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Towards an historiography of the Hill
Gardens at Cinchona, Jamaica
Thera Edwards, Department of Geography & Geology, The University of the West
Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica
E-mail theraedwards@gmail.com
Summary: A brief historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens is presented.
The Hill Gardens were established in 1868 by the British who, in competition with
the Dutch, sought to establish more secure sources of quinine to combat malaria.
Analysis of official reports, archival letters and personal correspondence reveal
the importance of key individuals and social networks in establishing the Gardens
and Cinchona plantations in the Blue Mountains. Despite enthusiasm, fastidious
field trials and laboratory assays to establish bark quality of the various species of
Cinchona, the commercial venture faltered for a number of reasons, including a
fall in international prices through oversupply. Personal contacts were instrumen-
tal during involvement of the New York Botanical Garden at Cinchona in the early
20th Century when it became their tropical research station. Chinchona again
emerged as a focal point for research in the 1970s, as university scientists from the
U.K. used the Gardens as a field station for work on botany, forest ecology and
land degradation. The success of the Gardens has been affected by lack of sufficient
funding for development and upkeep throughout its history. While the Gardens re-
main a place of tranquil beauty, there have been several negative environmental
impacts associated with the various botanical enterprises undertaken.
Key Words
ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY BOTANICAL GARDENS JAMAICA
Colonial Botany and Empire
The Renaissance led to the establishment of scientific gardens for plants used in cooking
and medicine, but the modern botanic garden had its genesis in the 18th Century intellec-
tual movement, the Age of Enlightenment, which combined the visual aesthetic along
with scientific undertaking. British botanic gardens such as the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew, established in 1772, was rivalled by gardens in other European countries, such as
the Le Jardin des Plantes in Paris, which had its origins in the Le Jardin Royal des Herbes
Médicianles founded in 1635, and the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid in Spain in 1755.
All these gardens sent individuals abroad to seek new and exotic botanical specimens as
commercial crops and for pleasure specimens in greenhouses and open locations.
Soon after, private and public botanic gardens were established in the colonies
themselves. Early examples included the Calcutta Botanic Gardens in India in 1787,
while the French set up Pamplemousse Botanic Gardens in Mauritius in 1735.
McCracken (1997) notes that two of four extent public botanic gardens in the British
Empire were in the West Indies. They were used to cultivate a variety of newly discov-
ered plants and trees, for commercial food crops, medicinal and culinary purposes, and
for their aesthetic beauty.
Such colonial networks of botanic gardens are part of what Londa Schiebinger and
Claudia Swan refer to as colonial botany: ‘the study, naming, cultivation, and marketing
of plants in colonial contexts’ (Schiebinger & Swan, 2005: 2). Their seminal collection of
essays explores the reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationships between colo-
nialism, trade and the advancement of botany as a science. They situate botany in the
wider context of the politics and cultural domination of Europe in the early modern world.
Botanic gardens helped consolidate the economic base of empire through the export of
tropical produce, and manage disease in the colonies. Detailed case studies in the book
illustrate how botanists transferred plants from garden to garden around the world, to
build inventories and stock. This, in turn, facilitated the study, cultivation, and experi-
mentation of profitable plants from all parts of the globe. The movement of plants
involved understanding plants, climate and soils, and the efficient movement of speci-
mens in ingenious inventions such as the Ward Case. The knowledge of climate, soils and
the individual requirements of plant species aided in situating plantations at the right alti-
tude and in the right soil and climatic conditions. Thus the plantations of introduced
commercial crops such as Coffee, Tea and Sugar Cane, for example, not merely grew but
flourished and produced maximized yields. The identification of ideal climates and the
acclimatization process was critical to success, whether plants were taken to Europe for
pleasure gardens or to colonial territories for commercial ventures.
Brockway (1979) examines the role of British botanic gardens in scientific enquiry
and how they aided colonial expansion around the world. In general the botanical gardens
of the West Indies are under-represented in the literature which explores and analyzes the
role and connections of botanical gardens in the British Empire. The West Indian
Gardens are mentioned in a survey of the history and function of botanic gardens (Hill,
1915). Dedicated articles on the history of the botanic gardens in St Vincent have been
written by Richard Howard (1979; 1954) and Howard & Powell (1965), while Pemberton
(1999) has documented the Trinidad Botanical Gardens in relation to colonial resource
development during the period 1818-1899. For Jamaica, Alan Eyre (1966) wrote a short
guide to the island’s botanic gardens which provides a brief history and includes sketch
diagrams and descriptions of the major gardens, and Mordecai (1984) provides a more
detailed description and history of the Cinchona Gardens, drawing largely on annual
official reports and bulletins.
In 1804, Thomas Dancer (c.1750-1811), the ‘Island Botanist’ in Jamaica, wrote:
‘The necessity of a botanical garden for promoting the knowledge of plants
in general, and for the introduction and cultivation of exotics that are rare,
curious, and useful, whether in medicine or the arts, is, in the present age, so
universally apparent, that there is hardly in any part of the civilized world
wanting some such establishment’. (Schiebinger & Swan, 2005: 13).
70 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
Jamaica was part of this network, having established botanical gardens at low altitudes at
Spring Garden (1747) and Enfield (1775), at Bath in 1779, at Castleton in 1862, and later
at Hope in 1873 (Figure 1). This was a more extensive network than on any other Carib-
bean island. The Hill Gardens or Government Cinchona Plantation, popularly referred to
as Cinchona Botanical Gardens, were founded during this period at high altitude (5,000ft.
a.s.l.) in 1868, to focus on the establishment and development of the commercial species
Cinchona, also known as Jesuit’s bark or Peruvian Bark, for export. Other crops and
ornamentals played more secondary roles in the Gardens’ development agenda.
