214 
THE 
on account of the cost of labor, still so long 
as there is any reasonable doubt on a matter 
of such high importance, perhaps it is well 
that the question is about to be tested by the 
only decisive means—numerous experiments 
under various conditions of soil, climate and 
treatment. 
The early 
HISTORYTOF THE TEA!PIANT. 
is shrouded in the mists that envelop all re¬ 
mote time among semi-barbarous nations, nor 
is its origina l country certainly known. It has 
been found growing quite wild in Assam and was 
cultivated in China so far back that no account 
remains of its first introduction. That its use 
in India is comparatively recent is inferred 
from the fact that there is no name for the 
plant or its product in Sanskrit, the ancient 
language of that country. It was introduced 
into Europe by the Portuguese early in the 
16th century, by the Dutch a century later, 
and in 1064 the English East India Company 
made the Queen of England a magnificent 
present of two pounds of tea. The first con¬ 
siderable importation iut-o that country was 
made three years later in 1667, when tho same 
Company, w hieh held a monoply of the traffic 
until 1834, imported 4.713 pounds which was 
sold at the rate of from $30 to $50 a pound, 
and supplied all demands for several years. 
Considerable difference between this early 
importation and that of 1877,which amounted 
to 1,880,000 pounds! The Chinese districts 
which supply the export demand lie between 
latitude 25° and 35° North. It has long been 
extensively cultivated in Japan, and lately very 
large exports have been made from Uiat coun¬ 
try. The British Government etrougly encour¬ 
ages its cultivation in various parts of India, 
from which largo supplies are annually shipped 
to England. It is also cultivated iu Java and 
Penang, and, about 1850, the plant was intro¬ 
duced into Brazil. Great hopes were at first 
entertained of its extensive culture there by 
means of Chinese Cooly labor, but of late years 
little mention has been made of the results. 
THE TEA PLANT-SEE CUT. 
is an evergreen shrub with long, leathery, thin 
and very hard leaves of a rich dark green, not 
unlike those of the laurestinus. In November 
it produces,iu China, a profusion of single white 
flowers, which are axillary and nodding, aud 
though only an inch across, closely resemble 
those of a singlo camellia. Usually there are 
five sepals and petals and numerous stamens, 
while the fruit or pod is generally three-ceiled 
with a single large seed in each cell. The 
plant in its wild state is a bushy shrub, some¬ 
times a tall tree, but iu cultivation it is kept 
pruned dowD to a bight of five feet- Eike 
other plants long in cultivation, tea has pro¬ 
duced several marked varieties which have 
sometimes been described as distinct species, 
but botanists generally agree that these all be¬ 
long to one species, the Came'dia Then, and that 
the difference in size and appearance is mainly 
due to differences in soil, climate,mode of culture 
and the preparation given to the leaves. Tea 
produced on the hills differs from that on the 
low-lands and that which receives but little care 
is inferior to that which has been highly cul¬ 
tivated. 
For the 
CULTIVATION 
of the tea plant almost any good arable soil, free 
from stagnant moisture, is well adapted. In 
some places the land is enriched with litter, 
sewage—always carefully saved in China—or 
with other fertilizers. The seeds are gathered 
in November, but are not properly ripe until the 
next autumn. They are then kept in sand until 
the following spring when they are sown, com¬ 
monly in seed-beds, but sometimes in rows 
where tho plants are to grow. In the former 
case the seedlings when a year old are planted 
out in rows from three to six foot, apart each 
way. When the plants are about 18 inches high, 
the leading shoots are pinched to induce them 
to become bushy. They yield a small picking in 
the third year, and attain their maximum 
yield in the eighth or tenth, after which they 
deteriorate and give way to yonug plants. The 
average yield per acre is from 300 to 400 pounds 
according to the locality, but it requires about 
four pounds of fresh leaves to make one pound 
of dried tea. 
