458 SAE 
lie ata CHRONICLE. 
| [OCTOBER 10, 1874, 
withstanding the ee ack of the Terai, the greater 
part of the best land there is also taken up, and sev — 
thousand acres ] ve under Formerly, i pee 
t is still a most m 
tality in it, both among 
appalling, but, _ owing ot the 1 large pree for Tea 
plantations, oe Lie ae | improving, 
_In the T lants grow much faster than 
in the hills, ae wee = wallace labour available the 
times unhealthy, but rule t pS are exceedingly 
healthy and well mpd with labour. 
THE LEPCHA LABOU 
t least nine-tenths of se coolies 2 me Nepaulese, 
fellows the 1 hill tribes 
which 
is most refreshing 
natives of the plains of Bengal. They are very 
quick Fad intelligent, and in an ppg “ee 
to almost any of 
** day-work,” ie ee to 
though they know that 
little more than half th 
task would be d For every 
ere is a certain recognised task, and as 
task is completed the gpalie gocs a pe 
‘Nepaulese go to t eerfully, 
the hot weather strip to a that wo 
ush people who had been out 
re the aborigines of Sikkim, 
found at work e Tea 
is 
st i routine they go 
hunt the jungles for roots and other thi keep 
ody and soul tog: ether. Such work as that of collect- 
ing india-rubber it n av to monke 
and Lepchas ony r delight in, “or, if a 
g his fellows can 
< 
u 
s an 
ia of y priestly 
e a few 
The {othe alan of the jei Poe ome 
hey came to me for information, 
and on finding how matters ai, went to de 
e priest was i 
He held up his hands as they approached him, say- 
ush ! ! I am no ged y work, 
must not be spoken to on worldly matters ;” and 
that they were obliged to goaway. I suspect the 
rould have found it co: = oo ae 
e ‘sil the end of time 5 but fortunately, I T soon 
whose 
pe heckmaka B 
o poc w 
and Hi adnate are oe employed about 
the "emer but mars as factory hands, and to 
ers, as are inferior hand for culti- 
g 
aie week. json. ler ready mentioned, nine- 
_ tenths of alae eRe 
hich is a to 
- ariderup. In the Te 
: the same principle, only, the lan 
are straight inst a 
The next o S planting, “aed 
= of planting and caa of i re 
ago, when expensive 
and limited ability 
nie uld: up on the mo imsy 
; the custom was to plant at 6 by 6 feet 
"Hr ng well filled 
lantation as bei 
l the ee eR tren at 
le È 
siderable diversity Fo opinion exists both oa a method ! 
6 5 by 6 feet, the ae would have oe paid a 
fair return, but the great end in view w ” and 
us a9 on without any cousidbvation as 
to whether there was either labour or money to keep 
it was planted, and the conse- 
t the Ae hak got covered with 
weeds, which killed a large proportion of the 
plate, and the survivors sarcely grew at all. hen 
he money was nearly exhausted, the worst mies had 
abandoned, and the “ee parts got superior 
cultivation ; fro ime Tea prospects began to 
improve. In 1866 I “is a ation, in the better 
eces of Apes were er patches, with not 
more than aay surviving plants to the acre; but 
ah 
all this E rei now, and plantation after plantation 
may be inspected and scarcely a single wy vacancy ” 
found. 
two methods in sore sing oot = 
ursery beds and transplant 
t o ne; rains, Transplanting from 
nurseries. wikit two or three months after has germi- 
nation of the eee is perhaps, the favourite and best 
Ww 
transplantin 
lopes for plant it has been the practice of late 
a, o i f out the whole plantation in terraces of 
bout 3 feet in width, and this is an excellent plan, 
admitting of ne and being fogneniig stirred, during 
he witho risk of losing th 
the growing seaso 
wen oil 2 the all of the heavy eae soe former 
stu raok i oto ound, in straigh distances 
apart the Te send wore to be planted, and a pit dug 
at each peg. hen the weather was suitable, the 
plants were transferred st the nurseries to these. pits, 
wn by the sickle during the 
aay season the a usually 
ut not in all cas ow-a 
t and, and it is found that 
‘the canta growth of the pines amply repays the extra 
expens 
3 To tectiiuate the after-measurements OF “tasks,” it 
is really very little trouble in checking 
the work of Tomdi ds of coolies, for the mere counting 
of the number of rows and measurement of one row 
cien f the g 
cold season e plan 
wth, 
GATHERING THE TEA. 
Leaf-picking is usually commenced the third year 
ipia oe but the bush cannot be considered 
maturi 
of March, and pickin carried on fr that 
time till the end of a hen it is seen that the 
flush has e eaves as it is likely to do, 
and before the upper r leaves of the new shoots harden, 
leaf- Each individual has 
with both ha 
Me 
injure 
ext flush. leaves 
ee as collected, into the b 
flush is on it sometimes happens that 
which hard 
care not 
have to yield the n 
over tye sho 
Whi e 
iea are one ọr two cold nights, 
be ed 
arden the leaves 
e thereby 
te evening geh 
each picker’s basket is sti hed 
and should any have collected mo R 
quantity they are paid Šòvordinigiy. A 
eti as much as 
Apa a day, = the average 
leaf make tio "manufactured e 
Afer ter weighing, the leaves are spread thinly on floors 
to ee for Re night, and ane quite flaccid the 
f man ure is commenc 
men taking each a good h Dis ond 
the matted floor, itting cross-] r the 
and, s egged 
leaves about with their cen 3 using as much pressure 
ject, and the seed 
generally collected quite indiscriminately: 
as =P as sible. When the leaves have 
t state, from the j 
go i 
under the hands w 
still using pressure. 
up, and the outer and inner 1 i 
so that they may get uniformly twisted. When it} 
seen that the leaves hav ve been sufficiently twis 
this rolling, and the juices roogi well out, t 
h 
efi 
fiable p k Il Tidal Ai se 
moke that would spoil the favou 
ual crisp it is stored. ah in inclined bins un 
is time to sort and pac 
charcoal fires and allowed t 
time before weighing, and packing in lead-lined 
After bang soldered down the boxes are nun 
branded, and the eames and quality 
i arket. Cert 
saiua take kindly to China tea. 
VARIETIES OF TEA, 
I imagine that the idea ers black and green t 
are produced by different species of Thea is quite 
oded, as also that plants of different uei 
ffer “qualiti t appears marve 
apparent fallacies could h 
tertaine Pekoe, 
tree, but is only suited for low elevations such 
and ing Terai. ea 
yield strong, rank flavour, not at all 
tremely serviceable | 
with the weak, insipid teas from China, for 
it is said to be almost all bought 
The hybrid is the next strongest growing 
and yields tea of iss strength, but of supetior 
rom 
fg tea made from t 
attention to 
