1844.] 



=— -^TVothe poles, so there would appear to bi 

 tbe _ e< > tt . a, ?I «° ,w'roB«ni.l climates for the Tea-pl 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



333 



ear to be no 

 ^^ftVin finding congenial climates for tne Tea-plant, 

 d '^ lu» as in thfse mountains are found genera such 

 "ftmelli. Eurva and Cleyera, allied to the Teas, as 



and again 

 ompany's 



" H Z .other Chinese genera, such as Deutzia, Houttuynia, 

 c. „ n .nnia Kadsura, Hovenia, &c. 

 SU U : sucb'g^unds Dr. Rov.e in the year 1827 

 • Y«rU when Superintendent of the E. 1. C 

 £ ♦.nir Garden at Saharunpore, recommended to the 

 f hTJ Government the cultivation of the Tea-plant in 

 ♦w mountains, in the districts under British influence ; 

 !htrrin Kemaon, Gurhwal, and Sirmore. In 1832 

 Dr Wallich presented a paper to the President of the 

 R«.rd of Control, advocating the cultivation of Tea m 

 th? same districts. In 1834 Dr. Royle published an 

 Fs t on the cultivation of Tea in the Himalayas, in his 

 ^Illustrations of Himalayan Botany," and stated that as 

 in these mountains there existed so great an analogy in 

 latitude elevation, soil, climate, and the courses of the 

 seasons' there could be no doubt of success in intro- 

 ducing its cultivation, with the strongest probability of all 

 iti properties remaining unchanged, as every requisite is 

 so similar to what it experiences in its native country, 

 and labour is cheaper than even in China. 



In 1834 the India Government, with the sanction of 

 the Court of Directors, determined upon attempting the 

 cultivation of Tea in the British dominions in India. A 

 committee was formed, and reports called for. Dr. Fal- 

 coner in reply, recommended the same tract of country 

 ti Dr. Royle had done, in a report which is remarkable 

 for coincidence in argument and opinion, with that at the 

 game time published by Dr. Royle, though the two must 

 have crossed each other in their passage to and from India. 

 Mr. Gordon was sent with Mr. Gutzlaff to obtain seeds, 

 and as much information as possible from the Tea districts 

 of China, together with some Tea manufacturers. They 

 visited the Ankoy Tea Hills, obtained a considerable 

 quantity of seeds, and made an unsuccessful attempt to 

 reach the Bohea Tea Hills, when they were recalled in 

 consequence of the discovery of the Tea-plant of Assam. 



Dr. Royle then called attention to the specimens of the 

 green and black Teas, and the Assam plants from Mr. 

 Loddiges, to the two former from Sir Wm. Hooker and 

 from Sir G. Staunton, to dried specimens obtained by 

 Mr. Ball from the black Tea districts, and to the Tea- 

 plant of Chusan sent to the India House by Dr. Cantor, 

 but did not give a distinct opinion whether he considered 

 the Chinese plants as distinct species or only varieties 

 of the same, or whether the Assam plant were a distinct 

 species, or a variety, but recommended, as he had done 

 in 1840, that the whole should be subjected to experi- 

 ments in the Tea districts of Assam and the Himalayas, 

 in different soils and climates. 



The seeds obtained by Mr. Gordon having been sent 

 to Calcutta, and sown in the Botanic Garden, numbers 

 vegetated, though many failed. Nurseries having been 

 established both in Assam and in Kemaon and Sirmore, at 

 elevations of from 2000 to 7500 feet, seedlings were sent, 

 but of 12,000 sent to Assam, only 500 arrived alive; and 

 of 10,000 sent to N. W. India, only 1326 reached the 

 hills in the beginning of the year 1836. In December, 

 1838, Dr. Falconer wrote to Dr. R. that the Tea-plant 

 was thriving vigorously in two, and had flowered in three 

 of the above nurseries. On the 21st April, 1841, Dr. 

