I\T. 



Chinese, from time immemorial, have been 

 accustomed to raising their tea on every available 

 space of ground ; on barren hill-side, marshy plain 

 and other patches of land unsuited for other purposes. 

 Most of the gardens are, however, situated in hilly 

 districts, but in almost all of them the soil is poor and 

 sandy, varying considerably, even in districts alike famous 

 for the perfect growth of the plant. 



The soil of the gardens situated on the hills is com- 

 posed chiefly of a brownish clay, containing large pro- 

 portions of vegetable matter intermixed with fragments of 

 slate, quartz and sand-stone, held together by a calcareous 

 basis of granite. A soil, in fact, very similar to that 

 which produces pine and scrub-oak, while on the plains 

 it is darker, but containing a still greater proportion of 

 vegetable matter, enriched by sewerage but invariably 

 well underdrained by natural declivities. Yet while many 

 of the gardens are situated on the tops of mountains, 

 among pine trees in some districts, and along river banks 

 on others, the Chinese, as a rule, prefer ground that is 

 only moderately elevated, in sunny sites, everything else 

 being favorable. Many of the latter yield more abun- 

 dantly, but the product of the former is invariably the 

 finest in quality. 