This paper attempts to establish and contextualize a chronology for the Hill
Gardens, the only botanical garden in Jamaica located at high elevation. It is based on
research undertaken as part of a doctoral thesis exploring the environmental history of the
Blue Mountains, Jamaica (Edwards, 2012). The thesis used a wide variety of research
methods including forest ecology, historical and economic analysis, integrated through
the use of a Geographical Information System (GIS) and a relational database. The data
reported here are drawn from archival records and historical sources consulted in the
Jamaica Archives, The National Library of Jamaica, UWI Government Serials, UWI
Special and West Indies Collections, Ministry of Agriculture Library at Bodles, The Kew
Botanical Gardens Archives, The National Archives in the United Kingdom, The
Welcome Library, The British Library, The Glasgow Archives and The New York
Botanical Gardens Archives.
The Genesis of the Cinchona Initiative
Quinine was a product for use in war because it was required by the military to treat ma-
laria when fighting in tropical or marshy areas. Without a large, steady supply of quinine,
British and Dutch imperialism in India and Africa might have failed as vast numbers of
British and Dutch administrators, military personnel and merchants in these lands would
have been stricken and possibly killed by the disease. By the mid-19th century, the Dutch
and English began claiming that the South American supply of Cinchona was threatened
by the non-sustainable cutting practices of the indigenous harvesters. In 1859, Sir
Clements Markham was instructed to conduct an exploration into important cin-
chona-producing regions and send to India all promising planting material. He decided to
include Jamaica in the programme as the Jamaican climate and high altitude forest areas
suggested to Colonial authorities that it could be an eminently suitable location for exper-
imental cultivation of this new wonder tree. Nathaniel Wilson in the Botanical Garden Rt
in the Votes of the Assembly of 1861 enthuses that:
‘The climate where these cinchona plants are found to arrive at greatest ma-
turity, is naturally moist, and at an elevation above the sea varying from
two thousand to six thousand feet…Nothing can more exactly correspond
with the climate of our mountains, and hilly land in the interior, at similar
elevations, or less where moisture prevails, and I have known the thermom-
eter stand as low as fifty five degrees at an elevation of four thousand feet’.
North America and other West Indian islands were dismissed as potential locations due to
unsuitable climate and topography.
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 71
In November 1860, Nathaniel Wilson, Island Botanist until 1867, who was based
at Bath Botanical Gardens in St Thomas received, under authority from the Secretary of
State for India, seeds collected in Peru intended for India by simultaneous transmission
(at the same time seeds were sent to India a similar packet came to Jamaica). The favour
cast on Jamaica by the transmission of these seeds was probably due to the patronage of
Sir William Hooker, Director of Kew who was very influential in London both with
government officials and the Royal family. The letters of Nathaniel Wilson indicate a
warm relationship between Wilson and Hooker. From these seeds Wilson raised 400
plants of Cinchona succirubra and Cinchona micrantha. In a letter on January 6th, 1861
to J. Smith Esq, a Head Gardener (and later Curator between 1864 and 1886) at Kew,
Wilson proudly states that ‘with respect to the Cinchona. I am getting on famously in
rearing them’. In this letter he notes receipt of three species Cinchona nitida, Cinchona
micrantha and Cinchona succirubra with the latter being the most robust performer
(Letters from Jamaica by Nathaniel Wilson 1840-1867, Dulcie Powell 1974), reference
to the Quinine content in the alkaloids extracted (Table 1).
Later that year on May 7th, in his letter to Smith he observes ‘so whatever may
become of this Quinine affair there can be no blame attached to this climate in growing
the plants or to myself in raising them so far so well, a valuable fact established’(Letters
from Jamaica by Nathaniel Wilson 1840-1867, Dulcie Powell 1974). By July 24th when
Wilson writes to Smith again he reports that he has ‘taken up to the high mountains 4,000
ft [above sea level], 60 miles from here 120 Cinchona plants, 60 of micrantha and 60 of
72 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
FIGURE 1: Location of Cinchona and other Botanic Gardens in Eastern Jamaica
nitida’ (Letters from Jamaica by Nathaniel Wilson 1840-1867. Dulcie Powell 1974). The
site selected for this relocation was Matthew Wallen’s property Cold Spring (Jamaica
Gazette 1870). Wallen was well known as a planter actively involved in botanical
pursuits. This relocation of plants up to the Blue Mountains marked the start of Cinchona
cultivation in the mountains with a temporary nursery being set up to provide a more
conducive climate for the propagation and growth of the various species. The Govern-
ment would subsequently establish a plantation in the mountains at 5,000 ft a.s.l. to
cultivate its own trees as well as to provide seeds and seedlings for private planters.
By 1868, some six years after the Dutch had started commercial production in Java,
the Government of Jamaica embarked in earnest on experimental cultivation of Cinchona
to expand the range of agricultural products of the Colony (Votes of the Assembly 1861).
The bark was gaining prominence internationally as a highly valuable economic
commodity and the Government and Assembly of Jamaica wished to gain a share in this
emerging market. Wilson estimates that planted at distances of twenty-five feet apart, an
acre will contain about seventy plants each, producing two hundred and fifty three lbs. of
bark, at 6 shillings per lb giving the surprising sum of £5,313 (Votes of the Assembly
1861). In 1862 the freight-on-board price for coffee was 52 shillings per cwt. Comparison
of the projected earnings of an acre of Cinchona and the freight-on-board price of coffee
illustrate the economic potential of Cinchona at that time.
Cinchona cultivation started as a Jamaica Assembly initiative when the country
was governed by a Legislature comprising a Crown-appointed Governor acting on the
advice of an Assembly elected from among the landed gentry. After 1866, the Cinchona
initiative continued as a priority under Crown Colony rule where a presiding British
Governor exercised authority along with a Legislative Council and an Elected Privy
Council made up of members drawn from both chambers of the elected House of
Assembly. The project enjoyed a high level of support from Kew Gardens, the Royal
Family, the Colonial Secretary as well as successive Governors. The support of members
of the Peerage was enlisted in England and in Jamaica in various capacities, including
access to suitable local properties such as Merryman’s Hill, an estate owned by the Duke
of Buckingham (Letter from Governor Eyre to War Secretary Cardwell 1865).
