$34 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[June i, 1892, 
easily be improved. We believe we are correct when 
WO state that in Madras planters and private indivi- 
du^a are at liberty to purchase quinine in certain 
quantities from the Neddiwattum Factory.— J/arfra.^ 
Timeti May 4th. 
^ 
QUININE AND JAVA CINCHONA. 
Wo publish on page 022 full statistics of the 
esiimatod crop of Java olDohoua for 1802 The figures 
have been collected by the Soekahoemi Agricultural 
Aisociatiou, that eoergetis organisation of Java planters 
to whose efforts on bobalf of the otncltoua in- 
dustry we have often bad ooossioo to refer This 
is the fourth year of publicatiou of the Association’s 
estiosatesi which bare fairly stood the test of 
eoourftoyi elthoogh the aotual output has always been 
rather lo eiceseof the forecast. On thisoccasioD, we 
are told, special paias have been taken to render the 
figures as correct as possible, and tbo Association’s 
efforts have been mope ge- er'tlly seconded by individua) 
planters thau in any prev ous SL'R5on. The rUtisticR 
show ibal of the 11& plantations known to exist in 
the island two have bc«m nbaMdoued since Unt ypsr. 
while on three others all the tree’* have been uproated. 
Those three plantations oidy produced an aggregate of 
1 0,000 lb, of bark, or less than 8 pcrcentoF the total 
production— a fact wb^ch diRpo^^CK of the aa«©rtion 
that there has boon a general upr*iotiiig of trefs In 
oODsequeooe of the low prioea which havn rtib’d. More- 
over. nearly all the uprooted cinchona averaged only 
8 to psr cent of quinine sulphate, a \ if Id admittedU 
too low tc bold out any prosrn^ei of successful com- 
petiHon in the facure. On the other hand, twenty-six 
plantations have either not yet come into bearing at all 
or only yield iuslgoificsnt quantities, while six others, 
though still in existence aud rsndy to ship bark under 
more favourable ciroomstanres, did not harvest any last 
season. These figures indirate that thereis plentv of 
reserve s»ock in the iaiaod to fall back upon when 
the market improves. Ano’ber important feature f 
the return is that the quinine value of the bark 
on almost all the large estates is inoreaHlug. The 
manufaotnring bark trom Javs, which averaged about 
3^ cent not long ago, will next season repre- 
sent an average value of nearly 5 pet cent in 
sulphate of quinine, and that proportion is 
likdy to bo still further increased later on. The 
main interest of the Soekahoemi returns, 
however, lies in the fact that, for the first 'time 'in 
the history of the Java circhenn industry, they presage 
a fal ing-off, positive ns well as relative, in the ship- 
ments from tbo island. If <he unit remains where 
it is now, the compihTa expect the quinine output of 
tbe island to be fully lO per cent. If sa than last season, 
and even i^ the unit should imprrvo to l}d or l|d 
per Ib., itfs likely to fsll holow that of 1891 by 1 per 
cent or thereabouts. Private nlvicns which have 
reached ua simultaueously with tbe returns state that 
tbe actual shipments will almost certainly fall below 
the minimum mentioned in the ri'turus, unless, in- 
deed, in the unllkoly eyeut of a consideralde im- 
provement in prices. What tie piauiers aim in the 
first place, bowevof» is not so much a considerable 
advance in the unit value as an assured steodiiiesv 
in tbe market^ and they wilt, tlie«''fore, endeavour 
to regulate their shipments in such a manner that the 
quantitiee to be offered at tie AmslcrdAm auctons 
shnll bo as nearly rqnal as p'-ssible, ** experience 
having proved that the Amsterdam mnrket is an un- 
uaually aefisttiveooe, and easily affeute<l by iiregiilarity 
in tbe aupply.*’ 
The position of tbe Java planters todsr resembles 
that of their Ceylon octleague* in 1880 in this 
respect — that the excessive fenling of > ho Euro- 
pean hark-market is beginnlug to p*oiuoA thf* 
ioevitabio reaction— but tbe sitiiat on is different 
from trat in Oeylon eix years ag', fir^t, InsarTUchas 
there is in Java a heavy supply of rich bark to fall 
hack upon ; Bsaondly, beoatise the Java growers have 
taken to heart the lesson that the indiserimitmte 
production of low-grado, quickly-growing barks does 
pot pay I andi finftllyi because they have not, as tbe 
C»yloQ growers had at tbo time, looming before 
ihem the spectre of a now and rapidly growing source 
of production the ndvont of wnich they are bound 
to foreatall at all hazards. Thr-re is no important 
source of supply b hind the Java p'aiiters. They 
have taken the lead of the market, and can keep 
it if they like. That is a fact alout which there 
cannot he two opinions. 
