139 



made, or reasons given, to explain the cause of 

 failure. We find, as -was to be expected,, equal in- 

 attention to, if not ignorance of the principles. The 

 majority also appear wise only after personal experi- 

 ence, and paying little attention to that of their 

 predecessors. For we find that the same course 

 is followed, the same results are obtained, and 

 continue to be announced as new, although we 

 have had them on record for a series of years. '% 



And such is quite as true now, as when the above 

 remarks were written ; and not true of cotton only, 

 but of an experiment which has been attended with 

 better success. I allude to that, a brief outline of 

 the history of which 1 have attempted to give, in 

 the preceding chapters. 



Tt will be seen that so little care and attention, in. 

 the first instance, was bestowed on packing the tea 

 seed, that on reaching the Himalayas not one germi- 

 nated ; that of the first batches of seedlings sent to 

 the plantations in Assam and Madras, from the 

 ignorance of the persons entrusted with the care of 

 them, every plant was allowed to perish ; that from a 

 similar cause the selection of the soil, the cultivation 

 of the plant, and the manufacture of the leaf, were 

 frequently faulty ; that, notwithstanding it had been 

 established that good tea could be grown in India, 

 after thirteen years' trial, Government considering 





* Culture and Commerce of Cottoa in India p. 92, (Cotton 

 .-I and- book.) 



