54^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1884. 



fill iu a 10-iuch flower-pot with seven beauti- 

 oue buuehcs of grapes oa it. What could ndorn 

 the t.vbles of tbo Colombo Ai^ricultural Show 

 room better than an exhibition of vines in tubs? 

 Ic is to be hopeil some public-spirited person will offer 

 a prize for the best specimen. Ihey can be grown 

 to any size or trained to any sliape. The system 

 mentioned .'ibove is the field eystem, but you eaii train 

 them in the fan, the spiral, the baloou or any shape, 

 or up the lattice-work of your ver;iudah or arch over 

 your narden-wallcs, aud best of all jou can lat the 

 fruit tben of. M. 



[Wo saw just such grape culture iu perfection in 

 luvernest-, but that was in a conservatory. Our cor- 

 respondent evidently reters to verandah culture, but 

 we should think that, upcouutry, grajjes could be 

 grown well under glass. — Ed.J 



FLSH-OUBINU : AN ANCIENT TKADB. 

 (Comnnmicatcd. ) 



I'or a loug time before the Tamils of the North were 

 subdued by Parakrama Baku VI, aud Jaffna reduced to 

 the position of a conquered countrj", Hindu Kings reigned 

 iu Jaffna holding their Court at Nallur, near where the 

 Church Mission House now stands, aud tile tall steeple 

 of St, James's rears its bead. Adjoiuing Ih aj Mission pre- 

 mise.s, there is a Large garden of coconut, palmyra and 

 other fruit trees, aud a large artificial tank or reservoir 

 of water, supposed to be tlie bathing place of the royal 

 family. Here and there, sunk deep in the ground, may 

 be seen the ruins and remains of aucieut buildings ; but 

 no excavator has dug deep enough or cared to unravel 

 the history of the past or the departed glory of Jaffna. 



The chronicles of this i^eriod having been either lost 

 or destroyed, or none having ever existed, the history of 

 the period is solely derived from tradition and preserved 

 in the names of places. 



During the reign of one of the Hindu Kings two chieftains, 

 named Uhcntiiu aud Kusman, carried on a large and flourish- 

 ing trade in fish-curing along the sea coast, stretching 

 from Mylitty to Mathakal. The villages along this coast 

 consisted then, as they do now, of people who live by 

 fishing aud other sea-faring trades. Tlie two chieftains 

 were brothers, who by an amicable arrangement amongst 

 themselves, took each his share of the coast to carry on 

 his trade without interfering with the other. 



The head-quarters of each are even now known by their 

 respective names, Chentan-kulam and Ivusmun-turai, places 

 where even now the fishing craft of the coast u.se to lie 

 on their oars, holding communications with the people of 

 the villages. 



In process of time, the fish-curing trade assumed such 

 stupendous proportions, as to tempt the cuj)iditj' of the 

 neighbouring vdlage-chiefs. Chentau and Kusman held 

 the entire fishing population of the coast in their pay, 

 aud they could have weilded their power to the terror, 

 if not to the total extermination of the inland chiefs : 

 but they were nevertheless peaceful, pc.ice-loving aud 

 loyal, anil for the sake of peace they did not grmlge 

 occasiou.ally to satisfy the cravings of the needy chiefs iu 

 the shape of layerses. But this tended only to more and 

 more tempt the avarice of the insatiate chiefs. Their cry, 

 like that of the daughters of the horseleach, was ever and 

 anon iu the .same strain, "Give! Give!" 



The fisher-chieftains found it high time to resist further 

 demands : and acc.trdingly some of the messengers sent by 

 the village chiefs to obtam presents from them, were in- 

 sulted and sent back to relate to their liege lords the story 

 of their di.^grace. 



The village chiefs were not slow to perceive their situ- 

 ation, nor slack to concert measures for carrying out their 

 own ends. A council of war w.^s convened at once, and 

 consultation held, as to how to dispose of the refractory, 

 contumacious fisher headmen, some were for open war, others 

 proposed ar.son as the only means of destroying tlie factories 

 and fish-stores, and one proposed to disclose a secret, a 

 certain jungle berry, to poison all the fish along the coast. 



