Chap. XXI. 



PACKING TEA-SEEDS. 



355 



CHAPTER XXL 



Experiments with tea-seeds — Best method of sending them to distant 

 countries — How oaks and chestnuts might be transported — 

 Arrive at Calcutta — Condition of the collections — East India 

 Company's botanic garden — Amherstia and other plants in bloom 

 — Proceed onwards — The Sunderbunds — Arrive at Allahabad — 

 Land journey — Keach Saharunpore — State of the tea-plants — 

 Saharunpore garden — Mussooree garden — Its trees and other 

 productions- — Its value to the country and to Europe. 



In the autumn of 1848 I sent large quantities of 

 tea-seeds to India. Some were packed in loose 

 canvas bags, others were mixed with dry earth and 

 put into boxes, and others again were put up in very 

 small packages, in order to be quickly forwarded by 

 post ; but none of these methods were attended with 

 much success. Tea-seeds retain their vitality for a 

 very short period if they are out of the ground. It 

 is the same with oaks and chestnuts, and hence the 

 great difficulty of introducing these valuable trees into 

 distant countries by seeds. 



In 1849, however, I succeeded in finding a sure 

 and certain method of transporting tea-seeds to 

 foreign countries in full life ; and as this method will 

 apply to all short-lived seeds as well as to those of 

 the tea-plant, it is important that it should be gene- 

 rally known. It is simply to sow the seeds in Ward's 

 cases soon after they are gathered. 



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