878 
THE TROPion^i. isesiietJLTomsT. 
[June i, 1892, 
was a peck of it, and it was in a sealed jar. He gave 
about half of it away to neighbours and others who 
wanted it for a curiosity. He thought it would be 
ft good idea to plant some o£ it, and prepared a piece 
of groand near his house for that purpose, planting 
about two quarts of the seed. It sprouted and thrived 
well uoder cultivation given it. The ears came well, 
■when harvested. They are about six inches long, and 
the grains, which are small, being about one-fourth the 
size of the ordinary corn, are close together, standing 
up with sharp points. Mercer thinks that this must be 
the original corn of the country, from which the 
present Indian corn has sprung through long and high 
cultivation. What is remarkable abovit it is that the 
mound from which it. was taken is undoubtedly very 
old, for on it are growing trees that show by their 
rings that they are over 200 years old. The relics 
found with tha corn are similar to those found in 
mounds of Ohio and Illinois, and this mound must be 
co-existent with those which are thought to be over 
1,000 years old. Mercer has sent samples of his corn to 
friends in the East and the Governmen t officials at 
"Washingtoc. — American Miller. 
THE HOME OF THE TEA KING. 
(Communicated.) 
Crowning a respectably sized hill somewhere about 
five miles beyond Stanger township the traveller no- 
tices an extensive, imposing building in Kenaissance 
style, which commands a vast and distant vifw, even 
as far as to the Etshowe camp in British Zululand. 
The rugged, hilly nature of this part of Natal has not 
interfered with what has turned out a remarkably suo- 
ceesful colonial industry, viz., the tea planting, and it 
is no iiile boast to say that the success of this now 
flourishing industry has been due to the indomitable 
perseverance and dogged pertinacity of our energetic 
colonist, Mr. John Liege Hulett, m.l.c. The start of 
this great work was made with a few hundred tea 
bushes in 1887, which were obtained from seed as far 
back as 1880. The preliminary five acres of five years 
ago have developed into over 300 acres on Kearsney 
estate alone, quite 170 acres on Mr. Hulett's adjoin- 
ing estate, Kirkly Vale, and over 100 acres on a third 
and new estate called Bulwer, situated about nine 
miles from the first, the leaf being, however, all treated 
at the central works adjoining Keafsney Hall. 
The Bulwer estate specially will be worked on the 
Centra! Mill system, that is, leasing portions of the 
land to small grower?, tha proprietor purchasing the 
leaf and manufacturing us before mentioned. 
Being a great lover of good ten, the visitor soon 
spotted the active fnti-responeible leader in oue of the 
enormous fields, covered with the profit-bringing low 
bush, planted in long rows of marked regularity. 
The information required was most willingly given 
by Mr. Hulett, who said the Natal tea plant was 
originally obtained from Indian seed, a variety of 
Aesam, and proved itself admirably adapted for the 
colony' so much so that the yield in Natal per acre 
is far in advonce of the same tea per acre in India, 
and fully equal to the producing power of other tea 
countries, .such as Ooylon, &c. 
" Mr. Hulett, it has often been stated that the 
rainfall' in Natal is too small to give a successful tea 
leaf crop compared to India and Ceylon? As one of 
the veteran growere you cau bo doubt give me in- 
formation on th;.^ P^'"^' ,,, I.- 
Mr Hulett answoiC-d deliberately, that his experi- 
ence was the hard fact, that with the smaller rainfall 
the returns are actually larger in Natal than other 
tea-growiug couotries, because in these the comes 
down with tropical vioslenco in great masses, wh'!"*' 
in th<5 giirdcu Colony of South Africa the rain des- 
cends ill the form of genial showers, which the thirsty 
land abbcrbs thoroughly, and the \tuter therefore ia 
not wasted. The rainfall in this part of Victoria 
County ifl usually pbout .S5 to ."iO inches per annum, 
and the usual climp.to i-xperi'^nced is the day bre&king 
with heavy fogs, obscuring IIkj distant country, (ind 
on lifting giving a hot Hwltoring hint which is most 
ouilable for tea culture. No frosts are experienced 
Vh'ich would be fatal to tho plants. 
