THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  i 1892. 
332 
bamboos  being  fixed  in  the  ground  when  the  eooly 
rested  on  the  road  and  with  the  box  secured  to 
the  top,  laid  against  the  wall  of  the  building  in 
which  the  ooolies  slept.  Mr.  Fortune  estimated 
the  gains  of  the  tea  growers  cf  China  in  his 
time  at  a very  moderate  proportion  of  what 
accrued  to  middlemen  and  merchants,  and  his 
information  led  him  to  believe  that  plots  or 
plantations  of  tea  wore  out  and  were  renewed 
every  nine  or  twelve  years.  This  article  is  written 
on  a properly  running  from  4 660  to  6,075  feet 
elevation,  where  we  regard  the  tea  plant  as  only 
attaining  full  bearing  in  the  8fch-10th  year  after 
planting  out;  while,  with  proper  culture  and  oc 
oasional  treatment  with  manure,  there  is  no  idea 
of  the  bushes  wearing  out  for  half  a century  at 
least,  if  even  then  they  are  not,  in  this  forcing  but 
recuperative  olimate,  in  their  prime.  In  contrast 
with  Mr.  Fortune's  statement  of  the  short  life  of  a 
probably  severely  plucked  tea  plantation,  is  the  notice 
by  the  traveller  Cooper  of  some  tea  trees  of  gigantic 
size  he  found  growing,  if  we  recollect  aright,  near 
a Chinese  inn,  the  authentic  history  of  which  gave 
them  an  existence  of  five  centuries.  Judging  by 
the  well-supported  statements  regarding  yews, 
oypresses,  oaks  and  other  trees,  which  have  seen 
even  a thousand  years  of  life,  we  find  nothing  im- 
probable in  Cooper’s  statement ; and  we  oertainly 
Bee  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Ceylon  tea  estates, 
especially  those  at  high  altitudes,  if  they  reoeive 
justice  in  cultural  treatment  may  survive  and  yield 
luxuriant  returns  of  leaf  for  several  successive 
generations.  In  Ceylon  we  have  heard  of  the 
“ inoumbents”  of  Buddhist  temples  leasing  temple 
lands  to  European  tea  planters  and  sacrilegiously 
appropriating  the  rents  to  their  personal  use  and 
indulgence  in  luxury  and  vioe.  But  we  have  not 
heard  of  any  of  the  “monks”  here  imitating  the 
Buddhist  and  Taouist  “ priests  ” of  China  in 
regularly  growing,  preparing  and  selling  tea  in 
quantities  to  middlemen  or  merchants.  Many  of 
the  Buddhist  priests  of  Ceylon  miyht  be  and 
probably  are  worse  employed,  for  we  all  know 
who  the  personage  is  who  finds  “ mischief 
still  for  idle  hands  to  do.”  Here  we  take  leave 
for  today  of  Mr.  Fortune’s  fasoinating  and  instruc- 
tive narrative  of  his  adventurous  and  abun- 
dantly suooessful  journeys  through  the  beauti- 
ful river-valleys  ana  the  grand  mountain  ranges 
of  China,  and,  we  may  add,  of  India.  But  there 
is  much  of  interest  regarding  not  only  tea  and  tea 
soils  and  climates,  but  also  the  remarkable 
geological  features  and  botanioal  productions  of 
China  generally, — with  their  striking  analogy  to 
similar  conditions  in  the  Himalayan  provinces  of 
India, — to  which  we  must  revert  in  another  artiole. 
-—Our  notice  of  a book  published  in  1852,  that  is 
forty  years  ago,  is  due  to  the  kind  attention  of  a 
friend  who  pioked  up  the  volume  at  a bookstall, 
read  it  with  great  interest  himself,  and  presented  it 
to  us  for  perusal  and  notice.  We  have  to  thank 
him  for  an  intellectual  treat  ; and  we  believe  our 
readers  will  appreciate  the  interesting  information 
we  have  thus  been  able  to  resusoitate. 
Terracing  hill  Blopes  has  always  been  a favourite 
system  in  tea  culture  in  India  ; and  we  recollect 
the  favourable  impression  created  in  our  mind 
by  this  mode  of  cultivation  as  we  saw  it  in 
Darjiling  as  applied  to  tea  and  in  Java  on  some 
of  the  Government  cinchona  plantations.  But, 
unless  the  soil  is  very  deep,  there  is  the  risk  of 
raw  subsoil  being  brought  up  to  the  roots  of  the 
plants,  the  process  is  in  alt  cases  an  expensive  one, 
and  there  is  dinger  of  the  terraces  collecting 
water  during  rainstorms  and  being  swept  awiy. 
