294 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. 1, 190L 
Baperiatencl their growth, sow pure Chinese tea 
Seeds gather the crop, and manufauture the tea. 
Messrs. Butteiiield and Swire, the owners of the 
steamer on which the plants were carried as far as 
Port Said, had agreed to demolish the partitions 
separating the- second-class cabins, thus forming a 
second deck, and obviating the necessity of their 
being placed in the hold of the vessel. By this 
means a sufficient quantity of air and light could 
be assured. 
Whoever attentively examines my tea plantations 
in the Caucasus may make a very clear comparison 
between the tea plants imported from the various 
localities, ard anyone versed in tea will find no 
difficulty in forming an accurate idea of the respec- 
tive merits of each class of tea. 
In 1892 Ipurcbased three tracts of land in the 
district of Batoum— -viz., Salibaouri, Kapreshoum and 
Chakva, comprising, altogether, about 900 acres, and 
at once commenced preparing the ground for tea- 
planting. The three estates differ totally from one 
another both as regards the nature of the soil and 
the climatic conditions, a circumstance which 
enables me to judge what elevation is the most 
favourable for tea culture in the Caucasus. 
Before I purcha=!ed them in 18'.i2, the three tracts 
of land were entirely covered with virgin forests of 
rhododendrons, wild laurel trees with stems thicker 
than a man's arm, with beech trees and alder trees, 
twelve feet in thickness and very tall. Thickly in- 
tertwined with furze and thistle, the trees effec- 
tually shut off every ray of sunshine, while render- 
ing the forests absolutely impenetrable. Such was 
the tangled and swampy ground it now became 
necessary to clear and cultivate. 
Not satisfied with having imported plants from 
China and the other localities before mentioned, I 
procured large quantities of Chinese seeds, as well as 
smaller lots from the other places, in order to 
be able to draw a comparison between them, I am 
obliged to admit that the seeds from China have 
been comparative failures, notwithstanding all the 
measures resorted to in order to induce germination. 
This unsatisfactory result, always the same after 
many trials, induced me to try and plant shoots 
from the imported Chinese plants, and this experi- 
ment has proved quite satisfactory. 
My tea plantations are iu iny three estates in the 
district of Bitoum; they are : Privolnoe (Salibaouri), 
Zavetnoe (Kapreshoum), and Otradnoe (Chakva). 
They are at the following distances from Batoum ; — 
Privolnoe 3 versts' distance from Batoum 
Zavetnoe 6 ,, ,, ,, 
Otradnoe 12 ,, ,, ,, 
The space occupied by each estate is about : 
Privolnoe 120 dessatins (equal to 2 7-10 of an 
acre). 
Zavetnoe 50 ,, 
Otradnoe 100 „ 
The three estates differ greatly both in altitude 
('from zero to 1,150 feet), in their proximity to the 
sea, in their accessibility to the influence of the sun 
and of the wind, and in the properties of the soil. 
My chief aim in purchasing these three estates was 
to see clearly, by practical experience, the climatic 
conditions, etc, which are best suited for the 
culture of the tea shrub in the Caucasus. 
The following tracts of land have now been 
divided into tea planlations, and planted with tea 
shrubs of various ages : 
In Privolnoe there are about 70 dessatins planted. 
In Zavetnoe ,, ,, 30 ,, ,, 
In Otradnoe ,, ,, 40 „ ,, 
making 140 dessatins in all. I purpose shortly to 
portion out the rest of available land into new planta- 
tions, i.e-, about 130 dessatins more. 
It is only the seedlings that have been raised 
from imporled seeds that are cultivated on my 
estates ; the tea shrubs that have been grown on 
the ealates are not even allowed to flower, much 
less to turn to seed. Only a few seedlings have been 
raised from onr own seeds, in Otradnoe, by way of 
experiment, viz. : 
In 1898 there were 315. 
„ ., „ 3S8. 
All the rest of the seedlings have been raised from 
imported seeds. In reference to the latter, I may 
add that, in 1893, besides the chief quintum of 
China seeds, I imported seeds from other lands as an 
experiment ; but none of the seeds except those im- 
ported from China yielded sprouts, or at least, if they 
did, the sprouts all perished. 
In 1895 1 once more imported seeds from Ceylon, 
Assam, the Himalaya district, bat it was a last and 
futile atten:pt, and from that time I have only 
imported Chini seeds. 
From 1892 up to the present year 1 have continued 
importing seeds from China every spring. It has 
even sometimes happened that I have received a 
cargo of seeds iu the autumn in addition to those 
brought over in the spring. 
In the year 1899 the seeds imported from China 
yielded about two millions of sprouts, and in 1900 
about three millions, in the nursery gardens. 
At the present time my plantations contain the 
following number of tea shrubs raised from seeds : — 
(a) In Zavetnoe. 
Planted in 1893 fiom China seeds 7,228 
„ 1897 „ „ „ 8,319 
„ 1897 „ Assam ,, 2,464 
„ 1898 „ China ,, 56,600 
„ 1898 „ Himalaya,, 78 
„ 1898 „ Ceylon ,, 4,102 
„ 1899 „ China „ 59,052 
(fc) In Otradnoe. 
Planted in 1893 from China seeds 19,802 
1897 „ „ „ 35,144 
„ 1898 ,, our own ,, 345 
388 
„ 1898 „ China „ 34, 018 
„ I9OO „ „ „ 284 
(c) In Privolwoe. 
Planted in 1893 from China seeds 11,181 
„ 1896 ,. ., .. 5.02J 
„ 1S97 „ .. „ 18,655 
„ 1898 „ „ ,, 20,313 
1899 „ „ „ 210,465 
The original tea shrubs have been planted in 
small experimental patches in my three estates. 
At present there are the following original tea 
shrubs on my three estates : — 
(1) From Cnina, Mankong .. .. 401 
,, ,, Ningchow ... ... 447 
,, ,, Yung low-toong . . 409 
(2) From Japan 
(3) „ Ceylon 
(4) Java .. 
(5) ,, the Himalaya district 
(6) „ Assam 
Total...l,257 
... 67 
... 40 
7 
... 16 
22 
Total .1,409 
All the rest have perished. 
The bushes mentioned above are distributed OTer 
mv three estates thus : 
"(1) In Zavetnoe, Assam shrubs ... 22 
(2) ,, Privolnoe, China and Japan shrubs 662 
(3) ,, Otradnoe, China, Ceylon, Java and 
Himalaya shrubs ... ... 725 
Total.. 1,409 
In 1894 I tried the experiment of raising new 
tea bushes from grafts taken exclusively from China 
bushes. Of these I have now 
(1) In Privolnoe .. ... 2509 
(2) „ Zavetnoe .. .. ... I350 
(3) „ Otradnoe .. 3120 
