48 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



drought. The indigenous tree has a leaf of 9 inches long 

 and more. The leaf of the China bush never exceeds 4 inches. 

 The indigenous leaf is a bright pale green, the China leaf a 

 dull dark green colour. The indigenous " flushes," that is, 

 produces new tender leaf, much more copiously than the 

 China, and this in two ways : first, the leaves are larger, 

 and thus if only even in number exceed in bulk what the 

 China has given ; and secondly, it flushes oftener. The 

 infusion of Tea made from the indigenous species is far 

 more "rasping" and "pungent" than what the China 

 plant can give, and the Tea commands a much higher 

 price. The young leaves, from which alone Tea is made, 

 are of a much finer and softer texture in the indigenous 

 than in the China ; the former may be compared to satin, 

 the latter to leather. The young leaves of the indigenous, 

 moreover, do not harden so quickly as those of the China ; 

 thus, if there is any unavoidable delay in picking a flush, 

 the loss is less with the former. In the fact that unpruned 

 or unpicked plants (for picking is a miniature pruning) give 

 fewer and less succulent young leaves which harden quicker 

 than pruned ones, the two varieties would seem to be alike. 

 The China variety is much more prolific of seed than the 

 indigenous ; the former also gives it when younger, and as 

 seed checks leaf, the China is inferior in this as in other 

 respects. The China is by far the hardier plant ; it is 

 much easier to rear, and it will grow in widely differing 

 climates, which the indigenous will not. 



A patch of indigenous with a mature flush on it is a 

 pretty sight. The plants all appear as if crowned with gold 

 (they are truly so if other advantages exist), and are a 

 great contrast to the China variety if it can also be seen 

 near. 



I have now, I think, pointed out the leading charac- 

 teristics of the two original varieties of the Tea plant, and 



