TEA. 101 



expend 10,000 a year on the cultivation of the tea plant on the 

 banks of the Beas, as Avell as at Anarkullee, and Kotghnr in the 

 Simla jurisdiction. Beyond the Beas there is a series of valleys 

 on to Noonpoor, viz., the Palklun, Kangra, Eillo, &c., from 3,000 

 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, separated from each other 

 by small ranges of hills. The valleys are from three to four miles 

 in breadth, and from s:xty to seventy in length : they are sheltered 

 on the north by high mountains. They are described as admi- 

 rably suited for the cultivation of the plant, now about to be 

 attempted under the able management of Dr. Jamieson. Should 

 it prove successful, the benefits it will confer on the country will 

 be enormous. Tea is a favorite beverage everywhere with the 

 natives : at present their supplies come in scanty measure and 

 bad condition, at extravagant charges, across the frontier. 



The cultivation of the tea plant in the highlands of the Pun- 

 jaub, is likely to be successful, even beyond the hopes of its pro- 

 moters. Thousands of plants sown in 1849 have attained a height 

 of four or five feet, and there seems no reason why tea should not 

 ultimately become an important article of trade in the Punjaub, 

 as well as in Kumaon. The Indian teas are already becoming 

 popular in the English market, and the cultivators have the ad- 

 vantage of a demand which is almost unlimited, and of prices which 

 seldom fluctuate to any great extent. 



The experiment of growing tea in the Madras Presidency has 

 been often successfully tried, on a small scale. A number of 

 plants supplied by government, through Dr. Wallich, were planted 

 in the Shevaroy hills, about twelve or fourteen years since, and 

 have thriven well ; but though no doubt is entertained of the ease 

 with which they could be propagated over a wide extent of coun- 

 try, no attempt has been made to give the cultivation a practical 

 turn, or to make a cup of tea from the southern Indian tree. In 

 Coorg, too, the experiment has been tested with like results, so 

 that sufficient warranty exists to justify trials on the largest 

 scale. 



Tea plants grow in luxuriance in the open air, at the Botanical 

 Gardens, at Kew. Mr. Bonynge has seen this plant growing 

 wild in N. lat. 27 deg. 30 min. on hills from three to 500 feet iii 

 height, where too, there was an abundance of frost, snow and hail. 



Those persons in England who possess tea plants, and who cul- 

 tivate them for pleasure, should always bear in mind that, even in 

 the tea districts of China, this shrub will not succeed if it be 

 planted in low, wet land ; and this is, doubtless, one of the reasons 

 why so few persons succeed in growing it in this country. It 

 ought always to be planted on a warm sloping bank, in order to 

 give it a fair chance of success. If some of the warm spots of 

 this kind in the south of England or Ireland were selected, who 

 knows but that our cottagers might be able to grow their own 

 tea ? at all events, they might have the fragrant herb to look 

 upon. 



The Dutch made the first movement to break the charm of 