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 73
TABLE 1: Comparison of Alkaloid content by Cinchona Species
Species Total Alkaloids (%) Quinine Content (%)
Cinchona calisaya 3-7 0-4
Cinchona. pubescens 4.5 - 8.5 1 - 3
Cinchona officinalis 5-8 2-7.5
Cinchona ledgeriana 5-14 3-13
SOURCE: Tropical Plant Database- Quinine
www.rain-tree.com/quinine.htm#.VZ0KHvkjUbA
Establishment of Government Cinchona Plantation
or Hill Gardens
Following on heavy losses of propagated seedlings at unsuitable altitudes, a suitable lo-
cation for the Government Plantation was identified (see Figure 1). The site was located
at properties originally patented by Richard Latimerin 1789 and 1791. The 1868 Bulletin
of the Botanical Department indicated the acquisition of 600 acres of land in the southern
aspect of the Western Blue Mountains for establishment of a plantation. Of these 600
acres, some 50 were cleared and 42 planted with the following species: Cinchona
succirubra (26 acres), Cinchona officinalis (7 acres), Cinchona pahudiana (4 acres),
Cinchona calisaya (3 acres) and Cinchonamicrantha (2 acres) representing a total of
20,000 plants. That number was expected to be increased to 35,000 during the next fi-
nancial year. The plan recommended that the more valuable species namely Cinchona
succirubra, Cinchona officinalis and Cinchona calisaya should be increased to 25-30
acres and those of secondary value should be increased to 10-20 acres. By 1870 some 90
acres had been established and a further 80 acres cleared for planting out with seedlings
being ready for 20 acres. Bad weather delayed the planting of the 20 acres slated for im-
mediate expansion. The permanent plants were inventoried at 60,000 while plants in pots
numbered 40,000 and seedlings in beds 10,000. Wilson notes:
‘In 1854 the Dutch government commenced its cultivation in Java, with
half a dozen plants, which reproduced themselves by seeds in 1857, and by
the end of 1859 the plants numbered one hundred thousand one hundred
and thirty three’.
These numbers show that, in terms of numbers of plants, Jamaica had made compa-
rable progress in a similar time period as Java (J.A. Votes of the Assembly 1861). In
1879-80 some 50,000 plants were set out in permanent locations (43,000 Cinchona
officinalis, 6,000 Cinchona calisaya and 1,000 Cinchona succirubra) (General Report
with Departmental Reports [Blue Books] 1879-80). The promising rate of propagation
appeared comparable to that achieved in Dutch Java a decade earlier. The Government of
Jamaica could reasonably hope that its investment could continue to follow the successful
trajectory the Dutch plantations had followed, thus realsing Wilson’s hopes for the ‘hills
to achieve equal contribution to the wealth of the Island as the vales’.This optimistic
statement reflects the prevaling view at that time of the importance of lowland Sugar
Cane plantations and the minor role of Coffee and other mountain crops to Jamaica’s
economy.
In 1879 the Government Plantation at Cinchona built nurseries at several ‘forest
plantations’ within the property to ensure a good supply of healthy plants for each planta-
tion location. These plantations were designated as Upper Buzza, Lower Buzza, Monkey
Hill (Sir John’s Peak), Sullivan’s Piece, Harvey’s Field, Latimer’s and White Piece Plan-
tation. The nurseries had plants distributed as follows: at the main establishment nursery
60,000 plants of Cinchona officinalis, 8,000 hybrid, 6,000 Cinchona calisaya, 3,000
Cinchona succirubra and 2,000 Cinchona officnalis var. Uritusinga ; at the Latimer plan-
tation 80,000 Cinchona officinalis; and at the Bellevue Plantation 35,000 (General
Report with Departmental Report [Blue Books] 1880-81). The total number of plants in
74 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
1880 in the nurseries was 178,000, which did not include 330,100 seedlings and 48,907
plants distributed to private planters as well as 124,023 plants set out in the plantation
during the year. In addition to planting material, 83¼ ounces of seed were distributed to
private planters. The plants distributed were Cinchona officinalis,Cinchona succirubra
and Cinchona Hybrid (General Report with Departmental Report [Blue Books]
1880-81).
These early figures and the rate of expansion are not self-evident ingredients for an
exercise in ‘imperial folly’ as alleged by Drayton (2000). In contradiction, the historical
records show careful attention to the best scientific techniques as well as the testing of
bark samples at Apothecaries’ Hall, indicating a very sober approach to the venture.
Table 2 shows the rising production of Cinchona and the concurrent fall in value of the
commodity. Table 3 shows that while bark quality results were favourable, Jamaica only
contributed a meagre 0.2 percent of the bark supplied to the London market, being
eclipsed by production from Colombia, India and Ceylon.
The Cinchona plantation was a thriving enterprise. The outputs from the various
barks it produced varied, as was to be expected from products of an experimental station
whose aim was to identify successful species to send out for commercial plantations
across the island. The yields from samples tested at Apothecaries’ Hall in London were
promising. Between 1874 and 1885 the plantation employed in excess of 50 persons both
male and female to perform the plethora of tasks involved in its operations (Cinchona
Plantation Paybill 1874 -81, 1881-83 and 1883-85). Duties ranged from cleaning fields,
digging holes, planting out seedlings, rearing seedlings, cutting wood, delivering mail,
preparing meals, hauling water and cutting grass for animals. The names of each worker,
weekly attendance from Monday to Saturday, and daily rates were meticulously
recorded. In time, when a budget was imposed on the plantation, the paybill correlated
each person and his or her task to the budget area. Thus salaries for nursery work were
clearly identified under that sub-head and so on. The prospects for a highly profitable
crop requiring scheduled tasks such as propagation and planting out across a wide land
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 75
TABLE 2: Volume of Cinchona imports into London market
Year Imported into U.K. (lbs) Valued at (£)
1878 6,131,552 658,228
1881 14,024,304 1,812,501
1886 16,281,104 801,353
1891 11,933,712 250,697
1896 3,952,592 61,578
1898 5,143,040 98,132
SOURCE: Board of Trade Returns found in Cinchona Bark and Quinine Report
for 1898 by C.M. & C. Woodhouse
area required a large labour force working for the most part six days a week. Unlike sugar
estates, domestic service was a very small proportion of the overall wage bill. Deter-
mining the return on investment was a complicated matter as the various barks
commanded different prices subject to their assayed volume of active compound as well
as the bark source on the tree; namely, quill bark, root bark or twig bark. The cost of
production is never clearly set out anywhere and returns quote the bark type, bark colour,
price per pound, lot weight and resulting value of the lot. Table 4 gives the types of
Cinchona listed for Jamaica in 1883.
