Chap. V. 



CULTIVATION OF TEA. 



91 



and extreme cold in winter — such as are unknown in 

 many other places in the same degree of latitude. 



But Shanghae is near the sea, and the extremes 

 of heat and cold are therefore less than in the green- 

 tea district of Hwuy-chow. I have no doubt that the 

 thermometer rises several degrees higher in summer 

 in the town of Hwuy-chow-foo than it does either 

 in Shanghae or Ning-po, and in like manner sinks 

 much lower during the winter. If we allow eight or 

 ten degrees each way we shall probably be very near 

 the truth — quite near enough for all the purposes of 

 this inquiry. 



In the green-tea district of Hwuy-chow, and I 

 believe in all other parts where the shrub is culti- 

 vated, it is multiplied by seeds. The seeds are ripe 

 in the month of October. When gathered they are 

 generally put into a basket, and mixed up with sand 

 and earth in a damp state, and in this condition they 

 are kept until the spring. If this plan is not pursued 

 only a small portion of them will germinate. Like 

 the seeds of the oak and chestnut, they are destroyed 

 when exposed to sudden changes in temperature and 

 moisture. 



In the month of March the seeds are taken out 

 of the basket and placed in the ground. They are 

 generally sown thickly, in rows or in beds, in a 

 nursery, or in some spare corner of the tea-farm, and 

 sometimes the vacancies in the existing plantations 

 are made up by sowing five or six seeds in each 

 vacant space. 



When the young plants are a year old they are in 



