Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1882-04-15
SATURDAY PRESS.
CULTIVATION OF C1NCHoNA.
APRIL Ih. 1892

Several months ago we made editorial men
tion Of the advisabili,y of attempting the
cultivation Of the cinchona tree in these
Islands, as there is much land particularly
adapted to its growth that is not available
for sugar cane or coffee. The Sugar Cane for
March lst has an excellent article on "Cin-
chona Cultivation in jamaica" portion of
which we republish
"Three kinds of cinchona are now we'll
established in Jamaica, viz, c. o6icinaiis, c..
sWcciruJra, and variety called G. calisdya,
supposed to be a hybrid between the other
two The leolgeriana is variety of cdiisoya.
Seeds or the c. o6tcindlis for cultivation at
elevations above 1000 feet are supplied by
the Government at 2l.2O per ounce, of c.
succirubrd at elevations between $500 and
1000, at ~ cents per ounce. An ounce is
sufficient to produce 10000 seedlings, which
will plant five acres. Plants are obtainablc
at $3.50 to Sl4.5O per thousand. The young
trees are planted at 3lS by 3i5 feet in rows,
giving $500 plants to the acre. The outlay
per acre up to the fourth or fifth year is about
$3.50. The earliest crop of bark may be
yielded by trimmings or uprooting of weakly
trees at the end of the fourth year. Taking
these at rs per cent. of trees planted and
yielding six ounces of bark per tree, we have,
say, 320 lbs. of bark at IS cents per lb. Qess
20 cents per lb. expense of barking, etc. yield
ing a net return of say Sl75 per acre. This,
it will bo noticed, will moro than cover OK
penses of the plantation up to the end of the
fourth or fifth year. There will then be left
some 2,4OO trees to the acre, well cstab-
lished, and capable of yielding regular crops
of bark, at the rate of $3.50 to 5000 per acre,
up to the time when the plantation is cropped
"Thc total yield of the plantations deduct
ing costs Of barking, curing and shipping, up
to the end Of the ninth year, will probably be
not less than Ss75 pcr acre, against u tota
outlay FOR planting operations for that period
of about 5000 to 1925 per acre. The esti-
mates in all these cases are based OH the
price of Creole labor in Jamaioa-25 cents
day for men and Is cents for women. v
Mr.. Morris, Director of Public Gardens
writes son one aero $4,000 trees may be
planted. With an average yield of ID. o.
bark per year, (not large yield,) each tree
would be worth $l2O; and the value of al
acre of ground planted with trees even at one
| half the above rate, would amount to more
than S9,45O. With the ledyvima bark til,
| yield per acre is estimated from actual sales
at $4,000"
From the above it will be seen that if it cal
be grown successfully here it would be mos
valuable addition 10 our products. 1t requires
moist land, generally at an altitude abov'
1000 feet, of which there are thousands o
acres on the windward side of these Islands
which are now of little or no value. Th
cinchona will flourish on rocky but mois
| ground that is too rough for the cultivation o
cane, and it requires comparatively littl
care. We would like to see it tried here
There are many other products that might b.
grown here with profit, if there was somo on
to take the lead. Perhaps it would not b
out of place here TO suggest that the recent.
organized Planters Labor and Supply Com
pany and the Government select Commits
sioner of Agriculture, part of whose duty
will be to encourage such experiments, thu
look practicable, and assist in thorough all
practical demonstration of them. We do nc
think that the Government could make an
small outlay that would promise greater re
| cult