6i8 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [January 2, 1882. 
TEA CULTURE IN MINAS (BRAZIL). 
(Rio News, 24th August 1881.) 
In travelling over the central line of the Dom Pedro 
II railway and along its prolongation through the in- 
terior of the province of Minas Geraes to the Rio das 
Velhas, the thoughtful traveller has constantly suggested 
to his mind the question : "What can this region, which 
is still almost virgin as regards regular agriculture, pro- 
duce that can bear the high price of transportation to 
the sea board and leave a reasonable profit to the pro- 
ducer ? Beyond Juis de Fora the country is considered 
to be sterile and almost unfit for cultivation, because 
the climate, or soil, or both, are not well adapted to 
the cultivation of the great Brazilian staple, coffee. This 
idea that the campo lands are only fit for grazing is so 
deeply rooted that a long time will be required to 
eradicate it, notwithstanding that the people have constant- 
ly before their eyes proofs to the contrary in the beautiful 
chacaras and gardens of Barbacena and other places, 
established on typical campo lands, in which a little 
care and attention in the cultivation have given results 
which, if not as brilliant as in the wooded regions, are 
at least very satisfactory. It is the old idea of the 
Mexican population of the Pacific slope of the United 
States whose immense and so-called sterile cattle ranches 
now constitute the celebrated wheat and fruit-growing 
districts of California. It is certain that the campo lands 
of Brazil are inferior to the wooded lands, and that in 
many places the soil is poor and thin, but for the most 
part those of the centre of Minas Geraes would be con- 
sidered very desirable by many farmers of the eastern 
United States and of many other prosperous agricultural 
regions. The fact is, as will be proved whenever a 
thorough and rational system of agriculture is put in 
practice, that nearly all of Central Minas is capable of 
sustaining a large and active agricultural population. 
The principal question at present is that of the kinds 
of cultivation which, with the actual high rates of trans- 
portation, can be followed with advantage until such 
time as the increase in population and wealth shall 
make the traffic sufficiently important as to permit such 
a reduction in the freight rates as will render possible 
the cultivation and exportation of all the products that 
the region is capable of producing, including even the 
bulky products of least value. 
It is hardly necessary to speak of coftee and tobacco, 
as these are already cultivated on a greater or less scale 
throughout the region, and it is evident that their cultiva- 
tion might be indefinitely extended. Except in the 
highest and coldest parts, coffee produces well, though 
it is only seen in gardens and not in regular planta- 
tions. There is a general complaint that it ripens ir- 
regularly, though this perhaps is not so great an obstacle 
to its general cultivation as it is often represented to 
be. As an article of export, however, for a great part 
of Central Minas, coffee is out of the question on ac- 
count of the high freight rates, which will probably 
limit its cultivation to the zone below the Serra da 
Mantaqueira. Further in the interior it can only be 
produced for local consumption, or for the supply of 
more remote districts. 
Many other products might be mentioned for which 
the climate and soil of Central Minas are fitted, and 
which present the all essential requisite, in the present 
condition of the province, of combining a high value 
in a small bulk, but these remarks have perhaps already 
extended too far for the purpose for which they were 
intended, viz., an introduction to some observations on 
the cultivation of tea. As is well known, tea culture 
was introduced into Brazil many years ago as an ex- 
periment, and tea plants are now found in many gardens 
as objects of curiosity, and tea even comes to the market 
from a few localities in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, 
Sao Paulo, and Minas Geraes. This species of cultiva- 
tion, however, seems to have attracted but little atten- 
tion, and the question as to whether or not the culti- 
vation might not with advantage be greatly extended, 
at least, to the point of supplying the home market, 
' seems never to have been seriously considered. Among 
the many new or nascent industries that merit careful 
attention and study, that of tea culture deserves to take 
a prominent place not only on account of its adapt- 
ability to the conditions of the country, but also on 
account of the fact that the product is always certain 
to find a good market at a high price. This opinion 
is based on observations made on a small plantation of 
tea on a fazcnda near Ouro Pre to, belonging to the 
family of the late Barao de Camargos, and on informa- 
tion kindly furnished by the son of the late Barao, 
Dr. Antonio Teixeira de Souza Magalhaes. 
The Fazenda do Thesoureiro is situated on the road 
from Ouro Preto to Diamantina, at a distance of four 
leagues from the former place, and about half a league 
distant from the eastern base of the Serra da Caraca. 
The fazenda, which in its appointments is one of the 
best in this part of the province, owes its importance 
primarily to a rich series of auriferous rocks that tra- 
verse the property and gave origin to very extensive 
and lucrative gold washings, and, secondly, to a small 
tea plantation made some forty years ago and care- 
fully preserved to the present time. The tea is planted 
on a hill-side with an eastern exposure, occupying an 
area of about five English acres. The plants are about 
four feet apart, and are kept pruned to a height of 
about two feet. The soil is a red sandy clay result- 
ing from the decomposition of the greasy alkaline schists 
so abundant in Central Minas, and is full of quartz and 
ironstone pebbles and rich in iron. The ground is full 
of that Brazilian pest, the Sauva ant, but this is far 
from being so great a disadvantage as in other branches 
of agriculture, because, although the ants cut off some 
of the new leaves fit for tea-making, if they are not 
promptly gathered, their ravages are mainly confined to 
the older and tougher leaves, so that by a natural pro- 
cess of pruning the formation of new leaves is increased. 
A marked increase in growth and vigour is also noticed 
in those plants situated over the ant hills, due to the 
loosening of the soil about their roots. 
The process of manufacture is briefly this. Through- 
out the rainy season of five or six months, the new 
and tender leaves that appear shortly after each rain 
are picked and carried to the drying-house. This con- 
sists of a large room with several tables and a low 
furnace of masonry fed from the outside and support- 
ing shallow iron pans about 2J feet in diameter set in 
holes in the top of the furnace directly over the fire. 
Each panman fills his pan with green leaves and stirs 
them rapidly for about half an hour over a hot fire 
with a peculiar motion to wilt them. In this process he 
has to remove the leaves every few minutes and scour 
the pan to remove the gummy matter which exudes from 
the hot leaves, and which if left adhering to the pan 
would cause scorching. When properly wilted the leaves 
are taken to the rolling table on which is a movable 
screen of coarse wicker-work made of bamboo, on which 
the leaves are rubbed with a strong pressure of the hand, 
which extracts from them a considerable quantity of 
vegetable extracts rich in tannin which oozes through 
the screen, and, at the same time, the leaves curl or 
roll up into various fonns according to then degree of 
tenderness. They are then ready for the final drying 
which requires several hours in the pan. This is the 
most delicate part of the process, great practice and 
skill being required to produce the best tea by a proper 
management of the fire and of the stirring. After this 
drying the tea is assorted either immediately, or after 8. 
delay of weeks or months, according to the urgency of 
other work. The assorting is done by fanning the dried 
leaves in bamboo sieves with holes of various sizes and 
shapes, the number of varieties being dependent on the 
number of sieves employed and the care and patience 
expended on this somewhat tedious process. Some of the 
