June i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
1 1 
Don Andris of Galle have secured a Third Order of 
Merit, while Mr. Sumps' rattan loungiDg chair and 
tea-poy are awarded the Fourth Order of Merit. 
In the Argus of the 14th you will see that Mr. 
Kyle's exhibit of Breakwater concrete receives honour- 
able mention. I drew special attention to his plan 
of and report on the breakwater, which, as I wrote 
long ago, I submitted to Sir Wm. Jervois, &c. 
Under " Building Stones," honourable mention is 
made of "Graves, Cotton & Co., Ceylon." This is 
a mistake which I must get adjusted. I suppose 
that really honourable mention has been awarded to 
the breccia or cabook, or both, sent from Ceylon. 
In the Argus of to-day (15th) you will find in 
addition to the coffee awards " honourable mention" 
made of the Ceylon Government for an exhibit of 
" coral and shells." The Fiji Court opposite us has, 
in addition to lovely shells, a most exquisite collec- 
tion of corals. But the only exhibit in the nature 
of coral which stands in the Ceylon Court is the 
so-called " black coral " sent by an Italian who be- 
lieves that the true red coral exists in deep water 
off Ceylon ! I must see whether a mistake has not 
again been made. 
I see that "honourable mention" has been made 
of the collection of African elephants' tusks made by 
Mr. Chirnside and Mr. Adams. The latter I met at 
their really grand exhibit case a few days ago and 
had a long talk with him about the African elephants 
and their wealth of ivory. He told me that the 
mounting of the truly magnificent tusks cost many 
hundreds of pounds, and I can well believe it. The 
beautifully white ivory is rich with gold carving, and 
two tusks form the frame of a unique mirror. There 
is one tusk which a powerful man would soon tire 
of carrying. Our poor yellow tusks compare un- 
avourably with this superb trophy of ivory, but I 
think " honourable mention " ought to be awarded 
to Mr. Templer's elephants' skulls. I have written 
to that effect. 
I have spent the best part of two days going over, 
copying and commenting on the numerous and on 
the whole gratifying awards received by exhibits in 
the Ceylon Court and published during the fortnight, 
since last mail left. To-morrow morning, it is prob- 
able, the cinnamon awards will be published, so as 
to enable me to indicate their nature, and then little 
more can be expected. As matters stand, our com- 
paratively limited collection in the Ceylon Court has 
received, I believe, not less than 120 awards, and a 
very fair proportion of these are First * lass. I have 
considered it only honest to put up all the awards, 
low as well as high, and Sir Herbert Sandford said 
he wished others acted on the same principle. With 
the array of award cards, of a good size and printed 
in colours, the effect of the Court is quite striking, 
and before we commence to dismantle I may, per- 
haps, decide on having one more photograph taken. 
I feel pretty certain that no Court of its size in the 
Exhibition has secured so many awards, and few 
Courts of any size. Mr. Dawson has been always 
ready to give information to visitors and jurors, and 
Mrs. Guille since she joined the Court as caretaker 
has done excellent service, not only in arranging and 
keeping everything nice but also in giving informa- 
tion to visitors and jurors, her knowledge of French 
and German being particularly acceptable to the 
numerous foreigners at the Exhibition. I have felt 
that very frequently I could be of more use to Ceylon 
out of the Court than in it, and it is only just that 
I should acknowledge my obligations to the Assistant 
Commissioner and to Mrs. Guille. 
Through some mistake on the part of Mr. Caire 
I have not yet received the additional i-ets of photo- 
graphs you asked for, but 1 hope to send all by i 
next steamer. 
Trusting that the intelligence respecting awards, 
&c, will be acceptable to the Committee, as well 
as to the Government and people of Ceyhn, He 
lieve me, yours truly, 
A. M. FERGUSON 
AWAEDS FOR COFFEE, TEA, AND CINNAMON. 
Melbourne, 16th March 1881. 
Dear Mr. Bruce, — In this morning's Age appears 
the report of the sub-jury on tea which I enclose. 
As regards sample 528 the probability is that it was 
lost by the breakage of the bottle in transit from 
Mr. Newberry's office to Mr. Everard's. The fact 
that special attention was drawn to this sample — 
Mr. Taylor's underfermected tea — shews that it was 
dispatched from the Ceylon Court and its disappearance 
probably deprives Mr. Taylor, Messrs. Keir, Dundas 
& Co., and Ceylon, of an additional First Class award. 
I have -consulted Mr. Moody about sending in a fur- 
ther sample of what remains of this tea, but he 
thinks it better, in view of all circumstances, not to 
move further in the matter. You will see what the 
jury say about teas getting out of condition, and no 
doubt the tea exhibits have suffered materially by 
delay, first in the appointment of a jury and then 
in the conduct of the major part of the sub-jury 
under the influence of one of their members. You will 
see that the number of samples of teas submitted 
to the jury was really 823, the largest number, I 
suppose, ever shewn at any Exhibition. Notwithstand- 
ing delay, exposure and their consequences, I think 
the position attained by Ceylon is most encouraging. 
Of the fine quality of our teas there can be no doubt. 
The great point is care in preparation. 
With reference to the shifting of the coffees ex- 
hibited by Messrs. Delmege, Reid & Co. and Messrs.. 
Armitage Brothers from the second to the third class 
since the original memorandum was furnished to me. 
enquiry will be made. I have reason to believe, 
however, that class was decided by size of bean. 
The coffees in question were good in colour and 
bloom, but smaller in the bean than others. 
As I anticipated, this morning's Argus contains the 
awards for cinnamon, and, as I expected, Ceylon here 
stands beyond competition. As regards Ceylon ex- 
hibitors, this is the order in which they appear : — 
Cinnamon. 
First Order of Merit.— S. Rajepakse, Mudaliyar ; 
J. F. Drieberg, Ekelle Estate. 
Second Order of Merit.— H. D. Silva ; Lee, 
Hedges & Co. 
I suspect it .vas the smallness of the exhibit sent 
by Messrs. Lee, Hedges & Co., which shut it out of the 
First Class Mudaliyar S. Rajepakse's cinnamon was in 
full bales of all sorts, from Third to Very Superior. 
I am sorry that Mudaliyar Jayetilleke's vanilla did 
not obtain recognition (Mr. Vollar's was spoiled). 
But the Mauritius samples were large as well as 
fine. Succulent vegetable matters are so apt to get 
"out of condition. " Mr. Bawa's preparation of coffee 
and milk was sour when opened. 
You will see that the Government Agent <>f Kaudy 
g ts a second order of merit for seeds, and thnt 
Messrs. G. & W. Leechman receive honourable- 
mention for their enterprise in feuding a living 
coconut palm. 
This, I suppose, about exhausts the list for iVv 
Ion, unless my representations about the collections 
of Dr. Trimeu ; the Government Agent, Jaffna (palnn . i 
palm products) ; and Messrs. G. & W. Leechman 
(coconut palm products), are attended to. By next mail 
I may probably be able to send yon a copy of the 
corrected aud complete list (a long one) of nwkirds to 
Ceylon. — Yours very truly, 