 falconer reported that from the 500 plants originally in- 

 troduced into the Kemaon nurseries, 5000 had been pro- 

 , uced . fr J In la jers, and from the seeds ripened. Many of 



feethi h gr ° Wn t0 the SiZC ° f bU8hy shrubs ' about five 



, In . th fu year 1842 ' nine Chine se Tea-manufacturers, 

 7>o tad °een in Assam, were sent to the Tea-nurseries 

 0. Kemaon and Gurhwal. On arrival, they united in de- 

 claring that the Tea-plants of the Kemaon plantations were 

 we genuine cultivated Chinese plant, and far superior to 



dove g K° f Wn m Assam > but that they required cutting 

 pnmiT 1 they WOuld be in tbe be8t 8tate for yielding 

 ITcrtAA i 8, ° n the 12th 0ct -> Dr - Jameson, who 

 ohlia! n ir i° the cbar S e on Dr - Falconer having been 

 teti«n.- t0 ™ e f «>m ill health, wrote, " The Tea-plan- 



admirab? " Jrah Doon and in Kemaon are thriving 



blackish leaf, of the usual size of, and like, Chin* 

 Oolong, value 2s. Grf. to 2s. 9d. 5 a third, as a fine Tea, 

 but not esteemed in this market, on account of the pale- 

 ness of the leaf. Mr. Andrews Hunt, late Inspector of 

 Tea to the East India Company, describes the Tea as 

 well made, smallish, blackish, wiry Tetsong kind of 

 leaf, the smell like that of China Tea, rather burnt, the 

 colour of the infusion very good, and the taste fragrant 

 and true, as Tetsong Tea ; value, from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d., 

 2s. 9d., and 3s. per lb. The flavour, and other character- 

 istics of the leaf of the Tea-shrub of Kemaon were pro- 

 nounced identical with the Qhinese plant grown in Ankoy, 

 a district which, in Chinese estimation, produces highly- 

 prized Tea. * The appearance and flavour of the best of 

 the four samples are unexceptionable; and, while the 

 former does great credit to the Chinese manufacturing 

 operations, the latter fully justifies their opinion, that the 

 Tea-shrub in the Kemaon plantations is the genuine 

 Chinese plant." 



Dr. Falconer having brought a specimen of Tea from 

 Kemaon, submitted it to Messrs. Ewart, Maccaughey 

 and Co., of Copthall-court, who report, 8th Sept., 1843, 

 that it resembles most nearly the description occasionally 

 imported from China under the name of Oolong ; it is 

 not so high-flavoured as the fine Oolong Tea ; it has 

 been too highly burnt in the preparation, but it is of a 

 delicate, fine flavour, and would command a ready sale 

 here. Dr. Royle, after remarking, that nothing could be 

 more satisfactory than these reports by experienced Tea- 

 brokers, as the first attempts to make Tea in the Hima- 

 layan nurseries, called attention to the curious fact, that 

 all the brokers coincided in comparing this Tea with the 

 Oolong and Tetsong Teas of China, which, he was in- 

 formed by Mr. Ball, were obtained from the Ankoy Tea- 

 district, that is, the very locality where Mr. Gordon ob- 

 tained the Tea-seeds. 



The latest letters from Dr. r Jameson continue to give 

 the most favourable accounts of the Tea-nurseries, while 

 others from Captain Cautley speak in the same style of 

 the Tea-nurseries in the Deyrah Doon, where, he says, 

 the plants are looking splendidly, and are growing vigo- 

 rously. Dr. Jameson states, that though he will be able 

 to send only a few hundred pounds of Teas this year, se- 

 veral thousand pounds will be sent next season. There 

 are about 100,000 plants in all the above nurseries, and 

 they may be rapidly increased. The Court of Directors 

 have ordered that the experiment be continued, and that 

 one-half the produce be sent to this country, in order 

 that its quality may be clearly ascertained and exten- 

 sively made known. 



Dr. Royle concluded his address by recapitulating the 

 heads under which he had given an account of this im- 

 portant experiment instituted by the Court of Directors 

 and the Indian Government, and stated, that as the prac- 

 tical results had in every point been exactly such as had 

 been anticipated from the scientific data procurable be- 

 fore the experiment had been instituted, he felt no hesi- 

 tation in repeating what he had stated in 1840 in his 

 " Essay on the Productive Resources of India/' that he 

 confidently looked forward, not only to having Tea culti- 

 vated all along these mountains, but also to its being 

 finer flavoured than the Assam. He now thought 

 that the culture of Tea might be introduced into the 

 villages, and even round the margins of the terraced 

 cultivation of the Himalayas, and that Tea might be 

 manufactured extensively, cheaply, and of excellent qua- 

 lity ; though at first, probably, most profitably in the 

 elevated valleys at the foot of the Himalayan mountains. 



