July  i,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
21 
TEA  CL'LTIVATION  IN  THE  CAUCASES. 
The  following  information  on  the  subject  of  te‘>' 
cultivation  in  the  Caucasus  is  extracted  from  a re 
port  to  the.  Foreign  Office,  dated  the  Kith  October, 
from  Mr.  P.  Setevens,  Her  Majesty’s  Consul  at 
Baton  m ; — 
The  tea  plantations  at  Chakva,  near  Batoum,  be- 
loiming  to  Messrs.  K.  and  S.  Popoff,  tea  merchants, 
of  Moscow,  have  been  considerably  extended  this 
year  under  the  supervision  of  the  Chinese  tea  plan- 
ters, who  were  brought  over  in  1893 ; a large  num- 
ber, about  ti(K),  natives  of  the  Caucasus,  are  also 
employed  in  working  on  the  plantation  of  this  firm. 
In  a letter  to  the  “ Caucasian  Agricultural  News, 
Mr.  A.  Soloytzoff,  who  for  several  years  past  has 
been  cultivating  tea  on  his  estates  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  lauds  belonging  to  Messrs.  Popoff, 
gives  a somewhat  interesting  account  of  his  experiences 
in  the  raising  of  this  plant  since  the  year  1881. 
He  states  that  at  that  time  his  chief  concern  was 
the  question  of  procuring  tea  plants  for  planting,  he 
feared  to  order  seed  lest  old  seed  should  be  sent, 
besides  this  the  seed  of  tea  contains  a volatile  oil  iii 
considerable  quantity,  which,  during  a long 
voyage,  would  be  likely  to  evaporate,  and  thus 
the  seed  would  have  been  rendered  sterile. 
Even  the  seed  raised  at  Chakva  requires  the  greatest 
care  and  attention,  as  excessive  dryness  deprives 
it  of  the  oil,  and  too  much  damp  causes  it  to  rot. 
Eventually,  however,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
few  plants,  which  arrived  at  Batoum  in  the  month  of 
July,  1885,  together  with  some  seedlings  ; the  condi- 
tion of  both  left  much  to  be  desired,  as  they  had 
received  but  little  cai-e  and  water  during  their  transit, 
and  were  to  a great  extent  damaged  by  the  Customs 
authorities,  who  used  quicklime  for  the  purpose  of 
disinfecting  them  against  the  imp  u tatiou  of  phylloxeni  , 
They  were,  subsequently,  transported  to  Chakva. 
and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  planted  on 
his  property;  at  first  they  grew  badly  and  all  the 
shrubs  dried  up,  but  some  of  the  seedlings  took, 
and  from  these  he  was  able  to  develop  his  plantation. 
The  land  chosen  for  the  plantation  was  a red 
clayey  soil,  dressed  with  a thin  coat  of  manure  com- 
posed of  thoroughly  rotted  leaves  and  branches,  itc., 
that  had  fallen  from  the  trees ; after  clearing  away 
the  manure  the  land  was  dug  up  for  a depth  of 
about  21  inches  and  the  top  soil  was  worked  to  the 
bottom. 
The  seeds  ripen  in  the  course  of  a year  and  are 
gathered  in  the  month  of  October,  at  which  time 
tlie  plant  also  flowers.  The  seeds,  after  being  col- 
lected, are  strewed  with  dry  sand  and  are  kept  in 
earthenware  vessels.  In  March  they  are  damped  with 
a solution  of  camphor,  spirits,  and  water,  in  order  to 
force  their  growth.  The  seeds  are  left  damped  with 
this  solution  for  some  hours,  and  are  then  put  back 
into  the  earthenware  vessels,  after  being  mixed  with 
damp  earth.  In  this  earth  the  seeds  begin  to  shoot 
up,  and  they  are  then  transplanted  into  the 
nursery  beds,  the  soil  of  which  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  plantation,  but  which 
has  a certain  proportion  of  sea  sand  admixed  for  the 
purpose  of  rendering  it  more  friable.  The  seeds  are 
sown  at  a distance  of  3^  inches  apart  at  a depth  of 
Ifinches.  As  soon  as  the  young  snoots  make  their 
appearance  above  ground  it  is  necessary  to  cover 
them  over  with  mats  in  order  to  protect  them  from 
the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun,  but  this  protection 
should  be  removed  in  rainy  weather  and  at  night. 
In  dry  weather  the  young  seedlings  have  to  be  watered 
once  a day,  and  under  this  system  of  cultivation  it 
is  found  that  every  seed  comes  up  ; mole  crickets,  how- 
ever, create  great  havoc  among  the  seeds.  These 
insects,  Mr.  Solovtzoff  says,  are  the  only  enemies  of  the 
seedlings  with  which  he  has  to  contend,  and  they 
are  most  difficult  to  deal  with,  although  it  would 
appear  he  has  found  means  whereby  the  ravages 
caused  by  mole  crickets  may  be  minimised.  The 
methods  which  be  adojits  to  attain  this  end  aie.  the 
.‘innual  removal  of  the  nui’sery  bods  to  fresh  ground, 
and  tile  burying  in  the  nursery  beds,  in  aline  with  the 
burrows  of  the  crickets,  of  grains  of  Indian  corn  boiled 
in  a solution  of  arsenic,  or,  what  is  still  better,  a 
^ oUUwi}  ot  coa-OBive  sublimate. 
