[Sept.  2.  1895. 
tHE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
The  crude  and  ))rimitive  process  of  distillation  is 
thus  dcsiuibed  1)V  IMr.  E.  C.  Taintor  in  his  Trade 
Jleiiorl  (}/'  'J'aiiistti,  IHUP ; — “ A long  wooden  trough, 
frequently  hollowed  out  from  the  trunk  of  a tree, 
is  fixed  over  a furnace  and  protected  by  a coating 
of  clay.  Water  is  ])Oured  into  it.  and  a board  per- 
forated with  numerous  small  holes  is  luted  over  it. 
Over  these  holes  the  chips  [of  the  camphor-woodl 
are  placed  and  covered  with  earthenware  pots, 
bleat  being  applied  in  the  furnace,  the  steam  passes 
through  the  cliips,  carrying  with  it  the  camphor, 
which  condenses  in  the  form  of  minute  white  crys- 
■tals  in  the  upper  part  of  the  pots.  " It  is  collected 
.and  stored  in  vats  to  await  exportation,  during 
which  time  it  gives  out  from  3 to  4 per  cent  of 
uucrystallizable  camphor  oil  of  a yellowish  colour, 
which  has  been  suggested  for  use  in  medicine  and 
the  arts  in  the  same  way  as  spirits  of  turpentine. 
CEYLON  TEA  IN  RUSSIA  : 
WHAT  M.  ROOIVUE  IS  DOING. 
M.  Rogivue  has  written  to  Mr.  A.  Philip’ 
Seeretary  of  tire  Planters’  Association,  regarding 
tlie  steps  he  lias  taken  to  jnish  tlie  sale  of 
Ceylon  Tea  in  Russia  and  giving  an  indication 
of  'his  plans  for  the  future.  Through  the  courtesy 
of  Mr.  Phili|i  we  are  enabled  to  publish  the  letter, 
which  we  do  herewith  in  a slightly  abbreviated 
form  ; — , „ , 
Mockba,  Moscow,  May  KUh,  180.o. 
A.  Philip  Esq.,  Secretary  to  the  Planters'  Asso- 
ciation of  Ceylon,  Kandy. 
Dear  Sir,— Since  my  last  private  report  to  the  late 
Chairman  of  the  Planters’  Association  (Mr.  G.  1''. 
Walker),  and  my  letter  to  you  of  the  27th  July— 
•8th  August  1894'  the  “Tea  P'und as  I have  seen 
in  the  Ceylon  papers— has  been  dissolved  and  replaced 
!by  the  Committee  of  “Thirty”  which,  seemingly, 
,<ievoting  its  entire  time  and  available  funds  to  and 
/w  the  American  Campaign,  has  none  left  for  me, 
iudging,  at  least,  from  the  fact  that  since  the 
toe^nning  of  its  sitting,  it  never  passed  a word  on 
my  aubject  or  on  my  work  in  this  country. 
i turn  however  certain  that  the  Committee  of  the 
“Thirty”  and  the  Tea  Planters  of  Ceylon  will  not 
forget  and  ignore  that  if  Ceylon  Tea  is  now  making 
its  ways  in  Russia  it  is  entirely  due  to  my  efforts, 
to  the  work  I have  done,  and  the  expenses  I made 
during  the  past  four  years  to  introduce  it,  and  that 
after  all— although  the  progress  may  perhaps  appear 
to  be  somewhat  small  and  slow  and  not  quite  to 
expectations— I have  done  more  for  this  purpose  than 
I had  promised  to  do  with  the  limited  funds  placed 
at  my  disposal  as  free  grants  from  the  Tea  Pknid. 
No  doubt  the  progress  would  have  been  more 
rapid  and  worthy  of  note  had  I had  the  necessary 
means  to  advertise  on  a larger  scale  than  I did. 
I will  however  not  complain  any  more  and  will 
leave  it  to  the  Ceylon  Planters,  their  Associations 
or  Committees  to  judge  for  themselves  whether  it  is 
•mod  policy  from  their  part  not  to  devote  a little 
more  attention  on  this  )iart  of  the  world,  such  a 
lar<^e  country  of  tea  drinkers  as  Russia  is. 
Ueveitiim  to  the  ))ast  four  years  of  my 
operations  since  my  arrival  in  Russia  (July  1890) 
when  Ceylon  Tea  was  almost  unknown  m the 
country,  and  nobody  would  drink  it  I may  report 
the  iirogress  of  its  imports-resp..  Consumption,  in 
J/o.^coei  only  as  follow  ; ^ ^ , 
Importc/by  me  up  to  I^e«[^[ber  ^ 
Russ.  lb.  -hhi.W  112,280  l(;i,.579  209,250 
by  other  Firms  from 
London,  especially 
ilbout^*'  !^!russ.^11).  10,000  25,000  21,200  .3.80,000* 
r,9,153  137,2.80  373,579  589,250 
lor  Moscow  alone  wore  Haul  half  a willion  panmh  in  IH<M, 
lo  which  is  to  lie  added  the  shipments  from 
* It  is  difficult  to  get  here  the  exact  figures  at 
iho  Customs  but  these  are  about  correct.— M,  R, 
London  (direct  br  via  Germany)  to  other  places  than 
Moscow  * and  the  direct  shipments  from  Colombo 
to  Russia  which  in  1894  have  been  over  J.l.OdOA’Kjr;  (5. 
