August r, 18S4.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



!55 



fore favourable for tea, but the outturn up to date has 

 been short. 



That prospects are brightening up a little, however, 

 the following paragraph from the Indian Daily News 

 seems to show : — 



Tea cultivation is backward throughout Assam this season. 

 Blight, which has been very general, has kept the plants 

 from putting forth leaf. Good tea weather is being now 

 experienced, however, and, under the influence of rain 

 and sun in happy proportion, the gardens are showing signs 

 of recovery. 



The method of plucking only two-and-a-half leaves is 

 called in Darjiling hippo-paro : paro, we think means 

 "leaf," but we are not sure about hippo. 



In another column a correspondent gives an extract 

 from a private letter regarding tea at the Health Ex- 

 hibition. We must conclude our remarks today with 

 the following extracts upon the same subject from the 

 " London Tea Letter" of the Indigo Gazette : — 



I am afraid neither Indian tea nor Ceylon coffee will 

 derive many fresh clients from the cups of both dis- 

 pensed from the Indian and Ocylon cafes at the Health 

 Exhibition. I tasted both this work and don't know 

 which did least credit to their names. The " milk," not- 

 withstanding a notice stuck up, to the effect that it is 

 supplied by a particular dairy having a model dairy at 

 tin! Exhibition, was sufficient to spoil anything with which 

 it might be brought into contact, save, perhaps, a filter. 

 The Show of Indian aud Oeylon teas can only be called 

 deplorable, and ;..i excellent opportunity has been thrown 

 away. 



Much might have been done at this popular and really 

 capital exhibition to make Indian teas create quite a sens- 

 ation. A really good agent, with the present charm- 

 ingly situated Indian Cafe overlooking the fountains, was 

 all that was required, bar a little judicious advertising. 

 50,000 people having been visiting the exhibition daily 

 of late, the opportunity cannot be questioned ; that it 

 should be a coup manque 1 is not a cause for satisfaction in 

 these times; particularly as we shall probably find John 

 (Jhinauiau well lo the front when his highly decorated 

 court is finished. China does make exquisite tea, and 

 doubtless John will make up for a late start by sup- 

 plying a superlative quality, versus the toast-water aud 

 skim of the Indian dak bungalow. 



COMMON AND BOTANICAL NAMES OP 



PLANTS: THE CAPE JASMINE OR 



GARDENIA FLORIDA. 



We hope our correspondent who asks some questions 

 on the above subject will excuse us for giving an 

 extract from bis precise and intelligent letter in 

 reference to this question, and accept these. notes inreply. 



The Gardenia florida, or Cape jasmine, was introduced 

 to Ceylon, according to Moon (Additions, part 1), about 

 sixty years ago, and has been assiduously cultivated 

 in various parts of the island ever since, the double- 

 flowered variety only as far as we know, and, though 

 large plants of it have been grown here which produced 

 few flowers, the plant is now becoming a favorite, and 

 its large flagrant double white flowers, like a small 

 ro3e or a camellia, are produced by cultivation in 

 abundance on comparatively small plants. 'When a 

 small plant grown by Mr. Robinson, the late Traffic 

 Manager of the Ceylon Railway, produced several 

 hundred flowers at the same time, we received notice 

 of the fact, but we now beg to give the following 

 information to our correspondent, which we hope will 

 be acceptable to others of our readers interested in 

 such subjects. 



The specific or trivial name "florida," given by 

 Linnseus to this plant in 1764, does not mean that it is 

 a native of Florida, but that the specimens before him, 

 when he named it, indicated that it was & very florid 

 or flowery plant ; hence the Gardenia florida, which 

 properly is a native of Japan and China, and travelled 

 to the Cape of Good Hope, where it grew as it 

 does in Ceylon, and was named (eiroueuusly) by 



Miller in his Dictionary &c. (in 1708-1831 ?) Jas- 

 minwm cape se, and from this blunder on the 

 part of Miller, the truly native of J pan and Oh in 

 is called the "Cape jasmine," and the name cannot 

 now be altered. It is of course one of the Bubiacece, 

 and the jasmine, of which our correspondent seud.j us 

 one leaf aud one flower, is, as he correctly diagnoses 

 one of the olive family. 



The double-flowered plant, of the very commonly 

 cultivated one of Taberncemontana coronaria, Br., 

 described by Sir Joseph Hooker in Flora British India, 

 vol. 3. p. 616-7, and collected here by Paul Herman 

 in 1670-70, is so like the Gardenia in general ap- 

 pearance, that Willdenow, 1. p. 1225 has a long note 

 on the Jasminum zeylanieum of Burm. Flora Zeyl. 

 t. 59 for this latter plaut, in connection with the 

 Gardenia florida; which are certainly like each other 

 in respect to their double white flowers ; but the one 

 is a Rnbiaceous plant, and the other is a Dogbaue 

 with milky juice, the "native country of which is 

 unknown." \y. F. 



" I am taking the liberty of writing to you now (upon 

 a botanical question that has been puzzling me), as your 

 name is connected with the pamphlet from which I quote. 

 I refer to the ' Hints on Gardening ' by W. Cameron with 

 notes by yourself. 



" On page 7— 6th line from top— is mentioned ' Gardenia 

 Florida ' after which ' Cape Jasmine' is inserted in brackets. 

 Now the plant which we all (upcountry) call Cape Jasmine 

 most be, I think, a different one altogether. I enclose a 

 blossom and leaf. It is a shrubby creeper with simple leaves, 

 and the flower contains only two stamens and the ovary issup- 

 erior. Fortius reason, I have referred it to the nat. order 

 Oleaceaj of which 'Jasminum' is a tribe. 



'• The Gardenia family, I find in ' Oliver's Indian Botany ' 

 is a subtype of the Rubiace;e and has five stamens aud 

 ovary inferior. 



" 1 therefore think the plaut of which I enclose a blossom 

 must be the ' Jasminum Sambac ' of ' Oliver,' and that 

 the ' Gardenia Florida ' in ' Hiuts on Gardening ' is the 

 common gardenia in upcountry gardens, the name Cape 

 Jasmine being wrongly applied to J. Sambac. 



" 1 hope you will excuse my troubling you on the subject, 

 but I should be very glad to know which is the true Cape 

 Jasmine." 



"INDUSTRIAL AND COTTON CENTENNIAL 

 EXPOSITION" AT NEW ORLEANS. 



The United States Consul in Colombo writes :— 



" I enclose herewith copy of a dispatch from the 

 Secretary of State, Washington, aneut the Great 

 Exhibition to open at New Orleans on the 1st Monday 

 of December this year ; and as the event offers an ex- 

 cellent opportunity for the introduction of Ceylon 

 products to a rich section of the United States, where 

 they are at present unknown, perhaps you may be 

 inclined to give publicity to Mr. Frelinghuysen's letter 

 in your newspaper." 



The report of the Director-General states that already, 

 iu recognition of the formal invitation through this Gov- 

 ernment, eleven foreign Governments have indicated an in- 

 tention to participate, and many others have only delayed 

 action while awaiting information as to the progress of 

 the preparations. 



The applications for space, however, by foreign and 

 United States exhibitors eight months before the opening, 

 require about 900,000 feet, aud, although the exhibition 

 building is the largest ever erected except that of London, 

 it has already been found inadequate for the area de- 

 manded. 



The ample resources of the Association, however, it is 

 thought, insures the ultimate accommodation of all par- 

 ticipants. 



Congress required that the city named as the location 

 for the exposition should subscribe to the amount of 

 $500,000. 



In addition to a compliance with this requirement, the 

 Corporation of New Orleans has contributed jjl00,0uu and 