Tho earliest 
PICKINQ, 
about the first of April, consists of the buds and 
the very youDgest leaves, a second gathering 
about the end of the mouth, or early in May, 
consists of leaves more fully developed and 
yields the most important crop. An inferior 
quality of leaf is gathered in July, and iu some 
localities another picking of old aud poor leaves 
is made still later. The picker has a basket 
slung by a cord around his neck, to leave both 
hands at liberty. With one hand he holds the 
shoot, and breaks off the blade of tbe leaf with 
the otherfor except iu the earliest picking of 
the very young leaves, no portion of the leaf¬ 
stalk must bo gathered with the finer kinds of 
tea. As the work proceeds, the picker frequent¬ 
ly turns the leaves with the hand so as to pre¬ 
vent the lower ones from fermenting, which 
would spoil the whole pi ticking. With the late 
pickings the leaf and leaf-stalk are plucked to¬ 
gether and separated, if at all, in 
THE PROCESS OF PREPARATION. 
This differs according to the various kinds of 
tea to be produced and the locality, for each part 
of the country has traditional methods of treat¬ 
ment supposed to be necessary to prodnee the 
best results. In all, however, tbe inaiu object is 
to facilitate desiccation and prevent fermenta¬ 
tion. With this end in view, so soon bh the leaves 
are plucked they are exposed in shallow baskets 
to the sun and air which wither and partly 
dry them. Haviug been straightway removed 
to the tea-house and there allowed to cool, they 
are thrice beaten for ten minutes, at intervals of 
half an hour, by clapping them between the 
hands, throwing them up and letting them fall. 
This, together with subsequent rolling and heat¬ 
ing, is necessary to develop from the resinous 
substance of the leaf the essential oil that gives 
to tea its peculiar aroma. They are then placed 
in small quanties in shallow copper or iron pans, 
heated by charcoal or other fuel aud rapidly stir¬ 
red. At the proper moment they are swept out 
into other appropriate vessels or upon a table 
where other workmen rub the leaves between 
their hands in order to roll them into the form 
they finally retain. This is a very delicate opera¬ 
tion and “ the art of rolling” is held in high re¬ 
pute among the very practical Celestials. This 
alternate heating and rolling is repeated two or 
even three times. They are then placed in dry¬ 
ing baskets, two and a half feet high, two foot in 
diameter at top and bottom and eighteen inches 
in the middle where bamboo sieves are stretched 
across, on which the tea is spread iu thin layers. 
The whole is then placed to dry over a charcoal 
fire, which must give off no smoko, and bo care- 
fnlly regulated. The choicer teas are spread out 
on a table or placed in shallow bamboo trays to be 
assorted before packing; all imperfectly rolled 
leaves are removed and the dust and fragments 
sifted out. The chest with its leaden lining 
being ready, and the amount of tea for each 
weighed, one bare-footed Mongolian gets into it, 
another gradually pours iu tho leaves, which 
the first treads down firmly, aud as soon as the 
case is full the leaden cover is soldered down, 
aud the tea is ready for shipment to the Western 
Barbarians. 
Of the ^ 
CHINESE TEAS T 
the principal black Borts are bohea, congou, 
souchong, caper, oolong and pekoe. Of these 
bohea is the coarsest, and pekoe the finest, 
consisting of the very youngest leaves of the 
firet picking. When these are so young that 
they are still clothed with down, they constitute 
the flowery pekoe, a choice sort not very often 
found in the farmerine's teapot. Among the 
green teas are twankay, hyson skin, young hy¬ 
son, hyson, imperial, and gunpowder. The 
gunpowder in greeu tea corresponds with the 
pekoe in biaek aud, like that, is from tho first 
gathering. Imperial, hyson, and young hyson, 
are grades made from the second and third 
pickings, while the inferior, light leaves, win¬ 
nowed from the hysons, make the hyson skin, 
the chief market for which ib found in this 
country. The finest teas, both black and green, 
are seldom seen in the United States, as trans¬ 
portation in the hold of a vessel causes fermen¬ 
tation which destroys their quality. Most of the 
crops of these luxuries is consumed either by 
wealthy Chinese or exported overland to Russia. 
