July  i,  1896.J  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
TEA  IN  DAR.)  [LING— AND  THE  SCOPE  EOE 
PRODUCING  THE  FINEST  TEAS  IN 
INDIA  AND  CEYLON. 
The  .special  object  witli  which  we  uiade  it  our 
business  to  be  pre.seut  at  a meeting  of  tlie  In- 
dian Section  ot  the  Society  of  Arts  on  May 
14th,  to  hear  Mr.  S.  Christison’s  paper  on 
“ Tea  Planting  in  Darjiling,’’  was  to  learn 
how  far  an  increased  production  of  line  teas 
might  be  anticipated  in  tliat  quarter.  The  re- 
sult was,  we  think,  eminently  satisfactory. 
The  paper  itself  was  a very  full,  instructive  one, 
ami  exceedingly  well-illustrated  by  lime-light 
views.  But  there  was  a great  deal,  of  course, 
with  no  special  bearing  on  the  important  (jues- 
tion  of  future  development.  Mr.  Christison, 
however,  showed  a map  of  the  Darjiling  dis- 
trict, with  the  tea  gardens  dotted  over  it  ; also 
of  the  adjacent  district  of  Daling,  in  which 
only  three  plantations  had  been  o])ened,  and 
which  he  (the  lecturer) — a plain,  practical  Scot 
of  very  long  exi>erience — pronounced  unlit  for 
tea  ; and  thirdly  of  “ the  Dooars  ” at  the  foot 
of  the  hills,  which  are  now  being  freely  en- 
tered on  and  largely  opened  u)),  but  which 
cannot  be  deemed  a “ line  tea  district.”  In  the 
com- e of  his  paper--an  early  copy  of  which  is 
sent  you  for  republication  — Mr.  Christison  men- 
tionecl  that  the  Government  returns  show-  329 
square  miles  in  Darjiling  as  “grants  for  tea 
cultivation,”  or  one-fourth  of  the  whole  district  ; 
but  one-thirteenth,  or  7^  per  cent,  is  actually 
bearing  tea  so  far.  In  the  Daling  hill  ^ district 
(which  properly  may  be  coupled  wiMi  the 
Dooars)  only  1,200  acres  have  been  opened  in 
tea,  so  unsuitable  are  the  soil  and  countiy 
generally.  In  Darjiling  proper,  there  arc  now 
TsO  gardens  with  about  55,000  acres  planted 
and  giving  employment  to  70,000  native.s,^ 
eluding  children  and  other  non-workeis.  ^ihe 
1895  crop  from  this  acreage  equalled  10,771,117  lb. 
Among  other  novel  experiences  mentioned  by 
the  lecturer  were  the  fact  that  often  the  steeper 
extremely  steep— ground  grows  the  better  ten, 
due  to  natives  having  frequently  used  the  gentle 
slopes  ; and  also  that  theii  sturdy  hillmen 
capable  of  carrying  a box  of  tea  over  120  lb. 
weight  up  2,000  and  sometimes  3,500  feet  of 
then-  climbing  from  garden  to  railway,  ga\e  in, 
fatigued  after  half-a-mile  of  Jlcd  walking  ! From 
childhood  in  that  steep  broken  country,  the  muscles 
for  climbing  ui>  and  down  alone  are  developed. 
Mr.  Christison  iloes  not  consider  the  question  of 
m.anuring  a pressing  one  in  Darjiling ; for, 
tliere,  not  more  than  12  cwt.  of  gieen  leaf  per 
acre  is  taken  from  the  soil  annually  on  an 
average  (or  33(5  lb.  made  tea  per  acie)  lathei 
dillerent  from  nearly  40  cwt.  oi  leaf  sometimes 
gathered  on  Mariawatte  for  instance.  But  the 
lecturer  said  very  truly  that  the  Darjiling  tea 
crop  is  neither  heavy  nor  exhausting,  ami  nitrogen 
is  freely  returned  to  the  soil  in  the  rain  in 
tropical  and  sub-tropical  lands.  All  this  is  equally 
true  as  to  crop  (and  rains,  &c.)  in  the  higher 
districts  of  Ceylon  with  their  line  tea  ])roduction. 
Mr.  Christison  had  a good  deal  to  say  about 
transport,  and  also  on  buildings  and  machinery 
several  allusions  being  made  to  Ceylon  and 
ao-ain  on  tea  preparation,  especially  the  ler- 
nmntation  or  “ oxid.aiion  ” in  which  he  evidently 
thinks,  as  in  regard  to  prei)aratiqn  generally, 
there  is  room  for  experiments  and  improvement. 
The  line  quality  of  Darjiling  teas,  he  con- 
sidered to  depend  on  the  soil,  vigour  of  the 
bushes,  variety  of  plant,  elevation,  and  season 
or  weather  ; but  also  on  unremitting  care  in  pre- 
paration. He  considers  “the  chemistry  of  te.a,” 
— notwithstanding  the  valuable  eH'orts  of  Mr. 
