May 2, 1892.1 
THE TROPICAL AOmOtJLTUmST. 
811 
fMvoTirable competition vnth other in the mark ts of 
the world. 
Sugar. — The growth of BiigAr-cnne is considcrabl)' 
oil the incresso and during thi- past yi ar, large areas 
in a completely rew district have leeu put under 
cultivation, this being the (orernnnfr of BURur werks 
of coDsiderable magnitude.— /’{/i Times, Feb. 3id. 
SCENES FROM EASTERN DHUG- 
PLANTATIONS. 
The scenes represented in the following illustra- 
tions are reproduced from Dr. Alexander Tscbirch’s 
book “ Indiache Hoil und Niitr.pflanzen, nnd deren 
Cultur,” ♦ upon which we comment in another part 
of this issue. The work contains no leas than 128 
illustrations, reproduced from photographs, mostly 
taken by the author himself. The first view shows 
a cinchona-plantation in Java. The little seedlings 
in the foreground are a Succirubra nursery. When 
the time arrives to plant out the seedlings in a re- 
gular plantation two coolies carefully remove the 
covering of the young shoots, pull them out by the 
roots, taking care first to moisten the earth round 
about, so that it shall adhere to the roots, place the 
shoots on n tray, and cover thorn with Fisang leaves 
to protect them. Two other coolies carry the tray 
as quickly as possible to the plantation-ground, 
where the seedlings are at once replanted under 
European supervision. The trees in the background 
are n full-CTowii plantation of Cinchona LeSgrriana, 
Moons. Wnile exploring the bark estates in Western 
Java, Dr. Tschirch was disagreeably reminded that 
living among the cinchonas gives no immunity from 
fever. On one occasion he was suddenly seized with 
malaria while standing under a magnificent Ledger- 
tree in Bandong, and had to ward off the at- 
tack by swallowing compressed quinine tablets, which 
the local pharmacist obtained nil the way from Ber- 
lin. The first illustration on page 800 shows the 
late Mr. B. Moens, the assistant-dirocter of the 
Java Government gardens, to whose indomitable 
perseverance the cinchona industry in that island 
owes much of its present position, reclining in the 
shade of his ow-n cmchona-trce of the Ledger variety 
which bears his name. The plantation is a typical 
Javanese Kinatnin, or cinchona-garden. 
GRAFTING. 
Great attention has been paid in Java lately to 
the intermixture of the cinchona varieties by craft- 
ing. Tlie first grafting experiments were maae as 
far back as 1866, in Teysmann’s days. Director 
Van Gorkoni afterwards devoted much time to the 
ursuit of this mode of culture, and the present 
irector of the Government gardens, Mr. Van Ro- 
munde, believes that the grafting-process has a 
considerable future, in proof of which conviction be 
has caused it to bo extensively resorted to in some 
of the gardens under his care — at TMrtasari, for in- 
stance. The grafting of the alow-growing Ledgers 
upon the strong, hardy, and quick-growing 
has not, up to the present time, yieuled favour- 
able results, for it is found that a considerable 
proportion of tlie cinchonidine of the Succirubra is 
absorbed by the Ledger-graft, which is originally 
wanting in. or but sparingly provided with, this 
alkaloid ; while, contrariwise, the quinine from the 
Ledger passes into the parent stem, the result being 
a tree containing less quinine but more einchoni- 
dine than tlie trunk, a transformation which, need- 
less to say, is not a desirable one. 
Dr. Tschirch gives some striking instances of what 
we may term this alkaloid-exchange. A Ledger tree, 
raised from American seed, yielded 9 lOpor cent, of 
quinine; grafted upon a Succirubra, the combination 
resulted in the production of a bo-rk analysing only 
7‘32 per cent, quinine, but also 2'77 per cent, cin- 
ohonidine. From another I.edger, yielding in the 
natural state 1101 per cent, quinine and no 
cinchonidine, grafting npon Sneeirnbra produced a 
~* lndischf. Urilvnd Xvtzptlmizeii , rvu J>r. Alex. 
