THE CINCHONA EXPERIMENT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1736, 1 July 1862, Page 3

THE CINCHONA EXPERIMENT.

The Queen's Government of India bids fair, in spite of financial difficulties, to win the same reputation as the East India Company so fully deserved, of encouraging literature, science and art. I The proposed expedition to Central Asia, the appointment of Colonel Cunningham as archaaologist, the substantial interest manifested in the cultivation of tea and flax, and the encouragement given to the growth of cotton, give evidence no less of an unselfish interest in the promotion o<f what is useful than of wisdom in creating nev^ sources of revenue. This has been more especially^ , evident in the steps taken by the Governor) General and the Secretary of State to naturalise the quinine-yielding Cinchona 3in the humid forests of our Indian hills. Twenty years ago i Dr. Royle recommended the introduction of the Cinchona into India, and in 1852 he sent to Calc utta several seeds of the" Calisaya variety procured- from the forests of Bolivia by M. Weddell. The seeds failed to germinate in the Botanic Gardens, but next Mr. Fortune brought out six plants, \ when on his way to China. They were exposed near , Darjeeling at too high an elevation. Dr. Falconer ; also took up the subject, and in 1855 Dr. Ander- '. son, at present Superintendent of the Gardens, returned to it. Meanwhile the Mutiny intervened, but in 1859, Lord Stanly sent Mr. Markham toSouth America to procure plants. Mr. Markham J succeeded in carrying off 400 plants, which he himself introduced into the Neilgherries, butj aIL of which perished. Still defeat was not con-f fessed. Application vras made to Mr. Spruce, a; botanist who had lived twelve years in Bolivia and ho sent to England and the West India Islands a quantity of seed of the Succirubija variety under the care of Mr. Cross, a pratical gardener. At the same time other seeds wele sent to the Kew Gardens by an agent of Air. Markhara's. Sir \V. Hooker intrusted packeJsfof the seed to Dr. Anderson for trial in India, whjle Mr. Cross managed most successfully to convey plants to Ootacamund. The result is that 50 plants, the stock on 9th May last, had beenfs^ skilfully propagated that they had increasedjt 8,613 at the end of 1861. Only a few, howeve>o are planted out in open air nurseries ; the res; grow in conservatories under the influence of ar tificial heat. ■• • Thus far the experiment has boen successful, but to be of any use it must enter on a new stag©. The plants must grow natural in the open air. On sth October last. Dr. Anderson was accordingly despatched to Java where a similar experiment has been tried ever since 1854. In that year a. Mr. llasskarl brought plants from South America.l and they were entrusted to the gardener in charge of the Botanic Gardens at-Buitenzorg, the Governor General's seat. The experiment was such a failure that in 1856 Dr. Junghuhn, a well known botanist, took charge of it, and Dr. DeVrij, a | . chemist, was appointed to assist him. The result is that 8000 healty plants of Calisaya, more than . half a million of Pahudiana and large numbers of . other species, flourish luxuriantly in the open air. J Dr. Anderson was received with the utmost cour- ;; tesy by the Dutch authorities. In a country \ . where forced labour is the law, he had " ample; relays of coolies" for his Wardian eases, he wasi himself supplied with post-horses, and the botanist,: 1 chemist and all the necessary officials accompa- » nied him, in his visit to the plantations. Let us; * follow Dr. Anderson. In the Southern portions, . of Java, the Kendeng and Malabar range of : mountains rise from the plateau of Bandongi; f »hich is 2000 feet above the sea, to an elevation [' of from 6,000 to 7000 feet. They are covered to . their tops by a dense forest of gigantic trees, . broken only by the crater of an active or extinct volcano. As we ascend we leave the rice fields of . the plateau, pass through plantations of coffee with stems thirty feet high, covered with mosseq and orchids, and then enter forests choked witlii 1 an undergrowth of tree-ferns, wild plantations] ! and acandent shrubs. At an elevation of 5000; ■ feet tlie rhododendron and the oak, types of a ; : i teinporate flora, begin to be visible. Occasionally t the vegetation becomes scorched and stunted, as i the craters of active volcanoes are reached. The j trees are dripping with moisture, spongy mosses entwine their roots and the traveller is hidden r from the sun. Here at 6500 feet is the new [ home of the Cinchonas. The soil is volcanic dust, | the mean temperature is from 62 °t066 ° , and i the place is as rainy as the west of Scotland, the - fall varying from 180 to 250 inches, and contining from September to June, but occasionally the whole year. ■ The Dutch gardeners proceed thus. .On a r cleared space long and narrow raised beds of earth ; are arranged in terraces and protected by low i sheds. A joint of a bamboo forms a pot filled with rich soil on the surface of which a Cinchona . seed is placed, the pot being put under the ehed. , In sixty days the seed germinates, and the j-oung ' plant, when large enough, is put out in the forest. When twelve or eighteen months old, and twelve [ inches "high, it is permanently planted out, ■ and Ojvdrod over by strong posts to protect it • from injury. The work is done in each nursery ■ by one European gardener and native labourers. ■ In the forest all side lights being shut out, the i plant is drawn up by the sun directly over-head. ' When six years old it is thirty feet high. The : full height of 00 or 70 feet with a corresponding thickness is not attained under 40 or 50 years. . The plant bears seed at an early period bub not as yet with regularity. Many • years elapse until ! ..wood with bark is found fit for use, but the roots | contain a larger proportion of the alkaloid than the bark. Instead of waiting, therefore, till the ' trees are fully grown, Dr. de Vrij is about to experiment on the roots of trees four years old. This will necessitate their destruction, but the I plants are so numerous that the experiment is J i now out of danger. Dr. Anderson returned from ;| ; Java on 11th November. He had tho advantage y , of the company of tho geologist Baron Von Rich-},' tofen of the Prussian embassy. He had an inter-;/ . view with Baron Von Bloet, the new Governor General, to whom he will send some of our' 1 valuable specimens in return for his courtesy! And Messrs. Jardine, Skinner and Co., Apcar and ' Co., and the P. and O. Company conveyed his plants in their Wardian cases free of charge, ■ He has introduced his precious charge into th 6 Neilgherries where he studied the sites. He hatl in the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, a month agd, r 289 plants of which 65 were from Java. "; ' Dr. Anderson's most successful embassy, as we s may call it, to Java, has resulted in the following conclusions which he establishes. So important . an experiment must be under scientific superitj- , tendence. Where, in Java, the meteorology, botany, and geology of the hilla ara known, there 1 is little difficulty in selecting proper aites, Tfie