Dr. Falconer, who was present, then addressed the 

 meeting, and gave his reasons for the opinions he had 

 entertained respecting the fitness of the Himalayas for 

 the cultivation of the Tea-plant. He also called attention 

 to the differences apparent between the Assam plant and 

 that of China, and which it retained in the Northern nur- 

 series as well as here. He then showed how well calcu- 

 lated for Tea-cultivation were the N.W. nurseries, espe- 

 cially in the Deyrah Doon. This valley is particularly 



hive kept sweet throughout the whole of their second 

 season of repose,- a sure criterion that the inmates en. 

 joyed excellent health, as cleanliness is essential to the 

 preservation of these insects. I have therefore every 

 reason to be satisfied with my success in insuring the 

 health of my bees during the winter season ; but I cannot 

 congratulate myself as yet on having derived anv profit 

 from them, although I am fully convinced three' as fine 

 swarms as could be wished were reared in my hive last 

 summer, but proved ungrateful, and I have no doubt 

 took possession of tenantless hives belonging to other 

 bee-keepers, whose stocks must have suffered severely 

 owing to the long-continued rainy weather which occurred 

 in May and June, 1843. I entirely attribute the loss of 

 my swarms last summer to giving them too much 

 accommodation, which enabled them to make the neces- 

 sary arrangements for their departure without my 

 having any control over them ; the whole of their 

 plans having been communicated to each other in the 

 side-box, as on no occasion did they hang in clus- 

 ters at the mouth of the centre hive ; and when they 

 left the side-box on each of the three occasions, they 

 went off in one continued stream, but not in the usual 

 way as I have seen bees swarm when they previously 

 clustered at the mouth of the hives. I do not, however, 

 regret the loss of my swarms, as other parties must 

 have been benefited by them ; and the plan of my hive 

 has enabled me to observe some peculiarities connected 

 with these wonderful insects, which appear to me to 

 have escaped the observation of all the naturalists who 

 have written on their history or management ; and in 

 order to convey to your readers the result of my experi- 

 ments, so far as they have yet been made, I shall con- 

 tinue the history of my hive (I have only one for the 

 purpose of making experiments), from my communica- 

 to the Gardeners 7 Chronicle, in February, 1843, to the 

 present period. In February, 1843, I stated that, in 

 consequence of a lady having remarked that her bees 

 kept in boxes generally died during the winter, I lined 

 mine with India matting, and the bees appeared to ap- 

 prove highly of the alteration by running over it. When 

 the weather became very warm in April, I opened the 

 outer entrance to the side box, which is of the same 

 dimensions as the entrance to the centre hive, and the 

 bees went out and in at both places with evident satis- 

 faction that they had such facilities of ingress and 

 egress ; as, if interrupted at one entrance by the num- 

 bers going out and in, they at once availed themselves 

 of the other. About the latter end of April three of the 

 bees, apparently to me having an i-fficious kind of cha- 

 racter, from the manner in which I observed other beet 

 act towards them, commenced running round the en- 

 trance to the side-box, endeavouring to run up and 

 down the wood of which the box is made, in the same 

 way as other bees often do on straw hives before swarm- 

 ing ; but the wood being painted and smooth, their 

 little claws would not hold, and they fell down as often 

 as they made the attempt, and appeared in a violent 

 passion. With the view of humouring them, I fixed a 

 piece of the India matting over the whole breadth of the 

 front of the side-box, and about four inches deep, and it 

 was really amusing to witness the numbers taken out to 

 examine this addition, and the satisfaction it gave to all. 

 On the same evening about 200 bees clustered in the 

 side-box for the first time, and remained during 

 the night. On the fuilowing night there were 

 about 500, and on the third night, the weather 

 being very warm, upwards of two thousand. The 

 fourth day the weather changed to be very cold and 

 rainy, and the whole of tbe bees left the side-box and 

 went into the centre hive. The cold weather lasted three 

 days, and during that period the bees all remained in the 

 centre hive. The weather having again become warm 

 and genial, a small cluster was formed in the side-box, as 

 on the first occasion, and the number of bees in the centre 

 hive daily increasing, the side-box, from the 4th of May, 

 was permanently occupied until the end of the season, 

 eligible for an extensive culture, as there is abundance of During the long period of rainy weather in May and June, 



the ahn. "i 7 Part of 1843 > 80me Tea *as prepared from 

 was sen.? n *? bytbe Chinamen. On 20th Jan., a portion 



■tthe Indi H r fca ' End a SmaU canister t0 Dr> Ro * le ' 

 Hth of M a , 0Use * ^he former was reported on, on the 



a n<l stated k members of the Chamber of Commerce, 

 valued i t l ° j a ver 5 r S°°d marketable article, and 



cimen sent V? t° Q f aboUt 2s ' 6d ' P er lb ' * and tbe s P e " 



Ported on h\f Wa8 ' ° a the 23d May ' 1843 ' re " 



the Ooln y * essrs « Thompson, and pronounced to be of 



equal to th Oucbon & ki nd, fine-flavoured and strong, 

 seats anSV Uperior black Teas generally sent as pre- 



Teas^norw/ 1 "' f ° r tbe most P art > tban tbe Cbina 



O n the i " mercantile purposes. 

