428 Foreign Notices ; — India. 



opened with the Continent, applied to some of his correspondents 

 in Holland, and procured from them a large blue variety, which 

 is still occasionally seen in the old gardens, and which, as a 

 matter of course, was soon added to the Walton collection. Mr. 

 Reed, one of the foremen in the Hammersmith Nursery, turned 

 his attention to the same subject ; and, in course of a few years, 

 twenty varieties were to be had in that splendid establishment. 

 Mr. Richardson was no less active in enriching the Walton 

 collection, both with seedlings of his own, as well as those of 

 others ; till, at last, the two collections became very numerous 

 in varieties. 



" A flower so pretty, and of such easy culture, thus became 

 almost a general favourite ; and it has now arrived at that point of 

 perfection as to be ranked in the lists of florist's flowers, a sta- 

 tion which the pansy is likely to hold for some time. 



It is but justice to remark that the Walton collection to this 

 day maintains its credit as the first in the kingdom, not only 

 on account of its being the oldest, but, also, the most select ; 

 although several nursery collections may be more numerous in 

 varieties. — J. M. Surrey, July 4. 1835." 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. Foreign Notices. 



INDIA. 



The Discovery of the Tea Shrub in India. — Botanic Garden, Calcutta, 

 Feb. 16. 1835. I do myself the pleasure to send you, enclosed, a copy of a 

 paper on the extraordinary discovery which has been made, or rather con- 

 firmed, of late, of the true and identical China tea shrub growing wild in 

 Upper Assam, within the Company's territories, through an extent of hundreds 

 of miles towards the Chinese frontier station of Yunnan, where the shrub is 

 cultivated for commercial purposes. A more splendid discovery has never 

 been made, in matters relating to the commercial or agricultural resources of 

 India. A committee of tea culture was appointed early last year, consisting 

 of some of the highest civil officers in Calcutta, some merchants, and two of 

 the most enlightened Hindoos, namely Baboo Redu Radhacant Dib, and Baboo 

 Ramcomul Sen. I am a member also ; and since Mr. Gordon was deputed to 

 China to send round tea seeds and plants, as well as Chinese cultivators and 

 manufacturers, I have acted for him as secretary to the committee. Our 

 instructions were, to enquire into the practicability of tea being cultivated in 

 Hindustan on an extensive scale, for the sake of its leaf. This recent dis- 

 covery of the tea of Upper Assam has placed the views and prospects of the 

 committee on a footing of almost mathematical certainty. Who would have 

 dreamt of the shrub growing wild so far east as 76° ? Its geographical limits 

 had hitherto, I think, been traced only as far as somewhere between 105° and 

 1 10° E. Ion. in the northern part of Cochin-China. We have already established 

 tea nurseries in the mountains of Kamoon, Sirmare, and Gurwhal, between 

 the upper parts of the Jumna and the Ganges. A large consignment of bohea 

 tea seeds has already been received from China ; but we have now to look to 



