TEA. 455 



The average product of a single plant is about six ounces, which is gathered at three 

 different times during the season. Sometimes there is a fourth gleaning, but the quality is 

 inferior to that previously obtained. The flowers open early in the spring, are rather small, 

 pure white, and slightly odorous. They appear at the axils of the branches, on short stalks, 

 usually solitary, but sometimes two or three together. The flowers are described as having 

 five or six sepals supporting the blossoms, which fall off after the flower has expanded, and 

 leave from six to nine petals surrounding a large number of yellow stamens that are joined 

 together at their bases, forming a kind of floral coronal. The seeds are enclosed in a hard, 

 smooth capsule, somewhat triangular in form, which is divided in the interior into from two 

 to five cells, each containing a firm, white, and slightly oily seed, of a peculiarly bitter flavor. 

 These seeds vary in size from that of a pea to a good-sized hazel-nut. The seed ripens, 

 according to the climate, from October to January. The stem is bushy, with many branches. 

 The foliage is dense, and the wood of a light color, hard, and close grained. It is an ever 

 green, and quite an ornamental plant. The leaves are rather large when full-grown, and of a 

 somewhat elliptic form, as will be seen by the illustration, glossy and smooth, serrated 

 except at the base, and of a dark green color. 



* 



Varieties. The difference in the various brands of tea, as they appear in the market, 

 is due more to the artificial manipulation of the product, and the condition of the leaves 

 when gathered, than the difference in variety. 



Many of the names applied to teas are descriptive of the locality or country that produce 

 them, such as the Java tea, Japan tea, etc., while according to the condition of the leaf when 

 gathered, we have the Bohea tea from leaves fully grown, and gathered after the regular har 

 vest, which is of the coarsest quality ; the gunpowder tea, made from the small, curled leaves 

 that are young and tender, while the black and green teas are produced from the same plant, 

 their difference in color being due to the different process in curing and manufacturing. 



Cultivation. Tea is quite a hardy plant, and capable of adapting itself to a great 

 variety of soils and climates. In Japan it is cultivated successfully as far north as forty-three 

 degrees, where, during the winter, the ground is sometimes frozen six inches deep for weeks. 

 The plant will also bear an ordinary drought well in summer. In Java, the conditions are 

 the reverse, the temperature being very warm, while in China it thrives equally well under a 

 tropical sun, and in higher latitudes where snow and ice often cover the leaves. Tea is culti 

 vated most extensively in China and Japan, and, next to these countries, in East Bengal in 

 the provinces of Assam and Cochar. 



The tea-plant will thrive well on a variety of soils, but those that contain much water 

 are injurious; consequently the land selected for tea culture should be well drained, either 

 naturally or artificially, and not liable to overflow. Almost any kind of soil, not too wet, and 

 of medium fertility, will answer the purpose, that which is very rich not being absolutely 

 essential to its successful culture. Any soil must, however, be kept well cultivated, and free 

 from weeds. A rich, sandy loam in the vicinity of small streams is generally regarded as 

 the best. 



The plants are grown from seed which somewhat resemble hazel-nuts, as previously 

 described. The good seed can be separated from those that are worthless by soaking them 

 in warm water about twelve hours. Those which sink to the bottom should be planted, and 

 those that rise to the surface should be discarded. They require some time to germinate, 

 and start soonest if put in a cool, moist place, well shaded. They are sometimes sown where 

 the plant is intended to grow, three or four being dropped near together, and covered to the 

 depth of two or three inches; but the more common practice is to plant the seed, one in a 

 place, in a nursery, and transplant afterward. 



They can be transplanted without injury when from six months to a year old, if care is 