The  propagation  of  the  tea  plant  by  niealis  of 
cuttings  should  be  avoided,  as  a large  proportioit 
of  the  cuttings  do  not  take,  but  the  chief  objec 
tion  is  that  tliose  that  do  only  produce  very 
weak  plants.  ’’ 
Now  that  he  has  an  almost  unlimited  silpply  of 
seedlings,  Mr.  &olovtzoff  intends  transplantib'^ 
only  the  stronger  ones  into  the  plantatiom 
Ihc  seedlings  remain  in  the  beds  the  whole 
year,  and  arc  then  planted  out  1 feet  apart  from  each 
other. 
The  only  attention  which  the  plantation  requires 
IS  that  it  shoulcl  be  freed  from  weeds  twice  a year 
For  the  first  year  the  young  plants  should  be  protected 
from  the  rays  of  the  sun  by  branches  of  trees.  It  has 
not  yet  been  found  necessary  to  artificially  water  the 
plants  in  the  plantation.  Up  to  the  present,  pruning 
with  a view  to  increasing  the  crop  of  leaves,  has  not  been 
resorted  to,  as  the  chief  object  has  been  to  obtain  as 
large  a quantity  of  seed  as  possible  for  the  multipli- 
cation of  the  plants.  No  manure  has  been  used 
hitherto,  but  when  planting  out  the  seedlings  this 
year  it  was  intendecl  to  manure  the  soil  with  timber 
ashes  and  refuse  from  oil  mills. 
During  the  dry  season.  May  and  June,  when  the 
heat  is  very  great,  the  grown  up  plants  stand  the 
climate  very  well,  but  as  mentioned  before,  the  young 
plants  have  to  be  protected  from  the  sun.  The  winter 
of  1892-93  was  exceptionally  rigorous,  the  frosts  being 
as  severe  as  6 degrees  Keaiimur,  but  neither  the 
grow'ii  up  plants  nor  the  seedlings  suffered  in  any 
way,  altnough  the  latter  were,  for  several  days 
covered  with  snow  up  to  the  very  leaves.  This  re- 
sult is  particularly  gratifying  when  the  fact,  that  the 
very  young  seedlings  are  planted  in  a quite  open  and 
low-lying  plain  fully  exposed  to  the  wind,  is  taken 
into  consideration,  and  wdien  subsequently  transferred 
to  the  plantation  do  very  well. 
The  plantation  covers  about  3 acres,  and  as  planting 
has  beeii  carried  on  as  seed  has  become  available, 
it  contains  plants  of  all  sizes,  ranging  from  5 years 
year’s  growth.  The  number  of  plants  was  5,1.50, 
and  about  8,(XK)  seedlings  were  to  be  planted  out 
during  the  present  year,  there  is  a sufficient  quantity 
ol  seed  iu  stock  to  raise  40,000  more  seedlings,  and 
the  quality  of  the  tea  (Thea  Viridis)  is  said  to  be 
good. 
It  is  also  reported  that  about  43,000  acres  of  Go- 
vernmmit  land  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chakva  have 
recently  been  purchased  by  the  Department  of  Crown 
Estates  for  the  pui-pose  of  turning  them  into  tea 
plantations,  and  in  connection  with  this,  the  above 
pepartmem  has  ordered  a Commission  which  will 
include  tlie  Inspector  of  Imperial  Domains  in  the 
Caucasus,  to  proceed,  at  the  end  of  this  year  to 
India,  Soiithein  China,  and  Ceylon,  with  the  object 
of  thoroughly  studying  the  methods  of  tea  culture  in 
those  countr;es.-(.\U.  1481,  Foreign  Office  Ammal 
beries.)— Hoard  of  1 rade  Journal. 
THE  CHEAT  WESTERN  TEA  COMPANY 
OE  CEYLON,  LIMITED, 
A general  iiieeting  of  the  shareholders  of  this 
r ompaiiy  was  held  at  the  office  of  Messrs.  .1.  M. 
Robertson  A:  Co.  the  Agents  and  Secretaries, 
today  when  the  following  report  of  the  Directors 
was  submitted  ; — 
Iiour  Directors  submit  their  annual  report  and 
accounts  for  the  season  ending  31st  March,  1895, 
which  aie  of  a satisfactory  nature. 
•.-.To®,  this  period  has  beeU 
lb.,  which  IS  2(.0011bs.  over  the  amount  se- 
aired  for  the  previous  season  ; and  the  cost  f.o.b  iu 
olombo  I . -29- 19  cents  per  lb.,  including  3-40  cents  per 
lb.  cx|'cuditurc  on  manuring.  ^ 
After  estimating  the  unsold  Tea  at  a safe  valu- 
Komaomiio  product  is 
R-31,420  82,  which  IS  equal  to  fully  C2  18  cents  per 
13  Vetrpef  IbT  cultivation  of 
