Chap. XIV. 
TEA PLANTATIONS. 
219 
the farm, from which they are afterwards transplanted.* 
When about a year old they are from nine inches to a 
foot in height, and ready for transplanting. They are 
planted in rows about four feet apart. Five or six plants 
are put together in each hole, and these little patches 
are generally about three or four feet from each other in 
the rows. Sometimes, however, when the soil is poor, 
as in many parts of Woo-e-shan, they are planted very 
close in the rows, and have a hedge-like appearance 
when they are full grown. 
The young plantations are always made in spring, and 
are well watered by the rains which fall at the change 
of the monsoon in April and May. The damp, moist 
weather at this season enables the young plants to esta- 
blish themselves in their new quarters, where they 
require little labour afterwards, except in keeping the 
ground free from weeds. 
A plantation of tea, when seen at a distance, looks 
like a little shrubbery of evergreens. As the traveller 
threads his way amongst the rocky scenery of Woo-e- 
shan, he is continually coming upon these plantations, 
which are dotted upon the sides of all the hills. The 
leaves are of a rich, dark green, and afford a pleasing 
contrast to the strange and often barren scenery which is 
ever3rwhere around. 
The natives are perfectly aware that the practice of 
plucking the leaves is very prejudicial to the health of 
the tea-shrubs, and always take care to have the plants 
in a strong and vigorous condition before they commence 
* Sometimes the seeds are sown in the rows where they are des- 
tined to grow, and, of course, are in that case not transplanted. 
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