Agricultural Experimentation and Extension
at Cinchona Plantation
Under Crown Colony, the Hill Gardens also became a venue for further experiments in
transplanting potential new crops to Jamaica. In 1868, a Ward Case of Assam Tea, con-
taining over six hundred plants arrived in excellent condition from India, via the Colonial
Office. In August 1869, half an acre with 800 plants was planted with the intention to
propagate them by cuttings in 1870. Starting in 1872, there were a number of experi-
ments producing Tea from the plants. In 1876, the Tea was awarded a Gold medal at The
International Exhibition in Philadelphia. By 1883, Daniel Morris, Director of Public
Gardens and Plantations expressed his hope for the crop to be produced and placed on the
market for a cost not exceeding 7½d (pence) or 8d per pound ‘assuming the availability of
Coolie labour and an experienced planter from Ceylon or India’. The Tea expert at the In-
dian and Colonial exhibition in 1886 wrote a favourable review of the Jamaican product
commenting on ‘the delicate flavour’ and ‘quality’ and praises ‘the knowledge of manu-
facture and careful preparation’.
This promising review of the Jamaican grown Tea even more than the American
Gold medal no doubt encouraged the submission of samples to The Tea Brokers. The
samples were unfortunately at a disadvantage as they were packed in mustard tins.
76 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
TABLE 3: Sources and amounts of Cinchona Bark supplied
to the London Market 1879-1880
Origin Weight (lbs)
Colombia 6,002,000
Indian and Ceylon 1,172,000
South America (except Colombia) 959,000
Java (to Amsterdam market) 70,000
Jamaica 21,000
TOTAL 8,224,000
SOURCE: Botanical Department of Jamaica Report 1899 containing a 1898
Report on Cinchona Bark and Quinine by C.M and C. Woodhouse
Notwithstanding this the expert pronounced that the liquors of all the samples were ‘ser-
viceable’ on the London market. The plants were praised by a tea planter from India who
formed a favourable impression after a trip into the mountains. It was speculated that Tea
should grow as well as coffee (Department of Agriculture Report 1903). In the event, the
hills of Jamaica were not transformed into tea plantations either, but the Gardens were
producing practical research in a number of plants and timber trees as well as producing
seedlings of commercial and ornamental plants for sale.
The Hill Gardens also pioneered other crops such as Jalap, Tree Tomato, ‘English’
vegetables viz. Peas, Cabbage, Carrots, Turnips, Potatoes, Artichokes, Horseradish,
Cucumber and Beetroot. Jalap was attracting prices of 1s 6d per lb while Orris root,
derived from species of Iris (Iris florentina and Iris germanica) and used in perfumery,
toilet powders, medicines and the making of gin, fetched prices of 75 shillings to 80 shil-
lings per cwt. Both were cultivated, and China Grass, a variety of Ramie which could
only be grown successfully in the hills, but realised twice the price of tropical Ramie, was
also attempted. Other notable species experimented with included Olives, Grapes from
California and Sugar Cane that could produce ‘new sugar’ for small settlers. West Indian
Cedar, Teak and other lumber trees were also tried. Crops such as Cow Pea, Soya Bean,
Hairy Vetch, Conga Pea, Alfalfa for green manuring (nitrogen fixing) were used in
various trials. Fodder plants such as Himalayan Grass which grew luxuriantly and exhib-
ited great promise were also planted. Additionally, in response to the demands of settlers,
the Hill Gardens produced plants of Blue Mountain Coffee grown from the best seed
available. Some 25,000 Coffee seedlings were produced in1897.
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 77
SOURCE: Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute, 1883
TABLE 4: Species and varieties of Cinchona Bark
cultivated in Jamaica c.1883
Bark type Species and variety
Red Cinchona succirubra; Cinchona succirubra v. sub pubescens
Crown Cinchona officinalis v. Bonplandiana; Cinchona. officinalis v. crispa:
Cinchona offcinalis, pubescens; Cinchona officinalis, magnifolia
Hybrid Cinchona hybrid or robusta
Ledgeriana Cinchona ledgeriana
Yellow Cinchona calisaya; Cinchona calisaya v. vera; Cinchona calisaya v.
Josephiana; Cinchona calisaya v. Javanica; Cinchona calisya, verde;
Cinchona calisya, morada form
Grey Cinchona peruviana; Cinchona nitida; Cinchona micrantha
Carthagena Cinchona lancifolia
Cuprea Remija pedunculata (?)
The research maintained a wide horizon and responded to emerging issues. Failure
of Orange crops in Florida brought to the fore the necessity for an Orange Experimental
Garden in a suitable locality, and after some time this was started at the old coffee prop-
erty known as ‘Resource’ a few miles away from Cinchona, where a collection of Citrus
fruit had been brought together from Florida and Rivers in England and planted out. The
Botanical Garden Report for 1896 notes:
‘That the situation is an excellent one for oranges is testified by the excel-
lent fruit produced in the locality, and it can be worked as part of the Hill
Garden, the expense of another Superintendent, with buildings etc is
thereby saved’.
Whilst primarily set up for commercial plant experimentation the Hill Gardens had
a number of ornamentals propagated for sale as well as laid out within the ornamental
gardens (Eyre, 1966; Mordecai, 1984). The ornamentals realised modest earnings from
their sales usually to ladies hoping to make special additions to their personal gardens.
These earning averaged around 17 shillings to 18 shillings per month. In an 1896 check-
list of Orchids grown in the four Public Gardens 42 of 86 listed genera representing nearly
half the genera to be found in all the gardens were to be found at the Hill Gardens.
