THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, 1881. 
First Class awards . ... 9 
Second ,, ,, ... 4 
Third „ „ " , \'*r?r: w '; ' ' 
Total ... 15 
This was out of a much larger number of total ex- 
hibits than Ceylon sent. For her more limited num- 
ber of exhibits, Ceylon obtained 
First Class awards ... ... 7 
Third „ „ ... .. 6 
Total ... 13 
Over and above tnis number of awards, Ceylon can 
claim the principal credit for the corxees which ob- 
tained awards as follows : — 
" Pure Plantation Ground Coffee. 
First Order of Merit: — R. Harper, Melbourne; 
Parsons Brothers, Melbourne; J. F. Mackenzie &Co., 
Melbourne ; and Gregg & Co., New Zealand." 
Largely, if not exclusively, the coffee for which the 
above awards was given was plantation Ceylon, 
Then we get: — 
"Roasted Coffee. 
First Order of Merit. — Parsons Brothers, Mel- 
bourne (Ceylon plantation, peaberry, Jamaica and 
Java). 
Second Order of Merit.— J. F. Mackenzie & Co., 
Melbourne (Ceylon plantation) R. Harper, Melbourne ; 
(Plantation and peaberry.)" 
Ceylon ought to get credit for the vast majority 
of the above awards given to the leading Melbourne 
importers of and dealers in coffee ; and it is more 
than probable that from Ceylon coffee was obtained 
the 
" Essence of Coffee," 
for which awards were given, thus : — 
"First Order of Msrit. — Dunn & Hewett, Lon- 
don ; A. Elder, Edinburgh ; and E. Delacre, Brussels.' 
As Fiji is not mentioned in the list of awards in 
the Argus, I cannot help thinking the list is incom- 
plete, I certainly understood that at least one First 
Class award was given for Fiji coffee. Before the 
22nd, the day on which the Marquis of Normanby 
is formally to deliver the awards, complete lists will, 
no doubt, be available. Meantime, 1 copy the Ceylon 
awards as they appear in to-day's Argus: — 
First Order of Merit. — John F. Baker, Pol watte 
mills (coffee of Yakkabendekelle estate) ; Lee, Hedges 
& Co. ; Colombo Commercial Company ; Whittall & Co. 
Mackwood & Co. ; Loolcondera ; and Courthope, 
Bosauquet & Co. 
There are thus seven First Class awards, instead of 
six as I was led to telegraph. Loolcondera estate 
does not seem to have been included in the list fur- 
nished to me originally. It is well to have a correc- 
tion to make on the favourable side. To continue 
copying the Ceylon awards :— 
Thtrd Order of Merit. — Thotulagala estate ; Del- 
mege, Beid & Co.: Langdale estate; Kintyre estate; 
Tillicoultry estate ; and Armitage Brothers. 
As Mr. Harley, who, in effect, judged the coffee, was 
also judge of the cinnamon, I expected the awards 
for each to be published simultaneously. But as 
nothing is said of our old staple bark, I turn to our 
new. 1 told Mr. Blackett* that I was disappointed 
to get only Second Class awards for our Ceylon cin- 
chona bark j , but he assured me that the quantity 
as well as the quality of the Indian Larks left no 
other result possible. The awards for Medical Barks 
appeared in the Argun of the 8th, with the result 
that India obtained two First Orders of Merit, 
thus :— 
Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, collection of cinchona 
barke. 
G'dVt. oi Madras, Madras, cinchona bark, jalap, &c. 
" Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Jury. 
Second Order of Merit i — 
E. H. Cameron, Ceylon, cinchona bark. 
Lee, Hedges & Co.. do. 
Mackwood & Co., do. 
T. C. Owen, do. 
You will thus tee that all the cinchona barks ex- 
hibited in the Ceylon Court obtained Second Class 
awards, being ranked second only to the fine and 
extensive exhibits from British Sikhim and the 
Nilgiris. 
In the same paper you will see the awards for 
minerals, rocks and fossils. I regret that a First Class 
aw.ird was noi given to Mr. Fernando, and I have 
written to this effect, attracting special attention to 
the ; enormous block of pure plumbago exhibited by 
hiin. As matters stand the awards to \ 'eylon exhibits 
in this class are : 
Second Order of Merit : — 
W. A. Fernando, Ceylon plumbago. 
Third Order of Merit : — 
Delmege, Reid & Co., plumbago. 
Armitage Brothers, do. 
A. C. Dixon, B. Sc., F. C. S., collection of rocks, 
minerals, gems, &c. 
Fourth Order of Merit :— 
A. M. & J. Ferguson, plumbago enclosing quartz, 
shewing what care must be taken to separate foreign 
matter. 
I am sorry to see exhibits in the Third Class which 
I hoped to see higher up, but I suppose our Ceylon 
plumbago was compared not with any exhibits of the 
same mineral but with the large, complete and valu- 
able collections of more precious minerals in the 
Exhibition. I need scarcely say that I did u'ot 
expect any award for the piece of plumbago enclosing 
quartz. Mrs. Guille used the language, when shewing 
the specimen, which the jury adopted. I feel that 
Mr. Dixon's collection of Ceylon rocks and minerals 
deserved recognition in a higher class, but we cannot 
get all as we could wish. For medicinal oils you will 
see that Dassenaike Mudaliyar obtained Third Order of 
Merit, and also "honourable mention" for tanning 
barks. The Government of Ceylon also received 
"honourable mention" for an exhibit of hal resin. 
In the Argus of the 10th, in addition to the tea 
awards, you will find a Fourth Order of Merit awarded 
to the Ceylon Government for printing ; while "special 
collections of books" are "commended," thus : — 
Government Agent, Kandy, Ceylon, styles and books. 
A. M. & J. Ferguson, ,, printed books. 
Rev. C. Alwis, ,, printed book. 
For walking-sticks there seems to have been no First 
Class award. Wijeynarayane, of Ceylon, therefore 
comes first with a Second Order of Merit. 
In the Melbourne Argus of the 12th are the Fine 
Arts awards, with reference to which I may say that 
I could not obtain recognition of the plumbago 
elephants sent by Messrs. Fernando, Delmege, Reid & 
Co. , and Armitage Brothers, as sculptures. As a yellow 
primrose was nothing more than a yellow primrose in 
the eyes of Peter Bell, so the model of an elephant 
in our Ceylon carboniferous mineral was merely "black 
lead" to the Melbourne jurors. And the Melbourne 
exhibits from Ceylon did not include any pictures 
except the Kandian specimens of scenes from Hindu 
mythology. Our photographs atoned for all. In that 
branch of the Fine Arts, however, represented by 
"general furniture" you will see under Second Order 
of Merit :— 
D. F. de Silva, Ceylon, carved ebony stand and 
brackets. 
A mistake has been made here, which I have 
brought to the notice of Mr. Newberry with the 
repeated expression of my hope that the elaborately 
carved ebony couches may receive the recognition 
they deserve. The carved ebony chairs exhibited by 
