124 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE chap. 



countries, nor has it been produced in sufficient quantity to 

 supply local wants. Thus it happens that large quantities of 

 tea grown in the Eastern Tropics are imported, through 

 Europe, into the West Indies, notwithstanding the fact that 

 the plant appears to flourish as well here as it does in China 

 Varieties, and Ccylon. There are two principal varieties of tea, the 

 China and Assam, and a third kind partaking of the charac- 

 ters of both, called the Assam hybrid, is also extensively 

 cultivated. 



The best SoiL. — The best soil for tea is a light loam, with an abun- 



^''^' dance of vegetable matter. As the plant has a long tap root 



the soil must be deep, and it must also be well drained, for 

 stagnant moisture is fatal to it. A subsoil of reddish clay is 

 considered to be not unfavourable to the plant, but it does 

 The plant a not appear to require much lime. Tea, however, is very 

 hardy one. j^^j-^y^ g^^d it will grow Well in many other kinds of soil, pro- 

 vided there be an abundance of humus — which can be 

 supplied by green crop manuring. 



Climate. — To grow tea, it is not necessary to have one 



uniform climate, for the shrub accommodates itself to many 



Chinese tea. different elevations and degrees of temperature. The 



Chinese variety, however, thrives best in the hills up to 



5,000 feet elevation, and the Assam kinds prefer low valleys 



Heav>' and plains where the air is hot and moist. A good rainfall 



nec"efsary. is ucccssary if large crops be sought for. In Assam the 



temperature ranges from 50^ F. to 96° F. and the rainfall 



is from 100 to 120 inches per annum. Mr. Morris says, in 



Tea in regard to Jamaica, "for the hills, the tea plants already 



Janiaica. established here, being the Chinese kind, are admirably 



suited ; but for the parish of Portland, with its warm, moist 



climate and splendid rich valleys, the Assam kind appears 



to be more suitable." There are about twenty to thirty 



acres of tea established for some years in Jamaica, and small 



quantities of produce have been prepared of excellent quality. 



