4i8 
THE TJROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. I, 1897. 
TROPICAL PRODUCTS. 
Mr. Raon], clieniist., wlio had been commis- 
sioned by the Frencli Government to go to the 
Malay States in <inler to discover tlie plants which 
might be of utility for supplying raw materials to 
industry and commerce, lias just returned. The 
mission of which he was the head was able to pene- 
trate into une>:]dored forests, and to bring back 
some valuable plants destined for cultivation in 
French jiossessions. The.«e consist of new textiles, 
india-rubber, some species of gutta-percha, some of 
the latter quite unknown as yet, some trees pro- 
ducing vegetable butters and greases, oils, resins, 
varnislies, and tannins. The immense island of 
Sumatra, which was visited, is almost unknown in 
the interior. There the mission found veritable 
riches, amongst which gold, which they were not 
seeking, and have located the presence of petro- 
leum and di.scovered immense forests of trees, pro- 
ducing resin, india-rubber, and gutta-percha. All 
that wealth remains unutilised for want of 
workers, because the natives are apathetic, igno- 
rant, and cannot be employed as labourers. — Lon- 
don dk China Express. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
Russian Centpal Asia and Its Tea Tkade. — In 
the last report from the British Consuiate-General 
at Meshed some space is devoted to the tea trade of 
Russian Central Asia. Tea and indigo are the two 
main exports to these regions from India. Russia 
has now begun to cultivate tea in the Batum district 
with some success, but, although it is said that tea 
enough to satisfy the requirements of the Central 
Asian market will be produced here in time, it is 
evident that the Russian planter will not be able 
to compete with the Anglo-Indian for a long time to 
come. The bulk of the tea from India and China 
into Central Asia now goes by the Batum route in 
place of by Bandar Abbas and across Per- 
sia. At the end of last year it was stated 
in Bokhara that the Russians were trying 
to deprive Bombay of the trade in Chinese green 
tea by creating a direct demand between the 
Bokharan dealers and Russian agents in China, and 
also by inducing the Peshawar merchants trading 
in Bokhara to purchase in China and import by 
Batum. As the latter were representatives of Indian 
firms, they did not alter their commercial routine ; 
but it seems clear that there is now direct communi- 
cation between Russian houses in Bokhara and in 
China and direct purchases and sales between them, 
mainly of green tea, consignments being shipped 
direct to Batum. This involves loss to India, where 
great profit was made by importing green tea from 
China and then exporting it to Central Asia. But 
India has not lost the trade yet by any means. 
Indian traders in Bokhara continue to make their 
purchases in Bombay, and have them sent by Batum 
in place of Bandar Abbas. Thirty-six to fifty days 
is the time taken from Bombay to Bokhara by 
Batum. This is much shorter than the Persian 
route and the cost of carriage cheaper ; but the 
Batum route is said to be unpopular with the 
Indian trader, for he has to pay the customs duty in 
cash at Askabad or Bokhara immediately on the 
arrival of the goods there, whereas by the Persian 
route the Persian forwarding agents paid all c'ues 
and charges and recovered them afterwards from 
the consignees without requiring any advances. 
Hence Indian traders are making inquiries about 
the new route from Quetta through Seistan into 
Khorasan, as they think it might suit them better 
than the Batum route. The Indian traders residing 
in Bokhara are natives of Peshawar, Rawal Pindi, 
and other Punjab districts, and prefer buying near 
their homes in India. Hence it is suggested that 
tbe tea planters in Kangra, Dehra, and other places 
in India should endeavour to recover a ti\. de w' ich 
was wholly in their hands twentv jtars a.o. They 
can beat I he Chinese green tea imported by Russian 
tiau6i ?, for their tea is of better flavuni aiidcht-rtuer 
especially now that the Indian tea will have ir< heavy 
Afghan duties to pay by the new' Seisian route. 
Rut It will not do to wait for the tiaders to come 
to the Indian gardens as they used to do; the pur- 
chasers must be sought out in Quetta, Karachi and 
other places in Upper India. In this way ib Indian 
planter might be al.le not only to secure ilie green 
tea trade of Central Asia, but also a trade in b'ack 
tea in tlie Seistan and Khorasan markets, and per- 
haps elsewhere in Persia. “Were a Eurepscu Per- 
sian-speaking commercial agent deputed by the Indian 
tea companies collectively to travel in the country 
to study Persian tastes and ascertain the qu.ilitv of 
the tea that may be in demand, and then to advise 
thern to produce suitable tea especially for the Persian 
market and make arrangements for its direct export 
and sale through a central depot in charge of a 
European or trustworthy Indian agent, the Indian 
tea trade with Khorasan might be expanded 
large extent even now.’’ 
to a 
A Tbaveli-ek's Tale. — The opponents of tea drink- 
ing, who aie always on the look-out for an object- 
lesson wherewiih to point a moral, can find one if 
they turn to the columns of the Boston TraveUev. 
As that journal may not come within their range 
ot vusion, we supply an extract from it referring 
to the case of Peter Schultz, an old man wlio has 
just died inaNew York work-house. Peter, accord- 
ing to the Iraveller, was a great tea drinker, and 
visitors to the almshouse encouraged his fancy by 
sending him many packages of his favourite leaf. 
Scbultz was a hard drinker before he went to the 
almshouse, but it was of something stronger but 
apparently not more potent than tea. His reform 
and his affection for tea pleased the missionaries 
amd good folks generally who visited him, and hence 
the many gifts of Oolong and Japan. But they 
did not know the truth. Schultz used to boil a 
great quantity of tea down to such a degree that the 
lesiilt w’as a potion that would have eaten away the 
stomach of an ordinary man. He increased the 
frequency and strength of his dose and soon became 
a tea drunkard. His nerves began to trouble and 
he saw things. ’ He was believed to have nephritis 
and was treated for it. One night Schultz partook 
of tea more liberally than usual, lit bis pipe, and 
fell dead. At the autopsy it was discovered that his 
heart was fractured. It had been stimulated too 
much with tea and had broken under the strain That- 
IS the plain English of it, the medical terms bein^ 
left to those who deal in them Otherwise than tldf 
fracture Schultz’s body was that of a man in fine nhv- 
sical condition. He was a victim to his over thidf 
effectively than Indian and CeyiortVasrbureve“the 
latter, when boiled as Peter is supposed .0 have mani 
pulatedthem, are not good for the constitution. 
The PosiTioNOFCocoA—Cocoaisadvancinginponu- 
larity.andm theimportmarketitstands well The 
points out that its appreciation is not confined to = 
Single set or class of consumers of 
one special or 
isolated nationality, but extends 'fa’r and near anH 
after winning favours with the British nomilatinn 
both high and low degree, it is fast maS"a con- 
quest of the palates and liki gs of foreign dOnkers of 
the beverage in Eastern Europe. Esneciallv -H.?* 
so with the Germans, who have becmnreaee/nat n 
of this form of food of late, and are bu/ers of lar"e 
and increasing quantities every month. No seuarlte 
official returns are given of the countries abroad o 
which cocoa 13 shipped from the Port of London 
so that we cannot trace from official figurerRs 
destination, or form an opinion as to wffich pirt 
of the Continent is the best customer for cocoa 
after it leaves the United Kingdom. Rut, jp thg 
