8 
This order was still less regardeJ duriag the time 
of the snoceeding Mufti or Turkish Pope) who w^a 
not as solicitous about it as hia predecessors. He 
fat a.'iide this order, and not only permitted » free 
and undisputed use of^Coffee, but he himself aud the 
rest of tho fraternity indulged in it aad tbeir example 
Was immediat- ly fallowed by the countries, &c. 
It is also worthy of teoiark that tbesa Coffee 
house brought great eain to tlie Piime Minister or 
Chief Vizier, who got from each house from one 
to two ucats daily, bo.sidcs the one A&dar* hitherto 
levied on every cup of Coffee. 
Mr. Gellsnd further narrates tb^t .lince the wa? 
of Oanriia when St%te affairs were discu.'(?ed with 
some freedom of speech in these Coffee-houses by 
those who frequented tliem, the same were directed 
to be closCil by the Grant Vizitr Koeproeli or 
Kioeperli, who with h-'s two sons, who acted the 
part of vigiUnt informers, spared no pains in visiting 
these houses incognito, and listening to all plinJeroas 
discourses against tlie Governmen^, in order to pun- 
ish the dtlinqueuts with great rigour — kuA thsfa'iie 
vizi(r during the minority of Mohammed the 4'h 
caused all these houses to be clo.sed up, regardless 
o£ the great loos which this prooeeding eutailei 
upon himfelf. 
Although the Coffee houses were suppressed there 
was no diminution in the ceusumpfion oi tnat beverage, 
for it was now cu ried to the public market aud 
about the principal streets, fresh and Iwt, and sold 
to the public, who partook of it in the neighbouring 
shops, where the consumers whery very welcome, as 
it was one of the means whereby the f-hopkeers 
Buocaeded in drawing their attin'ion tr) the goods 
exposed by them for sale, and which ' theso Coffee 
quaff ra were oblighed, nolens volens, to purchase." 
(To ba continued ) 
THE NUWAEA ELIYA SHOW. 
The promoters of the Agri-Horticultural Show at 
Nuwara Bliya may well be congratulated on the 
success which has so abouudantly attended their 
efforts. It has been the means of creating a great 
social gathering when all classes, from the Queen's 
Kepresentative to the native gardeners, have met to- 
gether with mutual pleasure and, we may hope, with 
mutual advantage. Other considerations apart, were 
it for this object alone, such Exhibitions deserve 
the hearty support of everyone, and should be fostered 
with all possible solicitude; while the Flower Show 
has afforded an opportunity for floriculturists to shew 
others the plants and flowers on which they have 
bestowed so much attention, and of which they may 
so justly feel proud. When we come to the exhibition 
of garden produce, we take leave of the beautiful 
and the showy, and enter at once upon what is useful 
though it may be, inartistic ; and, though the culture 
of flowers is at once interesting and refining, attention 
to culinary produce is also profitable and conducive 
to the preservation of health. The addition of a 
horse and poultry show was, no doubt, an ingenious 
device to increase the attraction of the exhibition 
80 far as the gentlemen are concerned, many of whom, 
we regret to observe, fail to regard a lovely flower 
as " a thing of beauty and a joy for ever " Although 
there appear to have been a number of small prizes 
which failed to attract competitors, the exhibition was 
an exceedingly pretty affair, and afforded a vast 
amount of pleasure to a great number of visitors from 
all parts of the country. Regret has been expressed 
in several quarters that planters prove so indifferent 
about the exhibition of estate products. No doubt 
a varied collection of tea, coffee, cinchona, cocoa, 
&c Ac would add considerably to the interest 
attaching to such exhibitions, but it is not altogether 
unreasonable to suppose tbat the plinters of the 
present day are disinclined to regard cm senoux the 
flower-shows at Nuwara Eliya. Planting interest 
have undci-gonc very great changes Hinco the days 
~» A Turkish coin equivalent to three fai things of 
ouc money. 
