No. 426, REVENUE, 2ND AUGUST 1898.
5
considered satisfactory. In the stock statement No. 11, the quinine and febrifuge
in store as well as the bark have been valued at cost price, while the quinine
held as stock by Revenue officials and Postmasters has been valued at its selling price.
The introduction of this change has necessitated the re-valuing of the stock of quinine
and febrifuge in hand on the 31st March 1697, the total value of all stock being
reduced from Rs. 1,84,367–6–0 to Rs. 1,39,989–2–4.
III. GENERAL CONDITION—(a) Dodabetta.—The condition of this estate, which has
been favourably reported on fur many years, continues to be very satisfactory. It is
by far the most valuable of the three plantations and is undoubtedly the finest cinchona
estate of its size in Southern India. Towards the end of the dry season the want of
moisture was felt by trees growing on ridges and in poor soil, but on the whole the
estate suffered little from the drought. The beneficial effects of green manuring was
well marked on plot 23, and the application of a dressing of lime to plots 17, 19 and
20 caused a decided improvement in the appearance of the trees. The growth of shoots
from coppice stools has, in some parts of the estate, been very good, but in other
parts the results have not been satisfactory. As stated in the report for last year those
stools, which fail to throw up shoots, will be dug up and replaced by seedling plants
grown in baskets. The stools in many cases remain dormant without losing their
vitality for a considerable time, and it is only when they are found to be actually
dead Chat they are dug out. During the year 47,364: plants were put out to fill
vacancies in the old plantation, and a small plot of new land, amounting to about
2 acres, was cleared and planted with plants raised from seed received from Jamaica.
The chief reason for opening this small plot was to enable a comparison to be made
between the growth of plants on virgin soil and that of plants grown on old cinchona
land. At the end of the year, notwithstanding the drought, the plants put out on the
new land were looking very well, and the failures amounted to about 4 per cent. only.
The difficulty experienced in growing a second crop of cinchonas on land which has
been for many years under cinchona cultivation raised the question of the deterioration
of Crown bark plants grown front seed taken from the older trees on the plantations,
and it was on this account deemed advisable to procure fresh seed from Jamaica. If,
however, it can be proved that no deterioration of the plant has occurred, the want of
success which attends the replanting of old cinchona laud must be due to a deficiency
of plant food, or to a change in the physical condition of the soil, or to a combination
of these causes. Judging from the fact that the ground which has been replanted
with little success in recent years has been liberally treated with cattle manure which
contains plant food in abundance and is what is known as a complete manure, the
conclusion would seem to be that the change in the physical condition of the soil
brought about by years of cultivation and exposure to sun and wash is the chief
cause of the difficulty. Such soil is greatly inferior in the power of retaining moisture
to virgin land which contains an ample supply of humus, and when it is considered
how trying to young plant life is the long period of drought which is characteristic of
the climate of the Nilgiris, the importance of the retention of moisture in the soil
cannot be over-estimated. A period of fallow, the application of manure, and
t h e p l a n t i n g o f s h a d e t r e e s a p p e a r t o o f f e r t h e b e s t c h a n c e o f s u c c e s s i n t h e r e p l a n t i n g o f
old land, and it is proposed to experiment on these lines. The most suitable shade trees
are the Frenella Rhomboidia and the Grevillia Robusta which would be dug out and
used for fuel after they had served their purpose of protecting the young cinchonas.
The shade trees would be planted first and when they had formed sufficient cover to
afford protection to the soil, the cinchonas would be planted. Although it is not the
intention of Government at present that old cinchona land should be replanted,
still it is advisable that experiments which can be conducted at little cost should be
made with a view to overcoming, if possible, the difficulties experienced in the past.
(b) Nedivattam.—The older trees on this estate have responded well to the more
liberal cultivation which they have received during the past two years. Throughout
the dry season they retained a healthy, vigorous appearance and, with a few exceptions,
showed no signs of suffering from the drought. Perhaps the most vigorous looking
trees are those on plot 7 which were coppiced in the year 1879. Many of these
trees are now 30 feet to 40 feet high. This plot was originally planted in 1863
and the coppicing was done when the trees were 16 years old. A few of the trees