THE TROPICAL AGRICULTtlRIST. [Sept. 1, 1903. 
SOIL CONDITIONS IN THE 
PHILIPPINES. 
We cannot but admire the wonderful activity 
of the Bureau of Agriculture of the United States 
Government in the Philippines ; several bulle- 
tins have already been published dealicf^ 
exclusively with agrieulture and agricul- 
tural pursuits, and now we have received the 
latest ilealing with soil conditions in tliese islands. 
The bulletin consists of nearly 60 papes of matter, 
printed in an excellent manner, with two maps 
an d ten plates. The frontispiece is a large Soil- 
map of the surveyed portion of the island of Luzon, 
the different soils being shown in colour ; and 
there is a sketch map of tlie islands showing where 
soils have been examined. The plates are excel- 
lent photographic reproductions ; four illustrating 
the abaca or Manila hemp export industry. This 
is the chief industry of the Philippines. The abaca 
fibre is obtained from the musa textilis, one of 
the plantains, and though known to the natives 
for hundreds of years it is only during the 
last 50 or 60 years that much fibre has been 
exported. Abaca fibre or Manila hemp is used for 
making ropes, heavy cables and binder twine, 
fine qualities being used by the natives for weaving 
various kinds of cloth ; in 1901 the total export 
of the fibre amounted to over 99,000 tons. For 
the successful cultivation of the fibre plantain, 
certain soil conditions are required. The soil must 
be of lasting fertility and well drained, the plan- 
tain will not grow on wet, poorly drained ground. 
The soil must be light and loamy, cool and moist. 
A moist climate is required for the plant will not 
survive a period of six months of dry weather, 
and is seriously injured if more than six weeks 
elapse without some rainfall. Mr. G W Doisey, 
author of the bulletin and Soil Physicist to the 
Bureau of Agriculture, says, " many exaggerated 
statements are made about the ineirhaustible 
fertility and wonderful resources of the Philip- 
pines " ; and we see no reason why the fibre 
plantain, musa textilis should not be successfully 
grown in Ceylon. The richness of the soil in parts 
of thePhilippinea is certainly shown by the very tall 
and strong appearance of the palms in a coconut 
grove of which there is a photographic reproduction. 
Rice is largely cultivated in the valleys of the 
interior, the paddy fields in appearance being very 
like those of Ceylon, there being the same system 
of irrigation and plonghing, the plough used is 
evidently the native buffalo-drawn one as used 
by the Sinhalese. The buffalo, seldom if ever used 
for riding purposes in Ceylon, is evidently broken in 
to it in the Phillippines, for in the illustration 
of the coconut grove a buffalo in the foreground 
is being ridden by a native. One plate shows the 
Igorrote women of the Union Province, Luzon, 
digging camotes or sweet potatoes ; while another 
photograph illustrates the native method of to- 
bacco cultivation. Sugarcane is cultivated, the 
method of grinding cane (plate ix) being very 
primitive. Corn, coffee, cacao, pepper and various 
fruits are also grown. There is a possibility of 
tea planting being introduced into the Philippines 
in the future as well as cotton ; but for the pre- 
sent Ceylon has no fear of the Islands as a rival. 
The bulletin is an excellent and full report of the 
various soils, taken district by district in different 
provinces, with chapters on the geology of the 
Islands, the various kinds of clays and loams, and 
the ^^neral agricultural oonditions prevailiBg. 
TEA INDUSTRY IN THE CAUCASUS. 
BY MR. CONSUL P. STEVENS. 
Before the year 1894 but little interest had been 
taken in tea planting in the Caucasus. Since that year 
experiments on a very extensive scale have been made 
near Batoum. The results obtained are decisive, and 
it has been distinctly proved that the Trans-Caucasus 
is one of the countries in which tea can be profitably 
grown. The portion of the Trans-Oauoasua most 
favourable for tea planting comprises a belt along the 
Black Sea, stretching from Soukhoum in the north to 
the Turkish frontier in the south, but many causes, 
principally climatic, combine to prevent the zone from 
extending any great distance inland. Land cau be 
acquired by persona of Russian nationality. Foreigners 
of all nationalitiea are excluded from acquiring lands 
along the coasts, either by purchase or on lease. 
The most important factors in tea planting as in 
almost every other agricultural pursuit are soil and 
olimate. 
The soil varies in difierent localities from a deep 
red clay to a light blackish earth. Every variety of 
weather occurs in the tea growing district. At times 
severe drought, at others deluges of rain, whilst severe 
frosts and snow of 3 feet at the coast line have been 
known to do enormous damage to the tea plantations. 
The weather otherwise is well adapted for tea growing; 
the rainfall is heavy averaging 96 inches per 
annum, aud in some cases even in excess 
of these figures, it is however, fairly evenly 
distributed throughout the year. The heat 
is never very excessive, ranging from 100° to 130° 
Fahr. in the sun. I would imagine that the tempera- 
ture and climate of the Batoum neighbourhood resem- 
ble, in a great measure, those of the Himalaya tea 
districts of India, the monsoons, which do not exist in 
the Caucasus, and somewhat more severe winters con- 
stituting the only differences ; and the opinion that 
seems to prevail is that when the tea bushes are out of 
sight with snow in the winter a good first crop is 
ensured. The soft spring weather usually prevailing 
at the beginning of March enables transplanting to 
be carried out with perfect safety, an d the spring rain 
frequently renders the watering of nurseries aud 
seedlings unnecessary. 
Lahour.—BesX in importance is the question of 
labour supply, and in this respect the system in vogue 
some four to five years ago was anything but satisfac- 
tory, as labourers were scarce and the gardens were 
worked by day labourers, the men coming and going 
at will, so that they could not be depended upon. A 
few Chinese and Japanese specialists, whose services 
had been engaged by contract iu their countries, and 
who received monthly wages, formed an exception to 
the above, but their numbers were very few and have 
since dwindled down to only one Chinaman, who is 
now permanently employed on the tea estates belong- 
ing to the Imperial Domains. Things in this respect 
have, however, altered during the past two or three 
years; and I am given to understand that women and 
children are employed for picking the leaf. 
On existing plantations the bulk of the plant is 
pore China, the older portions exclusively bo but 
seed also has been imported from India, Ceylon, 
Java, and Japan. They are all doing well, and 
the China plant appears to thrive iu whatever 
situation it has been planted. Almost every system 
of planting has been resorted to from dibbling in the 
seed to transplanting at from six months to three 
years old, with and without lumps of earth on the 
roots ; the best results have apparently been obtained 
with young plants having earth attached to the 
roots, a process which, although expensive, gives an 
extremely small percentage of empty spaces. 
Crop 1902. — In the remarks made in my agricultural 
report for the year 1902 I stated that the crop for 
that year had been far in excess of anything that had 
been expected, aud on an average had yielded 20 
poods, or as near as possible 7 cwti> pet deesieiitine 
