Oct.  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
273 
having  struck  in  this  substance,  and  all  plants  on 
which  experiments  were  tried  having  propagated  much 
more  readily  in  the  fibre  than  in  earth,  .ladoo  liipiid 
is  a fertiliser  pure  and  simple,  a id  apparently  of 
high  manurial  value,  but  on  its  particular  merits  we 
cannot  speak  more  definitely  here.  Apropos  of  our 
correspondent’s  remarks  of  the  advantage  of  the 
fibre  for  tea  and  coffee  nurseries,  it  seems  to  us  that 
this  fibre  promises  to  provide  a certain  method  for 
bringing  on  “ supplies.”  Were  our  belief  to  prove 
true,  planters  would  have  good  cause  to  bless  the 
magic  of  Colonel  Halford  Thompson.  This  gentle- 
man, whose  address  wo  have  given,  is  only  too  glad 
to  supply  all  information  to  anyone  who  applies  to 
him,  and  some  of  our  planting  readers  may  think 
it  worth  their  while  to  ask  friends  in  England  to 
communicate  with  him  or  to  pay  liira  a visit.  Ar- 
rangements, we  understand,  are  being  made  for  a local 
Agency,  and  a sm  ill  consignment  of  the  fibre  for 
experimental  purposes  is  already  on  its  way  out. — 
M.  Mail,  Sept.  1). 
RUSSIAN  TOBACCO. 
The  toliacco  crop  in  European  Russia  and  the 
Caucasus  for  1895,  according  to  the  Journal  dc 
St.  Petersburg,  was  inferior  to  tlie  preceding 
year’s.  Although  tlie  extent  of  ground  cultivated 
(about  52,000  hectares)  remains  about  the  same. 
The  most  extensive  iilantations  are  found  in  the 
central  and  south-western  provinces,  but  these 
are  only  for  the  production  of  the  commonest 
tobacco  consumed  by  the  peasants.  In  the  provinces 
of  the  .south,  on  the  other  hand,  only  the  kind 
known  as  Turkish  tobacco  is  cultivated.  In  the 
Crimea,  Bessarabia,  and  the  Caucasus  these  to- 
baccos are  excellent,  and  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  cigarettes,  either  pure  or  mixed  with  Miice- 
donian  tobacco.  The  total  crop  of  1895  amounted 
to  64,183,000  kilogs,  as  compared  with  67,654,000 
kilogs,  in  1S94  and  81,207,000  kilogs,  in  1893. 
Three-fourths  of  the  total  is  of  the  common 
kind.  Odessa  is  still  tlie  great  centre  of  the 
tobacco  import  trade,  though  for  some  years 
past  the  manufacturers  of  St.  Petersburg  and 
other  towns  of  the  north  import  their  material 
direct  from  abroad.  The  quantity  importeil  at 
Odessa  diminishes  every  year,  but  it  1895  it 
still  amounted  to  .321,500  kilogs. 
THE  AORICUBTIJRAL  RETURNS. 
The  Board  of  Agriculture  have  Issued  tiicir 
customary  ineliminary  statementot  the  agricnlt  nral 
returns  of  Great  Britain  foi  1896,  compiled  from  the 
returns  collected  on  June  4.  The  aica  under  wheat 
was  1,69.3,957  acres,  an  increase  of  19.5  per  cent, 
upon  1895,  but  12.1  per  cent,  below  the  acreage 
of  1894.  Barley,  2,104,764  acres,  a decrease  of 
2.8  jier  cent,  upon  last  year,  and  a very  small 
increase  over  1894.  Oats,  .3,095,488  acres— de- 
creases of  6.1  and  4.9  percent,  respectively  upon 
the  two  preceding  years.  Potatoes,  563,741  acres, 
increases  of  4.2  and  11.8  per  cent,  upon  the  two 
previous  years.  Clover  and  rotation  gras.ses, 
2,171,966  acres;  and  permanent  pasture  4,638,722 
acres,  the  former  being  a decrease  of  5.7,  and 
the  latter  of  2.6  upon  1895,  3'he  acreage  nnder 
hops  was  54,249,  a decrease  of  about  8 per  cent, 
of  the  i)revious  two  years. 
The  number  of  coivs  and  heifers  in  milk  or 
in  calf  is  returned  at  2,511,675  wdiich  is  an  in- 
crease upon  last  year  of  1 per  cent.,  and  upon 
1894  of  2.1  per  cent.  Other  cattle  number 
3,981,907,  whicli  are  a decrease  of  4.6  and  10  per 
cent,  respectively  in  animals  of  two  years  and 
upwards,  and  increase  upon  last  year  of  9.7  per 
cent,  in  cattle  between  one  and  two  yearsi  old,  and 
of  5.1  per  cent,  in  those  nnder  one  year.  'I'he 
total  number  of  cattle  is  6,49,3,582.  Ewes  kept 
for  breeding  number  9,925,587,  and  other  sliecp 
16,779,7-12.  All  tliese  items  show  a ])rogressive 
increase  for  two  years,  the  total  number  of  sheep, 
26,705,329,  being' 3-5  per  cent,  above  1895,  and 
.3.3  above  1894.  The  total  of  pigs  is  2,878,801, 
which  is  a small  number  below'  1895,  and  an 
increase  of  20.5  upon  Standard,  Aug.  29. 
