THE TECHNOLOGIST. [May 1, 1865. 



474 



TEA CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 



Perhaps the most interesting feature of the current history of Bengal is 

 the progress in outlying and hitherto uncultivated tracts of country. 

 Foremost among such tracts are Sylhet, Cachar, and Assam. In Sylhet 

 the progress last year has been great beyond all precedent. The first 

 tea garden was laid out in 1857, but English enterprise did not take root 

 in the province till 1860, when the first of the existing plantations was 

 started. In 1862 more than 1,000 acres were already under cultivation, 

 and in 1863 the number had increased, in round numbers, to 2,500. In 

 1863 the yield was 31,200 lbs. of tea and 526 maunds of seed, and last 

 year these numbers have suddenly risen to 81,200 lbs. of tea and nearly 

 1,500 maunds of seed. This increase is made in spite of the greatest 

 scarcity of labour, nearly one-third of the coolies being imported. In 

 this province at least the Government seems satisfied that the coolies 

 have no serious grievance to complain of. The labourers are allowed 

 extra remuneration for doing more than their allotted task, and their 

 average earnings, according to the report, amount to five rupees a month 

 each cooly. The wages of such men in a Bengal district do not exceed 

 seven pice a day, or something less than three rupees, counting six days 

 to the week. Applications for 75,000 acres await disposal by the col- 

 lector. In Cachar the cultivation is on a larger scale. Some of the planta- 

 tions have been in operation for seven years, and cultivation is in 

 progress in ]10 estates, aggregating more than 250,000 acres. At the 

 end of 1863 the capital expended was close on 40 lacs, producing a 

 return of 418,243 lbs. of tea and 1,019 maunds of seed ; but during the 

 past year the yield has more than doubled, and the estimated turn-out is 

 823,380 lbs. of tea with 2,573 maunds of seed. The difficulty in pro- 

 curing labour is even greater in Cachar than in Sylhet. In the latter 

 nearly one-third is imported, in the former the proportion is fully three- 

 quarters. In Assam nearly 200,000 acres have been taken up, affording 

 employment to 28,000 labourers, and sending about 300,000Z. worth of 

 tea to England, besides what is consumed in India. From Darjeelingno 

 precise information appears to have been obtained for the year 1864, but 

 the purchasing of estates is going on rapidly. The out-turn during 1863 

 was close on 100,000Z. The Ramgurgh Tea Company have more than 

 doubled their land under cultivation last year in Chota Nagpore ; 

 another company is busy in a range of hills to the south-east of Hazaree- 

 baugh, and tea-planting in Central India is now a fait accompli The 

 young plantations are said to be vigorous and healthy, and the very large 

 proportion of seed that has germinated proves, more conclusively than 

 any geological report, that the soil is well adapted for tea. Labour is 

 cheap, abundant, and to be found on the spot. Taking this into con- 

 sideration, Col. Dalton observes that, even if the leaf-producing powers 

 of the plant were only half as great in Central India as in Assam and 



