88 



on to the prejudice of the Himalayas as a tea 

 growing country in comparison with other parts 

 of India, or to that of the operations carried on in 

 those districts. I allude to the small quantity of tea 

 turned out by the Government factories in the 

 North West, and the variable opinions of the tea 

 brokers, on the chops, for some years past, sent into 

 the London Market. 



Now, it must be borne in mind that, ab origine, the 

 operations of Government in the North West, were 

 purely experimental. They were undertaken, solely, 

 with the object of ascertaining whether the Himalaya 

 Hills would grow good tea, and if so, whether the 

 cultivation could be carried on, at a fair profit, as a 

 mercantile speculation. In the early stages of the 

 Government operations therefore, their plantations 

 were simply gardens. Great attention was paid to 

 the cultivation of the plant, and the manufacture 

 of the leaf, and the specimens of tea sent into the 

 London market were generally carefully prepared. 

 The opinions of the London brokers on these speci- 

 mens were highly satisfactory, as is evidenced by 

 the extracts I have given a few pages back. But the 

 fact that good tea could be grown and manufactured 

 in the Himalayas, having been once establish* d, 

 the energies of the Superintendent were verv 

 properly and judiciously directed to propagating seed 

 and rearing young plants, for distribution to the 

 public. Large quantities of tea might very easily 



