Oct.  I,  1895.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
257 
and  a gold  rouble  is  worth  about  IJ  (paper).  A 
paper  rouble  should  be  of  the  same  value  as  a gold 
rouble,  but  such  has  not  been  the  case  since  the  Crimean 
war ; and  its  value  at  one  time  was  only  half  that  of  the 
gold  rouble.  Thus  black  and  green  teas  arriving  at 
iilack  Sea  ports  paid  21r  (gold),  or  about  32r  (paper) 
duty  per  pond.  But  now  a concession  has  been  made 
in  favour  of  green  tea,  under  which  it  may  pass,  in 
transit,  through  Batoum  for  Central  Asia  on  payment 
of  a duty  of  only  Or  or  Hr  40c  (paper)  per  poud, 
according  to  quality.  This  great  reduction  in  duty 
cannot  fail  to  cause  that  route  to  be  adopted  in 
preference  to  the  route  through  Persia  for  several 
reasons.  , . 
Firstly,  the  Russians  have  carefully  worked  it  oiit, 
and  reckon  that  the  expenses  by  way  of  Batoum  will 
save  about  3r  12s  per  poud.  If,  then,  we  suppose  1 lb. 
of  Indian  green  tea  to  cost  81  in  Bomb.iy,  and  1 lb.  of 
Chinese  1 rupee,  we  get  the  following  result;  but 
three  factors  must  be  kept  in  mind  : 1.  Exchange 
has  been  calculated  at  1 rouble  equals  6 krans 
equals  2 rupees,  and  it  is  sure  to  alter  con- 
siderably. 2.  The  rate  of  transport  through  Persia 
to  Bokhara  (including  the  old  rate  of  10  per  cent, 
duty)  has  been  calculated  at  4a  per  lb  ; that  is  the 
rate  when  forage  is  cheap  and  carriage  easily  pro- 
curable, but  otherwise  it  would  be  much  dearer.  3. 
The  Russian  estimate  may  be  wrong,  so  that  these 
statistics  must  be  taken  for  what  they  are  worth. 
This  would  make  the  Indian  green  tea  8c  per  1 lb 
dearer  when  brought  by  Batoum  than  it  was  before 
January  when  brought  via  Persia,  but  the  Russians 
reckon  it  will  only  be  perhaps  2o  dearer.  Secondly, 
by  the  route  through  Persia  the  tea  takes  at  least 
three  months  to  reach  Bokhara  from  Bombay,  and 
often  six,  because  transport  is  not  always  procurable, 
especially  when  forage  is  scarce,  or  wells  dry  up,  or  an 
arctic  winter  prevails.  On  the  other  hand,  a merchant 
steamer  travels  from  Bombay  to  Batoum  in  twemty- 
two  days,  and  the  remainder  of  the  journey  can  be  per- 
formed by  a traveller  in  six  days.  Goods,  of  course, 
would  take  longer,  but  they  should  not  take  longer 
than  forty  days  in  .all.  Greon  tea  is  all  that  may 
pass  in  transit,  at  these  rates  via  Batoum  for  Central 
Asia  ; but  it  is  expected  that  the  route  will  be  adopted 
now  ’for  other  goods,  such  as  indigo  and  muslin.  In- 
deed, a large  quantity  of  the  former  article  has  re- 
cently been  despatched  that  way.  And  there  is  no 
doubt  the  regulations  will  be  modified  hereafter,  if 
necessary,  so  as  to  draw  trade  by  the  new  route. 
Jleantime  the  merchants  here  are  very  angry  and 
profess  to  be  very  suspicious  about  it,  and 
it  is  quite  possible  that  some  little  time  may  elapse 
before  it-  becomes  really  popular. 
THE  RUSSIANS  INSIST  ON  THE  BATOUM  ROUTE. 
The  Russians  themselves  do  not  expect  great  results 
all  at  once,  if  only  because  there  is  enough  tea  now 
in  Bokhara  to  supply  Central  Asia  for  two  years. 
The  people  here  say  the  tea  will  be  spoilt  by  the 
long  sea  route.  This  old  fallacy  is  exploded  even 
in  Russia.  Tea  properly  packed  in  lead-lined  cases 
cannot  be  affected  by  a sea  journey  of  three  weeks 
in  a well-founded  modern  steamer.  Moreover,  the 
Chinese  tea  has,  in  any  case,  to  undergo  the  sea 
voyage  from  China  to  Bombay,  and  by  the  Persian 
route  from  Bombay  has  another  sea  journey  of  ten 
days.  Tea  gets  more  shaken  several  hours  daily 
upon  the  back  of  a pack-animal  than  in  the  hold 
ot  a vessel,  and  the  case  which  contains  it  is 
liable  to  more  damage  in  the  constant  loading 
and  unloading  it  undergoes.  Moreover,  in  the 
former  case  it  is  likely  often  to  be  exposed 
to  heavy  rain  for  hours  together,  and  sometimes 
to  be  immersed  in  water  while  the  animals  are 
wading  through  rivers.  This  happened  recently  to  a 
couple  of  cases  of  tea  which  were  brought  here 
through  Afghanistan. — The  merchants  say,  too,  that 
the  tea  will  be  impregnated  with  naphtha  passing 
through  Baku,  &c.  They  also  declare  that  numerous 
vexatious  restrictions  exist  in  Russia  which  neutra- 
lise the  other  benefits.  There  may  be  some  truth  in 
this,  but  one  point  they  brought  forward  was  found 
to  be  exaggerated.  They  stated  that  a deposit  equal 
to  three  times  the  value  of  the  tea  is  demanded 
at  Batoum,  and  not  refunded  for  three  months.  This  ia 
what  really  happens  : On  arrival  at  Batoum  the  tea 
is  sealed  and  despatched  to  Baku,  where  it  is  ex- 
amined, and  a deposit  taken  equal  to  the  customs 
duty  which  will  eventually  be  paid  on  it  ac  Askhabad 
or  Bokhara.  Then  it  is  shipped  to  Ozanada  (across 
the  Caspian)  where  the  weight  is  checked.  After 
this,  if  the  owner  wishes  again  to  scnl  on  the  tea, 
in  sealed  waggons,  the  customs  agent  at  Ozanada  at 
once  gives  him  an  oi-der  for  the  refund  of  the  de- 
posit at  Baku,  and  the  tea  is  sent  on  to  Askhabad 
or  Bokhara,  where  the  duty  must  be  paid.  If,  how- 
ever, the  owner  wishes  to  send  on  the  tea  unsealed 
from  Ozanada  the  deposit  ia  not  refunded  until  in- 
formation is  received  that  the  duty  has  been  paid 
on  the  tea  at  its  destination.  The  Bokharan  merchants, 
who  have  no  agents  at  Baku,  may  pay  the  duty  at 
Bokhara,  and  it  is  now  being  arranged  that  no 
deposit  at  all  will  be  required,  and  that  the  duty 
will  simply  be  taken  at  Askhabad  or  Bokhara. 
