Aug.  I,  1896  J THK  TROPICAL 
TEA  PLANTING  IN  DAKJEELING. 
PAPEK  TO  BE  HEAD  BEFORE  THE  IN'DIAN  SECTION 
OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  ARTS  ON  TilUASDAY, 
MAY  14tii,  189G. 
By  Geo.  W.  Ciiristison. 
My  first  duty — which  is  a pleasing  on — is  to  thank 
the  committee  of  the  Indian  Section  of  t’;  ?.  Society  of 
Arts,  for  having  done  me  the  honour  of  inviting  mo 
to  road  a practical  paper  on  tea.  As  tiic  iiistory,  pro- 
gress, commercial  aspects,  and  complete  ^ta.tistics  of 
the  industry  have  been  exhaustively  d -’  -.It  with  by 
others,  I shall  best  employ  the  time  allotted  to 
me  this  afternoon  by  giving  a brief  outline  of  the  cul- 
ture and  manufacture  of  tea  in  Darjeeliu;.’,  with  some 
suggestions  on  a few  points  of  vital  iiniiortance,  re- 
ferring to  that  district  in  particular  and  i!io  industry 
generally,  drawn  from  my  own  observ.ilion  and  expe- 
rience. 
The  annexation  of  Darjeeling  (strictly  British  Sik- 
kim, and  British  Bhutan,  exclusive  of  the  Dooars) 
is  but  a comparatively  recent  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  extension  of  British  rule  in  the  East.  Until 
1815,  when  the  country  was  brought  into  notice  by 
the  Goorkhas  invading  the  territory  of  the  Baja  of 
Sikkim,  that  district  was  practically  a term  inco</iiita. 
This  led  the  East  India  Company  in  1816,  at  the  close 
of  our  war  with  Nepal,  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the 
Baja,  and  enter  into  a friendly  treaty  which  consti- 
tuted Sikkim  an  independent  state  under  British  pro- 
tection. In  1835,  138  miles  of  Sikkim  were  ceded  to 
the  East  India  Company  for  a sanitarium  for  Bengal, 
in  lieu  of  which  an  annual  allowance  of  £390 
was  granted.  In  1850,  after  the  Sikkim  war,  some 
more  hill  territory  and  also  the  Terai  were  added, 
the  subsidy,  however,  at  the  same  time  being  en* 
hanced  very  materially.  And  in  1865  the  hill  dis- 
trict of  Baling  was  annexed  from  Bhutan  as  the 
outcome  of  the  expedition  of  1864,  and  the  war 
with  that  state  just  then  terminated. 
The  district  is  mainly  situated  on  the  lower  and 
outer  ranges  of  the  llirnalayan  mountains,  but  as 
stated,  includes  the  Terai  which  is  an  unhealthy  level 
sub-montane  tract  of  forest,  or  what  was  up  till  30 
years  ago  almost  uninterrupted  forest.  It  is  bounded 
on  the  east  by  Bhutan,  west  by  Nepal,  north  by 
independent  Sikkim  with  Tibet  beyond,  and  on  the 
south  east  and  south  by  the  Dooars  tea  district  and 
Purneah  in  Bihar,  and  extends  from  about  26deg. 
30'  to  27deg.  13’  N.  latitude.  Though  in  area  it 
hardly  exceeds  that  of  a second-rate  English  county, 
it  ranges^  in  elevation  from  about  350  feet  to  al- 
titudes o'f  over  12,000  feet  above  sea  level. 
The  town,  or  as  it  is  called  the  “station”  of 
Darjeeling,  which  is  the  administrative  head- 
quarters of  the  district,  as  well  as  the  health  re- 
sort for  the  Government  and  residents  of  Bengal, 
is  charmingly  situated  on  a ridge  at  an  elevation 
of  7,167  feet,  commanding  a magnificent  view  of  the 
“ snowy  range  ” (about  10  miles  distant  and  rising 
to  over  28,000  feet),  and  to  the  north  of  Calcutta 
379  miles  by  rail,  but  somewhat  less  in  a direct  line. 
Any  attempt  to  describe  the  magnificent  and  sublime 
scenery  is,  fortunately,  outside  my  province,  as  it  is 
altogether  beyond  my  powers.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  in  words  to  convey  even  any  adequate  idea  of 
the  steepness  and  irregular  configuration  of  this 
mountain  territory  to  those  who  have  not  visited  it, 
though  this  feature  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  our 
consideration  of  the  main  subject  of  this  paper. 
