23^ 



i-HU TROPICAL AGRICULl^URIST. 



[Oci:. 1, iS86/ 



the " flowered " variety. From its durability it has 

 been lately a {,'ood deal used for railway sleepers 

 in the Kast. The haudsome t ible cases contaiu- 

 iug the planters' exhibits of tea, coffee, k.c., were 

 made at Colombo of this wood. Triucomalco 

 wood is of a light reddish-brown colour, aud re- 

 markable for its combined strength aud lightness. It 

 is a •.^•ond which should be more widel}' known. 

 Of till? timbers and cabinet woods used in 

 Ceylou itself one of the most interesting and 

 curious IS calamander. a word corrupted from 

 the Sinhalese name Jvahimediriya. This is obtained 

 from a slow-growing, rather small tree of the wet 

 low-couutry, which has become extremely scarce, 

 aud, unfortunately., is entirely confiut^ to Ceylon. 

 Jieing vcrj' peculiar in appearance it is much sought 

 after by wealthy natives fur furniture, and som(> very 

 handsome and liighly-carved cabinets are exhibited. 

 The ordinarj- furniture woods of Ceylou are jak and 

 ncdnu. The former is a very common tree, though 

 not originally native; it^ wood; when first cut, of a 

 crutle yellow colour, seasons into a fine chestnut, aud 

 is scarcely to be distinguished from mahogany when 

 old. It is, of course, a well-known tree also in India. 

 Neduii i Ci ricopsi:! Mooniaua), on the other hand 

 occurs only in Ceylou. It is an attractive wood, easily 

 worked, and has a good deal the appearance of wal- 

 nut. If it could be obtained in sutficient quantity it 

 might become a favourite wood for furniture in Europe. 

 Another very ornamental wood is Wa, dark brown 

 with small black lines, but it is small and rather 

 coarse in texture, and is actually chiefly used in 

 Ceylon tor fuel on the railways. Na and pa! u are both 

 called ironwood, but have no relationship to one another. 

 Both are extremely hard, heavy, aud durable, aud much 

 used for piles of bridges, the latter also for railway 

 sleepers. The li^'ht cedar-like wood called hulankik is 

 much used for furniture and carving, being close-grained 

 easily worked, and durable, presenting much similarity 

 to teak. There are many other Ceylon woods deserving 

 of notice as furniture or cabinet woods, such as the 

 suriya (used iu carriage building at Colombo), the 

 mendora, the lunu-midella (of which the outriggers of 

 native boat* are always made), the tamruana, and the 

 lujau, some of which it might be worth while to export 

 on trial. 



The importance of Plumbago, of which such fine 

 specimens are shown, may be seen from the fact that 

 in 18S4, i46,000 worth was sent to England, which was 

 only half what was sent in 1832. The Ceylon like most 

 of the other Courts, has its show of fibres, and here 

 they are of substantial importance. The leading feature 

 is no doubt coir, the product of the coconut palm, and 

 was exported to the extent of 81-,000 cwt. of yarn iu 

 1885 and 12,700 cwt. of fibre. To England alone the 

 export of cordage and twine iu 1834 was valued at 

 £177,500. 



The Gems of Ceylou would require an article to 

 themselves, but here we can only drnw attention 

 to tlio many beautiful exhibits of sapphires, rubies, 

 cat'i»-eyes, moonstones, amethysts and other beauti- 

 l\x\ getiis, botli mounted and nnmouiited. One very 

 'are Alexandrite cat s-eje is apeciallv worthy of notice, 

 A'iti! tbetu may be classed the native gold and gilvcr 

 .•^oik, the fine npouniie objects, and the exquisitely 

 beautiful gold and silver filigree vioxk. The brays 

 K-ork also deserves attention, and especially the many 

 beautifully-carved objects in ivory, ebony und other 

 Hoods, and cocoanut shells. TWe tortoise shell ex- 

 hibits are al^o many of them exceedingly beautiful, 

 and the pottery is a study in itself. The finely-chased 

 Bwords and knives and the other weapons iu cases 

 and on the walls attract much attention, while the 

 models of natives, though few, are instructive. .Specially 

 interesting, in our estimation, is the very valuable 

 collection of objects from the Maldive Islands, in 

 case M. lent by Mr. C. W. Rosset. The portraits 

 of these islanders show them to be a dignified and 

 Self-possessed people, while their weapons, silver aud 

 gold jewelry, cloths, and other miuufactures show 

 them to be w'ell advanced in art and civilization. 

