No. 578, REVENUE, 16TH JULY 1897.
ORDER—No. 578, Revenue, dated 16th July 1897.
25
Miscellaneous.
With the first of the letters read
above, Mr. Standen, the Director of the
Government Cinchona Plantations, Nil-
girls, submits his report on the administration of the plantations and the factory under
his control daring the year 1896–97, as well as Mr. David Hooper's report on the
Q u i n o l o g i c a l D e p a r t m e n t f o r t h e s a m e p e r i o d .
2. As stated in paragraph 2 of the review of the previous year's report, Mr. Standen
took charge of his appointment of Director of the Cinchona Plantations and factory
on 23rd May 1896, in pursuance of the scheme proposed by this Government and
approved by the Government of India for the separation of the Cinchona and Botanical
Departments. The details connected with this scheme were under correspondence
with the Piglit Honourable the Secretary of State for India during the year under
review, and his Lordship has since accepted it provisionally for a term of five years.
Mr. Hooper, the Government Quinologist, was, during the year under review, away at
Calcutta in September, October and November, acting for Dr. Watt as Reporter on
Economic Products and on his return he was granted three months' privilege leave with
effect from 23rd February last. Mr. Hooper was thus in charge of the Quinological
Department for about six months only, during which time his duties were nominal.
The post of Government Quinologist has been abolished with effect from 23rd May
last and Mr. Hooper has been appointed Assistant Curator in the Indian Museum at
Calcutta.
3. The abandonment of the Wood estate and the separation of the Botanical from
the Cinchona Department necessitated certain minor alterations in the constitution
of the subordinate staff of two departments concerned. The chief alterations
sanctioned were the abolition of the appointments of the Superintendent and store-
keeper of the Pykara Plantations and the placing of the Hooker estate in the
immediate charge of an overseer on Rs. 50 under the general control and supervision
of the Superintendent of the Nedivattam plantations. The special. herbarium establish-
ment entertained at Ootacamund was also abolished, the strength of the Director's
office staff was slightly increased and a few modifications in the establishments
attached to the Government gardens, the Government Quinologist's laboratory and
the plantations themselves were made. The net result of the reorganization thus
effected was a saving to Government of about Rs. 300 per mensem.
4. The report of the Director shows that, though the year was marked by
exceptional rains and gales, the general condition of these estates was even more
satisfactory than in the previous year. The number
of trees standing on 1st April
1896, excluding those on the Wood estate, was 1,630,998, of which 31,101
d i e d a n d 2 3 , 4 8 0 w e r e e i t h e r c o p p i c e d o r u p r o o t e d d u r i n g t h e y e a r u n d e r r e v i e w .
Before the of the year, 89,101 crown bark. trees were newly put down and on the 31st
March 1897, therefore there were 1,662,518 trees standing on the three estates or
31, more than at the commencement of the year. Of this number, 1,043,261 trees
were of the
C .
o f f i c i a l i s
k i n d . D u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f t h e y e a r a r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f D r . K i n g . D i r e c t o r o f t h e R o y a l B o t a n i c a l G a r d e n , G a l e n t t a , a s t o t h e w o r k i n g o f t h e p l a n t a t i o n s o n a t w e n t y y e a r s ' r o t a t i o n w a s c o n s i d e r e d . T h e D i r e c t o r r e p o r t e d t h a t t o
give effect to the system without seriously reducing the output of quinine it would
be necessary either to aequire fresh. land or to purchase bark in the local market, and
also Premised to submit a working plan on receipt of the final orders by the Govern-
ment. The Government having decided. to sanction the purchase of bark from the
local market, the Director is requested to expedite the submission of the working plan
referred to.
5. In the nurseries a new system of transplanting seedlings into baskets filled
with a mixture of immure and rich soil was introduced during the year and it is
anticipated that this will in the future considerably reduce casualities among young
trees. The number of seedlings raised from the seeds of trees grown on the hills so
treated was 91,940. Crown bark seeds were received from Jamaica and seedlings
rais ed from them at the Government Gardens, Ootacamund, and of these 18,707 are