352 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1884. 



assisted in the production of an entirely new plant— the 

 Hybrid. , . T ,. . 



The introduction of China tea (in seed) into India, has 

 frequently been deplored, as the plant is not a particularly 

 remunerative one to cultivate. But few evils are devoid 

 of some indirect good ; and although the China specimen 

 is a disagreeable thing to grow* and its out-turn more 

 generally unsatisfactory than otherwise, the hardy nature 

 it has blended with the pure Indian plant is a very whole- 

 some iddition. 



It is more satisfactory to cultivate good hybrid than 

 either indigenous or China plants. The blended natures 

 have resulted in a vigorous and hardy specimen, more 

 suited to the climates in which it has been planted, than 

 is the pure Indian variety, yet retailing a sufficiency of 

 its original character to make its culture remunerative. 

 A good tea climate must be humid. The atmosphere in 

 the forest home of the Assam tea-plant is sometimes so 

 moist as almost to give the idea of solidity. Hidden 

 in the jungles where the rain fell in torrents, and where 

 he dense undergrowth prevented the sun from drying 

 up the ground, the tea-plant originally lived in an atmo- 

 sphere which was always damp. But it was discovered 

 in its wild luxuriance, protected by almost impenetrable 

 jungle; and British energy and enterprise brought it out 

 of seclusion. It was taken away and planted in open 

 spaces, deprived of the shelter of its giant neighbours, 

 and exposed to the direct action of the sun ; and having 

 a supply of moisture only when it rained, it forgot how 

 to vegetate as it previously had. So it was found that 

 what had been healthy and vigorous as jungle, was apt 

 to he delicate and fragile as a cultivated plant. It is 

 because of this, that the propagation of the alien (China) 

 plant; has not been without its good. The sturdy, 

 sluggish nature of the Iudo-Celestial species, has blended 

 harmoniously and advantageouslv with the pure Indian 

 variety ; and what was absolutely necessary for the 

 successful extension of the Indian tea industry— a plant 

 more prolific than the China, yet less delicate than the 

 indigenous— nature has bountifully given in the hybrid. 



Tea of the hybrid class is being cultivated remuneratively 

 at the present time in places where. lam certain, the in- 

 digenous plant could notlive. Tea of tin- same order is also 

 thriving and paying, after living through neglect and harsh 

 treatment which would have killed indigenous tea in its 

 infancy. Had the deteriorated (China) plant not been 

 brought back to India, and allied itself with its old species, 

 I am convinced that the enterprise of Indian tea cultiv- 

 ation would have been confined to a verv considerably less 

 extent than that at which it is now carried on. 



"JAT." 



Dear Sir.— I am afrnid your interesting extracts 

 from "Cooper" on "Brick Tea" did not impart 

 much information on "jat." Since writing I have 

 come across an article* in the Tropical Ac/riru'lurist, 

 (March 1st, lS-<2, page S19), in which Colonel Money's 

 Prize Essay on Tea "Cultivation is largely quoted. I 

 c>py a few of his remarks on jat. which will bear 

 republishing, now that so many more ?.re interested 

 in the question tban when it first appeared in your 

 columns. He says : — 



" The indigenous tree has a leaf nine inches long 

 and more; the leaf of the China bush never exceeds 

 four inches. The iudigenou . flushes much more 

 copiously than the China: the leaves are larger and 

 it Hushes oftener. The infusion of the tea made from 

 the indigenous species is far more rasping and pungent 

 than what the China plant can give. The India tea 

 is vastly superior to China, and commands a much 

 higher price at home, but it is still very inferior to 

 what it would have been, had not China seed been 

 so recklessly imported and distributed in India." 



