6
28TH JUNE 1893, Nos. 576, 576A, 576B, 576C, REVENUE .
to speak, the finished product of the estates, but now the finished products consist
almost entirely of quinine and febrifuge. The following is the new form proposed:
R S .
A.
P.
Value of 4,933 lb. of quinine at Rs. 13-6-0 per lb.
. . . 65,978 14 0
Do. of 3,139 lb. of febrifuge at Rs. 10 per lb.
. . . 31,390
0 0
Miscellaneous receipts, such as sale of plants and seeds, &c . . . 1,061
2 5
Total
. . . 98,430
0 5
Expenditure for the year including salaries, upkeep of
estate, factory, &c.
. . . 78,885 11 8
Profit on the year's working
. . . 19,544
4 9
Total. . . 98,430
0 5
(g) Spelling of names.— It will be observed that the spelling of several names
of places has been altered in accordance with G.O., No. 212, of 4th March 1893,
Revenue.
(h) A comparison of the alkaloids of barks when grown in rich and poor soils.
— T h e f o l l o w i n g c i r c u l a r m e m o i n t e n d e d f o r t h e i n f o r m a t i o n o f t h e S u p e r i n t e n d e n t s o f
the Government Cinchona Estates may be of interest to others.
The following analyses of soils and barks have been made with the view of
showing how an increase of alkaloids in the natural bark of cinchona trees follows
upon enriching the soil:
—
(1) Simply by deep digging.
(2) By deep digging and manuring.
With respect to the soils analysed, these were taken from a typical grass hill on
the Government estates at Nedivattam. Both samples were taken two feet from the
surface. The first was the natural sub soil; the second was from a trench after it had
been filled in with top soil one and a half years, but had not been manured.
No. 1 contained 25.15 per cent. moisture.
No. 2 contained 29.13 per cent. moisture.
The soils dried at 100°C. yielded—.
Organic matter and combined water
. . .
14.020
20.860
Iron and alumina . . .
24
. 1 0 0
2 0 . 8 0 0
Lime . . .
.092
.690
Magnesia . . .
.063
.392
Potash . . .
. 1 1 2
.202
Phosphoric acid
. . .
.062
.145
Sulphuric acid
. . .
.005
.044
Silicates . . .
32.430
34.850
Sand
. . .
25. 460
17.240
Undetermined
. . .
3.656
4.977
Total
. . .
100.000
100.200
Nitrogen in the organic matter
. . .
.166
.420
From the above analyses it will be seen that, while the first soil is somewhat
poor, the second is decidedly a rich one. The organic matter is increased by almost
one-third, while the nitrogen is much more than doubled. It will be noticed too that
the lime has been increased seven and a half times, the magnesia six and a quarter
times and also the potash is nearly doubled. The phosphoric acid more than doubled
and the sulphuric aci
d i s i n c r e a s e d n e a r l y n i n e f o l d .
The lime and potash have been derived from the grass and weeds, which had
decomposed in the trench; these grasses and weeds had taken the lime and potash
in minute quantities at a time from the surrounding soil and accumulated them in
their tissues. The increase of the nitrogen, phosphoric and sulphuric acids is due to
the same cause.
If these grasses and weeds had been simply dug up and left on the surface of
ground, exposed to the sun and air, they would have been burnt by slow combustion,
almost as completely as if they had been put into a furnace, and the whole or nearly