The evaporation of water from the leaf and 
the drying process change its color to brown or 
black. The green teas of commerce are merely 
black teas dyed by a preparation of Prussian 
blue aud gypsum, applied at tho last heating. 
The green tea used in China is from the first 
picking, and is never dyed and seldom or never 
exported. 
The 
ADULTERATIONS 
to which tea is subjected are innumerable, 
from the “lie tea” coueocttdjin China out of the 
dust of tea, rice-husks etc. by the aid of gum, 
to the iugeuious product of the leaves of the sloe, 
hawthorn, elder, plane, poplar aud other trees 
which has, not infrequently, been palmed off on 
simple humanity by the grocers of England and 
the United States. To escape these deleterious 
concoctions, if for no other reason, it would be 
a blessing should tea culture prove remunera¬ 
tively practical among us, but apart from tbe 
tedious labor of picking the crop leaf by leaf, 
before it is ready for use there is a multiplicity 
of other small operations needed to prepare 
the different kinds. These the limits of this 
sketch prevent ns from particularizing here, 
but all together they consume so much time as 
to render it a very doubtful problem whether 
tea can bo profitably cultivated iu this country 
until inventive ingenity shall have devised 
some mechanical contrivance to supersede hu¬ 
man manipulations. 
Tho cuts that illustrate this article will give 
our readers a fair idea of the tea plant—page 
217—its cultivation and manufacture. 
Jfara ®o|tts. 
NOTES FROM MAPLEWOOD FARM. 
HECTOB BERTRAM. 
APPLICATION OF MANURE. 
The subject of the application of manure to 
the soil in a manner to receive tho greatest ben¬ 
efit therefrom, has ever been, aud probably ever 
will be, one of much dispute among farmers. 
Speaking for myself, I would seldom apply ma¬ 
nure to spring crops. If we would receive the 
full benefit of its fertilizing qualities, we must 
have it in a well-rotted condition that it may he 
readily commingled with the soil. Drawn di¬ 
rectly upon the ground from the yards in spring, 
this result cannot, he obtainod. The coarse ma¬ 
nure should be drawu out in spring and piled in 
some convenient place until fall, adding from 
time to time, as convenient, the refuse from the 
stables, tho piggeries, and the leach. By seed¬ 
ing time in the fall, the whole mass has become 
well-rotted and in fit condition for application 
as a top-dressing for wheat, the crop that really 
needs the assistance of manure more than any 
other of the cereals. We derive more benefit 
from the application of manure in fall, than in 
spring. The late rains and snows of winter carry 
the fertilizing qualities into the soil, while the 
hot sun of summer draws these properties away 
from the plants they are calculated to nourish. 
The finer scrapings of the yards may be applied 
to tho land in spring—no doubt with good 
results. 
I consider the best manner of doing this to be 
an application direotly after plowing, harrowing 
it well into the soil with the grain. If it. is spread 
upon tho surface after sowing, we lose nearly 
or quite half the nutritive elements. Where it 
becomes advisable—or necessary—for us to ap¬ 
ply in the spring the manure accumulated iu the 
yards during the winter, I always do so be¬ 
fore plowing. The benefit derived from its use 
in this manner, is not so speedy, but more per¬ 
manent. I would never apply barn-yard ma¬ 
nure to corn ground. The seed of barn-grass, 
smart-weed, and other noxious weeds are nearly 
always mixed with it, making it unadvisable to 
do so. 1 always endeavor to have a clean clover 
sod to turn each spring for corn. Corn planted 
after clover requires much less cultivation, and I 
scarcely ever fail to secure a first-rate crop. I 
have heard men aflinn that you could not make 
ground too rich for corn ; but suoh is not the 
case. Where too much manure is applied, there 
is an immense growth of stalks, hut they are 
usually scantily eared. If I have a. good clover 
sod, aud plenty of aBhes and hen manure, I can 
raise good corn on nearly any ground. The as¬ 
sertion may seem broad, yet, nevertheless it is 
true. You never see a good growth of clover on 
poor land, and the elements essential to the free 
growth of clover are likewise necessary for corn. 
