TEA. 



101 



expend £10/000 a year on the cultivation of the tea plant on tlie 

 b inks of tlie Beas, as well as at AnarkuUee, and Kotghur in the 

 Simla jurisdiction. Beyond the Beas there is a series of valleys 

 on to Noonpoor, viz., the Palklun, Kangra, Hillo, &c., from 3,000 

 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, separated from each other 

 by small ranges of iiills. The valleys are horn tliree to four miles 

 in breadth, and from sixty to seventy in length ; they are sheltered 

 on the north by high mountains. They are described as admi- 

 rably suited for the cultivation of the plant, now about to be 

 attempted nnder the able management of Dr. Jamieson. Should 

 it prove successful, tlie benelits it wiU confer on the country will 

 be enormous. Tea is a favorite beverage everywhere wdth the 

 natives : at present their supplies come i:i scanty measure and 

 bad condition, at extravagant charges, across the frontier. 



The cultivation of the tea plant in the highlands of the Pun- 

 jaub, is likely to be successful, even beyond the hopes of its pro- 

 moters. Thousands of plants sown in 1849 have attained a height 

 of four or five feet, and there seems no reason why tea should not 

 ultimately become an important article of trade in the Punjaub, 

 as weU as in Kumaon. The Indian teas are already becoming- 

 popular in the English market, and the cultivators have the ad- 

 vantage of a demand which is almost unlimited, and of prices which 

 seldom fluctuate to any great extent. 



The experiment of growing tea in the Madras Presidency lias 

 been often successfully tried, on a small scale. A number of 

 plants supplied by government, through Dr. Wallich, were i)lanted 

 in the Shevaroy hills, about twelve or fourteen years since, and 

 have tin^ven well; but though no doubt is entertained of the ease 

 witli whicii they could be propagated over a wide extent of coun- 

 try, no attempt has been made to give the cultivation a practical 

 turn, or to make a cup of tea from the southern Indian tree. In 

 Ooorg, too, the experiment has been tested with like results, so 

 that sufficient v/arranty exists to justify trials on the largest 

 scale. 



Tea plants grow in luxuriance in the open air, at the Botanical 

 Grardens, at Kew. Mr. Bonynge has seen this plant growing 

 wikl in jN". lat. 27 deg. 30 min. on hills from three to 500 feet in 

 height, where too, there was an abundance of frost, snow and haiL 



Those persons in England who possess tea plants, and who cul- 

 tivate them for pleasure, should always bear in mind that, even in, 

 the tea districts of China, this shrub will not succeed if it be 

 planted in low, wet land ; and this is, doubtless, one of the reasons 

 why so few persons succeed in grovfing it in this country. It 

 ought always to be planted on a warm sloping bank, in order to 

 give it a fair chance of success. If some of the warm spots of 

 this kind in the south of England or Ireland were selected, who 

 kjiows but that our cottagt-rs might be able to grow their own 

 tea? at ail o\eiii.^, iko) might have the fragrant herb to look 

 upon. 



The Dutch ui.id liic Uiol ii ..-inciii lu '>a eak i i il oliarm i^t 