Tea takes seven years to mature, th mgh the first 
picking is done at the end of the third year from 
time of planting, increasing year by year as the 
plants develop. The jield and quality of the leaf 
depend eijthely on the class of foil, favourable seasons, 
and care bestowed in cultivating the plants. Between 
the second and third year the yield of the lea leaf, 
that is, the light green flush or young leaves which 
sprout out on the top of the bueh, may range 
between 100 lb. to 200 lb. of dry te* per acre, and 
even more. The fcllowing season that return may be 
doubled, and by the time the tea bush is at its 
maximum power, the yield can be from 800 to 1,000 
lb. of dry tea per acre per annum. The proprietor of 
Kearsney has, for instance, taken from an area about 
20 acres in extent quite 1,200 lb. of dry tea per acre 
in a year, and that from plants between five and 
six years old. This wonderful bush gets an age of 
quite 25 if ears, butinltdian plantai ions, plants grow- 
ing for 20 or 40 years are still flourishing ; and it 
is also interesting to learn that the tea tree grows 
naturally to a tree, rai ging from 28 to 30 feet in 
height, witli a stem baying a diameter of about 
six inohen, but is, of course, «lways kept stunted 
to a bush not abo^e two or three feet in height. 
It is cultivated for plantation purposes in long 
rows, each bush four to five feet apart, and 
trained by pruning into the shape of saucer-shaped 
tops, in order to have the maximum area extent 
for picking surface. At Keai-f>ney Estate the planta- 
tions cover hil!s and valleys for long distances, and 
are protected by huge hectges in the shape of tree 
belts, mostly blue gums, which break the cutting 
power of the winds. 
The natural labour supply of Natal only being 
available to a very limited extent the veteran tea 
planter finds it necessary to employ about 200 
Indians, who, with their wives and children are 
all bueily employed either in the fields, picking 
leaf or pruning and weeding plants, or in the 
large works, ot which a description follows. To 
the casual visitor in Natal it is most pertinent 
that the many agricultural and planting enter- 
prises in the colony in which large capital has 
been sunk, similar to the tea industry that takes years 
to develop, the whole success depends entirely and 
solely on a reliable and steady labour supply, which 
is efficiently kept up by the Indian immigration 
system. lo contraRt to this, the genus " Arab 
merchant " might well be dispensed with, for more 
than one reason, from the colony. 
The jield of tea in 1887 was about 300 lb. This 
industry has developed in the lest five years to such 
an extent that this season a market will have to 
be fonnd for Keareney teas for over 300,000 lb. 
of dry tea. 
The adj' iningtea plantations are Clifton and Nonoti 
from which large quantities of young teas are being 
sent, alf o some very good qualities, and from 10 others ; 
from the latter the leaf is all manufactured at the 
exte'ieive Kearsney works. The total extent of the 
tea planted in the immediate neighbourhood of Kears- 
ney is about l,500acres. 
Beifg anxious to know how the tea is made into the 
palatable beverage" we all loveeo,"from old ladies 
downwards, I followed the genial proprietor into the 
large works adjoining the stately mansion, and here 
met Mr. Drummond, the gentleman who is in charge 
of them. From him I gained the following interest- 
ing details regarding the various processes, 
TheSgreen leaf is brought into these works by the 
coolies who deposit their baskets, containing about 
251b. on the scales to be weighed. It is calculated 
that the green leaf is about four timea . the weight of 
tbe dyy tea ; that is, 10001b. of green leaf will yield 
; --«■■ 250 lb. of tea. From the scales in the 
? . " ~ ie»f js carried to the wither- 
basenrient, t^. .. , j ^ ^^^^ 
ing lofts, where it is ^ , ^ thl active 
out over hiige flat staoK= oooUft 
and rapid hand.s of dozens of > n 
children. This being the first process, takes about x„ 
hours on a warm day. Usually the plucked leaf is 
ready the next morning to undergo process No. 2. 
From the lofts the now withered leaf passes through 