Mr.  Fortune,  with  his  oommonsense  views  and 
his  experience  of  culture  in  China,  described 
terracing  as  being  equally  unnecessary  with  irri- 
gation, although  he  emphasized  the  necessity  of 
good  drainage.  As  regards  the  carriage  of  tea 
seeds,  too,  Mr.  Fortune  anticipated  the  principles 
which  are  now  generally  applied  ; and  he  specially 
recommended  the  use  of  wardian  cases  for  the 
transport  of  Beeds  as  well  as  seedlings  and  good 
plants.  On  this  subject  we  must  quote  : — 
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  generally  known. 
It  is  simply  to  sow  the  seeds  in  Ward’s  cases  soon 
after  they  are  gathered. 
My  first  experiment  was  tried  in  the  following 
manner.  Having  procured  some  fine  mulberry-plants 
from  the  district  where  the  best  Chinese  silk  is  pro- 
duced, I planted  them  in  a Ward’s  case  in  the  usual 
way,  and  watered  them  well.  In  two  or  three  days, 
when  the  soil  was  sufficiently  dry,  a large  quantity  of 
tea-seeds  were  scattered  over  its  surface,  and  covered 
with  earth  about  half  an  inch  deep.  The  whole  was 
now  sprinkled  with  water,  and  fastened  down  with  a 
few  crossbars  to  keep  the  earth  in  its  place.  The 
case  was  then  screwed  down  in  the  usual  way,  and  made 
as  tight  as  possible. 
When  the  case  reached  Calcutta  the  mulberry  - 
plants  were  found  to  be  in  good  condition,  and  the 
tea-seed  had  germinated  during  the  voyage,  and  were 
now  covering  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Dr.  Falconer, 
writing  to  me  upon  the  receipt  of  this  case,  says, 
“ The  young  tea-plants  were  sprouting  around  the 
mulberries  as  thick  as  they  could  come  up.” 
During  this  year  (1S49)  large  quantities  of  seeds 
were  sown  in  other  cases  between  the  rows  of  young 
tea-plants.  These  also  germinated  on  their  way  to 
India,  and  reached  their  destination  in  the  Himalayas 
in  good  condition. 
When  the  news  of  the  success  of  these  experiments 
reached  me  from  India,  I determined  to  adopt  the 
same  plan  when  I packed  the  cases  which  I was  now 
taking  round  under  my  own  care.  Tea-seeds  were 
therefore  sown  in  all  the  cases  between  the  rows  of 
young  plants. 
Fourteen  cases  having  been  packed  and  prepared 
in  this  manner,  I had  still  a large  quantity  of  seeds 
—about  a bushel — remaining  on  hand.  These  I 
determined  to  dispose  of  in  the  following  manner. 
Two  glazed  cases  had  been  prepared  to  take  a col- 
lection of  camellias  from  China  to  the  Botanic 
Garden  at  Calcutta.  The  tea-seeds  were  emptied 
out  in  front  of  these  cases  and  a small  portion  of 
earth  thrown  in  amongst  them.  A layer  of  this 
mixture,  which  now  consisted  of  about  one  part  earth 
and  two  parts  seeds,  was  laid  in  the  bottom  of  each 
case,  and  the  camellia-plants  were  lifted  gently  out 
of  their  pots  and  placed  upon  it.  The  spaces  between 
the  plants  were  then  filled  up  to  the  proper  height 
with  this  mixture  of  tea-seeds  and  earth,  and  a little 
soil  was  sprinkled  upon  the  surface  to  cover  the 
uppermost  seeds.  The  whole  was  then  well  watered, 
bars  were  nailed  across  to  keep  the  earth  in  its 
place, and  the  lids  of  the  cases  were  fastened  down 
in  the  usual  manner. 
My  collections  of  plants  and  seeds,  which  now 
filled  sixteen  glazed  cases,  were  in  this  state  when 
I left  Shanghae. 
"When  the  cases  were  opened  in  Calcutta  the  young 
tea-plants  were  found  to  be  in  good  copdition.  The 
seeds  which  had  been  sown  between  the  rows  were 
also  just  beginning  to  germinate.  These,  of  coui’se, 