 Almora th 1? A P r ^» ^ r * Jameson wrote from 

 rably • ' a 1 v, *^ e .Tea-nurseries vrere looking admi- 

 blackVp u h \ ^ b * namen were busy manufacturing 

 •unerim. ~ C ,. 0n 8) Tea, which appears to be of a much 



cleared land, moderate in rent, with abundance of cheap 

 labour in the vicinity, great facilities for irrigation, easy 

 access to the Ganges and Jumna rivers, by which the 

 produce might be cheaply conveyed to Calcutta, and even 

 by the Indus to Bombay. 



an perior 



■**ycriQr filial* **^^^***» w w w* «-• *•****•«- 



k°gU8t irjT 7 t0 that alrea dy made. On the 30th of 

 of black (V u 8am P le > consisting of 16 small canisters 

 r °ute for th • ° Dg ) Tea was forwarded by the overland 

 ver ed with » lns P ection of l be Court of Directors, co- 

 ofit * flavour ^fk' wbich unfortu nately gave a little 

 did n ot arri*J Z r Tea ' as the canisters got injured, and 



b y Mes lri Th e DeC# 1843 ' This was re P orted on 

 a11 uiore or 1 P 2? 0n ' wbo °bserve that the samples are 



wa » called a fi * et * d h ? the wax-cloth. One kind 

 •°mewh at Hi,..! a of tbe °oiong class, with a leaf 

 ^ &* to 3/ at ° L f fine black-leaf Pekoe, value from 



• » another kind, as a longish, even, rich, 



BEES. 



At p. 53, 1843, is a front view and ground plan, if I 

 may so term it, of the hive I have adopted for my bees. 

 The principle is in every respect the same as is described 

 under the head " Management of Bees," signed C. A. A. 

 Lloyd, p. 118, 1844, with the exception that I do not 

 use zinc ventilators in any shape, as I imagine that that 

 metal is as pernicious to bees as it has been found to be 

 to the hjiman race when milk has been partaken out of 

 zinc dishes. 



At p. 101, 1843, I made some observations on bees, 

 and expressed my belief that I had succeeded in making 

 a hive which would insure the health of that interesting 

 insect ; as, from the previous autumn to the 13th Feb., 

 1843, I had witnessed very few dead bees in or near my 

 hive — only about 20, and that it remained perfectly clean 

 and sweet throughout the winter. I have now to add, 

 that I am perfectly satisfied in every respect with my hive 

 up to the present period ; as not half the above number 

 died from the autumn of 1843 to the 1st of Feb. 1844, 

 which day being very mild, my bees were flying about as 

 numerous as if it had been a day in May, and carried 

 out all the fragments of wax from the bottom of the hive, 

 as well as their dead, of which I only observed 8 alto- 

 gether during the past winter and up to the above date. 

 The bottom-board remained remarkably clean, and the 





1843, especially if attended with cold winds, the number 

 of bees in the side-box varied considerably, and indeed 

 they might have been referred to as an excellent baro- 

 meter. About the end of June or beginning of July, 

 the side-box became so full that a space of only about 

 two inches across remained unoccupied, and from the 

 way in which this vacancy was arranged, at various times 

 during the day, and numerous bees being employed fan- 

 ning at the entrance and in the interior, it was evidently 

 left for ventilation. At this period the movements of the 

 bees at the entrance of the centre hive, and the same at 

 the side-box, and the great number of drones going out 

 and in at the side-box, induced me to set a watch upon 

 them during the day ; but, although there could not have 

 been less than from 10,000 to 15,000 bees in the side-box 

 in the morning of one of the fine days, at the commence- 

 ment of July they nearly all left and never returned, and 

 in the afternoon and during the night there were not 

 above 200 in the side-box. The numbers, however, daily 

 increased a second time, until 12 days after the first swarm 

 had left, when the second followed in a similar manner, 

 leaving very few, as on the first occasion. The numbers 

 increased a third time, and, singularly enough, on the 

 twelfth day from the departure of the second swarm, the 

 third left in the same manner, leaving only about 200 in 

 the side-box. On the day after the departure of th« third 

 swarm, the numbers again began to increase in tfc« lidc- 

 box, and I suppose being then aware that n© mer* '^afj 5 

 would take place during the season, tkty immri*t*J 

 commenced forming combs in the side-b«x, *****"*?** 

 now three beautiful combs in it of the size •/ braaxfcst 

 plates. These combs during the month of August were 



