November i, 1890.] THI TROPJCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
361 
CEYLON CACAO AND THE DUTCH : 
WHEN WAS CACAO FIRST INTRODUCED 
HERE ? 
The following note appears in the Trinidad 
Anrkultuml Becord for August: — 
Extract of Letter from Assistant Director Royal 
Gardens, Kew, to Superintendent Botanical Depart- 
ment, Trinidad. June 23rd, 1890. “ With regard to 
Oeylon Cacao it is well to b ar in mind that a good 
deal of this is produced by ‘ Oriollo ’ Cacao introduced 
into Oeylon by the Dutch. This, I believe, will account 
for the fine colour developed by fermentation.” 
We should like to know where Mr. Mortis got this 
idea : the explanation can scarcely account for the 
larger proportion of the superior Ceylon cacao. 
Dr. Trimen, to whom we referred for information, 
kindly writes: — 
“ I have met with no records leading me to think 
that we are indebted to the Dutch for the cacao 
tree. I am rather inclined to think that Mr. Moon 
introduced it early in this century. The first record 
I have of it is in 1819, when it was advertized for 
sale in the old Botanic Gardens at Kalutara ; and 
Moon includes it in his ‘ Catalogue ’ published in 
1824. Cordiner, whose records refer to 1799-1805, 
does not allude to it as being then in Ceylon. We 
may, therefore, conclude on the evidence we have, that 
we got the plant between 1806 and 1819, and probably 
between 1816 (when Moon was appointed) and the 
later date. It is not possible to speak with certainty 
on the point, but it is probable that this was of the 
‘ Caracas ’ variety, and that many of the trees in 
Peradeniya and elsewhere are lineal descendants. 1 
find it was still being advertised by the Gardens as 
for sale in 1833. 
“It was in 1834-5 that Sir R. W. Horton obtained a 
stock of seedling plants from Trinidad. These were 
cultivated at Peradeniya and at the Pavilion garden 
and elsewhere in Kandy, and one of them planted 
in the Army .Surgeon’s garden there was the source 
of the cacao on Pallekelle estate, first planted I believe 
about 1855. There is no doubt whatever that this con- 
signment was of the ' Caracas ’ variety, and most of 
this kind of cacao now grown in Oeylon traces its 
origin to Sir R. W. Horton’s importation. 
“ lam not aware of the date when the cultivation of 
this fine sort of cacao went out in Trinidad, but it ap- 
pears evident that it must have been later than 1834, 
when we obtained it.” 
We are aware that Bennett (“ Oeylon and its 
Capabilities”) is often not a reliable authority, and 
probably Dr. Trimen has noted and discounted his 
statement quoted in our “Agricultural Review” 
(in “Handbook and Directory”). Bennett wrote; — 
Theobroma Cacao. — I have had very fine specimens of 
the fruit in my own garden from trees planted by the 
late Jacobus Burnand, Esq., a Dutch gentleman whose 
name is deservedly remembered in Ceylon with respect 
and regard, for he was distinguished both by his zeal 
for the welfare of the island, through the introduction 
of the culture of valuable exotics from the Malay 
peninsula, and the Dutch islands of Java, Banda and 
Amboyua, and by his botanical acquirements. The 
nuts were equal to the finest I had seen at Penang 
and Malacca, or in the West Indies, and in no 
degree inferior, either in size or nutritious properties, 
to the best productions of South America. 
All this is, however, quite compatible with Dr. 
Trimen’s belief that the plant was not known in 
Ceylon before the beginning of the present century. 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
(From the Chemist ami Druggist.) 
London, Sept. I8th. 
An.vati'o.— Damp but lair seeds sold at 2Jd, and one 
barrel ordinary 8t. Vincent atl.ldper lb. 
Cinchona.— Among the South American barks shown at 
today's auctions were b'J serous Hiianoco, one of which 
attracted attention on account of its unusually fine 
quality. It consisted of fiue medium to stout silvery quiU, 
46 
and sold at Is 7d per lb. Such fiue Huanoco bark has 
not been seen on our markets for a long time. Good 
stout brown cjuill .sold at Is Id to Is 3d, thin and broken 
mixed quill at lOd to 12d per lb. Of 32 liales Cartlugeua 
in very large prices part sold at 5|d to 5|d for stout 
flat. For 3 sarons good strong quilly Loxa, partly very 
stout mixed, Is lOd per Ih was paid. The parcel of 131 
bales Guayaquill bark, which were announced as coming 
up for sale, was offered today and mostly disposed of : 
fiue thin even grey mossy quill. Is (id ; partly silvery, 
woody Is Id to Is 3d ; long, thin brown, more or less 
broken, from 7d down to 5fd. Of flat Calisaya bark 
several parcels were offered, and some sales were made 
at Is 8d to Is 9(1 for good stout rather dark, Is 5d for 
damage : these prices were rather cheap 
Crotton Seed. — The market is quiet. The price ranges 
from 12s up to 18s per cwt., according to quality. At 
the auctions 12 bags fairly bright seeds were bought in 
at 20s per cwt. nominally. 
Essential Oil.— In Citrouella rather considerable sales 
are said to have been made privately at firm prices. 
At auction a few drums were bought in. The quotation 
remains Jd to |d per oz. on the spot. 
CEYLON TEA IN AUSTRALIA— MORE 
ABOUT MANA GRASS. 
Meeting a gentleman this week who but re- 
cently returned from a visit to Australia, the 
question was put to him by me as to how Ceylon 
tea was getting on there. In reply he told me that 
he believed a good start had been made and that 
there was a fair prospect of very considerable sucoess. 
But he said that he thought it a pity, from all that 
had been mentioned to him in the course of his 
inquiry in the several colonies he visited, that 
no agencies which were directly authorized by your 
Planters’ Association had been established. He 
believed that if a choice of firms in the leading 
cities could be made to whom the imprimatur of 
the Association could be safely entrusted, the use of 
Ceylon tea would spread far more rapidly than it 
has any chance of doing under the present system 
of gratuitous distribution of teas. On my remark- 
ing that I had always heard that the difficulty as to 
this was in the status of your Association, — that i 
did not pretend to be a business body, — it was re 
plied that the distinction set up was scarcely an 
appreciable one. “ Surely,” my friend remarked, 
“ if the Association goes the length of purchasing 
and sending your teas, even although it expects 
to get( no direct money return of it, it has 
adopted a business element, and I for one can- 
not see why it should not extend that adoption, 
for I am very certain that teas advertised for 
sale under the guarantee of the Association 
would find a far readier sale than the unguarded 
public are now disposed to accord to them.” My 
answering observation was that I had always re- 
commended some such course as he had suggested 
when endeavor was first being made to introduce 
Ceylon tea into England ; but that without it the 
tea had become more popularly drunk than any 
other. “That’s perfectly true,” was replied, “but 
the conditions here and the condition in the Aus- 
tralian Colonies are wide apart in their characteris- 
tics, and if you don’t take these into account you 
will probably find the progress made in Australia 
to fall greatly behind whai has been achieved at 
home. Throughout Australia I find a guarantee 
to be required to induce its people to make a change 
in their ordinary course of tea drinking. You will 
find the education to a refined taste much more 
difficult to accomplish with the coarser palates of 
the Australian Colonists than you found with the 
more highly sensitive ones of the upper and middle 
classes in England.” 
You will doubtless have hoped to hear from mo 
by this mail more as to the future of the mana 
grass experiments respecting which my letters have 
lately given you so much detail. Since last writing 
it has been told me that the first lot of the grass 
I 
