375 



a somewhat silvery appearance. Five of the pods, 

 thus treated, will usually weigh one ounce. 



The vanilla plant is very easily propagated by cut- 

 tings; these, each about a foot in length, are planted 

 at the root of the tree about which it is intended 

 to climb. These plants will yield pods in their third 

 year, and each will continue to furnish about fifty 

 annually for thirty or forty years. What is a sin- 

 gular advantage in that climate, no insect will attack 

 this plant. 



Tea Thea viridis. 



TEA. 



THE history of commerce does not, perhaps, present 

 a parallel to the circumstances which have attended 

 the introduction of tea into Great Britain. This leaf 

 was first imported into Europe by the Dutch East- 

 India Company, in the early part of the seventeenth 

 century; but it was not until the year 1666 that a 

 small quantity was brought over from Holland to 



