l8 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



TERAI BELOW DARJEELING. 



I have seen this, and the Tea in it, since I wrote the 

 first edition of this Essay. 



The soil is very good for Tea. The climate is also a 

 good one, but there is not as much rain in the early part of 

 the year as planters could wish. Much difficulty exists 

 about labour, owing to the very unhealthy climate. As the 

 jungle is cleared, however, this last objection will be in a 

 measure got over. As it stands now, it is perhaps the most 

 unhealthy Tea locality in India. 



Communication will be very easy when the Northern 

 Bengal Railway is finished, which it will be immediately. 



Except in the point of salubrity (which is, however, an 

 important one), I think this locality a favourable one for 

 Tea. 



THE DEHRA DHOON. 



I have heard the first Tea in India was planted here. 

 The lucky men, two officers, who commenced the planta- 

 tion, sold it, I believe, in its infancy, to a company for five 

 lakhs of rupees. What visions did Tea hold forth in those 

 days ! 



In climate the Dehra Dhoon is far from good. The hot 

 dry weather of the North-west is not at all suited to the 

 Tea plant. Hot winds shrivel it up, and though it recovers 

 when the rains come down, it cannot thrive in such a 

 climate. One fact will, I think, prove this. In favourable 

 climates, with good soil and moderate cultivation, 18 

 flushes or crops may be taken from a plantation in a season. 

 With like advantages, and heavy manuring, 22 or even more 

 may be had. In the " Selections from the Records of the 

 Government of India" on Tea, published in 1857 (a book 