The Decline of Cinchona Cultivation
The early Reports were enthusiastic and the promise of the experiment was almost limit-
less. The views on the success of the experimental cultivation of Cinchona varied. Some
considered it a success as the government realised £17,000 by the sale of bark. Access to
the mountain region was restricted to bridle access as the area was without carriage and
driving roads and planters hesitated for so long about embarking in the new industry, that
the anticipated opportunity was lost, as the market became flooded and the price of Cin-
chona bark fell (Table 2) causing many persons to lose money on the venture. This con-
trasted sharply with Ceylon where good roads and railways saw fortunes being made by
all the investors in Cinchona planting.
The loss to private individuals of large sums invested in Cinchona planting, coin-
ciding with low prices for coffee and general depression in trade, led to the general view
in1886 that the Hill Gardens had proved a failure, and should be abandoned. However,
this opinion was not supported by the government. In 1890, Mr Thistleton Dyer, the
Director of Kew Gardens, opined that ‘it was quite possible that the Hill Garden might
again become the chief Botanic Garden of the Island’. This hope, unlikely though it might
have seemed to many, was renewed as the Hill Gardens and its associated property
Resource with its niche location between altitudes of 3,000ft to 6,300 ft a.s.l. was going
to lead on experiments with new cultural plants.
The decision to abandon Cinchona plantations as an economic venture would have
been consonant with the recommendations of E.M.D. Hooper of the Indian Forest
Service as his 1885 Report noted:
‘except on the peaks and above Cinchona [the plantation] no original forest
or forest of any value is to be found, the extension of the Government and
private Cinchona plantations extending having caused the disappearance
of most that recently did exist’.
78 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
Thus Cinchona cultivation was perceived to have been one of the largest contributing
factors to natural forest alteration, notwithstanding Clause 5 of the conditions for Cin-
chona land grants which stipulated no forest clearance within three chains of the centre of
any prominent ridge or dividing line of watershed. This was ignored as the General Infor-
mation for Intending Settlers in the West Indies, 1888, notes that the footprint of Cin-
chona cultivation extended all the way up to the Grand Ridge.
It was anticipated that construction of new driving roads in the mountain district
connecting major settlements would lead to better days as:
‘the prosperity of Jamaica will increase by leaps and bounds with the in-
creased production rendered possible by means of communication, and a
temperate climate all year round will be available for invalids, within a few
hours drive of Kingston. These benefits will also attract settlers from Eng-
land when it becomes known that we have a Florida and a California in an
Island under British rule, with all the advantages of those climates and none
of the disadvantages’. (Bulletin of the Botanical Department, 1896).
The reference to a Florida and a California indicate the hopes of the writer for the success-
ful cultivation of Olives, Grape vines budded onto local stock, Orange varieties and other
productions requiring the climate and conditions of the mountains.
However this was the only glimmer of hope amidst the decay of the former planta-
tions as evidenced by a Report which assessed the plantations (Bulletin of the Botanical
Department,1899). The Report notes the species of Cinchona at each plantation, the
condition of the plantation and provides an estimate of the number of extant trees, the
bark shavings and whole bark to be realised. This Report examined the various options
open to using the bark available, including local production of quinine. The London
Market was seen as risky based on expenses incurred with transmitting the product there
and possible returns. It seemed that Jamaica’s Cinchona opportunity had passed and
nothing was done. Later, researchers at the New York Botanical Garden would be inter-
ested in the prospect offered by extant Cinchona trees on the estate. The 1899 Report
provides updates on specific locations within the plantation as shown in Table 5.
The Report indicated that ‘there has been no cultivation for 15 years and so ferns,
bush and climbers of sorts have sprung up. Original field roads are almost obliterated’. So
much so that it was impossible to use them in their present condition. It postulates that the
‘principal ones’ could be ‘restored at 6d to 9d per chain. Or between £2 and £3 per mile
and as there are about 7 ½ miles of these roads the cost of restoring would be under £20’.
The Legislative Council had pretty much washed their hands of Cinchona, and in a 1886
Report two years after any significant activity there, recommended the plantation be ad-
vertised abroad [London, New York, New Orleans] and any reasonable offer accepted:
‘bearing in view the estimate that £8,000 might now be realized by at once
harvesting the bark from all the Plantation, and abandoning cultivation. In
the meantime the intentions of the Government of restricting the expendi-
ture to that of cleaning, maintaining, and reaping the present cultivation as
it matures, should be stringently observed; and there should be no further
outlay on Reforesting; and the smallest expenditure possible for maintain-
ing a sufficient number of trees and establishing nurseries and the like. The
cost of the restricted maintenance should be reduced to £500; namely £150
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 79
on cleaning and maintaining 150 acres with roads, £100 in the pay of a Su-
perintendent, £100 in other labour and tools, £100 in Harvesting, and £50
in importing Plans and Seeds— thus effecting a saving in the provision for
1885-86 at £500’. (Misc. Reports Jamaica Botanic Gardens 1853-1903).
The Hill Gardens in the Late Nineteenth
and Twentieth Centuries
Jamaica’s ‘Cinchona moment’ and indeed the British moment had passed. The future of
the property was to rest in American hands when the plantation ceased to attract commer-
cial interest but rather gained academic interest. In 1896 The New York Botanical Gar-
80 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
TABLE 5: Condition of various sections of the Cinchona
Plantation (Hill Gardens) in c1899
Location
name
Condition Cinchona
species
Number
of trees
Yield -
shavings
(lbs)
Yield -
whole bark
(lbs)
Lower
Buzza
In heavy bush, many
of the old trees are
dying, and no young
ones are springing up.
Entirely planted with
Cinchona succirubra.
830 8,000 16,000
Upper
Buzza
Same as lower Cinchona succirubra,
Cinchona. calisaya,
Cinchona. Officinalis
and Cinchona. hybrid
680 4,800 9,600
Sullivans
Piece
Heavy bush and
fern
Cinchona officinalis,
Cinchona calisya,
Cinchona hybrid
1,238 5,000 10,000
Harvey’s
Field
Heavy bush and fern
and Coniferae have
killed much of the
Cinchona/No seedlings
growing in this
plantation.