[July i, 1891. 
of the highly successful Shows held in Kandy and 
Colombo some years back. We may remark in 
parenthesis that Kandy is much more favorably 
situated for an Agricultural Show thsn is Nuwara 
Bliya, and much more likely to secure the exhibition 
of produce and machinery. When those Shows were 
held a variety of products had been introduced to 
take the place of the declining coffee. Cocoa and tea 
were comparatively new to the public; cinchona was 
looked upon as a great stand-by ; and the different 
qualities of quill, chips, renewed, &c., &'c., were all 
eagerly inspected by an interested .public. But it is 
quite a different matter now. Tea has taken the place 
of coffee, and cinchona is totally disregarded ; everyone 
knows all they care to know about cocoa, and even 
cardamoms and India rubber have fallen into disrepute, 
to say nothing of annatto, sapan, &c., &c. Moreover, 
it must not be forgotten that the judging of the tea 
samples in Kandy was attended by unpleasant differ- 
ences of opinion, mainly, it is true, about what con- 
stituted a fair commercial sample, but nevertheless 
a feeling of irritation remained in the minds of many 
in spite of all efl'orts at explanation. When a planter 
found the tea he exhibited in Kandy fetching in London 
a penny a pound more than the gold-medal tea of 
the Kandy show, he naturally felt that that medal 
had been wrongly bestowed. Tea-making is now the 
business by which planters make their living, and when 
it comes to an exhibition in London or Melbourne, 
where great interests are concerned, and where the 
competition embraces the produce of rival tea-produc- 
in;j countries, we have no doubt Ceylon planters will 
again come forward as they have done in the past, 
and do their best to take the front place with their 
estate products. But in these petty local exhibitions 
it is not worth while ; they lead to no business, and 
they require just the same care and trouble as regards 
the exhibits as do the more importa^nt Shows in 
foreign countries. In short, the flower-shows at 
Nuwara Bliya and Kandy are regarded as mere 
sources of amusement and sociability ; whilst the 
exhibitions in other countries are meetings of com- 
mercial value and importance. Amongst the exhibits 
at Nuwara Eliya we notice some cinchona crown bark 
said to have been five times renewed. We should be 
very glad to know how this "fifth renewal" bark 
turned out an analysis, as for a long time there was 
an impression abroad that "renewed'' bark, as well 
as very old "original," was apt to lose its value by 
deterioration: In regard to the india-rubber not 
thoroughly drying, but becoming hard outside, whilst 
the interior shoued a mass of soft decaying milk, it 
is pretty evident that it had not been exposed to 
dessication in sufficiently thin layers to enable the 
drying process to be thorough. The Indians in 
South America are said to smear the coagulating 
juice over a clay mould something in the shape of 
a soda-water bottle holding it over a fire, and, as one 
layer becomes dry, another is put on, until a solid 
lump is attained. The clay mould is then broken or 
cut out. On the East coast of Africa, and in Madagas- 
car, the rubber is collected by the natives and brought 
to the trader in irregularly shaped lumps bigger than 
a man's fist. These lumps are promptly cut in two 
with a heavy knife — to see if any earth or stones are 
present — and then the rubber is weighed. We may 
add that the rubber has an abominable smell in this 
stage of preparation, and the same may be said of 
the rubber which conies down from the Chindwin 
and other parts of Upper Burmah. We have always 
thought that rubber cultivation was too hastily 
abandoned in Ceylon, but at the same time we fail 
to see any prospect of its being again taken up as a 
commercial undertaking. — Local "Times." 
. ^ . — 
Impokunt to Planteks. — An announcement of 
some importance to planters appears in our adver- 
tising columns today. Messrs. J. M. Kirwan & Co., 
Billiter Square Buildings, London, announce that 
the planters desirous of giving a trial to the firm's 
prepared psper for lining tea chests which has 
now been successfully tested on the London market, 
can have sulBoient to line 25 chests free of charge 
on applying to Messrs. Bosanquet & Co., Colombo, 
rm. TROPICAL AC^iCULTURiST. 
