186 



THE SOUTHE 



RN PLANTER. 



than anything else I can write about — 

 the process of curing the tea. It is very 

 simple, and the idea which some of you 

 " outside barbarians" entertain, that tea is 

 dried on copper is entirely incorrect. It is 

 mostly picked from the bushes by women 

 and children, into baskets, one person be- 

 ing able to pick about thirty "cattis" (or 

 forty pounds) in a day. It is then spread 

 on mats, and dried an hour or more in the 

 sun, previously, however, having some of 

 the juice squeezed out, and the leaves 

 somewhat curled, by rubbing them with 

 the hand over a rough kind of matting, 

 which lets the juice run off. After dry- 

 ing in the sun, it is ready to be " fired," 

 which is an operation we watched some 

 time, with much interest. A dozen or 

 more pounds are put into a kind of ket- 

 tle, resembling a potash kettle, except that 

 it is low on the front side, and runs up 

 some two feet behind. A man stands in 

 front, and keeps the tea constantly stirring 

 while being heated, which he accom- 

 plishes by thrusting his arms as high as 

 his elbows under the hot tea, and giving 

 it a toss upwards against the back of the 

 kettle. This operation is kept up two or 

 three hours, by two men, who constantly 

 relieve each other. When this process is 

 finished, it is ready for market, but tea 

 that is intended for exportation is again 

 fired slightly by the tea merchants before 

 being shipped. We drank some that was 

 growing on the bushes the day before, 

 and might have obtained some that had 

 been gathered and cured that day. This 

 tea is of a fine quality, and is known as 

 the " Tau-bah-san" tea, from the name of 

 the mountain on which it grows. Some 

 of the finest of it is prepared for the Em- 

 peror. It is the green tea of which I have 

 been writing. The black, it may be, is 

 subjected to a process in some respects 

 different. 



YIELD OF WHEAT FROM A SINGLE 

 HEAD. 



Mr. Colman mentions that Mr. Jonas, 

 of Cambridgeshire, England, in 1838, 

 dibbled in 50 kernels, the produce of one 



ear, 30 of which only grew. The pro- 

 duct was 14f ounces. This being sown 

 in 1839 produced 1£ bushels; which was 

 sown in 1840, and produced 45 bushels, 

 and this in 1841 produced 537 bushels. 

 He also mentions a case of remarkable 

 increase from eighteen ears in four years. 

 The first produce of these ears produced 

 7£ bushels, the second 108| bushels, and 

 the third 1,868 bushels. 



From the Albany Cultivator. 

 SOWING FLOWER SEEDS. 



Complaints are very frequent of failure 

 in the vegetation of flower seeds, and the 

 seedsmen often receive abundant censure, 

 when the fault is in the mode of sowing. 

 Minute or rare seeds, if merely buried 

 beneath common soil, can hardly be ex- 

 pected to grow. An experienced cultiva- 

 tor says, " their failure to grow in common 

 gardens, I should scarcely consider as any 

 proof that the seeds were bad." 



" But," asks the inquirer, " if seeds are 

 not to be buried beneath the soil, in what 

 possible way are they to be treated ?" 

 Follow nature — not servilely, but ration- 

 ally — imitate her successful operations, 

 not her failures — adopt such points of 

 treatment as are essential, — without blind- 

 ly copying every thing, as the Chinese 

 tailor did, when he made a new coat with 

 a patch on the sleeve from the worn pat- 

 tern given him. 



Seeds which drop in the forest are never 

 covered deeply, but they are deposited on 

 the surface of a bed of fine mould, and 

 afterwards covered with a very thin coat 

 of partially decayed vegetable matter. — 

 Flower seeds should have only a thin 

 sprinkling of fine mould upon them. The 

 seeds in the forest are kept moist by a 

 shade. Fine seeds must be protected 

 from the scorching rays of the sun, till 

 they have obtained sufficient foothold. 



A friend is very successful with such 

 seeds, by screening them, after sown, with 

 small boxes open at the bottom and top, 

 across which a piece of fine muslin is- 

 stretched, like a sieve. Light is thus ad- 



