TEA IN INDIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES 43 



from which we could expect to obtain supplies at all 

 proportionate to our annually increasing consump- 

 tion of tea. So little was formerly known as to the 

 productive capabilities of the earth, that the mere 

 existence of an article of produce in one land was 

 deemed a conclusive argument against the possibility 

 of its successful cultivation elsewhere. In 1855 one 

 of the best-informed writers on political economy 

 said : ' It may, perhaps (speaking of the tea plant), 

 succeed in Assam, where its culture is now being 

 attempted, but we are not sanguine in our expectation 

 as to the result.' A curious commentary on this 

 somewhat qualified prediction is to be found in the 

 fact that not only has the introduction of the tea plant 

 in Assam been attended with the most complete 

 success, but such is the intrinsic excellence of the teas 

 themselves that they command extraordinarily high 

 prices. The name ' Assam ' now proved a valuable 

 passport to the European markets, and in some 

 instances the Chinese had recourse to the puerile 

 device of calling their tea by the name of ' Assam 

 Pekoe Souchong/ of course with the praise- 

 worthy object of obtaining Assam prices for 

 China tea." 



At the present day the largest tea districts of India 

 are Eastern Bengal and Assam, which comprise Brah- 

 maputra Valley, Surma Valley, Jalpaiguri (including 

 Alipur Duar) and Chittagong, with a total of 433,290 

 acres. Bengal (Darjeeling, 51,614 acres ; Chota Nagpur, 

 2,291 acres), 53,905 acres; Northern India (United 

 Provinces and Punjab) with 17,479 acres ; Southern 

 India (Madras and Travancore), with 41,729 acres ; 

 a grand total production for the year of 247,477,324 

 pounds. 