Cinchona. officinalis,
Cinchona calisaya
and Cinchona hybrids
822 3,700 7,400
Latimer’s Heavy bush , old
trees fast dying and
no young
plants
Cinchona succirubra,
Cinchona hybrid and
few Cinchona
officinalis
1,750 25,000 50,000
White Piece
Plantation
Heavy bush many old
trees dying and no
young ones growing
Cinchona calisaya,
Cinchona succirubra
and Cinchona hybrid
650 4,000 8,000
Monkey Hill
Plantation
Heavy bush and fern.
Self sown seedlings
springing up
Cinchona officinalis 16,500 72,500 145,000
SOURCE: Botanical Department Report, 1899
den [NYBG] had commenced a search to identify a suitable site for a Tropical Research
Station. To this end, a commission was set up between 1896 to 1898 to deal with appeals
for support, obtain background information and make arrangements for site exploration
trips (D. T. MacDougal Papers Series 1, Folder 1.1 Tropical Laboratory Commission).
The commission was headed by Daniel MacDougall. Jamaica and in particular the
Gordon Town area were recommended by C. H. Tyler Townsend, an entomologist who
had worked in Jamaica. Townsend speculated that there should be no difficulty in ob-
taining a lease of a few acres at Cinchona. MacDougal made contact with William
Fawcett who was the then head of the Garden. In a letter dated 17th December, 1896,
Fawcett writes that:
‘I don’t think you can find any other of the British West India Islands at all
as favourably situated as Jamaica…There should be no difficulty in getting
here few acres of ground in a moist climate and in the midst of undisturbed
masses of vegetation’.
In addition to Jamaica the New York Botanical Garden evaluated sites in Vene-
zuela, Haiti, Martinique, Trinidad, Mexico and Colombia. Fawcett, in the same letter,
promised to try to sway the government to provide a permanent site ‘without cost for rent
or purchase’. By 1897, Mexico was eliminated as a candidate. Some time between May
and June 1897 the members of the Commission visited Jamaica, and by August, Fawcett
states in letter to MacDougal that:
‘his Excellency understands that the Chairman of the Botanic Commission
(MacDougal), has been in Jamaica and is prepared to report in favour of the
establishment of a Botanic Station in the Island’.
Whilst the Hill Gardens tempted, the Commission also corresponded with Francis
Nicholas of the South American Exploration Company to identify other potential sites.
Nicholas directed them to the New York Offices of the West India Improvement
Company, an American Syndicate which had been sold rights to the Jamaica Railway
Company in 1889 under Law 12 of 1889 (The Jamaica Railway Company’s Law), to
view maps and full reports of holdings in Jamaica which might prove to be suitable.
Despite this flurry of correspondence and site visits it was not until some five years
later on October 5th, 1903, that a lease was signed between the Government [of Jamaica]
and the New York Botanical Garden for the use of the Hill Gardens. The sum agreed on
was £60. The lease included use of the Director’s Residence, Director’s Office, Superin-
tendent’s Office, Propagating Houses, Laboratory, Herbarium, Carpenter Shop,
Visitor’s Room, Stables and Groom’s quarters and two tanks on ten acres of land
(Subseries 1g: The Flora of Jamaica Box 4. File: Britton Flora of Jamaica P-S). In a
strange twist, the limiting factor of the site for most of its existence was one of the attrac-
tions to the assessors for NYBG. Duncan Johnson (1903) extols that:
‘Cinchona can be readily reached in about ten or twelve hours of delightful
travel by train, carriage and saddle. No other portion of Tropical America
has as fine a system of carriage roads in the lower country, and bridle paths
in the mountain regions, as Jamaica’ .
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 81
The Station during the ten years it was operated by the NYBG facilitated some
important contributions to the botany and forest ecology of Jamaica. Forrest Shreve
conducted physiological and ecological studies leading to his landmark monograph A
Montane Rain-Forest: A Contribution to the Physiological Plant Geography of Jamaica.
Nathaniel L. Britton's plant collections and manuscript notes of his botancial surveys of
Jamaica included work on the Blue Mountains done from Cinchona, forming an impor-
tant contribution to Flora of Jamaica (Fawcett & Rendle, 1910). Other visitors included:
Louis Agassiz Fuertes, a bird artist; Frederick Orpen Bower, botanist from Glasgow
University; and F. E Lutz of the American Museum of Natural History who was working
on a comparative entomological study of the West Indies and continental America.
Subsequently the Gardens were managed by the British Association for Advance-
ment of Science and then the Smithsonian Institute. Professor Duncan S. Johnson of the
Johns Hopkins Botanical Laboratory was picked by the Smithsonian to help form a
consortium of US scientists to contribute to the upkeep of Cinchona. But what should
have been an opportunity for scientists to visit one of the most unusual high-altitude trop-
ical arboretums in the world was affected by World War I, as well as petty squabbling on
the part of the British government of Jamaica.
Numerous letters were exchanged between Johns Hopkins, the Smithsonian, and
the British government over ‘which party would be responsible for collecting the lease
monies and who would keep Cinchona’s buildings, furniture, and effects in good repair if
damaged by accidents, fire, earthquake, tempest, and other acts of God and the King’s
enemies excepted’ (Spellman & Yesko, 2007). Between 1917 and 1920, letters
exchanged between Professor Johnson of Johns Hopkins University and Robert John-
stone, the Colonial Secretary of Jamaica, indicated that owing to the impossibility of
sending botanists to Jamaica during the war, not one American scientist was able to visit
Cinchona. By 1921 final correspondence was exchanged between the Smithsonian Insti-
tute and the Government of Jamaica.These prospects went no further, but demonstrate the
continued significance of Cinchona Gardens as a centre for field research.
