1 



Tl-.V AND THE TKA TKA UK. 



TKA AND THE TEA TKADE. 



The whole value of (&*x + er+/j j ) a 

 a* f.Jlowm, and a little prectioe would enable 107 one to write it down 

 at once, without any intermediate operation* : 



+ 54tr + <8AV + lOftMjx" -K54 4 / 1 204 + 104'cV 1 

 + (S4V/+ 106V + SO&'eV + Mr 4 )* 1 

 K80M.fi- 3 



+ 606o*/+ 6lx> + 80eV/+ 1 Of )* 

 + ( 1 CM/' + 806V* + 206ey + 1 Oe/ + 30eM/-r 5V 

 + (2n6r/ + 80Ae/ + 30fV/ + 20<*y + )* 



+ (6r/ 



Thin prooeas, ao simple as compared with the actual performance of 

 the four multiplication*, ha* hitherto Iain hid in work* on the higher 

 part* of the differential calcidu* : it i* time it ahould take it* place in 

 every system of algebra which contains the binomial theorem, of which 

 it i the legitimate extension. 



TEA AND THE TEA TRADE. Though now BO extensively 

 employed, the introduction of tea into Europe is of comparatively 

 recent origin. Macphenon, in hi* ' History of European Commerce 

 with India,' state* that "tea (aah) is mentioned as the usual beverage 

 of the Chinese by Solirnan, an Arabian merchant, who wrote an account 

 of his travel* in the East about the year A.D. 850 ;" but that he had 

 been unable to find any other mention of it prior to the time* of the 

 Jesuit missionaries, who entered China and Japan a little before the 

 middle of the 16th century. Anderson, in his ' History of Commerce,' 

 quote* Botero a* giving the earliest account in 1590, when he says 

 that the Chinese. " hnve also an herb, out of which they press a deli- 

 cate juice, which serves them as drink instead of wine." Texeira, a 

 native of Portugal, about the year 1600, saw the dried leaves of tea 

 at Malacca ; and Olearius found them used in 1633 by the Persians, 

 who obtained them from China by means of the Usbeck Tartars. 

 Tea, coffee, and chocolate are all mentioned in an act of parliament of 

 1640, whereby a duty of Stl. is charged on every gallon of chocolate, 

 sherbet, and tea made for sale. But the use of it in England at that 

 time must hare been new; for Pepy* in hi* 'Diary,' writes, Sep- 

 tember 25, 1661, " I sent for a cup of tea (a Chinese drink), of which 

 I had never drank before." The Dutch East India Company probably 

 first introduced it into Europe, and from Amsterdam it was brought 

 to London. But tea must have continued to be brought in small 

 quantities only; for in the year 1664 the East India Company pur- 

 chased, for the purpose of presenting to the king, 2 Ibs. and 2 ozs. of 

 tea; and in the year 1678 they imported 4713 Ibs. of tea, which was 

 then for the first time thought worth their attention as a branch of 

 their trade. ( Macphorson,' p. 131.) 



The botanical characters of the chief species of the tea-plant are 

 described in the NAT. HIST. Di v., under the name, of the genus TUEA, 

 to which they belong. 



Tta. CnlliralioH. Tea is cultivated in China over a great extent of 

 territory. Dr. Wallich mentions it as being cultivated in Cochin 

 China in 17' X. lat. We know that it is cultivated in the southern 

 provinces of Yunnan and of Canton. Farther north the priiu-ijial 

 cultivation of teas for the foreign trade is between 27 and 31" N. 

 lat. : but tea is said to be produced in several places to the north of 

 ill* ; even in 36, and also in the Japuiese Islands, which extend from 

 30 to 41 N. lat. It is generally said to be cultivated in hilly 

 xituations. Grozier states that the songlo-tchn (our green tea) take* 

 its name from the mountain Song-lo, situated in the province of 

 Kiangnan, in 30 N. lat. ; while the bou-y tcha (bohca) takes its name 

 from a mountain called Bou-y. situated in the province of Fo-kien. 

 Mr. Cunningham (at the time when Chusan had a British factory) 

 collected specimen* on the tops of mountains, where the tea-plant 

 flourished along with pines. The deputation Bent into Asam to 

 examine the sites of the tea, saw it growing in the valley of Asam, 

 and were thus led to think that it must grow in similar situations in 

 China ; but even in Asam it is also found on bills ; and there is 

 no doubt that it is found in both situations in China, and in many 

 which must be moist, though it i- probable that the finest varieties of 

 tea are cultivated in the drier suils and in situations exposed to light 

 and air. Some (oils in which the tea-plant is cultivated in China 

 yielded, on anahsis in 200 parts of silex, 135; alumina, 36; carbo- 

 nate of magnesia. ; carbonate of lime, 4; oxide of iron, 13 ; roots 

 and fibre* of plauta, 2 : water of absorption. 4. Dr. Abel thought 

 that tho dcTms of granitic rock* would yield a fitting soil, and that 

 the Cape of Good Hope would afford a suitable climate. 



The culture of the tea-plant in China seems simple enough. The 

 plants are raised from seeds, sown in the places where they are to remain. 