The tbreatenid falling-off in tbo prodnetion of Java 
cinchona-bark would, no doubt, under ordinary oircum- 
Btancoa make iuell in t in iho quinine marki t. But that 
market has bet n ui )i nged to such a d< gree by speculative 
sales, that tbo effect at ihe laws which nsuRlly govern tho 
iluctuationB of ruanufaciur d proiluots m'^y be r» tardod 
for a coneidcraldo tim* . Tbero is certainly no mdica- 
tion yet of anyupvuid movement In quinine, though 
tbo signs which would war unt such a tendency are 
alowly aocumuiating at the horizon.— (.'Armwf an! 
Druygiit^ k^xW 23rd. 
» ■ ■ . ■ - 
TIIK CINCIIOXA ADMINISTUATIOX 
HE FORT. 
The Gcvcrnnisrt of India, in acknowledging receipt 
of the Annual Repoit of tbo Government Oinobona 
riantations on tbe Nilgiris for tbe year 181)(l*91, re- 
inarkt-Ml that the quantity of nark in stock at the 
close oftbe year omotinted to 510,695 lb, which tbe 
Director of Plantationa (Mr. Laws’-n) hoped lo utilise 
tor tbe inaDiitaclnre of quinine during tbe next few 
years. The Government of India trusted that these 
aoiicipatious might bo realii-ed, and added; — has 
not been altogo her Fati-iaoti ry that manufacture 
has tailed to keep pace with the increased dem'tnd, 
and tho Government of ludia is glad to obiserve that 
tbe Madras Goveromont U oalliug fur a special 
Report ft'pardiog tbe nlhged inadequacy of the 
machinery received from EublaMd.” Ic. al<io pointed 
out that one rea’^ou for the difficulty tiperienced 
in the sale of ihe q linit e powders w.-is prob- 
ably the high price ebarv* d fr then namely, 3 pies 
each, or at the rate of H2l pot lb., giving a piofi’ of 
50 per cent on tbo cost of production. It was unable 
to believe that reluctance existed anywhere in India to 
take quinine. There was a wolMouuUed ropngnance, 
no doubt, to th - cinchona febrifuge on account of its 
nauseating pr ,otti**f, but no such oljectfon was 
found to ihe u>*e of quinine with tbo effects and 
potency of which the people were generally familiar. 
With a view, tliereforc. to render thu retail distri- 
bution of quioin'i Burcfraful. tbe Guvernraont of India 
thought tbe price eh< uld be oousidortihly leduoed. 
Mr. Lawson, in CJmuiRi.ting on the Rupreme Go. 
vernment’a letter, said ihat the larg- a;QOU t of bark, 
Id stock consisted cheifiv of red bark. wbi(h, when 
compared wiih crown ba«k, is poor iu qui unf; so that 
to obtain a large amount of quin no it would be n'^- 
cesaary to use a much larger quanUty than would be 
the case if it were crown hark. lo other words, 
the amount of bark iu slock wduid l ot so far as 
the number of pounds given In the Report might 
lead Government to supposo. Of tbo crown bark re- 
maining, there was ground up a sufficient quant ty to 
last till tbe end of July next, and of unground bark 
enough to last till the end of this year. During the 
next monsoon it is proposed to taken Ur^e harvest 
of crown and crown hybrid bark fnm the Dodabotta 
and Naduvatam katates ; but sItho'igU 159,000 lb. have 
been put down iu.t}ie Budgi t Es iniate as the pro- 
bable outturn, Mr. Liwsun will be guidetl by wbat 
is f. nod n' ocASiry tor tho fictory, au l thi n afUT 
^hat, by what he thinks desirable to tike from ihe 
trerp. With rcfmnce to thercimrk that tho manu- 
facture Ind ffti'ei ’o ke* p pace with the increaAi d 
demand th ough inadKqoate mucbiiicr.i, Mr. Lawson 
aaiil this viasnot quite tho case, ss after supplying 
all requiroinents there remaiuod at tbs close of 
the year 1 572 Ib. in stock, all of which, and 
moro, had been emce iutn.ded for by the vari- 
"iiB Indian Medical Departmonta, bo'-ides 1.260 Ib. of 
febrifuge. Up to the Slat Decemb<^r, 1891, indents 
were received which amounted to B77,000 or lil,000 
