A devastating leaf disease—hemleia vastratrix—strikes Ceylon's coffee…

A devastating leaf disease—hemleia vastratrix—strikes Ceylon's coffee plantations in 1869 and spreads quickly throughout the plantation district, destroying the coffee industry within fifteen years.

Planters desperately search for a substitute crop.

One crop that shows promise is chinchona (quinine).

After an initial appearance of success, however, the market price of the crop falls and never fully recovers.

Cinnamon, which had suffered a setback in the beginning of the century, is revived at this time, but only to become an important minor crop.