48 NATURE OF THE SOIL. 



ground, at the foot of mountains, are more bushy, 

 but the quality of the tea is nearly the same. 



5. " It therefore follows that the tea shrub de- 

 lights in very high situations, a compact and rich 

 soil, a temperature cold and humid, and the aspect 

 the most favourable is that which fronts the east" 



6. The Chinese speak thus of the soil of the in- 

 numerable plantations of Kien Ning Fu: — " There 

 are some plantations on plains rather low, the soil 

 of which is very compact, a little muddy, black, 

 neither very cold nor very hot, and rather damp. 

 The tea of this place is worth two-thirds more than 

 that of other parts of Fo-kien ; but the best of all 

 is procured from plants which are upon high moun- 

 tains, in steep places, sometimes like precipices ; 

 and on this account iron chains are used to ascend 

 them, and to gather the leaves. These are the 

 famous mountains of Vu-ye, in the district of Kien 

 Ning Fu. It is in situations that front the East 

 that the tea of the first quality is procured. It is 

 there that the Imperial enclosures are found, and 

 the greatest part of that tea commonly called Pekoe. 

 As all the tea which is found upon the neighbour- 

 ing mountains is of quite a different kind, although 

 the temperature is the same, it necessarily follows 

 that the soil must be different." 



The preceding accounts seem to agree, that a 

 compact rich soil is the soil most suitable to the 

 tea plant. Some difference of statement may exist 

 relative to its degree of compactness, and that 



