TEA-CULTURE, A PROBABLE AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 255 



plants. They are usually divided into five and ten- 

 acre sections, and in laying out must be kept as much as 

 possible together, being easier to supervise and cheaper 

 to work in this manner. The usual custom is to begin 

 at one end and dig through to the other, as different 

 parts of the garden may require different treatment owing 

 to a variation in the soil or other causes. The lines 

 of plants must run as far as practicable in geometrical 

 regularity, particularly in sloping ground, never up and 

 down or directly across the slope. If planted in the 

 former manner, gutters or watercourses will form between 

 the lines and the soil will be washed away, and if in the 

 latter, the same injury will result between the shrubs, 

 The lower side of each plant having its roots laid bare, 

 the sun will act upon them, thereby causing the plants 

 to shrivel up, languish and die. But if the lines are laid 

 diagonally across the hill so that the slopes along the 

 lines shall be moderate ones, this drawback is reduced as 

 far as can be under the circumstances. The closer the 

 lines to each other and the closer the plants in the lines 

 the less will be the wash. While on flat lands it does 

 not signify in which direction the lines run, the gardens 

 so situated always looks best when the lines run at right 

 angles. 



That the successful cultivation of the Tea plant is 

 entirely practicable in the United States has been abun- 

 dantly proven, and that we may by a more extensive and 

 intelligent effort in this direction, save the large amount 

 of money which we now annually pay to foreign coun- 

 tries for this staple is at least worth a trial. So far as its 

 practicability is concerned there can be no question, as we 

 have within the various latitudes of our borders the soil 

 and climate to produce any plant that is or may be grown 

 in any other country. The doubts expressed as to the 



