240 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINN^US 



Ellis to Linnaeus (triumphantly). 



Nov. 1769. 



' I have raised a tea-plant from a seed that happened 

 to lie in the bottom of a tin canister from China, which 

 I received this time twelvemonth. I put it into a pot of 

 fresh loamy earth, under a glass cover, without heat, 

 and in March put it into a gentle heat, and by July it 

 was six inches high. There have been a great many 

 raised that came over inclosed in wax, and many have 

 been sown at St. Helena and were brought here in tubs 

 growing ; so that I make no doubt that by this time 

 twelvemonth we shall have many hundred plants of the 

 true tea growing in England.* 



Linnasus inquires after the seedling as if it were 

 a baby. Never was such a tea-tree. ( It grows very 

 well,' reports Ellis, ' being about seven inches high, and 

 had a side branch, which is cut off and planted.' 



Jan. 1770. 



c I suspect it is a deciduous plant, as the leaves 

 begin to fall. We have now near one hundred plants 

 of tea in England. I believe we have got a camellia 

 from China, as well as the King of France.' 



Ellis to Linnceus (later). 



1 We protect the tea in winter under a glass frame, 

 but hope it will stand our winter when we have suffi- 

 cient to try the experiment.' 



