153 



Government Cinchona Plantations, one of wliich was lately seat to the 

 New Orleans Exhibition. The process of manufacturing Tea is cer- 

 tainly one that requires care and judgment ; but men who can prepare 

 and cure the celebrated Blue Mountain Coffee of Jamaica, should find 

 little difficulty in learning the details of Tea curing. The a i vantages 

 as regards Tea are that, no sun is absolutely required and no water. 

 The Tea plant is most hardy : it will grow in tiae old soils of aban- 

 doned coffee fields, as proved in Ceylon, and it will tnrive in Jamaica 

 at all elevations, from about 80 feet to nearly 6,000 feet. To secure 

 the best results it is advisable to plant Tea in moist, warm and some- 

 what sheltered districts." 



Two consignments of Hybrid Tea seeds were received from the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1885, and some 3,000 plants were raised and 

 ■planted out in two places. 



Samples of Tea were forwarded in 1886 to the Indian and Colonial 

 Exhibition. 



From 1885 to 1888 seeds and plants were supplied from time to 

 time for trial on an estate near Portland Gap ; the plants grew and 

 .multiplied, but nothing was done on a commercial scale. 



In the Reports on the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, 

 '1886, Mr. A. G, Stanton, the Tea Expert, writes at considerable 

 length on the exhibits of Tea, and speaks as follows of the exhibit 

 irom this island which was prepared under the direction of Mr Hart, 

 now Superintendent of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Trinidad : — " The 

 four samples exhibited in the Jamaica Court are from the Botanical 

 'Gardens. They are delicate in flavour, and of good quality, and show 

 knowledge of manufacture and careful preparation, although the co- 

 lour of the dry leaf is rather too grey. Pekoe Souchong is the only 

 kind represented." 



In 1887 the present Director sent samples to Kew to get the opinion 

 of Tea Brokers and to test the merits of an evaporator for drying the 

 Tea. The following was published in the Bulletin for March, 1888 : — 



" Tea. — The evaporator has been tried in the manufacture of Tea at 

 Cinchona. Three samples were sent to Kew with the view of testing 

 whether the machine dried Tea was superior to that cured on iron over 

 a fire. A sample of the latter was labeled No. I, the samples of the ma- 

 chine Tea were called Nos. 2 & 3. These samples were sent to Eng- 

 land, unfortunately, in mustard tins, which impaired their value con- 

 siderably, and this is what the Brokers refer to in their letter and 

 report subjoined : — 



A. G. Stanton, Esq., t§ Royal Gardens, Kew. 



3, Rood Lane London, E.C., 21st December, 1887. 



I duly received your letter of the 29th instant, together with the 

 three samples of Jamaica Tea. 



As I have i;iven in the enclosed Report a prett}'' full statement of 

 the various characteristics of the samples, I will only here add that 

 the liquors of all are very serviceable for the London Market ; the 

 samples are all slightly impared, No. 1 baing especially so. 



I shall always be happy to report upon any samples and to do what- 



