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ON CINCHONA CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 
BY MR. CLEMENTS MARKHAM. 
COMMUNICATED TO THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH BY DR. GREVILLE. 
Mr. Markham has been deputed by the Government to visit the planters along the 
western coast of India, and try to induce them to cultivate the Cinchona tree, in order 
that a new source of supply of quinine may be obtained. He had been visiting and re¬ 
porting on the Hakgalla Cinchona Plantation, in Ceylon. He says that the site at 
Hakgalla is well chosen, as closely resembling the habitat of the plants in South Ame¬ 
rica, and he hears testimony to the skill and success with which Dr. Thwaites, assisted 
by Mr. MacNicol, has conducted the task of cultivating and propagating the quinine- 
yielding plants. Of the many thousands planted out on a bare slope at Rothschild, ex¬ 
posed to the full influence of light and wind, he also speaks in the highest terms as robust 
and flourishing. He states that the Cinchonidce in India are pretty certain greatly to 
excel the parent plants in South America in the yield of valuable alkaloids. So striking 
is the improvement, indeed, that what are reckoned inferior species in the country to 
which they are indigenous, vie in their products with the most valuable. It has been 
proved that not only do the young prunings yield large quantities of quinine, but that 
by encouraging the growth of Moss and Lichens on the stems, the quantity of alkaloids 
is increased ; and more than this, that if the wounds are at once covered over by Moss, 
strips of bark, rich in the most valuable of febrifuges, can be repeatedly taken from the 
same trees without injury to their vitality. Every encouraging element, as far as culti¬ 
vation is concerned, is therefore present; and to complete the inducements to the Ceylon 
planters to engage in the pursuit, there will be a market close to their doors. The Go¬ 
vernment of India, the largest consumers of quinine in the world, are about to establish 
a manufactory for obtaining the sulphate from the bark, in the Madras Presidency. The 
red bark of India and Ceylon will fetch as high a price as the Calisciya of Bolivia, the 
most valuable of all the barks (4 s. per lb.). If the price went down to one-fourth of 
this sum, we have little doubt the cultivation would pay. The bark could either go to 
India, or it would be taken at a cheap rate to England as filling-up cargo. Not half-a- 
dozen years have elapsed since the first plants were introduced into India, and now they 
are to be found, to the number of at least a million and a half, scattered over the hill- 
ranges of Ceylon and India, from Hakgalla to the Himalayas—flourishing everywhere, 
except in hill hollows, where actual frosts prove fatal to them. The Indian Government 
consider that the progress in the operations has been very satisfactory, and they congra¬ 
tulate Mr. MTvor on the important success that has attended his labours in|this national 
undertaking. The oldest plants which were planted out in August, 1862, are now' from 
8 to 12 feet in height, and from 7 to 13 inches in girth at 6 inches from the ground, well 
furnished with lateral branches, and present a most robust and healthy appearance. In 
the oldest plantations the branches of the plants, 10 and 12 feet apart, are now touching 
each other, and the bark is much increased in thickness. The characteristic markings of 
the finest Peruvian bark are becoming more and more apparent, Lichens and Mosses being 
fully developed. The plants are flowering freely, and perfect seeds have already been 
obtained ; in short, there is no room to doubt that the Cinchona can be growm on the 
Neilgherries in great perfection. 
BOTANICAL CONGRESS. 
The Committee of the Botanical Congress to be held in May next, in connection 
with the International Horticultural Exhibition, and under the presidency of Professor 
A. De Candolle, now comprises the names of James Bateman, Professor Babington, 
W. Baxter, J. J. Bennett, Rev. M. J. Berkeley, Professor Bentley, W. Carruthers, Pro¬ 
fessor Daubenv, Charles Darwin, Dr. Hogg, W. Masters, J. M‘Nab, A. G. More, Dr. 
Moore, T. Moore, J. Miers, W. Paul, Dr. Prior, J. G. Yeitch, Dr. Welwitsch, Dr. Wight, 
James Yates, and others. Several papers have already been announced, and it is ex¬ 
pected that a large number of foreign botanists and horticulturists wall be present. 
VOL. VII. ^ M 