 Several are dropped into holes 4 or 5 inches deep and 3 or 4 feet 

 apart, shortly after they ripen ; or in November and December, a* 

 they do not preserve well, from their oilincss. The plants rise up in 



cluster when the rain come* on, and require little further care, 

 except that of removing weeds, till they are three years old, when 

 they yield their first crop of leave*. They are seldom transplanted ; 

 but sometimes four to six plant* are put close together, so us to form 



fine bosh. After growing seven or ten year* they are cut down, in 

 order that the numerous young shoots which then spring out may 



afford a more abundant supply of leave*. In some districts tho bushes 

 grow unrestrained, in others they are regularly pruned, to keep them 

 low. The gathering of the leave* is performed with great care : tin y 

 are usually gathered singly, first in March or April (according to the 

 , win n the young leaves are scarcely expanded; the second 

 bout two month* later, or May and June; and the tliinl in August, 

 or about six week* after the second : but the time* necessarily differ 

 in different districts, a* well as the number of crop* which are 

 obtained, some grower* avoiding the third, for fear of injuring the 

 bushes. When the leaves are gathered they are dried in house* that 

 contain small furnaces, on each of which there is a flat iron pan ; upon 

 this, when heated, the leaves, partially dried by exposure to the sun, 

 are thrown ; the leave* require frequent shifting nnd turning. \\ h, n 

 all are properly dried, they are quickly removed either by the hand or 

 with a shovel, and cither thrown upon a mat or into basket* kept 

 ready to receive them. They are then removed to a table where they 

 are rolled and cooled, and the process is repeated; after which 

 they are sifted and sorted into several varieties. 



It is difficult to determine whether the green and black teas are pro- 

 duced by one or two distinct apecie* of plants ; as the statement* of 

 apparently equally well qualified judge* are not only contradictory, 

 but directly the reverse of each other. The difficulty is owing p.u tiy 

 to the Chinese in the neighbourhood of Canton being able to prepare 

 a tea which can be coloured and made up to imitate various qualities of 

 green tea ; and huge quantities are thus yearly made up. The Chinese 

 tea-maker* in Asam and those in Java alike state that the black and 

 green teas may be prepared from the same plant. But as there are 

 plants of the genus Thea, of which the leave* resemble some the black 

 and some the green teas of commerce, and as these differ very con- 

 siderably from each other in their powers of resisting cold, and as 

 there are green tea and black tea districts (the former to the north of 

 the hitter), it seems probable that different plants are preferred for 

 preparing the finer qualities of these different tea*. 



Tea having* become so extensive an article of commerce, and a 

 source of considerable revenue, various attempt* have been made to 

 introduce it into other countries. The climates are very different in 

 which the several experiments have been made ; such aa in Kio Janeiro 

 and the warm part of Brazil, and latterly in the hilly parts of Java 

 and Brazil, in Penang. Asam, and the Himalayas. Dr. Abel recom- 

 mended the Cape of Good Hope. It is requisite to have not only a 

 suitable soil and climate, but also cheap and abundant labour. Many 

 have been of opinion that tea could be cultivated in the Himalayas, 

 but the first published opinions seem to be those of Dr. Royle (' Ilustr. 

 Himalayan Botany,' p. 5 and 107, and ' Productive Resources of 

 India,' p. 259), where, from a consideration of a similarity in latitude, 

 climate, and vegetation, as f.ir as any information could be procured 

 on those subjects, he was of opinion that tea could be successfully 

 cultivated in the Himalayan mountains; " for the different elevations 

 allow of every variety of climate being selected, and the geographical 

 distribution of this plant is sufficiently extended, and the natural sites 

 sufficiently varied, to warrant its being beneficially cultivated." He 

 recommended experiments being made in that tract of tlic Himalaya* 

 which extends from Almorah nearly to the Sutlej, at various eleva- 

 tions from the valleys up to 7000 feet, and thought that about 

 5000 feet of elevation would afford a suitable climate. Dr. !'., 

 formed similar opinions at the same time in a report to government. 

 The correctness of these opinions has been clearly pro 

 success of the tea plantations established in the Kuuiaon and liuriiwal 

 districts of these mountains, which were formed when the tea inn 

 were established in Asam, and the seeds and plants sent up which had 

 been obtained from China. 



The Asam tea-plant first attracted public attention in 1834, in con- 

 sequence of replies to the circulars which had been addressed to 

 several gentlemen. Captains Jenkins and Charlton, in May of that 

 fear, wrote that a kind of tea-plant was undoubtedly indigenous in 

 faani. Since then it has appeared that several gentlemen were well 

 aware of the fact, and also that Mr. David Scott had, in June, 1825, 

 sent leaves and seeds of a plant discovered originally by Major Bruce, 

 which he said the Burmese and Chinese concurred in stating to be 

 wild tea. A scientific deputation, composed of Dr. Wallich and 

 Messrs. Griffith and MacCleland, was sent for the proper it 

 of Upper As im. Tea plantations were subsequently established, and 

 Mr. Bruce was appointed then- superintendent. Mr. MacCleland states 

 that the tea tract) are found in Asam. first on the level plain and 

 secondly on mounds or hillock*, ami that the former situations have f 

 porous structure which enables them to maintain a dry surface under 

 exposure to excessive moisture. Asam teas were first sold in ' 

 and from the excitement and competition created by the novelty of 

 the sale, such extravagant prices were paid as from 16*. to 34. a 

 pound ; but they in due time found their true level. 



Recent explorations have rendered it probable that the tea plant is 

 growing wild in the forests and jungles of Upper Asam, the Sylhct 

 Hills, the Himalaya, and the great range of mountains extending 

 thence through China to tho Yaug-tsc- Kiang. If so, its extended 

 artificial culture may reasonably bo expected. Mr. Leonard Wiay, in 

 an elaborate paper on the Cultivation of Tea, read before the S 

 of Art* in January, 1881, give* an account of the recent procee 

 on that subject in India. The Asam Tea Company, after many com- 



