to*. 1901] 



79 



Edible Products, 



OTHER PROBLEMS. 



We have spoken of the treatment of mature tea. But there are many 

 questions which can only be settled by growing tea ourselves from seed ; the relative 

 effect of various treatments on different types of a tea ; the botanical differences of 

 jats, and their identification : the advantages of methods of pruning a bush in its 

 early life, of encouraging a long taproot and of various other kinds of root growth ; 

 and so on. We are making arrangements for planting out nurseries of several of the 

 best types of Assam indigenous, and of Manipuri tea seed, — and also probably of 

 Lushai and Naga seed during the cold weather of 1903-06— and results from these 

 experiments ought quickly to be obtained. 



This short sketch of a few of the more obvious problems awaiting solution, 

 and which it is intended to tackle is, of course, very incomplete— but it will, we think, 

 give an idea of the class of question we are anxious to investigate and which the 

 existence of Heeleaka station will give us the opportunity to touch. We should like 

 it to be thoroughly understood, however, that any matter which arises in practical 

 planting and which is capable of decision, the Heeleaka station will be ready, as time 

 and opportunity allows, to take up and enquire into until definite conclusions are 

 obtained. 



It will be evident that many matters cannot be decided here. Everything 

 which depends on differences of soil or of climate will demand several such stations 

 for their investigation. The results obtained will, in fact, always be subject to 

 modification when applied to land and districts other than those in which they have 

 been obtained. In many cases, what such modification must be will be evident ; in 

 others similar stations in other districts and on other land will be required and it is 

 possible that in years to come they may be supplied. This is, however, for the 

 future. At present, there is plenty of scope for the work of the Heeleaka station in 

 getting results which will be of general application, and which can be utilised by 

 planters all over North East India. 



So far we have only dealt with problems of tea culture : almost equally im- 

 portant are those of tea manufacture, which will also have as much attention as can 

 be given. Our knowledge of the processes going on during manufacture has very 

 much increased of recent years but much remains to be done before all is understood 

 and alterations produced in the tea by modifications of the process are completely 

 grasped. This is, not, however, the place to go into these problems. Primarily the 

 Heeleaka station is one for the tea culture, and its success will depend on the pro- 

 gress it makes in clearing up the moot points which still remain in the best treatment 

 of the soil and the plant for producing the largest quantity possible of the best 

 quality of tea without injury to the bushes. (Bulletin, India Tea Association.) 



TEA CULTURE IN JAPAN. 



Tea Producing Districts.— The chief tea-producing districts in Japan lie 

 between the 34th and the 36th parallel of latitude. Of these the most important 

 centres are those of Shizuoka prefecture, comprising the provinces of Suruga and 

 Totomi and of the Kyoto urban prefecture with its headquarters at the town of 

 Uji. Tea can be grown in suitable places as far north as 40° N., but the plant 

 cannoc be cultivated with any great success north of the province of Echigo. The 

 following is a list of those prefectures which produce over 150,000 kwan (about 

 1,250,000 lb.) of tea annually :— Kyoto, Ibaraki, Nara, Mie, Shizuoka, Higa, Gifu, 

 Yamaguchi, Kochi, Fukoka, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima ; of these, Kyoto, Shizuoka 

 and Mie average 400,000 Kwan (about 3| million lbs.) and above per annum, 



