TEA. 95 



" In Madras the tea plant was introduced on the Neilgherry Hills 

 about forty years ago, but it is only during recent years that any real 

 progress has been made in the cultivation, which now covers nearly 

 2000 acres. The China variety, with which the oldest estates are 

 planted, is the most hardy, but grows slowly, and produces very little 

 leaf ; the Assam variety, on the other hand, grows rapidly, and is a 

 large producer of leaf, but it requires a sheltered situation on a rich 

 fertile soil. The cross between the two is the most generally useful. 



" The private cultivation of tea in the North- West Provinces pro- 

 gresses ; the out-turn for the season was 1,217,975 lbs." 



According to the latest returns we possess, there were in 1875 about 

 488,000 acres of land under tea in India, viz. : 



Acres. 



Assam and Bengal 457,000 



North-Western Provinces 17,200 



Punjab 9,805 



Madras 3,640 



But these figures are not quite of recent date, and the extension of 

 cultivation since they were obtained requires that some addition should 

 be made to them. There are certainly not less than half a million 

 acres under tea in India at the present date, and probably the area 

 exceeds that figure. Of the tea produced in Assam and Bengal, the 

 North-Western Provinces, and the Punjab, that portion which is meant 

 for shipment is, with but slight exception, brought down to Calcutta, 

 and shipped from that port almost entirely to England. 



The growth of the tea industry in India has been almost unex- 

 ampled in the history of its trade. The following figures represent 

 the value of the annual exports during the fourteen years that 

 ended on the 30th April, 1875 ; and there is every reasonable prospect 

 of a continued progress, which will ultimately give Indian tea a 

 foremost place among the productions of the country : 





Quantity. 



Value. 





lbs. 



£ 



1861-62 



1,473,270 



130,283 



1862-63 



2,253,773 



178,128 



1863-64 



2,420,232 



220,282 



1864-65 



3,457,430 

 2,758,187 



275,055 



1865-66 



275,055 



1866-67 



6,387,088 



340,572 



1867-68 



7,811,429 



686,928 



1868-69 



11,480,213 



951,376 



1869-70 



12,754,022 



1,037,883 



1870-71 



13,232,232 



1,120,517 



1871-72 



17,187,328 



1,454,985 



1872-73 



17,789,911 



1,577,691 



1873-74 



19,624,235 



1,742,926 

 1,937,429 



1874-75 



21,137,087 



This growth is very astonishing. The economic effects of the 

 industry have not yet, however, been as fully examined as they 

 should be. The trade has expanded year by year without interrup- 



