Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 



159 



Natural Orders. 



Myrtaceas , 



Onagraceae 



Portulacacese , 



Umbelliferae, 



Araliacese , 



Lorantliaceae 



Caprifoliaceae, 



Valerianaceae, 



Dipsacaceas, 



Compositse, 



Campanulacese 



Ericacese , 



Aquif'oliacese, 



JasminaceaB, 



Apocynacese, 



Gentianaceae, 



Polemoniaceae, 



BoragmacesB; 



Scrophulariaceae , 



No. of 



Species. 



Natural Orders. 



2 



Lal)iata3, 



1 



Verbenacese, 



1 



PrimulacG 36 



4 





1 



PolygonacGaBj 



1 



Tliy higIsb acGcB, 



Hill T\r\ f\'v\\'\ '1 OQ 

 JLiiUpilUl UlclLcdc, 



2 



1 





3 





26 



Garry aceae, 



3 



Coiiiferce, . 



1 S 



±o 





1 



Liliaceae, . 



± 



Juncaginaceae , 



3 





1 



Gramme £6, 



3 



Filices, 



4 



16 





Total, 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



BOTANY. 



The Progress of Tea Cultivation in Northern India. — As the Russian 

 war gave an immense impetus to the growth of fibrous and oil-giving 

 plants by the natives on the plains of Northern India, so the mutiny has 

 been followed by a still more remarkable extension of the cultivation of 

 tea, by English settlers and native landowners, along the belt of the 

 Himalayas, between the altitudes of 2000 and 5000 feet for 1500 miles 

 from Suddya to Peshawur. Official reports enable as to learn exactly 

 the extent of that development up to so recent a period as May 1863. To 

 ascertain the number of planters, extent of grants, and amount of produce 

 at the close of the present year, we may add one-half to all the figures we 

 are about to give. A glance at the " Calcutta Gazette'' will show the 

 enormous extent of tea land advertised as applied for by capitalists in 

 Assam. Our share-list, which does not represent private owners, almost 

 every week contains the name of a new tea company. There are several 

 young plantations, which annually double their produce ; and Dr Jame- 

 son's reports of the Western Himalayan Gardens abound in remarks, to 

 the effect that the out-turn of tea a short time hence will be immensely 

 increased. To the capitalist, the recommendation of a tea plantation is 

 the annually increasing returns it gives from the third to the seventh 

 year, when the plant attains perfection. Nine-tenths of the gardens now 

 in existence are not four years old. 



We shall begin our survey at the border line which separates China 

 from Assam, and proceed westward. Chinese tradition points to India 

 as the original home of the tea plant ; and the connection between the 

 two countries was so intimate, as proved by Buddhism, that we accept 

 the fact on which the tradition is based. We had hardly obtained pos- 

 session of Assam, when in 1825 Mr Bruce, still an uncovenanted officer 

 at Tezpore, discovered the indigenous tea-plant. For some time Govern 



