June i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
QOi 
PROPOSKT) CINCHONA CULTIA'ATION 
IN VICTORIA. 
_ n ever it beoomeB worth while to cultivate the 
cinchona plants in Auslrnlia, a writer in the 
Melbourne Leader, whose article we reproduce, 
ouRht surely to have seen that the scenes of 
culture ouRht to be chosen in the tropical portions 
of Australia, Northern Queensland and the Northern 
Territory of South Australia. But if the enter- 
prise has censed to be remunerative in Ceylon, 
with its advantages of climate, labour and expe- 
rience. it surely is not likely 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 Oeylon, 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 oinehona culture, puhliehed 
at the Observer eflico, so that the information he 
sffnrds is generally correct. Bnt there are ex- 
ceptions ; a' d how on earth the English Mr. Ledger, 
who gave his name to the richest of all the 
quinine-yielding barks, came to bo transformed 
into “Mon. Ledger," would he inexplicable hut 
for the fact that the chief names connected 
with the history of reseatoh into cinchona 
wore French. The name of the Countess of 
Chine.hnn is wrongly spelt, after the error which 
Liniin'us committed and which has been perpe- 
tuated and will bn. in spite of all Mr. Mark- 
ham's protests. The name of Mr. Molvor of 
the Nilgiri plantations is wrongly associated with 
that of Mr. Gammio ss connected with the 
manufflcture of cinchona febrifuge, which, by the 
way, Mr Howard did not rccoinmond— quite the 
contrary — his commendation was confined to the 
qualities of the hark grown by Mr. Mtolvor on 
the Nilgiris. especially the crown or offioinelis 
barks. Mr. Mclvor no'er took any part in tbe 
manufacture of a febrifuge from oinehona bark, 
experiments in that direction in Southern India being 
entrusted to a quinoiogist, criticism of whose work it 
is believed led to his suicide. Mr. Oammio of the 
Northern India plantations has been sncoessful in 
the culture of the bark and in the manufacture 
from it successively of 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 shaving process adopted by 
Mr. Moons of Java. The reference to the richness 
of the Ledger brrk in Java, and the enormous 
profits from an acre of those trefs, at first rralized, 
reads now liko a chapter of old world romance. 
Alas 1 for tho glory departed end the profit which 
has oeased to bo made from oinohona, ovtr- 
Produotion in Ceylon being the chief cause. 
We wish wo could agree with the writer that 
there are any spooial evidences of improvement 
apparent. The use of quinine still notds to be 
popularized ; but the preliminary of cheapening 
itie product can scarcely be carried further than 
t ti03_ been, seeing that in less th»n a generation 
e pnoe has gone down from £1, and 128. per 
unoe to !)d j price it can scaroely pay 
i ® ^®*"ifsotarerE, and certainly it nfiords no profit 
fiel I /* Jaanaioa is not likely to occupy the 
of n which Ceylon, after an export of l(i millions 
Jav”°'^"i • JAWi is gradually retiring. 
bn»b' grows the very beat quinine-yielding 
Bourn known, is likely to be ultimately the 
nro.uf 1 world’s supply of tho valuable 
P ylaotio, febrifuge and tonio : and it will 
113 
OPttainiy be cheaper for Australia to buy the 
product of her n< ar neighbours in the tropic 
island of cheap labour than to attempt to grow 
and manufacture on her own account. 
THE CULTIVATION OP THE CINCHONA, 
Quinine is the medicine par excellence of the in- 
fiamza epidemic, wiiioh for the last year or two har 
proved {(self snob a cosmopolitan curse to humsDity. 
VVbcther owing to this fsoi, or to the aaccess of in- 
dividual experiments in eultivatioo is not aseertained, 
but it IS certain that msny irquiriei have appeared 
of late regarding tfae probability of Oinobona, the 
qiimino giviog tree, proving a valnable addition to 
tho products of AaUralla. A slight sketch of tba his- 
tory of this plant and of its varieties, as ehiefiyculti- 
vuted by Buropeaiis, rosy Iherebro prove of interest 
to the readers of The Leader, Until a comparatively 
recent date Peroviau bark was tbe generic name of 
Ibis invaluable drug, and rhemiets say it is still not 
infrequently sstod fur as simply ilie bstk. This eoands 
ooDimonpUoo enough, bnt the origin of qninine is 
mvertheless bound up wilh one of tbe moat brilliant 
and romantic periods of tbe world’s history. In 1632 
too intrepid Pizarro, with a banil of Spanish adven- 
tnrora, dercerded upon Peru. Luckily for them they 
found the nntnrilly rich and wonderfully developed 
country of tho loons a nroy to civil wsr, owing to the 
grent Inca when dying, having bequeathed a division of 
the kingdom which was foreigo to custums. With his 
usual asliiienesn Pizarro at once decided to offer it as 
an " iidditioi.sl jewel to the already brilliant diadem 
of Spain. ’ Seizing the advantage bo therefore soon 
bicame master of the conniry, but before long in- 
Burruotions, nsturally incident to such a conquest, 
arose, and were suppresfed with such incredible cruel- 
lies by the adventurers that Spain decided to form 
Peru into one rf ila South American vioeroyalties. 
About the middle of tho 17th century the Countess 
Uel Oiuchon, a very tdlenlod and shrewd woman, 
WM at Lima with hir hnrband, the then vice y 
suffering from tbe fever of tbecoiintry, an intermittent 
ague. She was mnch struck with the marvellous pro- 
perties of a i owdered bark procured Irom an indigenous 
ree, Ihe Kii-c, tber.oo quinioe, and on her return to 
“i*** ^ • constant 
supply and encouraged its use among tbe fever 
Mtno Linneus, with due courtesy, in recognition of tbe 
immense service with the oooiiiesi had rendered 
named the plant Cinch no, and under this name all 
tns varieties of tho tree ilnco discovered or prona- 
gated are clarsifiod. While Spain held her as- 
”®ii *,1®^ tI* Europe, quinine, us we shall now 
p»n the Kina powder, made rapid strides as an 
ingredient m fever me.tioines. Unfortunately, it was 
h.|« ever, more or less, monopoly of tbe Jesuits; Pro- 
tistanla absolmely deolined to be doctored by " Priests’ 
powder,” snd thus the invaluable drug fell fir almost a 
century into comparstive disuse, atliac'ing atlentiou 
only Ihri ugh such chauneia as French quacks or ad- 
ymeed apothecaries. Italy has now perbans the 
largest quimoe factories in the world, (iermeny slso 
absorbs largo stocks of bark, chiefly for brewing purpo- 
sea, but on tho whole its place in continental pharmacy 
IS still far too low. Ou the ether hand, it sttsined 
abrut till) oi d of last century a rapid celebrity among 
the leading physicians in England, and thus quickly 
as has been said, “ opened op a new departure in the 
history of medicine.” Its value in time of war and 
epidemics hss long been indisputable, and now that 
it is the chief fsotor in grappling with the greatest 
peace icoorge of our timo any rffort which might 
eventually tend to cheapen or popnlaiieo the febiifnge 
sLojld not lightly be discouraged. Seed or pUi^s 
in waidiau oases can essily be procured, and at a com- 
psritivolv small cost, from India, Java or Oeylon 
and tlure are portions of Viotoiis combining a free 
dry soil with fufilcinet moistuie, which indicates the 
strong possibility of a snitsbie habitat. 
To those interested in this remarkable plant it 
may be of luterest to trace some of the extreme diffl 