This last sentence of course refers to Assam hybrids, 

 i. e., indigenous spoilt by China. Still, admitting that 

 a good hybrid more closely allied to indigenous than 

 to China" is a good plant ai d perhaps b etter Buited 



* Certainly 1. ot an article: only a letter by a Glasgow 

 grocer. — En. 



for our hills than pure indigenous would be, there is no 

 escaping from the unmitigated denunciation of the pure 

 China jat, or the hybrid closely allied to it: " It does 

 not flush so copiously or so often, and it lowers the 

 value at home." This surely is enough to damn it. 

 But how are we to tell it ? That was and is my ques- 

 tion ; and in the " hundred different' 4 hybrids, wnere 

 are we to draw the line and say "This is Assam 

 hybrid (and this China hybrid " ? Are there not degrees 

 ■ f baduess in the pure Chinas as in the hybrids ? 

 I have, unfortunately, in my ignorance, got in very 

 fair looking plants pronounced to be pure China, 

 and I have also g<>t things that don't resemble tea 

 at all : awful looking things while they are young. 

 Will they improve with growth ? There is no mis- 

 taking a good jat : bold, light green leaves more or less 

 beautifully marked as 'hough they had been artificially 

 embossed ; edges well serrated, then right round the 

 leaf, from the edge a quarter of an inch dee]), dimples 

 and swellings, from which ornamental border deep 

 gutters run to the midrib, the color of the leaf being 

 a golden green, and in shape nearly as broad as long, 

 with a teat point. I take this description from a leaf 

 of my best Assam hybrid plants grown from India seed. 



Against this I have some others in color a dark 

 green or sickly yellow, loves small and narrow- 

 tapering evenly to a point (uo t- at point), with no 

 markings on the leaf, which is perfectly smooth. Whereas 

 some that I have with a larger leaf, pronounced to 

 be pure China, have distinct gutters from the midrih 

 and all are serrated more or less. Ought those smooth 

 narrow-leaf things to be allowed to grow? 



Further on, in the article above alluded to, Ool. 

 Money in mary ways insists upon the vaet superiority 

 of Indian over China teas ; but the said article has 

 an unexpected and curious ending I quo f e one 

 sentence :— "Judged by its effect upon the human 

 system, and not by its price in the markets, we beg 

 humbly *"nd with considerable diffidence to contradict 

 Col. Mouey by declaring our opinion that China /<■•■ 

 is vastly superior to Indian tea " ! ! ! Which is true';* 



V. S. 



FRUIT CULTURE: GROWTH OF TREES. 



We hear that some of the estate proprietors on the 

 Shevaroys and other coffee producing tracts in the pre- 

 sidency have recently, owing to the fact that coffi e lias 

 not given such fair outturn as it does in favorable seasons, 

 begun to devote some attention to the planting of fruit 

 trees which grow luxuriantly in many parts of the pre- 

 sidency and amply repay the outlay incurred in their 

 growth. The growth of frfiit trees foravenues along public 

 roads has been encouraged in some districts, and along 

 many of the principal trunk roads many large fruit trees 

 may be seen. It is evident that the old revenue a 

 and land-holders knew what they were about, for the 

 tamarind, the mango and the jack tree have been most 

 extensively planted. In those parts where the trees have 

 grown well and yield fruit of gooil quality, the local boards 

 may safely expect to obtain a small revenue. It is, however, 

 to be regretted that more is not done in this direction, 

 and that along many of the public roads in the districts, 

 and especially the newly-formed roads, as much care is 

 not taken, as used to be the case in former years to grow 

 good species of fruit trees whose umbrageous branches 

 afford shelter to passengers and whose fruit may he sold 

 for the benefit of the road or avenue fund in every Local 

 Fund circle. What the revenue officials might well en- 

 courage and carry out, owners of private estates have now 

 set about to achieve, and it is hoped that success will 

 attend their endeavours. The jack and the mango 



* Our correspondent, who generally knows how to ex- 

 press bis ideas clearly, has taken an over-dose of tea. He 

 in words affirms that the statement of the prejudiced 

 C'asgow grocer is true, while he really meant to ask 

 "Which [statement] is true'." — Ed. 