" successful rearing of the Cinchonas in the green-houses at Ootacamund is no more a proof that the climate of Neilgherries is adapted for their cultivation, than the fact that many thousands of seedlings as well as cuttings are now existing in perfect health in the Cinchona Nursery at Kew, would lead us to expect that- the plants will grow in the open air in In the present Ootacamund sites there is a want of moisture and shade, the rain-tall at Ootacamund is only 18 inches, and the average in the Neilgherrics 90, while the mean temperature is 56° s'. There are localities suitable for less temperate species of Cinchona But for such as will with-! stand s slight fall of snow, " we must look for a proper home in the moist region of Darjeeling and the damp deep inner valleys of Eastern Kumaon " Dr. A nderson is accordingly now in Darjeeling, where he proposes to obtain 1000 acres of land on the lower and outer ranges. Copying the Dutch system he will establish a nursery under a Euro pean gardener, and promises not only to supply the Dutch with plants next November, but to have enough to commence a nursery for the more tropical species in the Khasia Hills. He begins with the Calisaya, Suecirubra and Pahudiana varieties. The whole cost for the year is estimated at only £722. It has been proved in the Neilgherries that Cinchonas flourish in a hothouse. It remains to be seen if they will be as luxuriant in the open ait , in the damp vallies of the Himalayas. Otherwise the experiment will be a failure. Dr. Anderson has all the qualifica • tions, and will be furnished with all the means, to ensure success.