THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [March i, 1888. 
however, probably be conceded that to wait until all 
doubts could be settleJ, and so delay indefinitely a work 
so much needed as the present, would be a less desir- 
able course in the public interest than to print it forth- 
with in a somewhat incomplete condition. 
The following Catalogue, then, which is brought up 
to the end of 1886, contains the names and native 
countries of all the Flowering Plants and Ferns, &c, 
f rowing in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, so 
lar as I have been able to ascertain them. There are 
alss included the few additional ones to be found in the 
Experimental Gardens at Henaratgoda and Auuradha- 
pura, or planted in and about Colombo and Kandy. It 
thus comprehends all foreign plants in cultivation in 
Ceylon up to the elevation of about 2,000 ft., but not 
those cultivated only in the Botanic Garden at Hakgala 
or elsewhere in the hills. 
I have also included iu their places, distinguished 
from the exotic species by the prefix of an asterisk, all 
the native indigenous plants of Ceylon, even the com- 
monest, growing in the Gardens of Peradeniya. Most 
of these have been conveyed to the Gardens from other 
parts of Ceylon, but some are wild (not cultivated) 
here. These last are very generally weeds; and under 
the same category must be classed also a good many 
introduced foreign species. 'With regard to the more 
ornamental of our native plants of small size, such as 
Orchids, Ferns, &c, it is not possible to have the list 
constantly accurate, as the stock of these is continually 
varying.* 
A good many plants have had to be included as grow- 
ing in the Gardens which cannot be said to flourish 
here — indeed some of them barely exist : such are 
mostly species from dry warm-temperate or sub-tropical 
countries, to which our constantly damp hot climate is 
quite unsuited. Many of the favourite garden and 
greenhouse flowers of England are of this character, 
and do not repay cultivation here, though some succeed 
well in the hill districts. 
The dates within brackets appended to many of the 
exotic species are those of the first ascertained intro- 
duction of the plant into Ceylon. I regret that these 
indications are not mora generally given, but the Gar- 
den records have affoTded but little information on this 
interesting subject. All acquisitions since 1880, how- 
ever, are dated. Of early introductions I have been 
able to obtain but scanty notices, the most important 
being records which exist for 1678, 1802, 1824, and 1946, 
of some of the foreign plants growing in the Island at 
those periods. 
" Coffea Arabica," native of tropical Africa, is 
entered as introduced into Ceylon about 1690— a 
final settlement of a long-disputed point. 
— ♦ 
THE CARDAMOM PLANT. 
The Cardamom of Oommercp, Elettairia Card«.momum, 
a member of the natural order Zingeberace;e, is in- 
digenous to the forests of Malabar, where it is found 
growing wild at altitudes ranging from 1,800 to 3,500 
feet above sea level. A moderate degree of shade 
and any amount of moisture are the climatal con- 
ditions most favourable for the plant's luxuriant 
growth. 
If f-e shade be too profound, the stalks which 
uprin? from the rhizome will be but few in number, 
but \< sun'i-rht be moderately admitted, they will in- 
crease amazingly, often exc eding 70 in number, but 
if i-xposed to sunshine for more than an hour or two 
r'aily, fchrt p'ant languishes and eventually dies out. 
Eic'i stalk throws out a scape, or peduncle, varying 
in length from l!j to 2*> fee 1 ", on which the fruit is 
produced in tbe form of capsules, arranged in an alter- 
nate manner on eich side of the shaft, at a distance 
of ab>ut 2!j inc'ies from each other. From the des- 
cription of the plant above given, a large crop might 
be expfcted, but the result does not fulful tb« px- 
• A complete list of the native rlon of Ceylon win ne 
found in my " Systematic Catalogue," published by the 
rloyal <V wia'if; Society of Ceylon in 1885. The names 
-mplovpd in the present Catalogue are almost invari- 
ably those thorp, adopted. 
pectation to the anticipated extent, as owing to the 
large amouut of moisture contained iu the vegetable 
tissues of the cases which oover the grains, one pound 
of the green fruit reduces down to one quarter, or 
sometimes one-fifth of a pound when fully dried. 
In its natural climate and soil, a sandy loam devoid 
of clay, the plant begins to bear in the 2nd aud yields 
a full crop in the 4th year. My experience does not 
enable me to state precisely the yield of each tree. 
I think that the planter may consider himself fortu- 
nate, if he succeeds in harvesting on the average one 
quarter pound of dry cardamoms per tree in the 
total number of 60 trees which occupy an acre, in 
the fourth year, less a certain percentage of loss oc- 
casioncl by rats, squirrels and snakes, all which 
species of vermin evince a partiality for the fruit 
and are over on the watch to pounce upon it the 
moment it becomes ripe ; and this entails the necessity 
of great watchfulness on the part of the planter to 
forestal these marauders, and be in the happy position 
of that early bird which proverbially " gets the worm," 
Each stalk as it completes its functions in bringing 
its scape to maturity, and becomes effete, is suc- 
ceeded by another stalk, sprouting from the parent 
rhizome, which begins to bear in the course of a 
year ; and in this order, the growth proceeds with 
successive renovations, until the plant attains its 
ultimate span of existence, in the lapse of time : the 
extent or duration of which is not accurately known 
to the writer. 
Until Ceylon glutted the Home Markets, cardamoms 
sold well, but they hardly fetch remunerative prices 
now, as the quotations have fallen from 5s a lb. to 
Is 4d and even less for the small kinds of which 
there is a considerable proportion in all lots and 
which sell for about 8d a pound. The spontaneous 
' way in which the plant was for a long time supposed 
to be exclusively produced, viz. ; from the concussion 
of the ground occasioned by the fall of a large tree 
felled over it, was, if not a purely fanciful idea, prob- 
ably a cunning one suggested by the interested 
motives of those, who were the fortunate holders of 
the cardamom hills and habitats. Whether such an 
origin has any better foundation to rest upon than 
mere imagination, it would be idle here to discuss, 
as there is no question of the fact, that cardamoms 
can be reared from seed sown in shaded nurseries in 
the ordinary way, or from the division of the rhizome 
into parts containing young shoots or eyes fit for 
development into them. The former is undoubtedly 
the quickest way of forming a plantation ; although 
it must be admitted, the seed is singularly slow in 
germinating, taking never less than three and often 
as many as five months, before the little spikes show 
themselves above ground. Within a year from this 
time, the plants will, with careful culture, have attained 
a sufficient size to be planted out iuto pits dug for 
their reception in the shade of the forest suitably 
prepared by trenching, and the thorough extirpation 
of root and branch, of the brush wood occupy ing the 
surface. The process cardamoms are put through 
called bleaching, is a tedious one, and if left to ageuts, 
particularly costly. It is done by exposing them to 
the fumes of sulphur in closed receptacles : a process 
which has the effect of transforming their iliugy grey, 
into a delicate pale straw colour. This mny be called 
one of the tricks of the trade, which, while p 'rhaps 
it may not appreciably deteriorate, or detract frjm 
the quality or flavour of the grains, captivates the 
public eye, and secures a bitter prwe.—Soutk of India 
Observer. 
TEA-PLAN TIN* G FOR AUSTRALIA; AND 
CEYLON TKAS FOR ITS MAKKETS. 
From the following letter addressed to the Mel- 
bourne Argws, it will be seen that there has been 
an inquiry into tei cultivation in Victoria by a 
Royal Commission :— 
TEA: ITS GIIOWTH AN T D MANUFACTURE. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " ARGUS." 
Sir, — In reading over the report of the Royal Com- 
mission op th'; above subject, the practical planter 
