TARO 



TEA 



631 



fingers in the poi, giving it a twirling motion, and 

 dexterously convey it to the mouth. Poi is not con- 

 sidered ready for use by the Hawaiians until it has 

 fermented for one or two days. 



As a vegetabk. — The taro corm is also much used 

 as a vegetable, being a good substitute for potatoes. 

 As such it is steamed, boiled or baked. 



The young and tender leaves from the center of 

 the growing taro plant are also used for food. 

 When boiled they make an excellent pot-herb, not 

 unlike spinach. The unopened floral spathes are 

 also cooked. 



Flour. — The manufacture of poi flour from the 

 corm is an industry which has received some atten- 

 tion. Taro in all forms being a most wholesome 

 and nourishing food, and particularly easy of 

 digestion, has commended itself as a health food. 

 Practically the only way to put it on the market as 

 such is in the form of flour, since the taro itself 

 does not keep well. Taro flour, if pure, is simply 

 the "root" cooked, dried, and ground to a powder. 

 It is sold under various proprietary names. 



Enemies. 



There are no serious insect enemies of taro. A 

 fungous disease known as " root-rot" is a somewhat 

 serious hindrance to successful taro-growing, but 

 may be controlled by judicious methods of culti- 

 vation, including proper selection of hulls, rotation 

 of crops, fallowing and fertilization. [For further 

 notes on taro, see Index, Vol. I.] 



TEA. Camellia ThM, vars. Link. {Thea Sinensis, 

 T. Bohea, and T. viridis, Linn.). Ternstrcemiaeece. 

 Figs. 854-857 ; also Figs. 173, 174. 



By Charles U. Shepard. 



Tea is a shrub grown for its leaves, which are used 

 in the preparation of the well-known beverage by the 

 same name. It sometimes becomes a tree, reaching 

 a height of thirty feet ; leaves elliptic-lanceolate 

 or obovate-lanceolate, acuminate, serrate and gla- 

 brous, sometimes pubescent beneath ; flowers white 

 and fragrant, one to one and one-half inches broad; 

 petals five ; stamens many. It is largely grown in 

 China and India. 



Tea-culture in America. 



One hundred years ago the French botanist' 

 Michaux, set out the first tea plant in America at 

 the beautiful gardens of Middleton Barony on the 

 Ashley river, near Charleston, S. C; its subsequent 

 thrifty growth to nearly twenty feet in height 

 attested the congeniality of the climate. Some 

 forty years thereafter a South Carolina woman 

 observed the striking similarity of the climate and 

 flora in the tea-producing region of British India 

 with those of her home, and thus led her father, 

 Mr. Junius Smith, of Greenville, S. C, to undertake 

 on his plantation his most interesting experiments 

 in the cultivation of tea. Unfortunately, these 

 efforts were brought to an early close by the sudden 

 death of that pioneer. Just previous to the civil 

 war, and probably as a result of the " boom " in 

 East Indian tea, the United States government in- 



troduced considerable quantities of tea seed into 

 the southern coast states. This gave rise to many 

 small domestic gardens, and clearly demonstrated 

 the feasibility of profitably producing tea of excel- 

 lent quality and amply suificient for household 

 wants. But the ravages of war destroyed most of 

 these little gardens. A few, however, survived 

 hardships and neglect ; and as the plants had 

 escaped pruning, they grew into " seed-groves " as 

 distinguished from "tea gardens," where the bushes 

 are systematically restricted in size. About twenty 

 years later, Hon. Wm. G. LeDuc, United States 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, started a tea experi- 

 ment station on a part of the same " Newington " 

 plantation from which ten years afterwards " Pine- 

 hurst," near Summerville, South Carolina, was cut 

 off. After a few years of existence and the further 

 confirmation of 

 the suitability 

 of the tea plant 

 to this region, 

 the station was 

 abandoned by 

 Dr. Loring, the 

 next commis- 

 sioner. 



Thus far, 

 then, by ade- 

 quately supply- 

 ing the family 

 wants from do- 

 mestic gardens 

 and furnishing 

 small samples 

 of approved tea 

 for tasting by 

 experts, the 

 first step in the establishment of a tea industry 

 had been taken successfully. But the question re- 

 mained unanswered whether tea as a commercial 

 commodity might be raised profitably in this sec- 

 tion, and to its solution have been devoted the activ- 

 ities and means of "Pinehurst," greatly assisted 

 and encouraged by the United States Department 

 of Agriculture and the Secretary of Agriculture. 

 Indeed, it may be very properly added that the 

 local work has received the greatest attention and 

 cooperation from the public. The effort will not be 

 relinquished, whether Pinehurst be acknowledged 

 a success or not. Today, as the sole representative 

 of American-grown teas in our markets, it must 

 stand for the new industry; consequently, what 

 follows as relating to Pinehurst should be regarded 

 as of possibly wider application in the future. 



The promise of the new industry. 



There were many reasons for undertaking the 

 investigation. It was questionable whether suffi- 

 cient data supported the official dictum that the 

 commercial cultivation of tea in the United states 

 was impossible. The climate certainly should suit. 

 In Pinehurst and the vicinity are found clumps 

 of Berberis Japoniea, Cleyera Japonica, Camellia 

 Japoniea, Pyrus Japonica and many other plants 

 (persimmons, plums, walnuts, evergreens,) from 



Fig. 854. Tea flower (Thea viridis). 

 Adapted from Botanical Maeazine, 

 Vol. VI, Plate 3148. 