Several  points  in  the  regulations  are  necessarily  only 
tentative.  The  Russians  mean  that  the  Batoum  route 
shall  be  adopted,  and  they  are  likely  to  have  their 
way.  Meanume,  as  abovestatod  because  Bokhara  is 
now  overstocked,  they  expect  very  little  green  tea  at 
Batoum  for  a year  or  two.  But  the  merchants  who 
hurried  their  teas  across  the  frontier  to  evade  the 
new  rules  have  been  in  a measure  checkmated,  for 
the  inner  customs  cordon  at  Samarkand  and  else- 
where is  not  to  be  withdrawn  at  any  rate  until 
July  1st  to  13th  next.  Curious  to  relate,  green 
tea  has,  since  the  new  tariff  came  into  force, 
been  arriving  at  Meshed  in  just  the  same  quanti- 
ties as  formerly,  and  it  is  being  sent  across  the 
frontier  and  paying  the  new  duty.  Of  course,  this 
tea  was  ordered  six  or  nine  months  ago,  but  it  is 
quite  possible  that  green  tea  will  continue  to  arrive 
here  for  some  little  time  to  come.  Orientals  are 
very  conservative,  and  especially  suspicious  of  novel 
methods,  but  once  convinced  where  their  pockets 
are  affected  they  soon  adopt  them.  The  man  who 
introduced  sewing-machines  into  Persia  was  ruined 
because  no  one  would  have  anything  to  do  with 
them  for  a long  time.  Now  they  are  as  much  in 
use  in  the  towns  as  in  India. 
THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  NEW  REGULATIONS. 
The  new  regulations,  then,  are  causing  this  re- 
volution in  trade  here.  European  and  Indian  articles 
are  rigidly  excluded  from  Russian  Central  Asia,  ex- 
cept necessaries,  such  as  tea,  indigo,  muslin,  pepper, 
and  spices,  which  Russia  cannot  her.self  supply,  and 
these,  too,  are,  as  we  think,  pretty  heavily  taxed. 
But  we  must  remember  that  the  new  customs  system 
will  cost  a great  deal  to  maintain,  and  that  in 
Russia  proper  all  foreign  goods  are  heavily  taxed. 
Indeed,  the  taxation  on  this  frontier  is  light  com- 
pared with  it  and  the  Hr  taxation  on  Indian  tea 
is  a distinct  concession  to  England.  Had  14r. 
40c  been  charged  on  all  green  tea  the  people 
would  have  been  compelled  to  drink  nothing  but 
Chinese  tea.  Of  course,  the  Bokharans  who  had  been 
drinking  Indian  tea  would  then  have  had  to  pay 
double  or  treble  (for  a better  quality,  however),  and 
there  would  have  been  some  discontent,  but  still  it 
could  have  been  done.  In  Russia  a peasant  has  to 
pay  2s  6d  per  lb.  for  the  worst  tea  (the  duty  is  21 
gold  r,  equals  at  present  32  paper  r per  poud  ; a poud 
is  equal  to  36  English  or  40  Russian  lb.)  The  tea 
drunk  by  the  middle  and  upper  classes  costs  from 
7s  to  11s  per  lb.  In  Central  Asia  Indian  green  tea 
will  hardly  cost  Is  per  lb. 
Black  tea  can  now  pay  25  paper  r on  this 
frontier,  or  21  gold  r (i.e.,  about  .32  paper)  at  Batoum. 
It  remains  to  be  seen  which  route  will  prevail. 
Probably  the  black  tea  will  still  continue  to  come  this 
way,  because  in  Persia  the  people  drink  black  and 
not  green  tea.  Therefore,  the  tea  can  be  brought 
for  sale  either  here  or  across  the  frontier.  But  the 
amount  of  black  tea  which  goes  to  Russian  Central 
Asia  is  small.  It  is  only  the  Persians  there,  and  a 
few  Russians  (including  soldiers),  who  use  about  £10,000 
worth  per  annum.  For  some  reason  only  about  half 
that  quantity  crossed  the  frontier  last  year.  The 
traders  do  not  seem  to  have  thought  it  worth  while 
to  get  black  tea  across  before  the  introduction  of 
the  new  regulations,  or  they  were  too  much  occupied 