If the manure is plowed in every spring, the land 
will he kept in good condition—provided enough 
is applied—for any crop of grain, for an indefi¬ 
nite number of years, yet I would never raise 
more than three successive crops without seed¬ 
ing, This is the great secret of keeping the 
land up, in any oountry. We can keep a small 
quantity of land in good condition by the use of 
manure ; but when it extends to a hundred or 
more acres, this becomes impossible, almost. 
By a careful aud systematic saving of all the 
extra straw, leaves, etc., the manure heap may 
be largely increased during the year, aud turned 
to advaudago in fall as a top-dresBing. By ap¬ 
plying it ip the spring, we cannot turn these to 
so good an account. Swamp muck and plaster, 
scattered in the yards or stables, to absorb the 
urine, a,re valuable additions. To sum up: for 
spring crops let the mauuro either be plowed 
under or applied before sowing and well harrowed 
in with the crop. Scattered on the surface after 
sowing, there is much of the ammonia lost iu 
the atmosphere, A neighbor experimented with 
manure last spring. After the gram—barley— 
was sprouted, he drew out barn-yard mauure 
and scattered over the surface. Iu reply to my 
remonstrance, lie assured me that “ I’d see,” 
and I did see ; his grain oarne up yellow aud 
sickly, actually rotted by the contact of the 
young plants with the mauure. From au acre, 
he harvested five bushels of barn-grass, and 
other foul seed—and barley. 
SPRING SOWING. 
The time has come when spring crops demand 
our attention. Which varieties can we bow with 
best results, and most profit to ourselves? Iu 
my opinion every farmer of any pretensions, 
should cultivate one variety niaiuly, whether of 
wheat, barley, or oats. I never could oonvince 
myself that the two laBt were really profitable. 
Tho idea that one must bow a little of each, is a 
poor one. If we devote our attention to one 
variety wo are better acquainted with its pecu¬ 
liarities aud tho most successful manuer of cul¬ 
tivating it. To be successful with any spring 
crop we must get it in early, as a general rale 
be it understood. Occasionally, it is true, a crop 
sown late does well, yet we lose by making it a 
practice. I was once acquainted with a fanner 
who became repeatedly a loser by this habit. A 
crop of oats once sown by him the first of June, 
yielded enormously, and thereafter ho became 
known as the “ afternoon man,” from his pav- 
tiality for sowiug grain late. Yet, mark you, he 
never was heard to brag on any crop but one, al¬ 
though oats do better when sown late than either 
spring wheat or barley. These should be sown 
just as early as the state of the soil will admit. 
By early sowing I don't mean in March, or the 
first few days of a cold wet April, bnt when 
the soil becomes dry and warm, so that it oan be 
pulverized, and is of the right temperature for 
the grain to sprout immediately and grow rap¬ 
idly. We lose by cultivating the Boil too early, 
even more than by cultivating it too late ; for be¬ 
sides the loss by an inferior crop, the good qual¬ 
ities of the soil are greatly diminished. Spring 
wheat alone is an exception. This muni be 
Bown early. 
Rolling after sowing I have becomo convinced 
is of great importance. Tho earth is pressed 
firmly about the Beed, causing it to sprout 
sooner and more evenly. Moreover on stony 
ground where the grain is cut either with a 
reaper or cradle, the surface is left smooth, the 
smaller obstructions crushed down so that they 
aro no impediment to the siokle-bar, or hand- 
rake, Where grass-seed is sown in spring, it 
Bhotild be done either before the last harrowing 
or “hushed in" afterwards. When sown directly 
on the snrfaco and not covered, much of it will 
never germinate, especially if there should bo 
no heavy Bhowers immediately after sowing. 
