74 TEA 



relation to what the future may have in store is tersely 

 and frankly summed up in the Natal Official Hand- 

 book for 1911 : 



" Natal is capable of producing every ounce of tea 

 consumed in South Africa, as the following figures will 

 prove : There are at present under cultivation approxi- 

 mately 4,000 acres of tea, and the total output for the 

 Province is 2,000,000 pounds. The quantity of tea 

 imported into Natal during the year 1910 was 

 1,793,112 pounds, and the total imports into the whole 

 of the South Africa Union were 5,006,405 pounds, thus 

 showing that Natal does not produce more than 40 per 

 cent, of the total requirements of South Africa. To 

 emphasize the capabilities of the Province in respect 

 of tea growing, it need only be mentioned that the 

 area of the great tea-growing county (Victoria County) 

 is 1,290 square miles, and that the magisterial divisions 

 of Alexandra (on the South Coast) and Eshowe (Zulu- 

 land) comprise an area of 779 and 690 square miles 

 respectively, making a total of 2,759 square miles. 

 Of course, it should not be inferred from this that all 

 this land is suitable for tea growing ; but what it is in- 

 tended to point out is that a belt of tea-land ex:tends 

 right through the areas mentioned. Sufficient land 

 to supply all the tea consumed in South Africa at the 

 present time can be found in the Lower Tugela Division 

 (Victoria County), but unfortunately most of it is in 

 the hands of absentee landlords." 



The tea-plant has been introduced into many other 

 lands, and in several instances the experiment has 

 proved a success ; but for various reasons many 

 countries in which the plant has shown its willingness 

 to grow, have, as j-et, onty put comparatively small 



