632 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Aver aye temperature. 



In regard to the climate of the Chinese tea-producing provinces, Mr. 

 Samuel Ball has afforded the following information in " The Cultiva- 

 tion and Manufacture of Tea in China:" 



The quantity of rain which falls at Canton and Macao during the southwest mon- 

 soon (May to October), Avheu.the winds come charged with moisture from the sea, 

 amounts to 67.85 inches, whereas during the northeast monsoon (November to April), 

 when the wind blows over the laud, there falls 11.11 inches; thus making the total 

 quantity 78.96 inches. But the annual quantity which falls at Peking is only 27.98 

 inches. Hence it appears that the southerly winds, in their passage over this exten- 

 sive Empire, deposit the moisture with which they are saturated gradually and less 

 copiously as they advance to the north, till finally both one and the other become 

 exhausted as they reach Peking. * * In the center of these two extremes, Pe- 



king and Canton, and between the latitude 23 and 33 north, the tea plant was 

 found indigenous at a remote period of the Chinese history. This comprises the 

 central as well as the most populous and flourishing provinces of the Empire, and 

 includes that part most suitable to its growth, and where it is found to flourish in the 

 present day. In this division of the country between north latitude 27 and 31 

 are also situated the districts connected with the foreign trade, whence the greater 

 part of the tea most esteemed by the Chinese is also procured for their home con- 

 sumption. 



In the green-tea country, situated in the district of Wheychew-fu, north latitude 

 29 58' 30", from December until March the weather continues cold; frost frequently 

 prevails, and snow occasionally ; water freezes in the house. In July the summer 

 regularly sets in, and the intensity of the heat is equal to that of Canton. * * 

 The Bohea (black tea) 'country, in Fokien, dirt'ers little from the Hyson districts in 

 point of temperature. The tea nieu describe the cold as less severe, and the fall of 

 snow, as well as the thickness of the ice as somewhat less. * * * At Amoy (lati- 

 tude 24 27' 36"), which is a tea district producing teas suitable to the foreign mar- 

 kets, and some of very delicate flavor, the temperature seems hardly to vary from 

 that of Canton. Annual mean temperature was 69.7, the lowest temperature 

 marked being 49 and the highest 90. 



The preceding remarks are sufficient to show that severe frost and occasional snow 

 prevail in the tea districts, and on some occasions, though rare, so late as the vernal 

 equinox. Yet there is reason to believe, on average of seasons, that the frost is not 

 very intense or of long duration. 



CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS. 



We may, therefore, assume that a deficiency in one of the conditions 

 usually insisted upon as being requisite for successful tea cultivation, 

 viz, an equable and rather elevated temperature and somewhat exces- 

 sive rainfall, does not preclude the establishment of that industry on 

 a safe foundation. It is probable that the strength of tea may be con- 

 siderably impaired by a material deviation in Avhat is regarded as the 

 normal climate; it may not serve to fortify weak teas, but there is 

 ground for hope that it may occupy an independent position, at least 

 in a country where the strongest teas are not relished and where a 

 delicate flavor is highly appreciated by a sufficiently large class to war- 

 rant the fullest deference to its demands. So far as concerns any 

 American tea that is likely to be produced during the next generation 

 or two, there will be no occasion to look beyond our own markets, and 

 at present they are almost wholly supplied from China and Japan. If, 

 therefore, it be contemplated to cater to the American taste, it must 



