April 1, 1890.] THE TROPICAL 
AORICULTURIST. 
PEODUCE AND PLANTING. 
Tea Drinking in Russia.— While perhaps the great- 
est tea-driiiking nation in the world is still under the 
spell of the Chinese r;rower, the planters of India 
and Ceylon co.nnot sav thf.t there are no mere markets 
for them to conquer. Possibly it is prejudice, or maj' 
be it is simple oussedness, but the Russians will have 
China tea, and a writer in the Anrjlo-Eussian tells us 
th'vt the chances a,r6 they will continue in their 
obstinate course for a long time, although that re- 
mains to be seen. This writer, however, tells us 
something of the habits of the Russian, who, he says, 
drinks enormous quantities of tea, sufficient to frighten 
the Englishman. The poor Russian, he say?, uses 
he so-called ." brick" tea. This is the cheapest sort, 
being mixed with the stems, and compressed by some 
adhesive gum into dry-cakes of various sizes, resembl- 
ing in its appearance " plug" tobacco. This tea, 
which would probably prove poisonous to anyone 
else, is consumed by the Russian working man at the 
a.verage rate of about 20 stakans (or tumblers) a day, 
the Russian stakan being quite equal to five of the 
little thimbles of cups used in England at afternoon 
teas. Indeed, a Russian won't be satisfied until 
" sedmoi pot proshibyot," or " the seventh perspira- 
tion breaks out," according to the popular saying. 
Taking into consideration that black, sour or bitter, 
brick-like bread, raw onions, garlic, dried leather-like 
fish, and strongly salted herrings are usually the chief 
articles of food of the people at large, one must not 
wonder at the enormous qnantity of hot tea needed to 
still a Russian's thirst and help on his digestion. The 
inferior sort of tea is, besides, very cheap, but, of 
course, it is not the " brick" tea as used by the poor 
moujik that enjoys a world-wide reputation, but that 
in use among the middle and upper classes. In such 
households tea at the price of 5s or 6s per pound (0.90 
of the English 'pound avoirdupois) is quite an ordi- 
nary thing, while in wealthier families lOs to 123 per 
pound is frequently paid. There are choice sorts of 
teas which ai'e sold even at twenty roubles per pound, 
but of these only a few leaves are used to add an extra 
delicious aroma to the ordinary tea. Thu» the high 
quality of the tea itself, brought overland and most 
carefully packed, is the chief reason of its superiority 
over the teas in use in Western Europe. But apart 
from the tea itself, the R-.issiaii method of preparing 
it goes a long way to contribute to the fine taste of the 
beverage. In this process the famous " samovar " 
plays the principal part, and a word or two of; ex- 
planation will not be amisa. 
The Passing op the Cloud. — The follow- 
ing from the Grocer about the rice in prices 
of luuian teas is encouraging: "Periods of 
abnormal cheapness," says the trade organ, "are not 
infrequuutly followed by intervals of exceptional dear- 
nsss, and such iii the oxperience of those in the Indian 
tea trade just now. Several seasons of abundant and 
iucreasing crops following clese upon one another had, 
up to the end of last year, so flattened the market that 
prices were forced down to an extremely low point — so 
low, indeed, as to make it almost impossible to produce 
tea at a remunerative figure — and many of the com- 
panies in India, considerable distances apart, were, as 
growers or importers of tea, beginning to find the in- 
dustry an unprofitable one so far as they were con- 
cerned. The wholesale dealers were also said to be 
losing money in the article by holding larger stocks 
than were supposed to be necessary, and buying brokers 
had more parcels on hand than they seerred to have any 
prosnect of turning over at a profit. This was the state 
ofiiffiirs up to the close for tiie Ghvistiuas holidays, 
and nobody had the courage to initiate an upward move 
iu price.-", which would have paid thom handsomely for 
their trouble. 
