TEA 



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among the best trees that can be used for this purpose, and will soon 

 afford sufficient shelter. The general question of the Australian and 

 indigenous timber trees that may be grown with advantage on tea estates 

 will be considered in a subsequent chapter. Tea suffers as much, if 

 not more, from rough winds, than it does from extremes of heat and 

 cold. Experience in the Neilgherries has taught me the great im- 

 portance of shelter from strong winds, and I know of one or two 

 gardens whose yield would be doubled if they only possessed belts of 

 trees to shield them from the violence of the wind during the storm 

 season. Valleys that take the form of a shallow cup or bason, offer 

 the most favourable site for the formation of a tea estate ; a plentiful 

 supply of water, too, is no mean consideration. Every site should 

 have a spring or stream of water rising high up, and capable of being 

 diverted from thence to any other part of the estate ; it may be utilised 

 for household purposes, turning machinery, to supply the nurseries, 

 and in time of severe drought for irrigation purposes. There should 

 always be in some central situation a flat of a few acres, on which the 

 manager's house and factory may be built. The further considera- 

 tion, however, of these matters will be left for another chapter ; I will 

 now pass on to the question of climate. 



Climate. — The climate in which tea grows best is that which is 

 warm, moist, and equable throughout the year; where the weather 

 presents, in fact, a succession of alternate showers and sunshine. 

 Excessive downpours of rain, though doubtfully beneficial, are better 

 than dry, hot seasons. The effects of either, however, will depend 

 much on the elevation of the estate. Our first statement is proved 

 by the luxuriant growth of the plant in Assam and the other districts 

 of Eastern Bengal. These show a result far ahead of any that can 

 be obtained in the tea districts of China. The plant, however, is 

 one of the hardiest in cultivation, and capable of enduring great 

 extremes of heat and cold, the effects of which are merely to tempo- 

 rarily check its growth, and diminish its yield, seldom killing it out- 

 right. The cultivation of tea is confined to the hilly districts of 

 India. The reasons for this are chiefly — 1. That the soils of the low 

 country are not suited for tea cultivation ; 2. That the sun's rays are 

 tempered to a great extent on the hills; 3. That there is a more 

 liberal and regular supply of rain. To sum up : the climate best 

 adapted for tea cultivation is one like that of Assam, where the 

 thermometer seldom ranges higher than 96° in the hottest season 

 daring the day, or goes down below 56° at night ; where, too, 

 there is a rainfall of from 100 to 120 inches, equally distributed 

 throughout all the months of the year. Unfortunately, the climate 

 which is most congenial to the tea plant is that which is the 

 least so to the planter, and on this account many (more especially 

 those who are working gardens on their own account) are content with 

 smaller returns in a pleasant and healthy climate. I shall now take 

 a brief notice of the several tea districts of India, noticing the 

 growth, condition, and yield of the plants in the different climates 

 and at different elevations. The climates of Assam, Cachar, and 

 Chittagong are so similar in all respects, and so comparatively well 

 known, as to render unnecessary a special notice of them ; but I may 



