INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  TEA  PLANT  INTO  THE  U.  STATES.  253 
"  This  success  was  mainly  owing  to  experience  acquired  dur- 
ing former  visits  to  these  countries.    Arriving  in  China  in  the 
month  of  May,  I  spent  the  first  few  months  in  visiting  numerous 
tea  farms  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  where  I  made  ar- 
rangements with  the  natives  for  large  supplies  of  seeds  as  soon  as 
they  ripened  in  the  autumn.    In  October  and  November  I  re- 
peated my  visit  to  the  same  districts,  and  everywhere  found 
supplies  of  seeds  awaiting  me.    In  former  transactions  with  these 
tea  growers,  I  had  always  treated  them  kindly  and  liberally,  and 
I  now  found  the  advantage  that  resulted  from  such  treatment. 
Seeds  had  been  saved  for  me  in  all  directions ;  I  had  only  to 
pick  them  up  and  proceed  onwards,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  get 
through  a  large  amount  of  work  in  a  short  space  of  time.  In 
December  I  reached  the  seaport  of  Shanghai,  with  the  whole  of 
my  collections  in  excellent  condition. 
«  Tea  seeds  will  not  retain  their  vitality  long  if  kept  out  of 
the  soil.    In  order  to  guard  against  all  risk,  a  large  number  of 
Ward's  cases  had  been  previously  prepared  and  filled  with  earth, 
and  to  these  the  seeds  were  immediately  transferred.    The  first 
shipment  was  made  in  December,  a  few  days  after  my  arrival  in 
Shanghai.    Knowing  that  the  vessels  would  probably  arrive  in 
America  in  the  middle  or  end  of  March,  I  thought  it  likely  the 
seeds  would  remain  in  the  earth  without  vegetating  during  the 
voyage.   Instead,  therefore,  of  sowing  the  seeds  near  the  surface 
in  the  usual  manner,  I  mixed  up  large  quantities  with  soil,  and 
filled  the  case  up  with  the  mixture  of  earth  and  seeds.    By  this 
simple  plan  many  thousands  of  seeds  were  carried  to  their  destina- 
tion, and  when  they  arrived  there  were  as  sound  as  if  they  had  been 
all  the  winter  on  a  Chinese  seed-bed.  Of  course  it  was  necessary 
to  unpack  them  immediately  on  arrival,  and  sow  them  thinly  in 
other  quarters.    In  the  other  cases  which  were  shipped  later, 
this  mode  of  packing  would  not  have  been  safe.    The  seeds  were 
therefore  sown  thickly  and  covered  with  earth  in  the  usual  man- 
ner, and  in  this  state  might  vegetate  on  the  voyage  without  any 
risk  whatever.    In  the  one  case  the  object  was  to  get  the  seeds 
quickly  to  their  destination  without  vegetating,  for  had  this 
taken  place  the  experiment  would  have  been  a  failure  ;  in  the 
other  they  were  placed  in  circumstances  favorable  for  vegetation, 
and  the  only  change  likely  to  occur  would  be  this,  that  in  China 
