ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 5 
various kinds of Chinchonas, the genus from which the quinine 
alkaloid is obtained. The Chinchonas are nearly all natives of 
Peru, but are cultivated at such elevations, both in Ceylon and 
Madras, as to justify the expectation that some of the most valu- 
able kinds may yet ‘be grown with success in the warmer parts of 
this country. In these Courts the variety of teas formed a most 
remarkable feature. From the many kinds of these exhibited it 
might have been supposed that they were the produce of so many 
different species, instead of all being obtained from one species and 
its varieties. Although a comparatively new industry in Ceylon, 
the adaptability of the climate for the growth of the tea plant is 
now well established. The cultivation of this plant in India, in 
which country there are at least three distinct varieties, was com- 
menced in 1837, by plants introduced from China ; but the native 
kinds are now largely planted and are known as the “Assam,” the 
“Qachar,” and the “Moinpaar,” named after the districts in which 
they are found in awild state. These, with the China and two or 
three hybrids, obtained by crossing with each other, furnished all 
the splendid exhibits of this kind at the Exhibition. The pecu- 
liarities of these teas as contrasted with those of China are their 
much greater strength and stronger aroma. In both Ceylon and 
India the tea plantations are at heights varying from five to seven 
thousand feet above sea level, where the maximum temperature is 
about 69° and the minimum temperature about 49°, the rainfall 
being about 49 inches. As these conditions are exactly similar to 
those which may be found on our Northern Coast ranges, it may 
be reasonably expected that at no distant period plantations of the 
tea plant will occupy a great extent of the slopes of these mountain 
ranges, and that tea will then become one of our best products for 
home use and one of the most valuable for export. There were 
other exhibits of this description, which it would be most advan- 
tageous to this country to procure. The most noticeable of these 
were—the indigo, the yield of Indigofera tinctoria ; pith, a cellular 
substance obtained from the stem of Aschynomene aspera, and so 
much used in the manufacture of sun or pith hats; tapa cloth, 
which is the prepared inner bark of Broussonetia papyrifera ; and, 