The Hill Gardens as a field station for research
The Gardens languished for the most part during the next fifty years, with very little hap-
pening.The published records of the Gardens in this period are scanty but include the fol-
lowing taken from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Report of 1959, which noted:
‘Cinchona Gardens situated at the foothill of the Blue Mountain Range,
continues to be a great source of pleasure to an increasing number of visi-
tors. Several new varieties of orchids were introduced from the Montreal
Botanical Garden. A new jeep road of approximately 2 miles linking Top
Mountain to Cinchona and St Helens Gap was opened. It is to continue to
Strawberry Hill but this section is still not suitable for vehicular traffic’.
Whilst the same Report for 1960 records:
‘Approximately 2 acres of new gardens have been laid out with a variety of
flowering shrubs and trees including some 500 plants of Hydrangeas. The
82 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
rest house has been completely renovated and a water supply has been laid
in with the assistance of the Yallahs Valley Land Authority’.
In 1973 and ensuing years, the Cinchona Botanical Gardens resumed its role as
field station for overseas researchers when Edmund Tanner and his graduate students
from the University of Cambridge investigated mineral cycling, biomass and produc-
tivity and litter leaf recycling in montane rain forests of the Blue Mountains, among other
things (see, for example, Tanner, 1977; Dalling, 1994). This research, in collaboration
with scientists from The University of the West Indies, in effect, re-established the
Gardens as an important international field research station. Cinchona became a field
base not only for the study of botany and forest ecology of the Gardens and their imme-
diate environs, but for research on the wider problems of land degradation among the
farming communities of the Upper Yallahs Valley.
As early as the 1930, the Yallahs drainage basin had suffered from endemic land
degradation and rural poverty (Edwards, 1995). The Yallahs Valley Authority,
established in the 1950s to address the problems of land degradation in the area
(Floyd,1970), was instrumental in renovating the rest house and water supply at
Cinchona. A historical review of land degradation in the Yallahs Basin is provided by
Barker and McGregor (1988), while McGregor and Barker (1991) documented land
degradation in relation to agricultural systems and soil conservation techniques, and
McGregor (1989) undertook field investigations of the relationships between soil erosion
and agricultural land use practices in a sub-watershed, the Fall River Basin.
These land degradation themes were taken up by McDonald & Healey (2000),
working out of Cinchona, in a 5-year ecological-agroforestry study of forest clearance on
soil erosion, surface runoff and soil properties which compared bare soil, agriculture,
agro-forestry and forest plots. Another example of research on land degradation was a
study of the short term impact of Hurricane Gilbert on the forested southern slopes of the
Grand Ridge of the Blue Mountains (Bellingham, et al., 1992; Bellingham et al., 1995).
In 1988 Hurricane Gilbert, at the time a Category 3 Storm, devastated the island as the
northern eye wall came up against the Grand Ridge of the Blue Mountains (Barker &
Miller, 1990). The effects of the hurricane on the Gardens were significant in that the last
two remaining signature trees of Cinchona were lost.
Cinchona Gardens and Alien Invasive Species
The Garden’s role as a field station also was instrumental in facilitating research on the
impact of alien invasive species on forest ecology. Goodland & Healey (1997) studied the
Australian tree Pittosporum undulatum (Wild Coffee). This plant was introduced to Cin-
chona Botanical Gardens in 1883. Sixty-six years later this bird-dispersed species was re-
ported as ‘perhaps the commonest tree’ in surrounding forest. The results of this work
showed that the tree had a major suppressive effect on native plants as very few species
can survive within its dense stands. It is likely to have profound impacts on native animals
too. Further, the frequency of Pittosporum seedlings in previously uninvaded forest
greatly increased following the disturbance created by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. At the
start of the project the tree had spread throughout at least 1,300 hectares of primary and
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 83
secondary montane forest. The potential range of the Pittosporum species in the Blue
Mountains could be as high as 44,000 hectares, severely threatening the survival of many
of the 275 endemic flowering plant species.
Goodland’s research placed sharply into focus the unintended consequences of the
Gardens as a site for the introduction of ornamental plants that, over time, have become
alien invasive species. There are other problematic species, including Polygonum
chinense (Red Bush) and Hedychium gardnerianum (Ginger Lily). The problem of inva-
sive species has taken on added significance as the Gardens are located on the boundary
of the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, established in February 1993.
A control programme targeting the invasive species Pittosporum and Hedychium
was started in 2006 and is part of the science programme conducted by the Jamaica
Conservation and Development Trust [JCDT], the NGO delegated with management
responsibility for the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park under a co-manage-
ment agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Authority [NRCA] and
Forestry Department. The control involves manually removing Pittosporum seedlings
and injecting mature trees with the agricultural chemical Round Up (Active Ingredient:
Glycophosphate) which leads to a slow death. The slow death prevents the sudden occur-
rence of a canopy gap that would permit the germination and emergence of
gap-demanding species. Native species are planted near to the dying invasive
Hedychium, which is manually removed with special attention given to the underground
rhizomes. The results of the programme have been encouraging.
Conclusion
This paper has documented the history of Cinchona Botanical Gardens from its establish-
ment in 1868. Cross-referencing of archival material from the public domain (such as of-
ficial reports) along with private documents (e.g. files and letters) permitted the
development of a more detailed historiography, where the contextual issues and factors
of each major period could be more fully explicated. The role of personal networks of key
individuals in Jamaica, England and America in the Cinchona venture and the Hill Gar-
dens’ development and evolution has been highlighted and illuminated.
Several recurrent themes thoughout the history of the Gardens are evident in the
analysis presented here. The first is the importance of the site for scientific and agricul-
tural research. The second is the problems of physical access to the Gardens. The third
and most prevalent theme is inadequate financial support from successive governments
to the Cinchona Gardens’ varied ventures and to the upkeep of their physical plant and
grounds. The final theme, which resonates even more acutely in the 21st Century, is the
challenges faced by small tropical islands to successfully compete in global economic
markets and trade, while simultaneously navigating the prevailing political conditions.
The Hill Gardens have incited much hope for prosperity from new and exotic agri-
cultural production whilst providing a scenic English-style Garden in a tranquil mountain
setting. Visitors to the Gardens will find beds of exquisitely tended roses, Easter lilies,
Gladiolas,Cymbidium orchids, Azaleas, Nasturtiums, and other flowering plants spread
out before the buildings. The land surrounding the buildings was planted with Japanese
84 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
Cedar (Cryptomeria) trees, stands of Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and the signa-
ture Eucalyptus trees which can be seen from miles away towering over the gardens.
