1 8 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



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 thir.k 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 plantation, 

 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 Govern- 

 ment of India' on Tea, published in 1857 ( a book to which 

 many owe their ruin) the following appears, showing how 

 small are the number of flushes in the North-west : 



Method of gathering Tea Leaves. The season for gathering 

 leaves generally commences about the beginning of April, and con- 

 tinues until October ; the number of gatherings varies, depending on 

 the moistness and dryness of the season. If the season be good, 

 that is to say, if rain falls in the cold weather and spring, and the 

 general rains be favourable, as many as five gatherings may be ob- 

 tained. These, however, may be reduced to three 

 general periods for gathering, viz. from April to June, 

 from July to August 15, and from September to 

 October 15. If the season be a dry one, no leaves ought to be 

 taken off the bushes after October i, as by doing so they are apt 

 to be injured. If, however, there are good rains in September, 



