But it was an easy process to convey plants by the short voyage from China to Calcutta, when compared with the introduction of plants from the western coast of South America into India; and the performance of the latter feat, in the case of the chinchona-plants under Mr. Cross's care, is undoubtedly the most extraordinary success of the kind that has yet been achieved.
A few remarks on the treatment of plants in Wardian cases were supplied to me by Mr. Weir and Mr. Cross, who acquired their experience in the voyages from South America to India; and by Mr. McIvor, who received the plants on the Neilgherry hills. The cases were filled with soil to a depth of nine to ten inches, in which the chinchonas were planted in rows, from the back to the front of the case. The distance from plant to plant was regulated by their size, but, in the case of their having much foliage, they should be rather wide apart, for the crowding of foliage is always injurious, and often brings on mildew or mould. After having been planted they were well watered, and shaded from the glare of the mid-day sun. On the surface of the soil, between each row of plants, a batten was placed, extending from the back to the front of the case, and held firmly down by two longer battens extending lengthways. By this means the soil and plants are not disturbed in the operation of moving the cases. When the cases are finally closed the soil should be in a medium state as regards moisture, and all dead foliage should be removed. The cases should be made as air-tight as possible by filling the seams with putty, and every precaution must be taken to preserve the plants from the slightest contact with salt water.[387] Mr. McIvor strongly recommends that the cases should be furnished with a false bottom, raised about two or three inches above the true bottom, by bars of wood of the required thickness being nailed on the underside. The false bottom should have holes bored in it at regular intervals, with a few broken pieces of pot and a layer of moss placed over them. He considers that the best sort of soil is formed of equal parts of leaf-mould, turfy loam, and sand, mixed in a dry state, and spread out and exposed to the action of the sun for a few days before being placed in the cases. During the voyage the plants should have plenty of light and air, one side of the case being left open for two or three hours, morning and evening, during fine weather, when dead leaves should be picked off, and water administered to any plant which may require it. The soil should be turned up on the surface to the depth of about half an inch with a small pointed stick every three or four days, and always kept rough on the surface, so as to allow the air to circulate in the soil. This circulation of air is also facilitated by the false bottom. The action of the air on the soil keeps the roots in fine condition, and entirely prevents the formation of mildew and damp; but the principal object of the false bottom is to allow any excess of water to drain off into a place where it cannot sour the soil, and yet will not be lost. Then, as the soil becomes dry above, the water will be attracted to it.
With the exception of the false bottom, all the above suggestions were carefully attended to by the gardeners who were in charge of the chinchona-plants during the voyage to India; the partial failures which attended some of the relays from South America could not, under the circumstances, have been avoided by any human foresight; and, as the general result of my arrangements has been to introduce all the valuable kinds of quinine-yielding plants into India, we have every reason to congratulate ourselves on the success of our labours.
With the chinchona-plants I brought from Peru a supply of seeds of the chirimoya, of aji-pepper, and of the Schinus molle, all of which are coming up well on the Neilgherry hills.[388] They have most of the other kinds of Anonas in India, but the chirimoya fruit, the most exquisite of all, has yet to be raised. He who has not tasted the chirimoya has yet to learn what fruit is. "The pine-apple, the mangosteen, and the chirimoya," says Dr. Seemann, "are considered the finest fruits in the world. I have tasted them in those localities in which they are supposed to attain their highest perfection—the pine-apple in Guayaquil, the mangosteen in the Indian archipelago, and the chirimoya on the slopes of the Andes; and, if I were called upon to act the part of a Paris, I would without hesitation assign the apple to the chirimoya. Its taste indeed surpasses that of every other fruit, and Haenke was quite right when he called it the masterpiece of nature."[389]
In obtaining plants and seeds of these valuable chinchonas from South America, it would be a source of deep regret to me if that measure was attended by any injury to the people or the commerce of Peru or Ecuador, countries in the welfare of which I have for years taken the deepest interest. But I have no apprehension that such will be the result of the cultivation of these plants in other parts of the world. The demand for quinine will always be in excess of the supply from South America; and the result of chinchona cultivation in India and Java will have the effect of lowering the price, and bringing this inestimable febrifuge within the reach of a vast number of people who are now excluded from its use, without in any way injuring the trade of Peru and Ecuador. I trust that not only will this measure do no injury to the South Americans, but that it may be hereafter productive of good to them, as well as to the rest of mankind. Hitherto they have destroyed the chinchona-trees in a spirit of reckless short-sightedness, and thus done more injury to their own interests than could possibly have arisen from any commercial competition; but it may be that the influence of peace and education will inaugurate a new system in time to come, that more enlightened views will prevail, and that they themselves may undertake the cultivation of a plant which is indigenous to their forests, but which, up to this time, they have so foolishly neglected. It will then be a pleasure to supply them with the information which will have been gained by the experience of cultivators in India, and thus to assist them in the establishment of plantations on the slopes of the eastern Andes.
Under any circumstances the South Americans, who owe to India the staple food of millions of their people, and to the Old World most of their valuable products—wheat, barley, apples, peaches, sugar-cane, the vine, rice, the olive, sheep, cattle, and horses—have no right to desire to withhold from India a product which is so essentially necessary to her welfare. Nor do I believe that the better conditioned Peruvians have any such desire. On the contrary, many of them have shown themselves willing to promote a friendly interchange of the products of the New and Old Worlds; and the foolish decree issued in Ecuador on the 1st of May, 1861, as well as the numerous obstructions thrown in my way in southern Peru, may be imputed either to the narrow-minded selfishness of half-educated officials, or to the ignorant patriotism of backwoodsmen. These are feelings which are not shared by either the educated few, or by the Indian population.
After much careful consideration it had been decided that the best place for commencing the experimental cultivation of chinchona-plants in India would be the Neilgherry hills, in the Madras Presidency. Here are to be found a climate, an amount of moisture, a vegetation, and an elevation above the sea, more analogous to those of the chinchona forests in South America than can be met with in any other part of India. In the Government gardens at Ootacamund, on the Neilgherries, there were the necessary conveniences for propagating plants and raising seedlings; and in Mr. William G. McIvor, the Superintendent, was to be found a zealous, intelligent, and practical gardener, who had carefully studied the botany of the chinchona genus, and under whose care the cultivation would be commenced with the best possible guarantees for its success.
From the Neilgherries the chinchona-plants will, it is hoped, be introduced into such other hill districts of Southern India as, after examination, may be found suitable for their growth; and it was a part of my duty to visit the most promising localities, and, in conjunction with Mr. McIvor, to select the sites for chinchona plantations on the Neilgherry hills. With this object in view we landed at the port of Calicut, on the coast of Malabar, on the 7th of October, 1861.