102 



TEA. 



climate, which bears a strong resemblance to that of Kashmere. The 

 Holta plain is several square miles in extent; and so much of it 

 as is available is being rapidly brought imder tea cultivation by 

 Dr. Jamieson. The soil appears admii'ably adapted for tea, as well 

 indeed as for almost any kind of crop ; and both Dr. Jamieson and 

 the Chinese consider that if any preference is to be given, it is the 

 most eligible for tea purposes of any part of the sub-Himalayas. 



Tea Cultivation in the Funjab. — About 1850 a lakh of rupees 

 (lOjOOOZ.) was granted by the Government for the promotion of tea 

 cultivation in the Dehra Doon, and in the course of five or six years 

 the plantations were found extending in all directions, and the tea 

 plant was thriving over foui' and a half degrees of latitude and 

 eight of longitude, or an area of 30,000 square miles — about one- 

 fifteenth of the whole area of British India. Of coiu-se this is not 

 exclusively devoted to tea culture, but in districts throughout the 

 whole space the plant has been gTown with advantage. There are 

 now about 40,000 acres imder culture in the Punjab. In Kumaon 

 some of the plantations have long been yielding twelve maunds of 

 raw leaves per acre. 



The tea industry in Chittagong is rapidly progressing, and some 

 experiments on a limited scale have lately been made v^ith coffee cul- 

 tivation, which have proved successful. The total out-turn of tea from 

 the division during the official year 1875-76 is estimated at 431,554 lbs. 

 It is said that tea cultivation has already attracted the attention of 

 the natives of the i^lace, and that a few small gardens have already 

 been opened by some of the neighbouring zemindars. In 1871-72 the 

 value of tea exported from Chittagong was 25,214/. ; in 1875-76 the 

 value was 47,9 08Z. 



The following suggestions are from a communication received 

 from Mr. James McPherson, as the result of his own observations 

 in India : 



" There are two ^-ery well-marked varieties of the tea plant, if 

 indeed they are not sufficiently distinct to be ranked as species. These 

 are Tliea Assamica and Thea Cliinensis (syn. viride). The first of 

 these is the one with which western peoj)le became last acquainted, 

 and it occupies a somewhat different position, naturally, to that in 

 which the Chinese plant is usually found, if indeed the Chinese plant 

 has even been seen in other than a state of cultivation. The varied 

 conditions in which the two kinds, with their innumerable varieties, 

 are found, may sufficiently account for the difterence in their appear- 

 ance. Thea Assamica, the Indian species, is usually foimd growing 

 wild (and able to reproduce itself from seed) along the margins of the 

 Assam forests, frequently manifesting a jDartiality for the banks of 

 streams. The climate of Assam is tropical, and, in ports, very moist, 

 and frost is almost unkno^Ti in its tea gardens, while the average 

 temperature is about 70° and the rainfall about 80 inches. The 

 tea, like the wheat plant or the vine, has, however, a remarkable 

 adaptation to a very great range of climate, and I have known tea 

 grown with perfect success where the mean annual temperature was 

 only 68° Fahr. and the rainfall from 30 to 50 inches. Perha]3s it will 

 reach its greatest perfection where the mean annual temperature 



