in Extra-Tropical Countries. 67 



conspicuous for its very large flowers, attaining sometimes 20 

 inches in circumference. Like C. Japonica it is hardy at Arran, 

 flowering 'there far more freely (Rev. D. Landsborough). In 

 England a very large plant of C. reticulata, reared in Mr. Byam 

 Martin's conservatory, had in October 1848 removed from it 2,600 

 flower buds, to allow for April 1849 about 2,000 flowers to come to 

 perfection (Sir W. Hooker). 



Camellia Thea, Link.* (Thea Chinensis, 



The Tea-shrub of South-Eastern Asia, said to be indigenous also 

 to some localities of Japan, for instance Suruga, traced as spon- 

 taneous as far as Manschuria (Fontanier). This evergreen and 

 ornamental bush has proved hardy in the lowlands at Melbourne, 

 where in exposed positions it endures quite unharmed light night- 

 frosts as well as the free access of scorching summer-winds. But 

 it is in humid valleys, with rich alluvial soil and access to springs 

 for irrigation, that the most productive tea-fields can be formed. The 

 plant comes into plentiful bearing of its product as early as the Vine 

 and earlier than the Olive. Its culture is not difficult, and it is 

 singularly exempt from fungus-diseases, if planted in proper localities. 

 Pruning is effected in the cool season, in order to obtain a large 

 quantity of small tender leaves from young branches. Both the 

 Chinese and Assam tea are produced by varieties of a single species, 

 the tea-shrub being indigenous in the forest-country of Assam also,. 

 Declivities are best adapted and usually chosen for tea-culture, par- 

 ticularly for Congo, Pekoe and Souchong, while Bohea is often 

 grown in flat countries. In Japan the tea-cultivation extends to 43 

 north latitude, where the thermometer occasionally sinks to 16 F. 

 (Simmouds), and where in winter 'time the ground is frozen several 

 inches deep for weeks (General W. Gr. Le Due). The Chinese- 

 variety has withstood the winter of Washington in sheltered positions 

 without protection (W. Saunders). The Assam-variety succumbs 

 to frost. For fuller details Fortune's work, " The Tea-Districts of 

 China" might be consulted. The very troublesome Tea-bug of Asia 

 is Helopeltis theivora. Fumigation and the application of birdlime are 

 among the remedies to cope with this insect. The third volume of 

 the Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India is 

 mainly occupied by Lieut. -Colonel Edw. Money's and Mr. Watson's 

 elaborate essays on the cultivation and manufacture of tea in India. 

 For more advice on the culture and preparation of tea consult also the 

 writer's printed lecture, delivered in 1875 at the Farmers' Club of 

 Ballarat, further the Report of the Commissioner for Agriculture, 

 Washington, 1877, pp. 349-367, with illustrations; also Bernays's 

 Cultural Industries for Queensland, pp. 181-190. 



The tea of commerce consists of the young leaves, hea.ted, curled 

 and sweated. The process of preparing the leaves can be effected by 

 steam-machinery. Already in 1 866 three machines for dressing tea were 

 patented in England one by Messrs. Campbell and Burgess, one by 

 Mr.Thomson, and one by Mr. Tayse. To give an idea of the quantity 