I have  now/ci«/-  Retail  Magazines  in  Moscow,  one  in 
Nijni  Novgorod  and  one  in  \Varsaw  se'ling  only /'are 
Ceylon  Tea  in  jiackots  and  cases,  of  which  the  sign- 
boards with  the  words,  “ Cci/lon  Tea  Ture  a'>d 
j^coaoi/u’cnf”  conspicuously  shown  in  large  gilt  letters 
on  black  ground  is  a useful  advertisement,  as  well 
as  tlie  magazines  of  my  no":  111  special  agents  in 
the  province  who  have  the  monopoly  of  m3'  mark, 
selling  only  ( 'e>/lon  Tea  and  t’ei/lon  products,  to  the 
entire  exc.usion  of  Chinese  Tea.  Besides  I am 
selling  iny  Tea  wholesale  to  more  than  400  clients 
— shop-keepers,  retailers,  Hotels,  Restaurants,  Buffet- 
keepers  Ho^itals,  etc.  all  over  Russia. 
The  teas  I sell  most  are  Pekoe  and  Pekoe  Sou- 
chong worth  in  London  BJd  to  lOd  and  (lid  to6id 
respectively  which  as  a rule  are  found  good  quali- 
ties and  answering  the  requirements  according  to 
the  purse  and  taste  of  the  generality  of  my  cus* 
tomers,  and  all  classes  of  Russians,  Better  teas 
like  broken  and  orange  pekoes,  though  selling  also 
in  small  quantity,  are  not  quite  suitable,  Russians 
as  a rule,  preferring  a whole  leaf  tea  and  finding 
these  latter  sorts  (broken  and  orange  pekoe)  too 
strong. 
I have  not  overcome  yet  all  the  difficulties 
and  have  still  to  struggle  hard  against  the  Chinese 
Tea  competitors  who  are  sparing  nothing  for  doing 
me  wrong  with  nasty  and  dirty  tricks  to  run  me 
and  my  tea  down.  Not  later  than  six  weeks  ago  I 
was  Bumnioiied  to  appear  before  the  Kiew  Criminal 
Court  in  order  to  answer  a-cliarge  of  having  sold  an 
article  of  consumption  “Ceylon  tea  "’—injurious  to 
the  health  of  people.  The  charge  was  a malicious 
one  brouglit  against  me,  no  doubt  by  someone  paid 
by  the  competition.  The  short  of  it  was  that  a few 
sorts  of  1113’  tea  were  analysed  by  the  police  labora- 
tory, found  all  right  and  I was  let  off.  » » • 
In  the  year  1893  I spent  Roubles  2,500  and  in  1894 
over  Rb.  3,500  cash  for  advertisements  in  News- 
papers, placards,  pamphlets,  circulars  Ac,  and 
gave  aways  'jratis  a great  part  of  the  tea  the  Tea 
Fund  has  sent  me;  but  what  is  this  for  such  a 
wide  country  like  Russia  ! Five  times  more  money 
ought  to  be  sacrificed  every  year  for,  at  least,  three 
years  still,  but  I really  cannot  do  it  alone. 
Mr.  Rogivue  then  refers  to  a forthcoming  ex- 
hibition at  Nigni  Novgorod  and  states  what,  in  his 
oiiinion,  would  he  the  best  method  for  bringing  the 
tea  before  the  public  at  the  Exhibition.  He  gives 
details  as  to  the  most  effective  method  of  ad- 
vertising and  sums  uii  by  saying: — 
In  all  a sum  of  about  Roubles  15,0iX)  (say  Tst.  1400) 
would  be  required  for  the  purpose,  and  I would 
be  very  thankful  if  the  Committee  of  “Thirty” 
was  to  help  me  in  the  limit  of  possibility  in  covering 
it,  for  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  bear  it  entirely 
alone. 
I only  wish  that  some  Ceylon  men  interested  in 
the  subject  would  come  over  here  and  judge  for  them- 
selves what  I am  doing  to  represent  Ceylon  Tea 
in  this  country. 
You  might  have  already  heard  of  the  expedition, 
the  Russian  Government  has  sent  out  for  the  sake 
of  studying  the  cultivation  of  tea.  As  far  as  I know, 
the  expedition  consists  of  four  gentlemen  amongst 
them  Professor  Krasonow  and  Inspector  Kliugen,  and 
according  to  the  newspapers  they'  arrived  at  Cal- 
cutta and  are  proceeding  to  the  Northern  Districts 
of  India  whence  they  w’ill  go,  I think  first  to  Cey- 
lon and  afterwards  to  China  and  .Tapan.  The  aim  of 
this  expedition  is  the  study  of  tea  planting  for  the 
Rusdan  Government  intends  to  make  a trial  with 
Tea  plantation  in  the  Caucasus,  first  in  the  district 
round  Batoum.  It  was  proposed  to  me  to  join  the 
expedition. 
Having  sometimes  difficulties  with  the  Russian 
authorities,  I should  like  to  lie  able  to  prove  to  them 
* Ollier  p'aces  in  Russia  would  bo  impossible  for 
me  lo  control,  but  I know  that  Odessa  and  St. 
Petersburg  are  importing  a pretty  large  quantity.— M R. 