Incuea.sino Consumption. — " Everything was left to 
chauco, and it was the opinion of the majority of the 
trade that, because Indian tea had been exceedingly 
ch•a^), it was going to continue so tor an in- 
definito term. Meanwhile," says the Grocer, " there 
were certain forces in operation which v/cro calcu- 
lated to bring about quite opposite results, and chief 
among these was the expanding use of the article 
not only in this country, but in places aljroad' 
iiritish-grown tea is evidently an especial favourite 
with most classes of consumers, its merits in vield- 
ing a good, strong liquor in cup, and like^vise in 
possessing a peculiar pungency of flavour, ensuring 
for It a ready reception wherever it is introduced • 
and every year a widening out of the consumption 
has been seen. Marked as this was last year, when 
133,4.30,350 lb. Indian tea were consumed in the 
United Kiugdum, in opposition to 124,534,194 lb. in 
1897, it has been even more so since; aiid during 
the past two months the London clearances alone 
of thd same kiad of tea for home use and exporta- 
tion have been augmented by 2,191,200 lb., the total 
mountmg up ta 24,847,200 lb., in contrast with 
22,656,000 lb. in 1898. Whilst this expansion in the 
deliveries for general purposes has been going on 
all surplus stocks in the hands of holders have been 
gradually worked off, and the stock of Indian tea 
here, whieh'at the end of Febrnaiy, 1898 embraced 
64,O8O,.30O lb., against only 55,424,700 lb. in 1897, was 
by the 1st instant shrunk to 59,460,000 lb. It therefore 
now shows a deficiency of 4,620,.300 lb., instead of an 
excess of 8,655,600 lb. as it did a twelve-month ago 
An Imphoved Outlook.— The recent advance in 
prices for common sorts— equalling from the lowest 
point l^d to 2d per lb on all Indian teas below 8d 
has naturally caused quite a commotion amongst the 
blenders and purveyors of packet teas, which are a 
great speciality with the trade ; and so increasingly 
difficult has it become to execute orders since the 
commencement of the year that purchasers in urgent 
need of stock have been compelled to enter the market 
for Ceylon and China descriptions, to pick up there 
such kinds as might suit them as substitutes for the 
familiar and useful varieties of Indian growths. Nor 
is there any alternative to this mode of dealing 
which must be more or less cramped while the avaiU 
able supplies m first hands are diminishing without 
the least prospect of an increase until the opening 
of a new season, and that is a long way off at present. 
The rise in prices, not having been brought about by 
over-speculation, is a perfectly genuine one, and it is 
because most parties are convinced of the soundness 
sf its position that tkey incline to the opinion says 
the (??'oc«/-, that the recent advance in Indian tea is 
likely to bewail maintained.— jS and C Mail, March 10.. 
<f 
" The Indun Forester."- In the February number 
of this little periodical Mr. J. S. Gamble who is 
retiring from the editorship, writes :— The editorship 
of the Indian Forester is no sinecure: th'-re have 
b3en times when I have had great difficulty in making 
up a number and, had it not then been for wiliiuS 
help afforded, especially by the Forest Officers in 
U. hru, It might have beea impossible to keep up tho 
regular monthly sequence. To all these Forest Officers 
therefore, at the Forest School and in neighbouring 
Circles, I wish to tender my very best thanks ; and 
there are others at a distance in India and away in 
Europe to whom acknowledgments are also due It 
IS a pxty that the number of contributors is after 
all, so small ; if only officeis, who can do it, would 
write for the Magazine, it would be possible to in- 
crease the amount of origin;\l and decrease tlie .imount 
of official and extracted matter. I am occasionally 
told th'.t such and such subjects are too trivial to 
write about, but this is a mistake ; for thi ra is nothing 
in the daily experience of an officer in cna part of 
India that may not be of interest to his brother 
officers in other regions. The Indian I'ore.^ter wfta 
Btarted^a- th>. Conmreuco ::t Al-haoad in lo7-), i.t 
which I vv.iH nijoelf pre^ont, so tn.a I can oluim au 
unmtiirupitd oOi/nection with the Magazine for 24 
years, during 10 years of which pari jd I have acted 
as Editor. In giving up the editorship, I give up 
a work which has interested me much ; but 1 hope 
still to maintiiri some sort of oonueation with it 
ough I shall bo no longer iu ludia.— /'loHtfr. 