However, it has been argued that the hope of Nathaniel Wilson in 1861 that ‘culti-
vation might rapidly extend to many parts of the island, clothing the mountains to their
summits, ultimately proving as remunerative as our richest vales, and thereby improve
the social condition of the country’ was stymied by a lack of government support in
providing basic infrastructure. It was some thirty years later in 1896 that the Governor
‘cut the first sod for new driving roads along the southern slopes of the Blue Mountain
Range’. These roads were to herald ‘a new era of prosperity for a wide stretch of country
from New Castle to the Cuna-Cuna Pass’ where previously the only means of communi-
cation were bridle paths and the main cultivation on a large scale was coffee (Votes of the
Assembly 1861). Production of Coffee and other productions such as Cinchona had been
seriously hampered by the expense and difficulty of transport experienced in the area.
The 1899 Bulletin of the Botanical Department Report on the Hill Gardens most
poignantly describes their perpetual plight with respect to government funding, and
could apply to almost any year in the modern period. William Harris writes:
‘CINCHONA—The vote for this Garden having been reduced to a very
small sum, it was not possible to do anything during the past year beyond
keeping the Garden and immediate surroundings clean and tidy’.
‘The pastures, fences and Plantation roads, which had hitherto been kept up
out of the Garden Vote, received little or no attention during the year, and
the consequence is that they are all in bad order.
‘The usual garden work, such as pruning shrubs, forking beds and borders,
mowing lawns, cutting edges, propagating and watering plants was carried
on during the year as far as the very limited means at our disposal would al-
low.
For Resource, the satellite property administered through the Hill Gardens, he writes:
‘RESOURCE ORANGE GROVE—The Vote for this Garden was reduced
by one half and work was altogether suspended for several weeks during
the year. There are about 20 acres under cultivation and extensive Nurser-
ies; the money allowed was not sufficient to keep the Grove and Nurseries
in good order, and altogether we were crippled though want of means’.
Jamaica’s participation in the British colonial Cinchona enterprise as well as agri-
cultural experimentation with other crops such as Tea showed the tremendous favour
placed on a small colony. The local authorities from consecutive governments down to
successive Island Botanists and Garden Superintendents dedicated themselves to the
success of the venture by applying themselves to all the associated tasks. The Govern-
ment identified suitable properties to establish the Government Plantation (Hill Gardens)
and created enabling conditions to attract private planters by providing concessionary
Cinchona Land Grants/Patents. The technical officers such as the Botanists and Superin-
tendents pursued the best cultural and managerial practices, prepared written guidelines
for private planters and dispatched samples of Cinchona bark to the Colonial Institute and
Apothecaries’ Hall to determine the quality of the local productions. Yet while quality
Historiography of Cinchona Botanical Gardens 85
was promising, the Jamaican exports were eventually doomed by the high cost of trans-
port to markets, limited volume of production, various wars which hampered delivery by
sea and other trade factors which combined to create near futile conditions.
Notwithstanding the disappointments of the past, the scientific research under-
taken in the Blue Mountains by early scholars such as Shreve, Britton, and later by Tanner
and others based at Cinchona will once again receive international attention. The results
of their collective work has contributed in large part to the evidence submitted by the
Government of Jamaica in the 2009 and 2014 Nomination Dossiers requesting inscrip-
tion of the Blue and John Crow Mountains as a World Heritage Site. The research
findings of these scientists and others were compiled to support Criterion IX:
‘to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ
conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened
species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or
conservation’.
If successful, the nomination would result in the inscription of Jamaica’s first World Her-
itage Site, and the Caribbean’s first mixed site— sites inscribed under both cultural and
natural criteria. And so, as always for the Cinchona Gardens, the famous quotation
‘Where flowers bloom so does hope’, attributed to Claudia ‘Lady Bird’ Johnson when
she was First Lady of the United States in the 1960s, seems particularly appropriate
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to acknowledge funding received from the UWI Office of Graduate Studies for
travel to London and New York to consult materials held in collections in those locations. The ad-
vice and guidance received from David Barker and James Robertson in developing the manuscript
is gratefully acknowledged.
Primary Sources
Spanish Town, Jamaica. Jamaica Archives [henceforth J.A.]Votes of the Assembly, 1861.
Kingston, Jamaica. National Library of Jamaica. (henceforth N.L.J ) Typescript of MS 12
Letters from Jamaica by Nathaniel Wilson 1840-1867. Typed by Dulcie Powell pre-
paratory to editing the letters April 1974.
J.A. Printed Works 1B/65/8/24 Jamaica Gazette 1870
N.L.J. MS 893. Letter from Governor Eyre, War Secretary Cardwell re The Duke of
Buckingham’s property Merryman’s Hill
J.A. Printed Works 1B/65/2/1-5 Bulletin of the Botanical Department 1868
Kingston, Jamaica. U.W.I., Mona Campus Main Library. Government Serials.General
Report with Departmental Reports (Blue Book) 1879-80, 1880-81
J.A. 1B/10/1/1, 2 & 3 Cinchona Plantation Paybill 1874 -81; 1881-83 and 1883-85 re-
spectively.
London, United Kingdom. BLL01008631547 The British Library (henceforth B.L) Pro-
ceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute 1883
J.A. Printed Works Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, 1903
J.A. Printed Works 1B/65/2/1-5 Bulletin of the Botanical Department 1896
86 Caribbean Geography 2014 v19
J.A. Printed Works 1B/65/2/1-5 Bulletin of the Botanical Department 1899 containing a
1898 report on Cinchona Bark and Quinine by C.M and C. Woodhouse
J.A. 4/98/6 [21/39 (1024)] Report upon the Forests of Jamaica by E.M. D Hooper of the
Indian Forest Service
Kew, United Kingdom. The National Archives (henceforth T.N.A) CO 884/4 General
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from seed and establishing Cinchona plantations
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