362 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



his peaches to the northern States and sells them for from $7,000 to 

 $10,000 a year. 



It is said that our Bartlett pear is an old French pear ; the Bon Chre- 

 tien : (Good Christian). 



TEA CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Mr. Debow, in his review for this month, (February.) recalls the noble 

 eflort of our friend and member, Junius Smith, to grow tea in South Caro- 

 lina, and that recently its growth is attempted in Washington. To under- 

 stand its importance to the United States, we give the following statistics : 

 Teas to the No. of Iba. 



United States, per annum, 7,000,000 



Russia, 10,000,000 



France and her colonies, , 500,000 



Holland, 1,000,000 



German States, 500,000 



Spain and Portugal, 100,000 



Italian States, 50,000 



South America, 500,000 



The present consumption of tea, annually, is not less than 100 million 

 pounds. The average cost in China, per pound, is about twenty cents, and 

 {hat is so low as to cause adulteration. The Yon-Pou-Chong tea, sent to 

 Russia, sells in China for seve7i dollars a pound. A still finer sort never 

 leaves China, for the mandarins buy it all for their own use. China con- 

 sumes at about 4 pounds a head per annum, and the entire crop of China 

 is about 1,500,000,000 pounds. The tea latitudes of China are from "27 

 degrees to 31 degrees north. On Madeira it does well, 3,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. 



The history of tea, in China, goes back no farther than the year 800, aa 

 a general thing. A wild tea grows in Assam, 30 feet high. Debow refers 

 to P. L. Simraonds, of London, on the " The Commercial Products of the 

 Vegetable World," "Williams on China," and to "The United States 

 Consular Reports." 



Messrs. Fowler and Wells received the following note from their corres- 

 pondent, Mons. A. Manze, of Augusta, Georgia ; a note relative to his 

 culture : He has olive trees doing well, yet too young to bear fruit; and 

 the cork oak, Quercics suber, and the lujube. 



The date was tried long ago, in Florida, without much success. The 

 cork tree would be very valuable to the United States. 



PROGRESS OP THE STEAM PLOW. 



It seems that it will prevail, and owing to its high cost, one plow will 

 be employed by several adjacent farmers, with great advantage, as is now 

 done with some threshing machines, mills, &c. 



The Royal Agricultural Society, of England at the last meeting in 

 December, oflFered premiums for best essays, viz : 



