82 MODES ADOPTED FOR CULTIVATING 



in the eastern part of the province, and near the 

 sea. 



It is obvious from the preceding accounts that, 

 under ordinary circumstances, very little attention 

 is paid to the cultivation of tea in the province of 

 Fokien. In fact the original cost paid to the cul- 

 tivator for Congou or Souchong tea intended for 

 foreign consumption, would not admit of expensive 

 cultivation or costly manipulation. Thus all ac- 

 counts agree, that the Chinese do not employ any 

 of the ordinary means of selecting and propagating 

 accidental and superior varieties by cuttings, layers, 

 or grafts, though all these methods are understood 

 and practised by them in their garden cultivation. 

 It is not from ignorance, therefore, that none of 

 these methods are adopted. The speediest and 

 most successful practice, agreeably to the Rev. 

 Father Carpina, adopted by the farmers and cul- 

 tivators in his part of the province, is by cutting 

 down to the roots the wild shrubs growing on the 

 hills and mountains, and transplanting them else- 

 where. This doubtless must be a quicker and 

 preferable mode to rearing from seed or any 

 other method where the wild shrubs are suffi- 

 ciently numerous, and where a quality suitable to 

 general consumption is merely sought. Hence we 

 may conclude that there are many parts of the pro- 

 vince of Fokien, where the tea tree has in all ages 

 been found growing spontaneously and abundantly 

 among the hills, but in situations remote or under 



