No. 216.] 299 



parts of India, that 49 artificers have also been engaged, and 500 

 Chinese laborers, are on their way to Bengal, in the service of the 

 company." A communication has also been opened with the Bur- 

 mese authorities, across the Monipur, with the Chinese province of 

 Yunan, to induce Chinese laborers to emigrate to the province of 

 Assam. 



The strongest expectations are indulged, that ultimately the cul- 

 tivation of the Tea Plant in British India, will be carried to an ex- 

 tent sufficient to supply the English market. 



The question, therefore, regarding the successful cultivation of the 

 Tea plant, in districts out of China, is completely solved by this ex- 

 periment. But we are not limited to a solitary example in the 

 East Indies In addition to information derived from personal cor- . 

 responden.ce with residents in the Northwest Provinces of India, I 

 find in Simmons' Colonial Magazine, published in London, 1844, 

 .vol. 2d,, an account of the experiments instituted at Kemaon, in 

 the neighborhood of the Himmilay mountains, as well as at Almu- 

 ra, preparatory to the extended introduction of the Tea Plant. It 

 is worthy of remark, that these plantations in N. Lat. about 30 to 

 31°, are more than 1000 miles inland from the shipping port of 

 Calcutta, and still further from the plantations of Assam. "It would 

 seem," says the writer, " that these experiments, so far as they have 

 gone, have been attended with complete success, but commenced as 

 they were eight years ago (that is in 1836) we cannot discover 

 from what cause so little progress has been made in the cultivation 

 of the Plant, until two years ago, when the experiment was ener- 

 getically carried on for the first time. In 1841 the nurseries con- 

 sisted of twenty-three acres of ground, in 1843 they were increased 

 to fifty-five acres, containing 43,000 Tea-bearing Plants, and 27,000 

 which will yield produce this year together wuth seedlings and cut- 

 tings, sufficient to cover fifty-five acres of land which has been pre- 

 pared for their transplanting. During the current year, 1844, the 

 amount of Tea produced will be very greatly increased and we may 

 hope from the activity of the able superintendent of the Botanical 

 gardens, Dr. Jameison, who has charge of the Tea nnrseries, that 

 the cultivation of the plant, will scon be demonstrated to be so 

 profitable as to induce private planters to turn their attention to it. 



Specimens of the produce sent to Messrs. Thompson & Son, Lon- 

 don, were declared by them to be fine flavored and strong equal to 



