1839.] extent and produce of the Tea Plantations in Assam. 175 



never have attained to half the perfection they now have, under ten years 

 in their own country. 



I may here observe, that the sun has a material effect on the leaves ; 

 for as soon as the trees that shade the plants are removed, the leaf, from 

 a fine deep green, begins to turn into a yellowish colour, which it retains 

 for some months, and then again gradually changes to a healthy green, 

 but now becomes thicker, and the plant throws out far more numerous 

 leaves than when in the shade. The more the leaves are plucked, the 

 greater number of them are produced ; if the leaves of the first crop 

 were not gathered, you might look in vain for the leaves of the second 

 crop. The Tea made from the leaves in the shade is not near so good 

 as that from leaves exposed to the sun ; the leaves of plants in the 

 sun are much earlier in season than of those in the shade ; the leaves 

 from the shady tract give out a more watery liquid when rolled, and 

 those from the sunny a more glutinous substance. When the leaves of 

 either are rolled on a sunny day, they emit less of this liquid than on a 

 rainy day. This juice decreases as the season advances. The plants 

 in the sun have flowers and fruit much earlier than those in the shade, 

 and are far more numerous ; they have flowers and seeds in July, and 

 fruit in November. Numerous plants are to be seen that by some 

 accident, either cold or rain, have lost all their flowers, and commence 

 throwing out fresh flower-buds more abundantly than ever. Thus it is 

 not unfrequent to see some plants in flower so late as March (some 

 of the China plants were in flower in April) bearing at once the old 

 and the new seeds, flower-buds, and full-blown flowers — all at one 

 and the same time. The rain also greatly affects the leaves; for some 

 sorts of Tea cannot be made on a rainy clay ; for instance the Pouchong 

 and Mingehew. The leaves for these ought to be collected about 10 

 a. m. on a sunny morning, when the dew has evaporated. The Pouchong 

 can only be manufactured from the leaves of the first crop ; but the 

 Mingehew, although it requires the same care in making as the other, 

 can yet be made from any crop, provided it is made on a sunny morning. 

 The Chinese dislike gathering leaves on a rainy day for any description 

 of Tea, and never will d© so, unless necessity requires it. Some pre- 

 tend to distinguish the Teas made on a rainy and on a sunny day, 

 much in the same manner as they can distinguish the shady from the 

 sunny Teas — by their inferiority. If the large leaves for the Black- 

 Tea were collected on a rainy day, about seven seers, or fourteen 

 pounds, of green leaves would be required to make one seer, or two 

 pounds, of Tea; but if collected on a sunny day, about four seers, or 

 eight pounds, of green leaves, would make one seer, or two pounds, of 

 Tea; — so the Chinamen say. I tried the experiment, and found it to 



