July i, 1685.] 



the; •fROf'fCAL AGRiCULtUrvIST. 



13 



THE KANDY (CEYLON) AGKI-HORTICULTURAL 



SHOW. 



[May SOth, 16So,) 



The exhibits were all arranged on tables running 

 down the centre of each court and passage and were 

 divided into 10 classes as follows : —Class I. Garden 

 Perennials in pots ; Class II. Garden Annuals in pots; 

 Class III. Ferns in pots ; Class IV. Foliage Plants in 

 pots ; Clui V. Cut Fowers ; Class VI. Vegetables ; 

 Claes VII. Fruit ; Class VIII. Native Products ; Class 

 IX. Estate Products ; Class X. Arts and Manufactures. 

 In addition to these and not classitied were the machin- 

 ery and other miscellaneous exhibits. 



Class I., Garden Perennials, was ou the whole very 

 creditably represented, Mr. J, V. H. Owen's pot plants 

 being specially worthy of mention. The roses were a 

 very poor show, and the judges decided that no awards 

 should be given for them. 



Class II., Garden Annuals.— These were not very 

 largely represented. 



Class III., Ferns in Pots. — This was one of the best 

 filled classes in the Show, and one of the finest. 

 Mr. Pate of Colombo sent a magnificent collection of 

 ferns which excited universal admiration and took 

 the tirst prize. Mr. Jonklaas was also an extensive 

 and a successful contributor to this class. 



CiasB IV , Foliage Plants in Pots, was very largely 

 represented and a vrry good show. 



Clais v., Cut Flo«ers. — This was a very good show 

 indeed. S. Jayetilleke Mudaliyar took the litst prize, 

 and silver medal for the best collection of roses. 

 The exhibits in this class— of Mr. Barber, Nuwara 

 Eliya, Mr. Wingate, Maiurata, and Mr. J. V. H. 

 Oweu — were specially good. 



Class VI., Vegetables. — A very extensive collection of 

 vegetables was on show, and some really line exhibits 

 were very much admired, reminding one as they did of 

 eimilar shows in the old country. Mr. J. Alexander 

 of Udapussellawa was the most successful contributor 

 m this class and took the Silver Medal for tbe best 

 collection of English vegetables and the prizes for 

 potatoes and tomatoes. Mr. Whjte's collection of 

 Englioh vegetables grown in Kandy was a very good 

 show, but the judges decided it was worth a Bronze 

 Meilal and not the silver medal offered. 



Class VII., Fruit, was not extensively represented, 

 but what there was exceedingly good. The 

 principal exbibits in this class were those sent by 

 Mr. \V. I. Cutton of New Galway. The peaches 

 and plums were exceptionally good and looked very 

 tempting. 



Class VIII., Native Products, deserves a special word 

 of commendation. The collection of paddy was most 

 extensive and the samples really spleudid. Yatawara 

 Ratemahatniaya well deserved the gold medal given by 

 the Sociity for ihe best general collection of native 

 products, and for the best collection of paddy the gold 

 iiic'ial givin by His Excellency the Govciuor was well 

 besiowud on Palipane Kateinaliatmaya. Tcnnekoon 

 Kateinahatmaya'.i colltciiuu of paddy was a beautiful 

 show and was accornpamrd by^ a capital catalogue. 

 Uii colicctii.n he prtsented to Dr. Trimeu for the 

 niuseuiii at Peradeuiya Gardens. Fibres and jungle 

 ropea were very wtU represented, and the cotton shown 

 was i.f good quality. 



(. U»o iX-, Esiate Products, was of course the prin- 

 ci|ai clicctiuu in the Show. The class may be 

 Buiiiii.cd up on the whole ta not numerous but very 

 gwd. A liuer sample of cofl'ee than that shown 

 by Mr. (i. H. U. hlphinstone and which took the 

 liuld Medal could not be wished for, and the other 

 eaciiples shown were not far behind in quality. The 

 pity of it is tl^at there is so little of it now iu 

 tile island Tea was certainly disappointing, not in 

 qualiiy shown, but in the paucity o£ bona fide, 



commercial samples. It was all " too good to bo 

 true" : in fact the judges declared that they were 

 all fancy teas and that there was scarcely a com- 

 mercial tea in the collection. It is not pleasant to 

 have to f.iy so, but they undoubtedly allwere " doctored" 

 as it was expressed by more than one planter. Of one 

 sample sent it was stated that the souchong, broken 

 pekoe and pekoe were all nothing more or less than 

 threegrades of pekoe. Perhaps it would have been more 

 satisfactory had the teas been sent in bulk and 

 sorted by the judges with the assistance of one of 

 the numerous tea sifters uow in the market. Some 

 samples of tea which would otherwise have got prizes 

 were badly packed and were tainted by the wood or 

 paint of the boxes. Gallebodde tea would probably 

 have taken the prize for "fancy" tea had three 

 qualities instead of t^wo been sent. For the best set 

 of samples of bona fide oommerci.^l tea, the Gold Medal 

 was awarded to Blackstoue, the judges believing this 

 to have been a genuine sample of a br<?ak, but they 

 declined to give the silver and bronae medals offered 

 for the second and third best sam[jles. For "fancy" 

 tea, under which name nearly all samples should 

 have been entered, Lauderdale took the palm 

 though that estate was closely run by Blackstone 

 and Gallebodde, the latter as stated as above losing 

 it by not complying witli regulations ; these two 

 latter wire awarded Bronze Medals. Cacao was ex- 

 tensively represented, and some beautiful samples 

 were shown. Pallekelly took the lead in this pro- 

 duct and the sample winning the Gold Medal was 

 undoubtedly the finest there. Cardamoms were ex- 

 tensively shown and all the samples were first-class. 

 Cinchona too was a very fine collection. Mr, J, 

 Alexander of Kirklees took the palm in this product, 

 his collection being a really first-class lot of barks. 

 In cinnamon the well-known mark of Mr. J. ¥• 

 Drieberg's estate took first place for a capital col- 

 lection. Vanilla was fairly well represented, Mr. S. 

 Jayetilleke of Kurunegala showing the best and 

 winning a Bronze Medal with a very tine sample. 

 Class X , Arts and Manufactures, was a very 

 interesting show and included Dumbara nuts, inlaid 

 tables, fret-work, carving in wood and ivory, 

 pottery, silver-work &c. A'c. Mr. \V. G. Wood showed 

 a large number of fret-work texts and mottoes which 

 were splendidly carved. Mr. G. A. Cherrington of 

 Colombo had some very excellent models of ships. 

 Mr. A. K. Ashton had a model of a 40-pouuder lield 

 gun and also a model of H. M. S. •' Invincible." 

 The silver and ivory work was remarkably fine, and 

 a epecial Silver Medal was awarded ftir the former 

 besides the one offered. The awards iu this class 

 have not yet all been made. 



PKIZE LIST. 

 Class I.— Gakden Pekexnials (iu i)ots). 