Kelway  Bamber  and  others — to  be  “ j)ractically  an 
unexplored  field  of  investigation.”  He  considers 
imrc  As.sam  or  a high-class  Hybrid  as  not  suite<l 
to  give  the  true  Darjiliiii.^  lia\'our  in  the  tea — 
a blend  from  China  and  Hybrid  plants  has 
lU'oved  best  at  that  high  elevation.  Mr.  Chris- 
tison h.ad  much  to  .say  about  “labour” — a grow- 
ing dilliculty  in  Darjiling  as  elsewhere.  He 
spoke  in  the  highest  way  of  the  Nepaulese  as 
workmen  ; but  the  supply  of  men  is  falling  off, 
owing  to  recruiting  for  Felice  and  Government 
transjjort  purposes.  The  wages  are  oh  to  (3i 
rupees  a month  for  men,  4.^  to  5 for  women,  and 
3 rupees  for  boys,  and  on  this — particularly  with 
helps  from  extra  tasks— money  is  saved  and  the 
coolies  li\e  with  great  comfort. 
In  the  discussion  that  followed — three  past 
Lieut. -Governors  of  Bengal — .Sir  K.  Temple 
(Chairman),  Sir  .Stuart  Baylej'^  and  Sir  Charles 
Elliott — all  bore  testimony  to  the  great  importance 
of  the  Darjiling  Tea  Industry  in  developing  the 
country,  beneliting  the  natives  and  aiding  the 
Government;  and  in  respect  of  “labour,”  it  was 
shown  that,  ollicially,  great  pains  were  taken  not 
to  interfere  with  the  planters.  But  the  Nepaulese 
immigrants  were  naturally  growing  moi  e enter- 
prising, and  found  that  even  better  wages  could 
be  got  by  going  further  into  India.  Above  all, 
the  officials  congratulated  tlie  Darjiling  em- 
])loyers  on  not  being  hampered  by  a Labour  Law, 
ami  warned  them  not  to  ask  for  it ! The  curse 
of  the  Assam  Labour  system  were  “ the  middle- 
men” Avho  took  care  that  each  cooly  sent  there 
cost  RlOO  a head,  wliereas  the  Emigration 
Agents  for  the  Colonies  got  the  same  coolies  to 
Calcutta,  ready  to  ship  at  an  outlay  of  about 
15  rupees  a head  ! The  dill'erence  dicl  not  bene- 
lit  the  cooly  or  the  Assam  planter ; but  went 
into  the  pockets  ot  the  middlemen.  In  resi)ect 
of  pea  extemsion,  (Sir  Charles  Elliott  gave  it  as 
his  opinion  that  not  much  could  be  added  to 
the  area  under  tea  in  Darjiling,  although 
individual  planters  might  add  50  to  100 
acres  now  and  then.  It  Avas  on  this  point  we 
specially  Avanted  to  get  information  ; and  so,  on 
being  called  on  by  the  Chairman  during  the  dis- 
cussion, Ave  ventured  to  point  out  that  the  55,('00 
acres  uoav  cultivated  (giving  10  million  odd  lb.  per 
.annum)  only  represented  a small  proportion  of 
the  land  actually  in  privaie  liands ; lor,  Mr. 
Chi  istison  load  said  the  gi  ants  to  gardens  equalled 
329  square  miles  or  say  210,000  acre.S.  True,  Sir 
Charles  Elliott  had  indicated  that  |danters  might 
add  50  to  100  acres  to  their  tea  gardens;  but 
if  this  Avere  done  at  an  aver.age  by  100  (out  of 
180)  gardens  and  averaging  50  acres  each,  Ave 
should  get  5,000  acres  a year.  There  Avas  also 
the  question  as  to  whether  among  large  forest 
reserves  mentioned  by  Mr.  Christison,  there  Avas 
not  good  land  suiteil  for  tea  Avhioh  might  yet 
be  granted  for  gardens.  In  reply,  Mr.  Christison 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  tlie  pre.seut  output 
of  Darjiling  tea — 10  millions — Avas  not  likely,  at 
any  rate  for  some  ye.ars,  to  be  materially  in- 
creased. And  in  private  conversation  Avitli  him 
after  the  lecture,  we  gathered  that  “labour” 
Avas  really  one  great  dilliculty  in  the  Avay  of 
extension,  Avhile,  also,  as  a matter  of  f.act,  all  the 
best  land  in  the  grants  had  already  been  utilised. 
But,  Mr.  Christison  Avas  equally  frank  in  saying 
that  there  Avas  some  very  line  land  in  the 
Government  reserves  and  neighbourhood  of 
Darjiling,  Avhich,  with  a little  official  trouble, 
might  readily  be  made  av.ailable  for  tea  ; 
and,  if  so,  Avould  be  quickly  taken  up 
and  openeil.  For  the  present,  however,  we 
