tho term market boro, and there is 
every probability that tho downward movement will 
make further ijrogresR, ftinco confidence has been com- 
pietely shaken by the operntions of the riggers.** 
VVe are glad to find our London contemporary sneaking 
BO strongly on the subject. Disgraceful is the only 