 Not the least interesting exhibit iu this case is a 

 primitive tclepliout; cousisting of a string feetweeu 



two drums, and which is perfectly good for short 

 distances 



Every traveller agrees that few islands of the 

 world are richer or more beautiful than Ceylon. 

 Haeukel's descriptions are scarcely less glowing 

 than those of Tcniieut. Tlie very fine map of the 

 island on the wall of the Exhibition shows that the 

 rainfall is below 50 in. over but a .small area. It 

 varies in other regions from 75 in. to 200 in., though 

 about 100 in. may be taken as the average. Its insular 

 character renders Ceylou remarkably healthy for a 

 tropical country, and the richness of its soil is shown 

 in the great variety aud luxuriance of its products. 

 Notwithstanding its long occupation by Europeans, 

 Portuguese, Dutch, and English there is much yet to 

 be done before the i>land is developed as it might 

 be. The population iu 50 years has increased from 

 1,000,000 to 2,700,000. Its revenue and expenditure 

 in the same period have trebled, rising from £400,000 

 to about £1,200,000 respectively. During the same 

 50 years the trade (exports and imports) has been 

 multiplied eight times, rising from £1,000,000 sterling 

 in 1 836 to £3,000,000 sterling in 1885. This surely is 

 significant enough of progress under British rule. 

 Should the Government continue a judicious expend- 

 iture on public works and useful institutions, and 

 planters aud natives work together to develop all 

 the possible resources of the colony, " this beautiful 

 island, from its geographical position, its excellent 

 harbour accommodation, and healthy climate, is destined 

 to justify its Brahmin title of ' the Pearl iu the 

 brow of India,' or Lanka, ' the Kespleudent. " 



COFEEE ; HOW IT IS SOI^D IN ENGLAND. 



Writing to the London Times Mr. Shirley Hibberd 

 says :— 



Coli'ee deserves the imparlance it has acquired 

 as a subject of publice discussion, and the more 

 so because it is but little understood. At good 

 tables poor coffee is too often seen, and it may be 

 said that on the world's table (in these parts) it 

 is never seen at all, but in its place appear various 

 nauseous aud injurious imitations. Valuing coffee 

 as a great aid in hard work, I made a resolve to 

 have the real thing on my table daily or "perish 

 in the attempt." Thereupon, I entered upon a 

 series of experiments that were at least amusing 

 if not particularly profitable. I bought every kind 

 of coffee I could see or hear of, and tried every 

 possible (and some impossible) way of making it, 

 having the assistance therein of a diligent and 

 clever cook. One striking result was the discovery 

 that all ready-ground coffees sold in canisters, 

 packets, and other '-convenient" parcels are bad; 

 some very bad, a few infamously bad. After try- 

 ing innumerable samples without noting one that 

 was worth trying again, I concluded that canister 

 coffee is au unmitigated cheat--consisting usually 

 of a mere shadow of the real thing, with a great 

 bulk of chicory atid more or less of what is termed 

 "colour," this being simply burnt sugar to give 

 factitious strength. What may be termed '-chan- 

 dler's coffee" is so bad that I strongly recommend 

 a trial of it to respectable people who love good 

 living, for they ouglit to know.by a taste of real agony 

 how the poor are robbed and poisoned, and have 

 ftsit a['pear.:;, no protection from law, go-^pel, or 

 the customs of society. It is not good policy to 

 purchase coffee ready ground, but if it must be 

 done the supplies should be small and frecjuent. 

 Any one may test the purity of ground coffee by 

 shaking a little over a tumbler of clear, bright 

 cold water, and leaving it for an hour or so. Pure 

 coffee communicates its colour to cold water slowly 

 and when the colour has been imparted the in- 

 fusion is still bright and clear, and the colour is 

 never deep. But chicory and other adulterants 

 quickly produce an opaque and dark infusion. The 

 UiUereuge is so striking that fpi ordinary purposeg 



