Edible Products 



484 



[Dec. 1906. 



the bushes," by letting the shoots grow, and so forming a "new head" of young 

 wood. You cannot make good tea from old leaf —and spring crop" leaf is always 

 old. Then comes the summer crop, generally the best of the year, forced out as it is 

 by a powerful sun acting after refreshing showers, and plucked early. The rainy- 

 season crop is poor, washed-out, thin stuff, as a rule, owing to excess of moisture 

 and want of ripening sun influence. The autumn or fall crop has its own peculiar 

 flavour, often very fine, and although the leaf is red to look at, the liquor is highly 

 valued. These conditions will explain the variations and fluctuation in quality that 

 cannot be avoided, and make " generalizing" a task in which it is easy for the critic 

 to pick holes. With these preliminary remarks I will turn to the districts 

 in detail. 



The 1904 returns show that British India contains in the aggregate 524,527 

 acres, producing 222,203,661 pounds of tea, and they may be classified as follows : — 



Assam, or the Bramaputra Valley, contains 205,990 acres, yielding 83,360,173 

 pounds of tea. Besides being by far the largest district, it is the one which produces 

 the best quality teas all round. Assam teas are noted for their strength chiefly, and 

 their violet-like fragrance. They are the back-bone of a blend, and will " pick- 

 up" and give a character to a larger percentage of inferior tea than can be accom- 

 plished by the produce of any other district. When this strength is combined with 

 the strikingly fine flavour obtainable, there is nothing that can touch the produce 

 of this leading tea district in India. 



Kachar and Sylhet.— These two districts are always bracketed together, 

 and lie to the south-west of Assam, in what is known as the Surma Valley— a name 

 often applied to them in combination. Sylhet is slightly the larger (72,497 acres), and 

 the outturn of the two districts amounts to 70,000,000 pounds. In quality, their teas 

 lack the strength of Assam, and do not realize nearly as good prices, the average 

 value being about two-thirds that obtained for those of the leading district. 



The three above districts form one group, and may be described as the head- 

 quarters of tea-growing India. The second group of districts lies almost due west of 

 Assam and due north of Calcutta, and consists of Darjeeling, the Dooars and 

 the Terai, but the latter has been practically abandoned owing to its bad 

 climate. 



Darjeeling (acres, 50,623 ; crop, 13,626,490 pounds) is situated on the slopes of 

 the Himalaya Mountains, the elevations of the gardens ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 

 feet above sea-level. The climate is cool, and in consequence the season a restricted 

 one, and the crop short. But the teas are noted for their exquisite flavour (which 

 it has been found impossible to obtain from any other part of the world), and when 

 well pronounced they fetch fancy prices. There is not much strength in Darjeeling 

 teas, and when they lack the true flavour they command only moderate 

 rates. 



The Dooars lie below Darjeeling, at the foot of the Himalayas, on the flat 

 ground. The acreage is 77,279, and the outturn 32,452,478 pounds. Although not so 

 strong as those of Assam, Dooars teas generally yield a good colouring liquor, and 

 have been likened to a blend of the produce of the Bramaputra and Surma Valleys. 

 They are very useful for blending. 



Next in order of importance come the tea districts in the Madras Presi* 

 dency, in Southern India. These are Travancore, the Nilgiris and the Wynaad. 



Travancore (acres, 24,712 ; crop, 9,073,880 pounds) lies at the very end of the 

 Indian peninsula, and just opposite Ceylon, and enjoys a very similar climate. It is 

 a young district, but remarkably go-ahead* having manifold advantages of labour 



