Feb, t , 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
5S3 
with orders to open the gate, and for the first 
time a tea planter, and a British subject, entered 
the plantation which is kept such a profound 
secret. On ascending the hill I met the Superinten- 
dent, who showed me round the plantation, which 
has cost over 800,000 Rbls. (£82,000 sterling). It 
reminded me very much of the hill paddy-fields 
in Ceylon, as all the plantation is laid out in- 
terraces five feet broad, the cost of which must 
have been very great, as the land in parts is steep. 
I saw tea trees from India, Ceylon, Java, and 
China, all of which looked well, notwithstanding 
the two feet of snow which lay on the ground, 
and the severe weather which had set in un- 
usually early this year. Only a small area is 
planted with seed from India and Ceylon, and 
this has been condemned by Mr. Popoff. Perhaps 
his Chinese tea-maker thinks the leaves too long ! 
ME. CHINAMAN. 
The Superintendent has no experience in tea, 
hut informed me he is learning the work from their 
head Chinaman. This gentleman was brought from 
China and draw the nice sum of £60 per month. 
Along with him are ten other Cliinese who, from 
all accounts, draw salaries that will enable them 
in a few- years to return to their country and live 
on the fat of the land. Last year they imported 
6,000 lb. of tea seed from China, out of which 
Mr. Popoff raised 49 plants. Mr. Chinaman may 
be counting on repeat orders till they raise the 
required number of plants ! ! 
THE CAUCASUS. 
In Odessa I was told that a large area suitable 
for tea was to be found South East of the 
Caucasus near the Caspian sea ; but from what 
I have seen, and on what 1 believe to be reli- 
able information, I report as follows South East 
of Caucasus, South of Baku, and near the Caspian 
sea there is a mild climate and fair soil, but as 
there is little or no rain, and all the year round 
is subject to violent wind storms it would be 
impossible to grow tea. On the East coast of 
the Caspian sea there is poor soil, no rain, and 
in summer violent hot wind storms that dry up 
all before them. On the Caucasus and to the 
north of Baku the winter has proved too severe. 
Last year out of the 5,000 plants put out near 
Tiflis not one survived to see the spring. South- 
West of the Caucasus, on the coast between 
Soukhoum and Batoum, there are about a hundred 
thousand acres where it would be possible to grow 
tea, but at no part is it more than three miles 
from the sea, and in many parts the mountains are 
verysteep close to the sea. The soil is good and rain- 
fall plentiful, and in winter there is snow and 
sometimes twelve degrees of frost. In summer 
they often have strong winds with hail which 
does much damage to the tea. From the 1st of 
April to the end of September the bushes will 
sprout, but after July the flush is checked by 
winds and hail. Tea of the right jat planted in 
the shade might in the eightn year give 200 
ounds per acre ; with labour at Is. 6d. per day, 
fail to see where the profit would come in for 
the grower even with Is. ICd. per pound duty 
in his favour. 
THE GOVERNMENT PLANTATION. 
The latest addition to the Government plan- 
tation is 50 acres, planted with seed : the trees 
from which it will never give 100 lb. of tea per 
acre. The cost of opening the land, seed, plant- 
ing, land up keep for first three years was, £5,750 
sterling, which is equal to £115 per acre. To 
this must be added the cost of land £10 per acre 
and Superintendent’s salary 1 The Superinten- 
dents’ estimate for this clearing is as follows : — 
5th year 60 pounds of tea per acre ; 6th year 90 
pounds per acre; 7th year 130 lb.; 8th year 200 
lb. ; and 9th year 250 lb. for which he hopes to 
get 3 Ebis. (6s. 6d.) per lb. It is possible that 
he may obtain his estimate for the first two years, 
but I am very certain he will be sadly dis- 
appointed in his returns for the following years ; 
as also the price he will realise. At 3 Kbls. 
per pound the Russian tea grower would have 
a nice profit, but when he comes to realise 1 
Rble. 8 Kp. (2s. 4d.) per lb. he will find the 
balance on the other side. 
So India and Ceylon may count on Russia as a 
good field for their increasing supply. — Yours 
truly, B. V. WEBSTER. 
Sophia, Bulgaria, 10th December, 1897. 
-P.iS'.— Since writing the above I have received 
a valuation from Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton, 
of the tea Mr. Popoff gave me while in Moscow 
from his plantation in the Caucasus “ 6d. per lb.” 
This confirms the valuation of my friend in Odessa. 
A NEW VEGETABLE. 
Dec. 21. 
Dear Sib, — In the December nnmber of the “ Agri- 
cultural Magazine,” which you publish as a supple- 
ment, the Canna eduUs, with its various misleading 
names of Toua-les-mois, St. Vincent arrowroot and 
Queensland arrowroot, is referred to as a plant con- 
sidered to be equal to, or more valuable than, the 
real arrowroot, and is said to be grown in Badulla 
and the Rayigam Korle. I brought this plant some 
time ago to the notice of our late Director of the 
Royal Botanic Gardens and have figured it and 
described its cultivation, with other plants not 
generally known, in some papers which I hope soon 
to send you for publication. Meantime I may mention 
that the distribution of the Canna edulis is very much 
wider than stated above : it is largely grown in coolies' 
and in natives’ gardens in nearly every planting 
district. The tuberous roots are an excellent curry 
vegetable, and when dried and pounded, yield a large 
amount of flour which is used for cakes, etc. The 
plant, one of the most handsome of the Cannas, 
with its flame-coloured flowers and broad foliage 
tinged with red, is called by the Tamils '• Valay 
sembu” (plantation yarn), and by the natives “Bflt- 
sarana ” (Refuge in Buddha). It produces no seeds 
and is grown from stools in the same way as carda- 
moms are usually planted. — Yours faithfully, Br. 
CACAO CULTIVATION IN CEYLON : OUR 
OLDEST TREES ; AND PRACTICAL EX- 
PERIENCE : REASSURING NEWS. 
Dec. 31. 
Dear Sir, — The intelligence (save the word !) 
is only startling in its silliness regarding cacao and" 
its limit of age. There was fine cacao in bearing 
on Rothschild 20 years ago when I was S. D. 
there and I believe my old P. D. (J.Q.C.), still 
wonders at its vigorous cropping. There are trees 
40 years old in Peradeniya Gardens, and nearly 
50 years old on Pallekelly. We have trees here 
20 years old and only just in full bearing. They 
have been growing all these years and would 
touch at 30 feet apart. Udapolla and Eadella have 
trees a score of years old, 30 and 40 feet high 
with 40 and 60 feet spread, bearing grandly. 
No ! Cacao is good for a century. You try it, 
as the old man did with the raven. 
