December r, 1S90.] 
THP TROP!CAL AGRICULTURIST. 
399 
CEYLON AND CHINA TEA IN RUSSIA. 
The decline in the export of tea from China to 
Great Britain has been partially counterbalanced 
by an increase in the export to Russia, » circum- 
stance from which the apologists for China’s suicidal 
policy iu regard to her principal article of trade have 
derived more consolation than is fairly warranted. It 
is only a question of time how soou China tea will 
he relegated to the same relative position in the 
.Russian market that it occupies in the English 
market. Russian buyers will find out sooner or 
later that they can get tea of equal quality at 
much cheaper prices. Ceylon planters are taking active 
steps to bring this fact prominently before the sub- 
jects of the Czar, and when they have succeeded 
Russian tea drinkers will not be slow to take 
advantage'! of it. At present the Ceylon Planters’ 
Association has a Commissioner in Russia, and 
an interesting letter from him giving particulars 
regarding his mission was recently published 
in the Ceylon papers. From St. Petersburg he writes 
that from all the information ho has been able to 
collect since his arrival there is a great future before 
Ceylon tea in Russia, where it is already pretty well- 
known and appreciated for its purity and cleanliness of 
manufacture. It is not the fact, he says, that the teas 
are found too strong and dark in infusion, as the Rus- 
sians like a somewhat strong tea and do not at all object 
to a dark reddsih colour, but wliat they do not like, at 
least in St. Petersburg, is the sweet raspberry taste 
given to Ceylon teas by the water of the Neva. Whether 
any alteration may take place iu the popular taste in 
this respect or whether the objection can be removed by 
some alteration in the manufacture of the tea remains 
to be seen, but at all events all the dealers, both whole- 
sale and retail, were desirous of seeing and testing the 
samples. These samples were to be distributed with a 
short circular printed in the English, German, French, 
and Rus.sian languages. Prom St. Petersburg the 
Commissioner proposed to go to Moscow and Nijni 
Novgorod, to push Ceylon tea there. 
But to fecure success iu Russia “tips” are 
necessary. “To get the key of everything,” he says, 
“ of every door of success iu business or otherwise, 
you must tip everybody, from the lowest monjik to 
the mo.st influential swell; and it is only by doing 
so tliat we shall introduce our Ceylon teas in this 
country. I have been told that a Chinaman, last 
year, spent something over 30,000 roubles in open- 
ing a large tea retail warehouse on the Newsci Pros- 
pect (the largest and most central street here); he 
has now made hie fortune. The Brazil Coffee Com- 
pany spent three years ago, roubles 50,000 to intro- 
duce their coffee here, and are now doing all over 
Russia, a very considerable and paying business, as 
their coffee is known to and drunk by almost every- 
body, Another Coffee Company of the same kind, 
who would not spend the necessary currency in 
tips or otherwise and tried to do without it, 
did nothing at all and failed. ” Presumably 
the Ce>lon Tea Fund will not let a small expenditure 
for “tips” stand in the way of their tea, whatever 
opinion the members may entertain individually as to 
the morality of tipping in the abstract. 
The prospect for China tea seems bad enough from 
whatever poiut of view it is looked at, and when we 
see the Ceylon planters making such vigorous efforts 
to wrest from it another of its chief markets one is 
compelled to believe that, with all their advantages, 
they are bound in the long run to succeed. It is 
interesting to note the enterprise of the Ohiunman 
mentioned above, who opened a retail tea warehouse in 
St. Petersburg and succeeded so well in his venture. 
But, granting there wore many like him amongst his 
countrymen, what possible chance can China tea have so 
long as the Govornment continue to handicap it with 
heavy export duties whilst its competitors can bo ex- 
ported free or, as in the case of Japan, on payment of 
a very mild duty ':’ The total extinction of the China 
tea trade is merely a question of time if the Peking 
Government continues to pursue its present policy. 
The decline in the total export of tea from China 
this season up to date is about twelve million pounds, 
Ceylon, on the other hand, has gained about nine 
million pounds ; India, we believe, will show a still 
larger increase ; and in Japan also there has been a 
forward movement. If China would adopt a bold 
policy and sacrifice the revenue derived from 
tea the export would immediately begin to expand 
and a good deal if not the whole of the lost 
ground would be recovered. There is just a possibility 
of the demand for Ohiua tea being revived by an- 
other cause, which, however, is not a pleasant 
•one to think of. There has lately been some talk of 
the plant in India being attacked by blight. So far 
this does not seem to have done any great damage, 
but as high culture often seems to invite disease 
from which plants have been free in their more 
natural state the progress of the tea industry iu 
India and Ceylon may in time be arrested by blight, 
as was the case with coffee cultivation in Ceylon.— 
Hong Kong Daily Press. 
♦ 
CINNAMON CHIPS. 
While Mr. Jardine was in Colombo today our 
representative took the opportunity of asking him 
whether the combination entered into about twelve 
months ago by cinnamon growers as regards cinnamon 
chips was receiving general observance, and whether 
the agreement had had the desired effect. Mr. 
Jardine replied to the effect that he was constantly 
receiving letters stating that the combination was 
not being adhered to by certain growers, but his 
correspondents would not mention names, and ex- 
pected him to act the part of detective and then 
take upon himself the risk of exposing the delin- 
quents. This Mr. Jardine does not feel himself 
called upon to do, and notwithstanding the letters 
he has received he himself is convinced that three- 
fourths of the cinnamon growers who entered into 
the combination have honourably adhered to it. 
But it is a strange and puzzling fact that though 
all these men agreed twelve months ago not to 
make chips the exports up to date show no decrease. 
As the price of cinnamon has gone up consider- 
ably so has the price of chips advanced to nearly 
double what it was a year ago. This may perhaps 
be regarded by some growers as an opportunity too 
good to be lost, and the question is — have any of 
the big growers retired to some distant part of the 
jungle for the purpose of making chips “ on the 
quiet ”? The failure of the rain which is generally 
characteristic of the south-west monsoon in the 
cinnamon districts has had a bad effect upon cin- 
namon generally, and rain is very much wanted 
for the November crop. 
— " , 
Raising Tobacco in California is by no mea^^ 
an experiment, It can be grown very successfury 
over a wide range, but the process of curing ha*^ 
been a stumbling block in the way of suooess as a 
business venture. It was thought some years ago 
that the Gulp process was a solution of the diffi- 
culty, and quite a large amount of tobaooo was 
raised in Pacheco, and worked up for the market 
in accordance with that formula, but the mann- 
factured article did not find favor with consumers 
and the business died completely out wherever it 
had been started. We are reminded of this ex- 
perience by receiving a few leaves of the plant 
grown by Jose Eoges on the land of S. Blum & 
Bro., near Pinole. They show a thrifty growth, 
and give evidence of the adaptability of the soil 
and climate for its cultivation, and if Mr. Roges 
succeeds in curing it, as we learn it is his inten- 
tion of doing, so as to make a good merchantable 
article, he can make a fortune for himself and add 
a valuable industry tp the State.— C’ omOg Casta 
Qazette, 
