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TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. XVI. 



rica, and also in our own Australian colonies.* I 

 believe all such attempts will end in failure and 

 disappointment. The tea-plant will grow wherever 

 the climate and soil are suitable, and, were it merely 

 intended as an ornamental shrub, there could be no 

 objections to its introduction into those countries. 

 But if it is introduced to be cultivated as an object 

 of commercial speculation, we must not only inquire 

 into the suitableness of climate and soil, but also into 

 the price of labour. Labour is cheap in China. The 

 labourers in the tea-countries do not receive more 

 than twopence or threepence a day. Can workmen 

 be procured for this small sum either in the United 

 States or in Australia ? And if they cannot be hired 

 for this sum, nor for anything near it, how will the 

 manufacturers in such places be able to compete with 

 the Chinese in the market ? 



The tea-plants of China are common enough in 

 this country. In the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew r 

 they have been growing in the open air for some 

 years. They are also to be met with in many other 

 gardens, and almost in every nursery. They are 

 pretty evergreen bushes, and produce a profusion 

 of single white flowers in the winter and spring, 

 about the time that camellias are in bloom. It is 

 not, however, for the beauty of their flowers that 

 they are grown — although there is much in them to 

 admire — but on account of their being the plants 

 which produce our favourite beverage. 



* I shall have to speak of tea cultivation in India in a future 

 chapter . 