The best time to sow grass-seed upon winter 
wheat is, in my opinion, when the last snow of 
spring is melting. As it melts and is absorbed 
by the soil, the moisture carries tho seed with it 
into the earth sufficiently deep for gerrniuation. 
PUMPKIN SEEDS FOR MUCH COWS AGAIN. 
In a recent number of tho Rural, “ Clinton” 
ridicules the idea of pumpkins or their seeds 
being injurious to milch cows. He states that 
for years he and his father fed them to their cat¬ 
tle xviHi no had results, while he, himself es¬ 
teemed the seed a great luxury. I would like to 
inquire whether he ever kepi, geese and, if so, 
whether ho ever allowed them to oat the seed, 
aud with what results, Or did he ever feed part 
of his cows pumpkins, and for tbe remain ler, 
substitute carrots, beets, or cornstalks ? I have 
talked with many farmers on the subject, aud 
fr ur-fifths of them assert, with me, that pump¬ 
kins. as food for milch cows, aro not a success. 
They are excellent for fattening purposes, but 
diminish rather than increase tho flow of milk. 
FARM NOTES. 
S. RUFUS MASON. 
DEEP OR SHALLOW PLOWING, 
Did any one ever hear of the temple of Janus, 
that stood in tho center of a plain ? It had a 
hundred sides, no two alike, approached by a 
hundred roads, each of which endod butt up 
against its special Hide, with no way of retreat 
but to go straight back again. No pilgrim to 
this shrine ever saw but one side, and his 
• • tale of wonder " when he got home again was 
of that alone. 
“ Deep or shallow plowing ” is a myth of the 
sort. If a farmer finds shallow work the bast 
on his farm, let him show his sense by sticking 
to it; but if another has proved deep furrows 
tho best for him, don’t let us try to argue him 
out of it. What is tho use of a hundred men 
standing around a temple snd scolding each 
other while noue of them can see any of the 
others ? 
EXPERIMENTAL FARMING. 
All knowledge is gained on a farm by experi¬ 
ment. It may be made very profitable or very 
ruinous. Now, iu tho spring, is the timo to try 
on any unsatisfactory piece of land, different 
methods of developing its capabilities. A llttlo 
deeper plowing, a little more fertilizing, a ooat 
of clover or buckwheat plowed under, liming, 
plaatoriug, hoed crops or sowed crops, grass 
top-dressed, or even frequent cultivation with no 
crop, are modes applicable to most varieties of 
land sickness. If the trial is made on a small 
surface there can be but a small loss at the 
worst, while extensive experiments are sure to 
“ make or break ” one. 
THE FEtT OF HORSES. 
“No foot, no horse although every farmer 
knows this maxim, it seems as if many (by the 
size they keep tboir auhnals feet aL) expected to 
double their teams bv a contrary interpretation 
of it. A hoof spread out of all likeness to its 
original form, Cracked nearly to the quick, the 
frog pared till it is as tbin as paper; the sole 
cut away till tho frog touches tho ground at 
every stop, toes turned in, aud sore knees from 
frequent stumbles, are no credit to a farmer 
uow-a-days. If every man who is guilty of 
causing the above defects, wore compelled to 
keep his own feet in a similar manner, there 
would be a revolution lomewhcro. It is l ,f >t 
necessary to employ a farrier to trim a horse s 
foot. A plank to stand on, a sharp two-inch 
chisel, and a good mallet, in the hands of a care¬ 
ful mail will, if used once a month, keep hoots 
in perfect order and improve them constantly. 
FARMERS' MAXIMS. 
Slow and sure, il'you are poor. Small ventuies 
small rhk. The best of seed is what you P® e ,, 
If you do your work well, the profits will tell. 
Gentle boss, gentle beast. 
" Keen what you've got, 
Aud get wuat you can, ,, 
Honestly, If you'd be a mam 
“ When you go out to buy, „ 
Shut your pocket and open your eye. 
