Nov. 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
295 
Peraonally I am inclined to look upon no tea as 
really genuine bat such as cDines "ffora Ohini, and, 
indeed, only from two oc three provinces in Uhiua, 
while, as regards the preparation of ths tea, hand 
labour, such as it is practise t iu China, seems to 
me intinitely preferable to mechanic%l labour. 
Notwithstanding this preference, however, a pre- 
ference which his led me to bring Chinese cultiva- 
tcs to the Caucasaa at an exorbitant cost, I found 
myself forced, after several failures, to procure from 
England the necessary machinery for the prepiration 
of tea, as well as the framework for a new factory. 
Messrs. Davidson & Co., of Belfast, faroished 
me with the apparatus for drying, rolling, fermenting 
»ad sorting the leaver, apparatus for cuttiug and 
pressing the green twisted leaves, and also a 
hydraulic press to form the tea into tablets, and 
unother to make tea in the form of a ' pill ' 
The tea ' pills,' for the preparation of which I had 
to order a new machine, present, I think, a rather 
intareating and novel feature. They weigh eich 
half a zolotnik (aboat 14 to the ounce), and should 
prove very useful for the army, as well as for 
sportsmen and travellers. A single 'pill,' steeped in 
boiling water, is sufficient to give a cap of good 
•trong tea, and I believe that before long these 
' pills ' will be known and appreciated at their true 
▼alne. 
The first tea I prepared and placed on the 
market was in 1895; the quantity in the year 
being, however, only 20 lb. Since then the piogres- 
gion has been rapid. Thus I sold: Te-* in packets— 
In 1895 21) lb. 
1896 37 lb. 
1897 .„ 1200 lb, 
1898 29I1C lb. 
1899 3610 lb. 
In addition I sold in 1898 .^.0,000 lb. of compresaed 
tea (tibletsj. , , . 
The tea in ' pills ' has been already shown at 
several exhibitions, oommenoiag with that held at 
Nijni Novgorod in 1896, then at Stockholm in 1897, 
St. Petersburg, 1893, and Paris 1900. They were 
sold at the Exhibition in Batoum, 1900, too. 
As ragards the demand for Russian tea and the 
raoidity wioh which it is bought up, the only 
thing I can complain of is the small prodnotion, 
whicTi is far inferior to the demand, owing to the 
newness of the enterprise and the fact that most 
of the shrubs are very young as yet. 
The entire production of the three qnalitioa I have 
placed on the market— viz. at 2 roubles, 1 rouble 60 cop, 
and I rouble a pound, has been disposed of in Moscow, 
St. Petersburg, and Warsaw, as soon as offered. 
Almost everyone who has tried it prefers it to all 
other tea, many customers buying 10 lb. at a time, 
in case they may have finished their supply before 
a fresh one is procurable. 
It would be idle to deny that I am somewhat 
proud of such results. The examination of my teas 
from the point of view of flavour, as well fts the 
chemical analysis which has been made of it, have 
proved that if this tea, grown on Russian territory, 
be not actually superior to the best Chinese kinds, 
its quality is in no way inferior. There is therefore 
every ground for hoping that ere long Europe will 
accord it full rights of citizenship. 
CONSTANTINE POPOFF- 
Moscow, 15th May, 1901. 
GROWTH OF BALATA PRODUCTION. 
There are indications that the production and con- 
sumption of Balata are increasing, though at what 
rate it is difficult as yet to say, owing to the want of 
system which prevails in most quarters in the sta- 
tistics kept of this commodity. Mc. Hsnry Souther 
Tufts, formerly of Boston, who was a recent visitor 
to The India Rubber Wokm offices, atnted that he 
was interested in a company employed in the coUec. 
tion of Balata in the section, rich in that gum, 
due south from Cuidad Bolivar, on the Orinoco, 
in Vi-nezuela. The company has been devoted to this 
business alone for a year or more, with such suc- 
cess that more capital is to be employed. Mr. Tufts 
reports that the Orinoco Co., an American company 
holding large concessions in the delta of the Orinoco, 
are also devoting their attention in a large measure 
to the collection of Balata. It seems that the Vene- 
zuelan product is shipped chiefly to Hamburg, owing 
to the predominance of the German element in the 
trading in the Orinoco valley. But the German trade 
statistics do not happen to specify Balata. In the 
Germm reports of imports of " Kautschuk and Gutta- 
percha" the following quantities have been credited 
to VenezueLi, and in the opinion of Mr. Tufts the 
greater part — or possibly all — is Balata: 
1897. 1893. 1899. 1900. 
Pounds ... 103,400 319,780 552,420 773,080 
Meanwhile the arrivals of Balata at Rotterdam 
have about held their own, private statistics supplied 
by Messrs. Weise & Oo. being as follows, and the 
Venezuelan sorts predominating : 
1897. 1898. 1899. 1900; 
Pounds ... 497,970 521,920 324,390 407,220 
Coming to Great Britain, the official statistics still 
include Balata in the imports of Gutta-percha, the 
latest available figures showing the following results 
(by converting cwts. into pounds) : 
1897, 1898. 1899. 
British Guiana .. 538,608 547,120 329,504 
British West Indies ... 87,696 136,976 102,928 
Venezuela ... ... .. 9,072 32,256 178,864 
Colombia 1,.568 17,248 53,200 
Dutch Guiana 24,976 58,352 
Total .. 661,920 791,952 664,496 
How much of these British imports were actually 
Balata there is no means of kuowing, but presum- 
ably all, though the figures for Colombia yet require 
some explanation, The amounts credited to the 
West Indies were first imported at Trinidad, mainly 
from Venezuela. 
A summary of the above figures shows imports 
at the three centers mentioned of 1,263,290 pounds 
in 1897. Allowing as much for Great Britain in 1900 
as in the preceding year, the total for that date 
woull reach 1,644,796 pounds. Formerly the Guiauas 
were almost the only sources of Balata, and figurss 
are at hand covering the exports from those colonies 
very thoroughly for the earlier years of the industry. 
These figures show the average exports during the 
five years 1892-1896 inclusive : 
British Guiana . . . . 229,824 pounds. 
Dutch Guiana .. 185,472 „ 
Total .. 415,296 „ 
It will be seen, therefore, that the total movement 
of Balata is taking on greatly increased proportions. 
It does not appear, however, that the United States 
have participated in this increase. The official import 
returns for the fiscal year 1898-99 embraced only 
21,913 pounds of Balata, valued at .'§7633. But the 
classification is not very exact at the custom house 
in relation to this material, and for the year 1899- 
1900 the Balata item disappeared completely. From 
the reports of arrivals published monthly in The 
India liahher World it appears that Balata was 
imported into the United States during the calendar 
year 1900 as follows (in pounds) : 
From From From From 
Trinidad. Surinam. Great Britain, Hamburg. Total. 
30,500 6,900 23,000 17,291 77,691 
The leading firm handling Balata, however, state 
that their arrivals alone were 75,003 pounds, and 
that probably 100,000 pounds altogether were im- 
ported. 
The usual methods of collecting Balata are treated 
fully in The India UMcr World for August, 1899, 