T.ut one more aciiic than the rest could rely on notliiiig 

 BO sure and effectual, as accusing the leaders of the fishing 



population to the king as persona having political designs on 

 the kingdom. To denounce the trade as a nuisance, to 

 declare it auoijen violation of the Saivite reUgion, and to 

 urge that the village people could hardly live by'reason of 

 the stifling stench from salt-fish godowiis, were all proposals 

 made and declined. It was unanimously resolved, therefore, 

 to charge Chentau and Kusman with treasonable designs. 

 This was accordingly done. But the poor king found him-' 

 self hi a fix. He was already in bad odour with the king of 

 Kaudy. He knew that Portuguese vessels were hovering 

 abo'it the coast. AVhatever he might have done at any other 

 time, just then, he was hardly prepared to offend so largo 

 and so powerful a body as the fishing population. He pro- 

 posed to Oheutin and Kusman to leave the country. They 

 readily agreed, aud with some of their followers, settled in 

 Batticaloa — the progenitors of the large fi.shing population of 

 the eastern province — what was Jatfua'sloss was Batticaloa's 

 agin. 



TEA BLENDING. 



TO THE EDlTon OF THE "AMERICAN GROCKR." 



We would like you to tell us the best formula 

 for mixing tea — to use some of the India teas. We 

 have lost the papers that hid the mixtures iu some 

 time ago. We want to use at least four kinds of 

 tea, aud oblige, W. A. Morgan & Co. 



In reply to our correspondent's inquiry, it is im- 

 P'lssible to lny down any bard or fast Imes for blend- 

 ing teas. What would suit one neighbourhood or dis- 

 trict would be uusuited for another. The art of blend- 

 ing tea is as much the ability of discerning the wants 

 and requirements of the consumer as anything else. 

 Our correspondent desires to use four teas. Here he 

 is evidently mistaking the art of blending altogether. 

 It is i;ot the quantity, but the kind and quality 

 which produces a desii'able mixture. Before any re- 

 liable directions could be given, it would be absol- 

 utely necessary to know exactly what character of teas 

 our correspondent has iu stock ; also the taste of 

 the ueighboui-hord. All we can do under the eircum- 

 •stances is merely to give the experience of others. If 

 an agricultural population, it has been found to answ-er 

 to blend one part India tea, one part baaktd-fired 

 Japan and the balance Amoy Oohng, in order to 

 produce a medium-priced tea of good, sustaining 

 liquor. In this mixture it is best to use a broken 

 India tea, as you get considerably more body at the 

 same price than if you used whole leaf. In mining 

 districts we should think that a mixture of Japan, 

 Moyune and India tea would meet with approval; 

 say one-half Japan aud a fourth each of Moyune 

 YouDg Hyson nnd luilia tea. In districts where For- 

 mosa Oolong is sold extensively, India tea can be 

 used to great advantage. Procure a Cacha district 

 Iridia tea and a very fine flavored Formosa. Buy the 

 Kornio.ja entirely for flavor, and blend them in equal 

 qualities; tlry blend excellently. To mix a good 

 English breakfast, first of all secure a very choice 

 Moniug Congou, a very fine flavored Chingwo Kaisow, 

 a choice brokeudcaf India I'ekoo and the finest India 

 Pekoe, care being taken that the India tea will 

 sustain its briskness on the addition of cream, Thia 

 is necessary, because a few India teas lose their 

 briskness directly there is an addition of milk or 

 cream. Blend the above in four equal parts. It is 

 always best, wheie piactical, to blend the tea siime 

 time before y ou use it, afterwards placing it iu an 

 air-tight iron bin so that the flavors will become more 

 assimulated. 



[Our readers will notice that m America the value 

 of Indian ttas, especially broken teas, for blending 

 with Ci.ina aud Japan teas is fully recognized. The 

 next step will be to recognize the merits of the Ind- 

 ian and Ceylon produce as pure teas, to be uaed 

 unmixed, — Jl/D.] 



