Feb. I, 1898 .] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
519 
CEYLON TEA IN RUSSIA. 
We give prominence to the following inter- 
esting letter acldies.“ed to us by Mr. J. M. 
Maitland-Kirwan from Moscow. Its perusal will 
whet the eeneral expectation for Mr. T.' N. 
Christie’s Report and advice as to the future 
campaign in favour of our tea in Russia : — 
Moscow, Dec. 10, 1897. 
Dear Sir, — You will no doubt be interested 
to know what the position of Ceylon teas is in: 
this ccuntry, and you will shortly have the 
repoit 01 ]\lr. Chiistie, whom I have had the 
pleasure ot meeting on several occasions. 
The enormous duty of eighty kopecks (Is lOd) 
per ib, together with many other restrictions, 
of which Mr. Chri.stie’s Report will inform you, 
tends heavily to hamper the budding of a new 
product, esjiecially so in this ccuntry, in regard 
to Ceylon tea, where “ Russians” have such a 
firm giip of the palate. Nevertheless, it is most 
encouraging to know that, in spile of such 
ditlifulties, the imports of our teas have risen 
during the last six years to close on 4,000,000 lb. 
and thi.e, you may saj’, with laaetically no 
Adverti.sing. I have been going mostly closely 
into matters during the week I have been here, 
and 1 am of opinion that a good round sum of 
money, .sjient judiciously in Advertising, would 
be a w eil-inveoted capital. I am afraid Mr. 
Christie does not altogether adopt my view as 
to this, but, ncverthele.'^s, with eveiy deference 
to his excellent judgment, that is my undoubted 
opinion. Mr. Rogivue has done good work here ; 
he h.'is had a hard uphill game to. play, and has 
played it honestly and well, and is now re- 
warded as he deserves, by having an uncommonly 
good liusniess at his back. We want more 
“Rogivues” out here; there is ])lenty of room 
fo)- tlicm, and we shall no doubt get them in 
time, but assistance will be required to enable 
such to start, and to this the “Thirty Com- 
mittee ” will doubtle.ss give their careful attention. 
It is ceitainly a mo.st important matter and 
worthy of their gravest consi(ieratron. 
Weather here is intensely cold, though the sun 
is shinine', and clothed as you are from bead to 
foot in fur, the icy air still fii.ds its way in and 
mak(s one sometimes long for the balmier 
breezes of a certain isle far away in the gorgeous 
East. — Yours faithfully, 
J. M. Maitland-Kirwan. 
We are as firm believers in Advertising as our 
Correspondent ; but we doubt the wisdom of 
starting more “Rogivues” as opponents of 
Russian tea-dealers— cannot Ceylon planters W'ork 
thiough the latter? Mr. Christie may tell us. 
TEA PLANTING IN ASSAM : 
THEFTS OF TEA— BREAD AND LIQUORS: 
(W otes from a Correspondent.) 
WTiat you wrote some while ago about the 
local consumption of tea, was very inreresting. 
Our case here is very much the same. While 
nearly every native now-a-days drinks tea, it is 
not procurable in the open market, liie amount 
of tea sold locally, on the gardens, is very 
small, so the pilfering that goes on in every factory 
must be enormous. Any cooly going to the village 
to buy rice or dhan (paddy) can always barter tea 
for these things or any little necessaries he may 
want ; it is a beautiful system, naturally beneb 
ficial and free from all W'orry and waste of time,' 
tea, unlike cash, being procurable whenever 
wanted. I have made several ineffectual attempts 
64 
at different times to buy tea, but the khyalis 
will not sell me any for fear I might make enquiry 
as to whence it was procured. 
' It seems rather hard lines that the coolies should 
always select the best tea for their simple transac- 
tions. If their pilfering was confined to the coarser 
grades, one would not mind somuch, but they have 
not the decency even to take unassorted teas. In 
the numerous cases of theft on gardens, so far as 
I have seen, the tea found in the cooly’s pos- 
session has been almost invariably of the best grades; 
taken away from the factory by a woman, or her 
child, as she was suffering from iever 1 
How" do you make bread in Ceylon ? I cannot 
get my servants to make it w ithout yeast ; they say 
it is impossible. Natives of course make use of the 
country grog, which is said to be made from the 
flower or fruit of the “ mahwah ” tree, but a paid 
servant cannot debase himself to use such stuff. 
It is imported into the district by the “ sharab 
maholdars ” or liquor-shoj) keepers, but it has an 
overpowering smell, enough without any of its 
adulterants to make the consumer duink. I 
should think that “lao pnni,” fermented rice liquor, 
would be a good substitute for yeast. It is a 
glorious bc'-erage, so I have been tok], but the 
Government in its inscrutable wisdom has made its 
lueparation an offence in order to realize a noble 
revenue from licensing liquour shc]is. If the 
natives wish to get drunk it must be done on 
spirits “ recommended by the (Government) 
faculty,” not on a simple, unsophisticated beverage 
at 8 annas a bottle ! 
COFFEE, RUBBER AND TOBACCO IN 
COSTA RICA : 
THE SAEAPIQHI ESTATES CO.,', LD. 
The Sarapiqui (Costa Rica) Estates Co., on 
whose property Mr. J. Ij. Shand made so favou r 
able <a Report, afterward.s joining the Board, has 
issued its first Reiiort. Besides Mr. Miand, two 
other well-known Ceylon men are Directors, 
namely, Messrs. J. H. Thring and R. 1', Mac- 
farlane, their colleagues being three city mer- 
chants, Messrs, dennings, Maguire and Phipps. 
With a capital paid-up of £46,756 (£40,000 being 
the cost of the proiierty which includes an 
immense mea of fine laml besides 144 acres of 
good coffee), the Directors are very jiroperly 
going to work cautiously and judiciously. The 
followins' is from the hist Annual Report: — 
Work on the Company’s plantations has been dili- 
gently prosecuted, and considerable progress has 
been made. The 128 acres referred to in the Pros- 
pectus as being already planted have on, re-measure- 
inent turned out to be 144 acres. This area has been 
thoroughly cleaned and weeded, and part of it is 
bearing crop. In addition some 400 acres have been 
taken in hand and are being planted with coffee. The 
quality of the coffee has been established by a sample 
shipment which arri\ed in July and was sold in 
September at an average of 96.s per cw't, part having 
realised 108s. Considering that this coffee W'as de- 
fectively cured, owing to the want of proper machi- 
nery the result must be considered satisfactory. 
It is the desire of the Directors to proceed with 
the cultivation of Tobacco and India-rubber, and the 
realisation of the Company’s large Estate in tim- 
ber so soon as funds and the exigencies of work 
permit; but it is their opinion that for some time 
to come it will be necessary to devote the re- 
sources of the Company both in lueney and energy to 
the development of the coffee land. 
Ithasbeen arranged for a Member of the Board, Mr. 
B. P. Macfarlane, who has great experience in coffee 
planting, to visit the plantations, sailing by the Royal 
Mail Steamer of 12th January, and with him will 
