Tea 



167 



further experiments were made at Ramble in St. Ann, and the results being successful, the 

 cultivation has gradually increased until, at the present day, there are about ninety acres 

 under the crop. 



In Fiji an experiment in tea planting was made in 1880. The island chosen was Tayiuni, 

 and an area of thirty acres was planted out with the Assam hybrid ; the area was gradually 

 extended to several hundred acres, when it became known as the Alpha Tea Estate. The 

 success of this garden — situated within four miles from the coast and at an altitude of 1 ,000 feet 

 — led to the establishment of another plantation in the neighbouring island of Vanua Levu, 

 known as the Masusa Estate. Fiji tea is chiefly consumed locally. 



Tea is also cultivated in the State of Johore, in the Straits Settlements, and small planta- 

 tions exist in Burma, the Andamans, and Tonquin. Experiments have also been made in 

 British Central Africa. In Java a valuable export trade is being gradually built up. The 

 iirst seed was introduced into Java from Japan in 1827 by von Siebold, and young plants 

 were raised in the famous botanical garden at Buitenzorg,' but a few years later better 

 varieties were obtained from China by Jacobsen, who may be regarded as the founder of the 

 tea industry in Java. 



MODERN METHODS OF CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE 



We will now turn our attention to the cultivation and manufacture of tea as practised by 

 the European planters of Ceylon and India. 



In opening out a new tea garden the first step is the establishment of a nursery for raising 

 the young plants which are to fill the garden. A piece of jungle near the new plantation is 

 cleared ; then the soil carefully hoed, and prepared for the seed. The land is now divided 

 into beds between which are shallow trenches, and when the soil is sufficiently prepared, the 

 seed, which has been allowed to sprout in seed beds, is planted out and the ground covered with 

 thatching to prevent scorching by the sun. The nursery is carefully fenced in to prevent 

 damage by cattle and wild animals. The seed is obtained from plants grown in a special 

 " seed garden " where the bushes are not pruned in ordinary cultivation, but allowed to attain 

 their full growth. 



Meanwhile the clearing of the future garden has been proceeding, and, when complete, 

 the soil is carefully hoed and then marked out with stakes, about four feet apart, indicating 

 the lines or rows which are to 

 receive the young tea-plants 

 from the nursery. The roads 

 and drains of the plantation 

 are dug by the coolies, and 

 then transplanting commen- 

 ces. The young plants are 

 taken from the nurseries 

 when about twelve inches 

 high, and planted in the holes 

 prepared for them, care being 

 taken to keep the wall of 

 earth round the roots of the 

 seedling intact. 



The plants become well 

 established and ready for 

 picking when three years old, 

 at which time they are send- 

 ing out abundance of young 

 leaf-shoots, known as the end view of/.a rolling machine 



