PRODUCTS WE MIGHT GROW. 109 



great deal depends upon the weather. When dried suffi- 

 ciently, they are allowed to lie for a day or two in order to 

 acquire a certain decree of toughness, when they can be 

 pressed, " or pocketed," without going into dust. 



Chemistry, Manuring, &c. Hops contain and require a 

 large amount of potash. It is calculated that seventeen 

 pounds are taken off an acre of ground in the season's 

 growth. Besides the potash, which is principally found in 

 the bine and leaf, the plant also requires ammonia, 

 phosphates, sulphates, lime, magnesia, &c. 



Irrigation is helpful, though not actually essential, to 

 hops. When the land is well and deeply broken up, the 

 roots soon find safe quarters from the danger of our 

 summer heat ; and when the poles are well covered with 

 bines, they are self-protecting ; the evaporation in a hop 

 ground is not nearly so great as in a vineyard. 



TEA. Although the tea plant the shrub or bush 

 which yields tea in China, Japan, India, Ceylon, the South 

 Sea Islands, and other places has been well known in 

 Australia for many years it has never come into general 

 cultivation. It is another instance, and a striking one, of 

 the manner in which we go on year after year, buying 

 what we can grow. The tea shrub is quite hardy from 

 the Clarence River northwards. It may be seen growing 

 in gardens in all sorts of soils ; but with the exception of a 

 few ;< old folks," nobody tries to make their own tea, from 

 a most erroneous idea that there is something very 

 mysterious about it. 



Cultivation. The tea bush is handsome in form, with 

 dark green leaves like those of the rose ; the flowers are 

 pinkish white, and have a pleasant odor. When full 

 grown, the bush is about three feet high, nicely rounded in 

 form, and altogether pretty. A pound or two of leaves 

 can be picked from a three-year old plant, and the yield 

 goes on incre.'using for thirty or more years. Seed may l>e 

 sown or young plants set out in the open ground during 

 August or September. All seeds of this kind require rich 

 soil. 



Harvesting. No doubt tea manufacturers have a 

 certain way of manufacturing, but a very good ami whole- 



