Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/49

Rh In the first place it has that supremely important requisite, a primeval forest. There are scores of square miles of this within easy reach of Cinchona. It is only in such a forest that the extreme complexity attainable in a plant formation can be seen. Moreover, Cinchona is located in a botanical garden where scores of exotics are established, and where greenhouses, propagating grounds and helpers of some experience are available for collecting and growing material.

Secondly, because of the small size and irregular topography of the island of Jamaica, areas furnishing many varieties of conditions, from mountain peaks to coral reefs, can be readily reached from Cinchona. For example, there are about Cinchona 25 square miles of mountainous

country above the 5,000 foot level, and 140 square miles above 3,000 feet. There are also within reach river bottoms and sandy or rocky, desert or swampy sea coasts.

Thirdly, there are already two botanical gardens established in the lowlands where they can be used as substations for the study of problems concerning plants of these regions. One of these, Castleton, is in a damp region at 500 feet elevation, where it has a rainfall of 140 inches and a mean temperature of 75 degrees. The collection of plants here includes many ferns, cycads and screw pines, over a hundred species of palms, fine examples of Ficus and numerous other dicotyledonous tropical