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THE GENESEE FAEMEK. 



271 



the notice of the Society. Mr. Bonynge being present, the Society came to the resolution that the 

 enterprise is a laudable one, and calculated to advance the prosperity of the country. They highly 

 approve of the views of Dr. Lee, of the Patent Office Department at Washington, as published in 

 the daily papers of our city recently, and tendered to Mr. Bonynge the use of their farm on which 

 to commence his experiments. (Signed) JOS. O'HEAR, Secretary. 



What the " views of Dr. Lee" were, of which the South Carolina State Society 

 " highly approved," will appear at another time. 



Under date of " Nashville, August 2d, 1851," Mark R. Cockrill, Esq., writes to us 

 as follows : 



" Dear Sir : Your esteemed favor of the 24th ult. is received, covering a communication on the 

 subject of a National Agricultural Society. I have shown it to one of our o<litors, and it will 

 appear next week in the Banner. The object at which you aim meets my decided approbation; 

 but I regret to say that we have no State Society now founded to unite in aiding this national 

 project." 



To promote the organization of State and. county societies where none existed, we 

 have labored for years, with a view to unite the whole in one combined eSbrt, and 

 thereby elevate the profession of agriculture above all other professions, whose numbers 

 and. wealth are so much inferior. Why can not all cherish sufficient patriotism to 

 embrace their whole country, and. cordially co-operate for the advancement of a great 

 and common interest ? 



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TEA- CULTURE — THE INTRODUCTION OF TROPICAL PLANTS INTO 

 THE UNITED STATES— THE VITAITY OF SEEDS, «tc. 



Although the following letter was written more than three years ago, yet, if we mistake 

 not, it contains facts and suggestions that will interest the reader : 



Gentlemen: Believing that a judicious experiment to introduce the culture of tea-plants, and the 

 manufacture of tea in the Southern States, will prove successful, I desire to make a few suggestions 

 on the subject, as my name has appeared in the Conrier in that connection. 



Tlie Horticultural and Botanical Societies of London, Paris, and Berlin, have had large experience 

 in procuring both seeds and plants from all parts of the globe, and they have found, what few 

 Americans seem to undei-stand, that seeds sprouted, and thereby transformed into young plants, may 

 be conveyed by sea in all latitudes with much greater safety than undeveloped germs, whose vital 

 principle is destroyed by slight changes in the oil, starch, sugar, or protein substances contained in 

 seeds. Without the presence of atmospheric air or moisture, the natural heat of a tropical climate 

 will effect chemical changes in the organized elements in most seeds and buds, which prove fatal to 

 their vitality. Young plants, not seeds, should be brought home. 



So promising is tea-culture in tlie British possessions in Asia, that great efforts are now making to 

 extend the . business. The London Oardeneri Chronicle, received by the last steamer, announces 

 " the most gratifying and important intelligence, brought by the Indian mail, that Mr. Fortune's 

 labors in procuring a supply of^ the finest tea-plants, and Chinese workmen had reached a success- 

 fiil issue." He brought to Calcutta, from the most celebrated tea districts, eight experienced 

 manufacturers, the fii'st that ever left their native country, together with a large assortment of 

 implements, 17,000 germinating seeds, and 1,749 tea-plants. Government took so deep an interest 

 in Mr. Fortune's enterprise, that it furnished a steamer to eonvliy him, his Chinamen, plants, and 

 implements up to tlie plantations of the Tea Company, which already produce about 200,000 chests. 



Many Chinese are beginning to emigrate to California, and tea-plants might easily be procured at 

 ShanghfB, from which port there was shipped to the city of New York 8,423,692 pounds of tea 

 from July 1, 1850, to February 1, 1851 ; and during the same seven months 17,038,125 pounds were 

 exported to England. (See Merchants' Magazine for June, page 749.) Without troubling you with 

 the detail of information gathered from various sources, I feel warranted in expreseing the opinion 

 that the time is not far remote when Southern enterprise and field hands will excel the Chinese as 

 much in the simple operations of picking and curing tea leaves, and g^o^ying the trees, as they now 

 do in growing, picking, and ginning cotton. In case an experiment is to be tried, a few skillful 

 manufacturers from China should be procured as soon as a plantation affords any considerable 

 quantity of green leaves. Steamers will soon make regular trips between Shanghse and San Fran- 

 cisco, and if one familiar with horticultural operations, or vegetable physiology, is employed to 

 procure young plants, any desirable number may be obtained. In putting up two eases of cameHas 

 from the Botanic Garden of Calcutta, Mr. Fortune mixed tea seeds with moist earth in China, and 

 when the ship arrived at Calcutta he took out 16,000 seeds which were sprouted and growing. 



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