Tschirch. Iterlin, H.Gaertner's Verlogsbuchlmndlung. 
loth cover, octavo, 223 pp., 12d Huat- SO marks. 
bark yielding 8-61 per cent, of quinine and l-ll per 
cent, cinchonidine. On the other hand the anccirabra 
trees become richer in quinine by grafting, the bark 
of one tree increasing its percentage from 1-5 to 
2-7 per cent., that of another from 1-5 to 1-C5 per 
cent. The book contains altogether fifteen illustra- 
tions showing the cultivation and preparation of 
cinchona, while the tea-culture claims seventeen, 
coffee six, and cocoa four. 
NUX VOMICA. 
The next view shows a full-grown Strychnos tree in 
the Government Gardens at Buitenzorg, near Batavia. 
The tree is a native of Ceylon ; it attains a height 
pf about so feet, and, notwithstanding its at- 
tractive appearance in the photograph, the author 
describes it as neither imposing nor beautiful 
the flowers, plain, insignificant, of a yellow-green 
colour, contributing nothing to heighten the effect of 
the tree.* 
THE TAMAHINn. 
The Tamnriudns indica, of which the illustration 
shows a full-grown specimen in a thick plantation in 
Java is a tree of very different appearance. Neither in 
Java nor in Ceylon is it cultivated in regular gardens, 
but the beauty of its growth and tho amplitude of its 
foliage have brought it into favour as a shade-giving 
tree. The tamarind appears at its beat in the season 
when it is covered with its myriads of delicate fiowers, 
or in the fruiting period, when thousands of long, fawn- 
coloured fruit-pods droop down from thoir long stalks 
A tamarind-tree 50 or 60 feet in height is by no means 
rare but this altitude is only attained aftormany years 
the tree being one of very slow growth. The groat 
square in Batavia, the '• Koningimlein,” is shaded by 
magnificent avenues of tainnrina-trees. 
BENZOIN. 
Tho bonzoin-tree {Sti/rax Hetitoin, Dryander) In Ma- 
lay, “ Kayoo Kominyiin” — is a native of Sumatra and 
Java. Thetree grows tonioderate size— tho specimen 
represented in the picture is about 40 feet high its 
loaves, flowers, and fruit are of a plain grey colour, 
which does not add to its dignity or beauty. A Dutch 
planter in Java has established a benzoin planta- 
tion of 70,000 trees on the northern slope of tho 
Salak volcano ; but, although he imported labonrers 
from Sumatra on purpose, and the mode of prepar- 
ing the gum followed in Sumatra ia known in an parti- 
culars, the culture does not appear tofiouriah very well 
in Java. 
THE NUTMEO. 
Tho lost picture represents a group of trees in the 
Government Botanical Gardens in .Java. The two 
large trees to the right ore nutmeg-trees {Myrislic* 
fragrans. Houtt.) The loft part of the illustration 
shows Khttaria speciosu, some of tho smaller Zingi- 
beracem. Tho nutmeg-tree, says Dr. Tschirch, re- 
minds the European traveller of the vegetation of hie 
own home more closely than almost any other tropical 
plant. Its handsome, well-proportioned stem, the 
elegant pyramid of its riohly-verdurod crown, the 
small leaves — all these peculiarities makes him think 
of tho pear-tree of his own gardens, only that every 
part of the nutmeg-treo branch-formation as well as 
outline, seems more beautiful and noble. The average 
height of the tree does not exceed .80 feet, or its 
circumference from 8 to 10 feet, though in the wild 
state It ^rows twice or three times as high. Tho nutmeg- 
tree, it IS true, does not shine by the magnificence of 
its flowers, which though abundant, and of a pleasant 
orange fragrance, are small, unobtrusivo, and strikingly 
like those of the hawthorn ; but its peach-sized oval 
pale yellow fruit neeps kindly through the verdure and 
the vivid red arillus glancing through tho burst fruit 
and contrasting effectively with the dark brown seed’ 
husk, impoits a strong and characteristic colour to 
the whole. Tho tree bears fruit and flowers aimnl 
taneonsly almost all the year through.— C/ieiMi,! 
Tirvnnist 
* We thought the foli^e of some young trees 
Miluntale very pretty. — E d. S’. .J. ° 
