April i, 1898.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 671 
CEYLON TEA IN RUSSIA. 
Tlie nia'u business transacted at the meeting 
of the “ Thirty ” Committee on the 16th Feb. 
in Kandy had to do with the promotion of 
Ceylon tea in Ru.^.sia and the work of advertising 
is evidently to go on apace ; for Mr. Kodigue is 
to be once more patronised with Ceylon funds, 
and £1,000 are voted to Messrs. Crosfield, 
L^mpard & Co. to advertise and push our teas 
m tue same country ; while, above all, Mr. Christie 
is empowered to arrange fsr systematic adver- 
tising of Ceylon teas in Russian newspapers. 
But far more important, in our opinion, than all 
these steps, would it be to send in a well-consi- 
dered, carefully-worded Memorial — say from the 
Ceylon Association in London — to the Russian 
Minister of Finance, pointing out the gr£at 
field there is for benefitting the imperial 
revenue, the trade of the empire and 
the Rus.sian people as a whole, by following 
the British e,xamplo and reducing the duty on 
tea from Is lOt^d to Is, to 8d, or even to 6d per lb. 
It cannot be said that revolutions or conspi- 
racies are nourished on tea, or that the reifue- 
tion of the tea duty would tend to the spread 
of Nihilism or Socialism in any form. Quite 
the other way about ! Cheap tea and univer- 
sal tea-drinking in Russia should lead to in- 
creased happiness and general contentment 
among the common people ; while the Czar’s ex- 
chequer would, at the same time, be greatly bene- 
fitted. Who will (not “bell the cat,” but) 
enlighten the Czar and his Minister? That, in 
our opinion, is aow the chief problem in con- 
nection with the future of the Consumption and 
Prices of Ceylon and Indian teas. 
EXPERIMENTS TO TEST DURABILITY 
OP WOOD. 
Eleven pieces made like paving blocks were buried 
to about f of their length in sandy soil in an ex- 
possed sunny place in the grounds of Wilhelmsruhe, 
Turret Road, on 3rd October, 1896. Six of the 
pieces were marked l \ means of tin tacks driven 
in on one side, and th.ee were marked by notches 
cut in the side. The two outside pieces were not 
marked and are Kumbuk. The first examination of 
the blocks was made on 21st October, 1397, i.e., just 
over a year after they were put in. All the portions 
exposed to the sun and air were slightly cracked, 
especially Tumpalai, but with the exception of Illupai, 
all the pieces were sound. The following report as to 
each piece is : — 
Outside piece “ Kumbuk ” covered by fungus on 
exposed side and slightly touched by white ants other- 
wise sound. 
One tin tack. “Illupai” (Mi) from E.P. half eaten 
through by white ants. 
Two tin tacks. “Tumpalai” E.P. somewhat cracked 
on top surface, under ground outside wood a little 
soft, otherwise sound. 
Three tin tacks, “ Kumbuk ” E.P. sound-wood 
slightly softened on surface. 
Four tin t cks. “ Kumbuk^’’ N.W.P. sound. 
Five tin tacks. Milla E.P, r|uite sound. 
Six tin tacks. “ Plalmilla ” E.P. one sidej slightly 
eaten by white ants, otherwise sound. 
One cut notch “ Mukalai ” (Munamal) E.P. quite 
sound. 
Two cut notches “ Palu ” N.W.P. quite sound. 
Three cut notches "Palu ” quite sound. 
Outside piece “ Kumbuk ” outside sligtly eaten by 
white ants. A. F. BROUN. 
— Ceylon Forester, 
TEA IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA : MR. 
WEBSTER AGAIN. 
The following is an excerpt from an article in 
the Pioneer entitled “A Trip to Central Asia”:— 
Anglo-Indian readers will be interested in the fate 
of the attempts lately made to introduce tea into 
Southern Russia. The Empire imports between 60 
and 60 million pounds of that product by sea: for 
arrivals by o.,ravan from China are yearly dwindling 
in quantity. Of this 22 millions come to Odessa, 
mostly carried at very low freight, by the “ Volunteer 
rteet,” which would o'herwise return nearly empty 
from the Far East. The source of supply has, till 
recently, been Northern China. But I heard at 
Odessa that a broker named Trautman had imported 
eleven tons of Ceylon tea with very satisfactory 
results. Mr. Trautman was in the China trade as 
far back as 181.3, and has thus watched the markets 
for more than half a century. It argues well 
for the future of Indian tea in Russia that he 
should have embarked in the new venture. I learnt 
from a Mr. Webster, whom I met on the Black 
Sea steamer, that large shipments of our Indian 
product have been made during the last few 
months to Terbizoncl, a Turkish port on the 
southern shore. The route taken is via Bombay 
and Aden, where the tea is transhipped into vessels 
of the Volunteer fleet. From Trebizoud it is smug- 
gled across the Russian frontier, which is protected 
by Cossacks open to pecuniary influences. The 
pioneers in this branch of trade are Parsaes. Mr. 
Webster is a Ceylon planter and shipper of old 
standing who has, for the last three years, been 
engaged under the auspices of a Ceylon association 
in preaching the gospel of Indian tea throughout the 
world. He is, perhaps, the greatest traveller in an 
age of universal locomotion ; and, as he is equally 
interested in our northern plantations as a shipper, 
planters may rest assured that if markets can be 
found for their product Mr. Webster is the man who 
will find them. He gave me some deeply interesting 
particulars of an effort to introduce the cultivation 
of the cheering plant into Caucasus. Three years 
ago it occurred to a millionaire merchant of Moscow, 
a Mr. Popoff, that tea grown in the Russian Empire 
would escape the customs duty of Is. lOd. per pound 
which the imported article is charged. With the 
sanction of Government he took up a few acres in 
the Tchakvi Valley, eight miles north-east of Batoum, 
and set out 150,000 China plants. This was three 
years ago, and the produce is already so assured that 
a specimen was presented to the Tsaritsa and was 
honoured with Her Majesty’s approval. The Govern- 
ment has a small plantation in the neighbourhood, 
and there is a third belonging to the heirs of a 
Russian colonel. In all a hundred and fifty acres 
or so of tea have been planted in the 
Western Caucasus. The climate is everything that 
can be desired, for Batoum is as rainy a place- as 
Darjeeling of Silchar, but Mr. Webster is inclined 
to doubt whether the soil is not too heavy and 
agriliaceous to produce tea of respectable grade. I 
tasted a sample on the steamer, and, though a lay- 
man, was able to pronounce it to be rather oily and 
rank flavoured. Mr. Webster, however, thinks it sui- 
table for Russian consumption and fully worth the 
6d. a pound at which an Odessa expert valued it. 
It is beautifully made by hand, for Mr. Popoff is no 
believer in machinery.” 
INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION. 
TEA FUND FOR AMF.EICA.— NEW RULKIXG 
REGUL.VIIONS. 
Abstract of Proceedings of a meeting of the Gen- 
eral Committee, held on 7th January 1893:— The 
Chairman announced that the contributions promis- 
ed to the American Mirket Fund amounted to Rs 
1,02,039, being Rl,635 below last year’s levy 
butj he pointed out that this did not include the 
sum of £200 contributed by the Assam Company 
