Hunt Institute Archives Text Discovery Platform

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8.

has recently been made available to Guatemaltecans in general
through a Spanish translation published for free distribution
by the Direccion General de Agricultura.

Naturally, the recommendations of foreign writers are
not always applicable here, since they are based on practice in
far-distant parts of the world. But they have furnished the
basis on which to commence experimentation.

And in the past months, the work commenced in 1934 under
the auspices of Merck and Company has commenced to bear fruit.
At Finca Helvetia, at Finca Moc, at Finca Panama, at Finca
El Zapote, and at Finca Samac in Coban are several hundred
Ledger trees grown from the seed obtained from Java, which have
attained sufficient size to permit analyses to be made of their
bark, and which show definite promise of proving satisfactory
for commercial cultivation in the form of grafted clones
(varieties) or as seedlings, if protected from cross-pollination.
Furthermore, they are furnishing us our first definite information,
based on experience, regarding the climatic and soil requirements
of Ledger Cinchonas.

Grafting. Fortunately, trees of the genus Cinchona are not
difficult to propagate by means of grafting. The essentials seem
to be these: stock-plants (invariably of the species pubescens or
succlirubra) must be in strong growing condition with stems one-half
to three-quarters of an inch in diameter; scions must be of sound,
half-ripened wood; and the work must be done in damp weather.