238 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 1900. 
The ladiaii pavilion is -piirt of the general exhibition 
given in the Indian Palace. The building is a very 
beautiful and characteriaitic one, but there was grave 
delay in its completion and in the opening of some 
sections of it. That portion set apart for the sale 
of caps of tea is comparatively limited, and is not 
particularly well situated for attracting attention, 
but it is very daintily fitted up. The t:ible service 
as to the cups, pots, &o., used is excellent. The 
tea is made in the besi possible manuer, and the 
tea supplied for consumption, while still remaining 
pure Indian, is not obtriisively pungent in its character, 
and very well suited to impress favourably those 
who already like tea and may want to contrast the 
tea of one place of origin with that of another. 
The Indian tea-room has the advantage of having 
n number of beautiful trees actually growing in it. 
Those in charge endeavoured to buy up the right to 
cut them down, which the Exhibition anthurities 
would not sell, and it is fortunate they did not do 
so as in the height of summer they give a grateful 
shade and add much to the pretty effect of the place. 
The tea is served by waitresses speaking several 
languages, who are very beautifully dressed in costumes 
which,' although not strictly having any relationship 
to India, are Oriental in their general character, 
and of a design and in a style which suggests that 
they might have been furnished by Liberty & Go. 
All are dressed alike, but the costumes appear to 
be varied from day to day. Although the tariff was 
somewhat higher than in the Japan tea-room, ex- 
cellent value was given in the quahty of the tea 
and of the biscuits, &c., supplied, and this exhibit 
might be considered a very fair bid on the part of 
the Indian tea people to popularise their produce 
among the visitors to the Exhibition. A considerable 
number of those seemed to appereciate the ads-antages 
of an afternoon cup of tea, but it was not very 
clear whether they were French people experimenting 
in what to them was a novelty, or visitors from 
other lands who were merely following " their custom 
of an afternoon." 
Closely adjoining— in fact, practically part of the 
same block of buildings as the Indian Palace— is that 
of Ceylon, bv no means so beaiitiful m its design and 
execution or In the wealth of characteristic detail, yet 
serving its purpose as a shelter for the representation 
of the products and industries of the island. In 
this instance the pavilion for serving cups of tea 
is right outside, in a separate building, with large 
accommodation in the way of al fresco tables and 
chairs, much in the style of any ordinary Irench 
cafe A few Cingalese men, with their characteristic 
tortoise-shell combs in their hair, and dressed in 
the usual white cotton costume of Ceylon native 
servants, assist in supplying the tea ; but the wait- 
ing is mostly done by waitressess, who might be 
those of an "A. B.C." shop in London. The trade 
being done is at times very large, and every seat 
seems occupied, A small orchestra plays in one 
corner to attract people, and this seems to answer 
its purpose very successfully. 
The tea supplied on the occr.Mon of my visit to 
the Ceylon pavilion was neither so good in itself, 
so well made, nor so daintily served as the compecmg 
pavilions, and the value given for money was in- 
ferior to that in either of the other two, but that 
aijpeared to be of little consequence. Ceylon tea 
has been so well advertised, not only throughout 
the Exhibition, but throughout Paris in general, 
and the situation (being at a point where many 
footways meet and cross) being a very desirable one, 
there is no necessity to give more to the customers 
than they expect. A very large trade was being 
done and apparently many of the visitors were 
French people, and numbers had frequently to be 
turned away. 
Ceylon tea generally throughout the Exhibition 
was being exceedingly well puslx'.d in the restaurants, 
the Cuvloii Commissioners having made contracts 
with inoat of them to supply pure Ceylon tea, 
and a neighbouring restaurant (with a familiar 
English name) had actually gone the length of cutting 
under the rates charged at the tea pavilion to attract 
people into their place for cups of Ceylon afternoon 
tea. 
In Paris generally tea has certainly been more 
in evidence during this Bihibition than ever before, 
several v/ell-known English concerns having opened 
depots, and a large number of places having been 
induced specially to push certain Ceylon teas that 
were being exhibited. — Indian Oardeninij and Flaiitiny. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Productions of the Jewish Colonies in Palestixe 
AT TiiR Paris Exhibition. — We are informed by Mr. 
Eldod, manager and director of the Palestine 
Wine ana Trading Company, Limited v/hose business 
preicisps ar-^ at 11, Hevis ]\latks, (yity, that the 
Jewish colonies in Palestine have obtained at the 
Paris Universal Exhibition of 190O, a Gold Medal 
for their wines and Grape-brandy, and a Silver 
Medal for fruit-trees and fruits — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Cooking of Vegetaele-Marrows. — As the season 
of Vegetable- Marrows is now wiih us, here are two 
very good modes of cooking them, sent us by Dr. E. 
Bonavia : — " (a). ' Young Marrow Parmesan Fashion, 
— Take as many very young Marrows as 
you require, cut each in four, lengthwise; stew 
them with butter, without water, adding salt, till 
they are quite soft; place them on a hot dish, and 
powder them rather thickly with grated Permesan 
cheese. In the same saucepan put a large spoon- 
ful of good stock or gravy ; 'mix in the pure of 
two or three large tomatos ; pour this sauce on the 
Marrows, and serve. (/)). Young Marrow, Milanese 
Fashion. — Cut the number required in halves, length- 
wise ; half boil them in water and salt ; remove the 
interior of each half, chop it up, and squeeze it in 
a clean rag to remove the water ; then fry a chopped 
Onion in butter, adding the squeezed pulp, thickened 
with a little flour, and add a tablespoonf iil of cream, 
if handy ; season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and 
giated Parmesan. The whole should be as thick 
as porridge. vVhen cold, bind the whole with a 
whipped egg or two. Fill the Marrow-shells with 
this stuffing ; sprinkle over them some grated Par- 
mesan, and bake to a light brown. N.B. — A varia- 
tion of this is the addition of minced-meat and 
Sultaua raisins to the stuffing." — Hid. 
Fruit in Ceylon. — The attempts which have been 
made in the past to cultivate fruit on a large scale 
in Ceylon have not been of so encouraging a nature 
that hopes may be entertained that we shall see 
Orange orchards and fields of Pines filling our mar- 
kets with a cheap and abundant supply of two of 
the best fruits Europeans can eat in the East. Oranges 
remain scarce and dear, which might in the gardens 
of the village around Colombo alone be grown with- 
out trouble and in abundance to fill all the require- 
ments of Colombo, and the constanly increasing 
number of steamers and ships putting into our harbour. 
It is possible that the attempts which have been 
made in the past to cultivate Oranges on a large scale 
resulted in a failure on account of the class of pl.^nts 
chosen not being best suited to this climate, and 
whilst it is most desirable that better strains should 
be introduced, the Oranges which are in small supply 
in Colombo are not by any means undesirable in 
quality, but the quantity first requires attention. The 
Pines usually cffered for sale in Colombo are of a 
very poor description, yet what Ceylon can do in 
the shape of Pine growing is shown by the delicious 
fruit to be secured by paying an increased figure. 
We are rather sanguine that were a start made by 
encouraging villagers round Colombo to plant the 
best strain of fruit trees, the results would very 
amply repay the time and money expended. — "Tifnes 
of Ceylon," 
