546 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. i, 1900. 
TEA IN RUSSIA. 
A large Moscow firm erected a large factory on 
its plantations last year, and the authorities on 
the estate belongi.'^ig to the Imperial Domains at 
Ohakva have followed this example, and have this 
year set up a tea-making establishment of consider- 
able dimensions. The yield of the tea crop has 
been good and, comparatively speaking, fairly 
abundant. Tlie Havour and quality of the tea 
does not, however, compare favourably with 
Chinese, Indian and Ceylon qualities, and the 
prices at which the small quantities obtained are 
being sold do not suggest that, for the present at 
anyrate, any alarmshouldbe felt bythe tea-growers 
of the East in respect to the competition which 
Kussian grown tea is likely to afford in the markets 
of the Empire. — British Consul in Caucasia. 
SUGAR CROPS OF THE WORLD. 
Though for easily comprehended reasons a state- 
ment in figures of the cane sugar crop of 1899/1900 
at the present moment cannot be an exact one, 
still for the sake of clearness we give below a 
compilation of the momentary, but .still uncer- 
tain export estimates of the nev; crop for the 
period between September 1st, and August 31st, 
in the principal cane districts. 
1897/98. 
tons. 
199,700 
51,022 
48,717 
46,960 
30,669 
37,128 
107,362 
170,000 
637,141 
176,184 
1 7,350 
35,239 
35,000 
95,000 
358,150 
105,463 
80,178 
229,414 
1899/00. 
1898/99. 
tons. 
tons. 
Cuba 
. . 800,000 
31.5,175 
Portorico 
. . 50,000 
55,295 
Trinidad 
.. 50,000 
48,757 
Barbados 
. . 50,000 
50,872 
Blartiniqae 
. . 30,000 
30,411 
Guadeloupe 
. . 36,000 
39,254 
Demerara 
. . 85,000 
92,940 
Brazil 
. . 180,000 
145,000 
Java 
. . 650,000 
888,605 
Philippine I. 
. . 125,000 
124,453 
Mauritius 
. . 150,000 
180,062 ' 
Reunion 
. . 39,000 
39,485 
Jamaica 
. . 30,000 
30,000 
Minor Antilles 
. . 85,000 
80,000 
U- States 
. . 370,000 
275,000 
Peru 
. . 130,000 
125,000 
Egypt 
. . 90,000 
90,822 
Sandwich I. 
. . 250,000 
240,000 
Total.. 2,700,000 2,851,134 2,560,677 
" In the some way, though they cannot be 
taken as final estimates either, we give the fol- 
lowing figures of the European beet sugar produc- 
tion, comparing them with the preceeding cam- 
paigns as follows : — 
Germany 
Austria 
France 
Russia 
Belgium 
Holland 
Other coun- 
tries 
1899-00. 
1,800,000 
1,070,000 
915,000 
870,000 
, 250,000 
175,000 
1898-99. 
1,721,718 
1,051.290 
830.132 
790,000 
235,000 
149,763 
1897-98. 
1,852,857 
831,667 
821,235 
738,715 
265,897 
125,658 
1896-97. 
1,836,536 
934,007 
752,081 
728,667 
288,009 
174,206 
220,000 170,000 196,245 202,990 
Total 6,300,000 4,947,903 4,831,774 4,916,586 
" Thus the campaign of 1899/00 is now giving 
prospects of a surplus of about .352,000 tons, against 
the predecessor ; but we remark again that exact 
figures for 1899/1900 cannot yet be given."— ilfr. 
F, O. LicJU uf Moffdcburg. 
THE JAMAICA-ENGLAJSD FRUIT TRADE. 
Sir Augustus Hemming, Governor of the 
Island of .Jamaica, has made his annua! report to 
the Colonial Office, and from it we gatlier the not 
pleasant news that there is still a deficit of 
general revenue amounting to over £1.5;},000. 
Referring to this fact a correspondent writes : 
The fruit trade with England does not so far appear 
to have made much progress, notwithstanding the 
subsidy to a fast steamboat service, of which we heard 
last year It is very questionable whether such a 
policy will be advantageous to growers, as the distance 
is much greater and the freights so much higher than 
to the United States. The price which the American 
will give for hia tropical fruits would never snit the 
English consumer. Consequently we are cut out by 
our American cousins in this particular trade. Fruit 
coming from the Mediterranean, Spain, the "Western 
Isles, and the Canaries also enters into competition with 
West Indian produce, against which the latter will 
certainly not be able to compete under existing prices 
and freights. From a knowledge of the island it 
seems incomprehensible to me how this subsidy could 
ever have been granted, as the people of the island 
do not believe in any fruit trade with the home 
country being a success, and the people at Pudding- 
lane and Covent Garden will advise anyone inquiring 
not to embark in such an enterprise. 
"Perhaps," the correspondent adds, " the Colonial 
Secretary thinks he knows better, but time will 
te\\."-~Westininster Gazette, Jan. 8. 
PLANTING NOTES: 
Rubber Cultivation in Southern India 
is the siib]ect of a long article in the 
Madras Mail, which we reproduce on 
page 553. It does not contain much that 
.is new to us in Ceylon, but it is well 
to note how far our neighbours have got 
on, or are prepared to go, with a new pro- 
duct. 
Paddy in Burma. — The estimated area under 
paddy cultivation in the fourteen princijial rice- 
growing Districts of Burma is reported to be 
6,055,937 acres, being an increase of 44,264 acres 
over the area reported last month. It is now esti- 
mated tliat there will be available for export 
2,020,881 tons of cargo rice, equivalent to 34,252,220 
cwt. of cleaned rice.— il/acZms 3Iail. 
Cacao Culture. — We do not know that the 
planter who writes on this subject (see page 
548) carries us much further in information 
than did Mr. Carruther s final Report, a copy 
of which (through the Troijical Agriculturist 
or otherwise) is no doubt handy for reference 
with each cacao planter in the conntry. 
Still, there are certain items of experience 
narrated which are worth noticing and 
which may lead to fm-ther interesting 
correspondence. 
Coal IN SiKKiM.— Mr W P Mason of Darjeel- 
ing has been fortunate enough to discover coal 
in Sikkim in apparently large quantities and of 
good quality. The Political Officer of Sikkim. 
Mr, J Claud White, has had 20 maunds exti'acted 
and sent away to be analysed, Should the coal be. 
of good quality, in an easily accessible spot, and 
in workable quantities it will prove of the greatest 
benefit to the station of Darjeeling and to the 
neighbouring tea planters. Firewood is already 
dear in Darjeeling, and as the forests are getting 
out down more and more every year, the advent of 
call to take the place of wood will be most advan« 
tageous, — EnffUskman^ 