The  mountains  do  not  rise  by  any  series  of  inclined 
planes  or  uniform  undulations  to  their  summits.  The 
main  trend  of  the  ranges  is  towards  the  “ snows  ” 
— generally  from  south  to  north — and  of  the 
torrents  and  rivers  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  the  snows  towards  .the  plains,  but  there 
are  also  side  branches  of  importance  running 
east  and  west  (one  of  those,  the  Little  Bungheet 
river,  actually  flowing  north-east,  and  tho  adjacent 
mountain  ranges  ascending  south-west),  and  many 
minor  spurs  and  streams  are  in  tlie  very  opposite 
direction  to  the  main  ones.  On  this  account,  the  in- 
terior of  the  hill  district  generally  presents  a some- 
what confused  labyrinth  of  ridges  and  valleys.  A con- 
12 
AGRICULTURIST.  89 
siderable  proportion  of  the  hill  area  is  so  precipi- 
tous as  to  grow  nothing  but  scrub  or  an  occasiona 
tree  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks,  and  much  is  unfit  for 
tea  or  cultivation  of  any  description  ; Init  the  soil  on 
the  gentler  and  some  of  even  extremely  steep  sloiies 
is  good  and  of  suriirising  depth,  considering  the 
situation.  As  a rule,  the  beat  soil  on  the  hills  is 
found  from  2,500  to  5,000  feet ; that  below  3,0')0  feet 
is  generally  dry,  and  the  tea  thereon  more  subject  lo 
blights.  Elevations  over  5,500  feet  are  rather  cold 
for  tea — certainly  for  its  rapid  growth — though  it  is 
to  be  found  thriving  and  doing  fairly  well  from  6,000 
to  even  7,000  feet.  Owing  to  the  extreme  steepness 
and  irregulai  ity  of  the  ground,  tho  roads  have  to  be 
laid  off  in  zigzags  of  greater  or  less  length,  when, 
as  is  the  rule,  an  ascent  or  descent  has  to  be  made, 
or  in  sharp  curves  where  contouring  more  lovelly 
round  ridges  and  into  the  identations.  This  renders 
the  length  of  roads  from  place  to  place  out  of  all 
proportion  to — not  unfrequeutly  over  twice,  and  oc- 
casionally almost  three  times  as  great  as — the  dis- 
tance as  tho  crow  Hies.  Tho  district  government 
roads  are,  as  a rule,  at  gradients  of  1 in  9 to  1 in  7, 
and  are  from  10  to  7 feet  wide. 
As  stated,  owing  to  the  zig-zag  and  winding  nature 
of  tho  roads,  and  the  wide  intervening  spaces  of 
forest  and  jungle,  the  length  of  the  roads  is  very 
great,  in  proportion  to  the  cultivable  and  rateable 
area,  especially  as  the  Forest  Department  does  not 
pay  road  or  public  works’  cess,  and  the  vast  tracts 
of  native  cultivation  nothing  directly  and  next  to 
nothing  indirectly.  In  my  time,  the  local  railway  was 
also  exempted.  For  these  reasons,  as  well  as  on 
account  of  the  district  being  a frontier  one,  contain- 
ing a military  station  and  sanitarium,  it  has  special 
claims  for  “ grants-in-aid  ” towards  its  roads  and 
bridges,  in  regard  to  which,  it  must  be  admitted. 
Government  has,  on  the  whole,  been  liberal,  some-. 
times  especially  so.  Yet  I hold  that,  in  justice,  as 
well  as  viewed  as  a fair  and  legitimate  matter  of 
account  between  the  Governnsent  departments,  a great 
landlord  like  the  Forest  DeiKirlment  of  India,  claim- 
ing a largo  clear  revenue  aunually,  ought  to  be 
charged  both  land  revenue  and  road  cess.  Incalcu- 
lably valuable  as  this  dopartmont  undoubtedly  is  to 
India,  profit  should  not  be  its  chief  aim  ; and  such 
a step  would  cause  the  department  all  the  more 
adequately  to  realise  its  immense  responsibilities  in 
holding  such  vast  territories. 
But,  in  addition  to  locomotion  and  soil,  this  ra- 
pid and  great  variation  in  elevation  affects  the  cli- 
mate, health,  and  working  capabilities  of  the  in- 
habitants, native  and  European,  vegetation,  humi- 
dity, and,  to  some  extent,  the  quality  of  the  tea, 
to  which  allusion  may  be  made  hereafter. 
The  rainfall  varies  greatly  throughout  the  district. 
At  the  “ station  ” the  average  is  about  120  inches, 
and  on  the  tea-gardens  (at  lower  elevations)  it 
ranges  from  75  to  135  inches  and  even  over  annu- 
ally. The  defect  for  tea  in  regard  to  rainfall  is 
that  it  is  not  sufficiently  distributed — the  dry  season 
being  too  long,  but  worst  of  all  too  little  rain  falls 
in  spring  and  too  much  during  three  to  four 
mouths  from  June  to  September,  when  it  is  too  fre- 
quently accompanied  by  druse  inisi  . uioeu  obscuring 
tho  sun  for  a week,  sometimes  more,  at  a stretch. 
There  are  also  not  uufrequently  sudden  heavy  down- 
pours which  have  been  known  to  amount  to  ten 
inches  and  more  in  a single  night.  These  downpours 
as  well  as  considerably  heavier  annual  rainfalls  than 
have  boon  named  are  more  characteristic  of  the  outer 
ranges.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  “ station  ” of 
Darjeeling  is  only  a couple  of  degrees  above  that  of 
London,  but  that  of  the  tea  gardens  is  of  course 
much  higher.  In  the  Terai  and  confined  valleys 
under  2,000  feet  on  the  hills  it  is  quite  tropical  and 
often  stifling.  At  elevations  of  4, .500  feet  the  tem- 
peraluro  seldom  exceeds  85°,  the  mean  maximum 
about  80'’,  and  at  elevations  of  3,000  feet 
it  occasionally  turns  90°,  with  a mean  maxi- 
mum of  about  85°  in  the  shade  during  the  hot 
months.  The  mean  maximum  in  the  shade  in  winter 
is  about  60°  at  4,500  feet,  and  67°  at  3,000  feet. 
The  difference  between  the  mean  maximum  and  the 
mean  minimum  varies  from  15°  to  20°  and 
more  in  winter  than  summer,  and  at  high  than  low 