INDIAN  PATENT. 
Api)lications  in  respect  of  the  undermentioned 
inventions  have  been  tilled,  daring  the  week- 
ending 29th  August  1896  under  the  provisions  of 
Act  V of  1838. 
iMI'ItOVEMENT  IN  TE.\  LEAF  ROT.LING  ?»1ACHINE.S. 
— No.  172  of  1896. — Samuel  Cleland  Davidson, 
merchixiit,  of  Sirocco  Engineering  Work,  Belfaks, 
Ireland,  for  im})rovements  in  tea  leaf  rolling 
machine.  (Specification  field  20th  August  1896.) — 
Indian  and  Eastern  Engineer,  Sept.  12. 
♦- 
RUSSIAN  TEA  PLANTATIONS  IN  THE 
CAUCASUS. 
The  entry  of  Russia  into  the  ranks  of  the  tea-growing 
countries  of  the  Old  World  is  a fact  which  has  scarcely 
a’.tracted  here  the  attention  it  certainly  merits.  The 
Russian  plantation  have  years  ago  passed  the  experi- 
mental stage  in  the  Caucasian  highlands  where  they 
are  located,  and  are  being  rapidly  extended.  One  firm 
alone,  whose  gardens  arc  situated  not  far  from  Eatum, 
employes  over  600  hands,  under  the  supervision  of 
Chinese  foremen,  in  the  culture  and  preparation  of  the 
leaf,  and  the  Government  is  about  to  engage  in  the 
industry,  the  Department  of  Crown  Estates  having 
acquired  last  year  over  4.3,000  acres  of  land  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Chakva  for  the  cultivation  of  the  tea-shrub. 
And  in  order  that  this  object  shall  be  attained  with  the 
greater  certainty  of  success,  a special  Commission,  con- 
sisting of  the  Inspector  of  the  Imperial  Domains  and 
tw'o  subordinates,  spent  a portion  of  ln,st  year  in  the 
tea  regions  of  India  China,  and  Ceylon  nothing  the  mode 
of  prepartion  for  market  in  each  place  and  the  latest 
processes  employed  there,  as  well  as  obtaining  native 
experts  to  undertake  the  management  of  the  extensive 
gardens  which  are  to  be  planted  in  tlie  Caucasus.  The 
Caucasian  home-grown  tea  is  already  on  the  market  at 
Moscow,  and  finds  favour  w'ith  the  Muscovite  con- 
sumers, who  have  never  shown  a disposition  to  lake 
to  the  imported  leaf  from  British  India  and  Ceylon. 
The  Russian  x^alate  finds  the  Assam  and  Colombo 
growth  too  harsh  and  rough,  and  |)rcfers  the  softer 
and  smoother  product  of  China.  The  Caucasian  tea 
is  pronounced  by  good  judges  to  be  equal  in  every 
respect  to  the  average  Chinese  article  which  reaches 
Russia  overland,  ria  Kiakhta  and  Maimacliin.  Some 
assert  that  the  Russian,  or  rather  Caucasian,  tea  is 
superior  in  flavour  to  that  imported.  Be  tlrat  as  it 
may,  the  fact  remains  that  the  shrub  succeeds  well  in 
the  mountain-lieutenancy  of  the  South,  and  the  in- 
crease in  the  plantations  and  product  there  is  now 
such  as  to  lead  Russian  publicists,  like  M.  Batalin, 
to  look  forward  in  a few  years  to  the  exclusion  of 
Chinese  tea  altogether  from  Russian  markets,  in 
favour  of  the  home  grown  article,  by  which  means 
the  State  will  .save  for  circulation  in  the  country 
over  42,000,000  roubles,  which  amount  at  the  pre- 
sent time  represents  the  yearly  tea  hill  paid  to  the 
Celestial  growers,  dealers,  and  carriers.  The  anticipa- 
tion is  far  from  being  so  extravagant  as  at  first  sight 
might  appear.  Not  so  many  years  ago  when  wine- 
making was  started  in  the  Crimea,  the  idea  of  com- 
peting with  the  French,  Spanish,  and  Italian  wines 
imported  into  Russia  w'as  derided,  not  alone  by 
foreigners,  but  by  intelligent  and  liberal-minded 
Russians  themselves.  Now'  the  Crimean  product  is 
supreme  in  the  market,  .and  the  foreign  vintages 
are  being  every  day  moro  and  more  expelled  from  th® 
daily  consumption  of  the  middle- class  Russ, 
