58 



servants of the State holding land, private enterprise 

 did not so readily come to the relief of Govern- 

 ment. It had therefore to bear the full weight of 

 the experiment, with all its attendent difficulties, 

 expenses, and losses. And these were neither 

 liirht, nor a few. As was the case in Assam 

 though, owing to the Government in the North 

 West having distinguished botanists to superintend 

 their gardens, not to the same extent, those acci- 

 dents which invariably attend on the pioneers of 

 all new experiments, were not wanting here to throw 

 obstacles in the way of complete success. Of 

 these the impossibility of obtaining experienced 

 European Overseers was the greatest. But in addi- 

 tion, and especially in the Deyrah Dhoon, the 

 experimentalists were met with natural and other 

 difficulties that had not been anticipated. In one 

 place whole acres of seed refused to germinate. 

 In another, a whole plantation was well nigh de- 

 vastated by a violent hail storm. And things were in 

 this condition when Mr. Fortune reached Saharan- 

 poor, and was deputed by Government to inspect 

 their Himalayan tea gardens, His report was not 

 favorable. Indeed he pronounced the system of 

 cultivation pursued to be erroneous, and the whole 

 of the Deyrah Dhoon uusuited to the cultivation of 

 the tea plant. 



' The plants ' said Mr. Fortune ' generally did not 

 appear to me to be in that fresh and vigorous condi- 



