TEA DISTRICTS. 23 



one solitary advantage rich soil. I have never seen richer, 

 more productive land than exists in some of the Kumaon 

 oak forests, but even this cannot in the case of Tea counter- 

 balance the climate. Any crop which does not require 

 much heat and moisture will grow to perfection in that soil. 

 Such potatoes as it produces ! Were the difficulties of 

 transport not so great, a small fortune might be made by 

 growing them. 



Could any part of Kumaon answer for Tea it would be 

 the lower elevations in the outer ranges of the hills, but 

 these are precisely the sites that have not been chosen. 

 Led, as in my own case, partly by the Government 

 example, partly by the wish to be out of sight of the 

 " horrid plains," and in sight of that glorious panorama the 

 snowy range, planters have chosen the interior of Kumaon. 

 Some wisely (I was not one of them) selected low sites, 

 valleys sheltered from the cold winds ; but even their choice 

 has not availed much. The frost in winter lingers longest 

 in the valleys, and though doubtless the yield there is 

 larger, owing to the increased heat in summer, the young 

 plants suffer much in the winter. The outer ranges, owing 

 to the heat radiating from the plains, are comparatively 

 free from frost, but there again the soil is not so rich. Still 

 they would unquestionably be preferable to the interior. 



Labour is plentiful in Kumaon and very cheap Rs. 4 

 per mensem. Transport is very expensive. It costs not a 

 little to send Tea from the interior over divers ranges of 

 hills to the plains. It has then some days' journey by cart 

 ere it meets the rail, to which 1,000 miles of carriage on 

 the railroad has to be added. 



Since the above was written, Kumaon has secured a 

 good local market, and I believe sells most of its Tea un- 

 packed to merchants who come from over the border to 

 buy it. 



