March i, i8 9 b.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
64 
ago a large stretch of ground near Sukkum Kaleh, de- 
voted only to the shrub. Their efforts were so success- 
ful that they extended their gardens considerably three 
or four years ago, and further experimental plantations 
were made on their estates at Dushat, at Senaks and at 
Sogdidy, all situated in the same region of the Western 
Caucasus. The attempts, however, to manufacture a 
marketable tea from the leaves grown, on the Caucasian 
plants were not at first so successful as the projectors 
hoped. When brewed the beverage they yielded was 
found harsh, bitter, and strongly astringent. In a word, 
the tea was unfit for the pot, and, therefore, useless for 
sale. But this fault was only one of manipulation. So 
the owners of the tea-gardens sent a couple of their re- 
presentatives to China to study thoroughly the methods 
of preparation in the cradle of the industry, and ob- 
tained f urther the services of a Chinaman thoroughly up 
to the business. The result has been extremely gratify- 
ing to the Messrs. Barkaley. There has been a marked 
improvement in the quality of the Caucasian product, 
and all the statements made about its being naturally 
and inevitably bitter and poisonous have been shown to 
be unfounded, the objectionable qualities that for- 
merly ( ietinguished the tea of the Cauoasus gardens 
being clearly proved to have resulted from a had process 
of manufacture. In the judgment of tasters the teas are 
by no means perfect — nor were those of the Assam 
gardens at the beginning of the Indian manufacture. 
But tbe plants grown and the tea manafactured in the 
Caucasus, of which samples were shown in the recent 
Tiflis Exhibition, have led French and German experts 
to speak with tbe greatest hopefulness of the future pos- 
sibilities of the Caucasian tea industry, and the Russian 
Government is doing what it can to foster and encour- 
age the enterprise of the tea cultivators in this part of 
the Empire. 
The success of tea growing in the Caucasus will de- 
pend upon a good many considerations. The climatic 
conditions are no doubt suited to the culture of the 
tliea sinensis, or the analagous plant of Indian origin. 
The shrub is by no means a delicate one ; it stands 
exposure fairly well uoder proper systems of tending 
and management, and takes no harm from the rigours 
of even a cold winter. Tbe seasons in the Caucasus 
are verj much like those of China, the winters not more 
severe, and the summers about as hot. In fact, French 
and German naturalists, who have made a study of 
the subject, assert that there is no country in the 
world beiter adapted for the growth and production of 
tea than the littoral of the Black Sea just between 
Batoum and Sukum Kaleh, where they assert tea 
gardens should thrive in the generous climate which 
is at once warm, moist, and equable. It may fairly be 
assumed that the climatic conditions of that portion 
of the Caucasus province referred to — as well as some 
others— are at least as favourable to tea culture as 
Assam and Dajilling, where the industry has attained 
such enormous development in the last quarter of a 
century, to say nothing of less promising regions, where 
the cultivation of the tea-shrub is yielding satisfactory 
results now, though such an idea would have been derided 
a few years back. But a great deal, too, depends 
upon kinds of plants selected for growing. For what 
will thrive and do well in one country is by no means 
certain to answer in another, even when climatic condi- 
tions appear to be precisely the same in both. To 
give a standing instance. The tea plant of Northern 
India, the plant from which the ABsam and Darjilling 
growers obtain the supplies they send all over the 
world, is not tbe familiar tea plant of China, nor is 
it even like the plant which the Chinese have for 
thousands of years cultivated. It is true that the first 
experiments in Indian culture were made with plants 
imported from China, and with seed obtained 
from the same source. But there is very little doubt 
that if ludian cultivators had stuck to the China tea 
shrub, their attempts would have had very different 
results, aud the grower of Assam and Darjilling would 
have produced nothing but a somewat coarser and 
harsher species of Chinese leaf, which whould never 
have taken, as ludian teas has, to the extent of threat- 
ening tbe supremaoy of the Chinese article. It was 
the discovery of the wild ten of the Himalayas, the 
native or indigenous shrub of India that, to use the 
current phrase, " made " the Assam tea industry. It 
is a plant far more robust than that of China, far 
larger, yielding a greater quantity of leaves at each 
picking, and otherwise better adapted to the soil and 
climate of the southern Himalayan regions in which 
it is so extensively grown now. If the Caucasian 
cultivators can only hit upon the right variety suited 
to their uplands and valleys, they may suoceed ere 
long in turning out marketable tea in quantities likely 
to affect the imports from China. But this is proba- 
bly a contingency very far afield as yet. 
It is strange to note over how wide an area the cul- 
ture of the tea plant is gradually extending, and how 
numerous are the sources of supply which are gra- 
dually opened to it now. Not many months ago we 
dealt in our leading columns with the Buccess ot the at- 
tempts at tea growing made in a oolony of our own, 
Natal. Here, too, a variety of the Indian tea had 
been selected for planting, and the results were so 
satisfactory that tea-culture may be regarded as one 
of the future industries of South Africa. Some half- 
a-dozen companies are already engaged in it, and 
more companies are already engaged in it, and more 
will follow as the local product increases in re- 
pute. The Malay Peninsula promises also to become 
one ot the tea countries ot the world, the prices 
obtained for Johore tea rivalling those paid for tbe 
finest Indian and China products, and Johore has this 
great advantage over all other tea lands, its peculiar 
ciimate will allow of the leaves being picked — "flush- 
ing" as it is called — all the year round. In other 
parts where the shrub is grown this can only be done 
at certain seasons and at intervals apart. Malacca is 
also going in for " tea. But the latest undertaking 
of the kind is oonfined to New Zealand, which has 
determined to enter into the general competition in 
tea growiDg, The climate and soil of both the north 
ana the south island are stated to be favourable to 
tea culture, and last October a large consignment of 
tea si ed was imported from Ceylon for the purpose 
of starting the necessary plantations. What with all 
this, to say nothing of the attempts in the Caucasus, 
it is pretty evident that the world's supply of the 
fragrant " leaf " we owe originally to the Chinese 
stands little chance of falling off. — Morning Post, 
«-»♦ — 
KOLA NUTS AND PRODUCTS. 
We are indebted to an Uva planter for copy of 
a letter and ciroular from a Glasgow Homoeopathic 
Chemist who makes a specialty of Kola nut pre- 
perations. We quote as follows : — 
Oct. 29th. — The nuts sell a; from 6d to Is per lb. 
in Loudon at present (of course Mr. P.'s preparation 
is admixed, flavoured, &c. so as to render the paste, 
chocolate &,c. palatable). The Gold Coast is at present 
the chief source of supply, though any hot climate, he 
doubts not, would suffice. He had one of the plants 
exposed in his window for some weeks but it drooped 
and died from insufficient warmth. As well as being 
used as an article of diet in the forms he (J. C. P.) 
piepares, it has doubtless a great future before it as 
a source of Caffeine of whioh it contains a fairly high 
percentage, so that he should fancy its cultivation 
might be profitably carried on: be sends pamphlet 
with analyses, medical opinions &c. He will be glad 
to try and prooure a small supply of the fresh 
nuts — as commercially met with they are baked and 
sterilized. 
From the circular: — 
pottage's kola ndt paste, jujubes, elixir, and 
chocolate. 
An invigorating and sustaining beverage fot Invalids, 
Delicate Children^ and Dyspeptics, and to those in 
health a positive luxury. 
This delicious preparation is Manufactured from the 
finest Kola Nuts (specially imported), aud is made 
by a new process which preserves entire all the valuable 
quantities of the nut in a form at once agreeable 
to the taste, and easily digested by the most delicate 
stomaoh. 
