78 



THE TEA PLANT. 



Tea Plant. 



a duty of ten per cent, 

 was laid upon it by the 

 Chinese government; 

 since which time it 

 has been a fruitful 

 source of revenue to 

 the Empire. The an- 

 nual product of China 

 alone amounts to the 

 enormous quantity of 

 two and one-half bil- 

 lions of pounds 

 (2,500,000,000.) Add 

 to this the vast pro- 

 duct of Japan, Java, 

 and Corea, and we may justly be amazed to think 

 what a great tea-drinker the world is. 



Wherever we turn our eyes, and from whatever 

 point we 'view the vegetable kingdom, we see new 

 wonders ; something new to be learned ; and as we 

 are always forgetting, how well it is that new subjects 

 of interest are always awaiting our notice. And how 

 instructive it is in all these things to observe that 

 Nature adapts herself to the peculiar circumstances 

 in which she is placed. 



The barren pine, so called from its being unpro- 

 ductive, exactly resembles the stem that bears the 

 pine-apple in our green-houses. It is not, however, 

 entirely useless ; for in some species there is a pro- 

 tuberance hanging down resembling a bowl ; in this 

 the rain collects, and remains a considerable length 



