82 
Tea. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I    February,  1903. 
become  a  competitor  in  the  world's  tea  market.  The  whole  prod- 
uct of  that  country  is  now  consumed  at  home.  On  some  of  the 
Natal  plantations  the  labor  is  done  by  Hindustanese  coolies  imported 
for  the  purpose. 
In  Brazil,  tea  has  been  successfully  cultivated  for  many  years.  The 
tea  product,  helped  out  by  the  use  of  considerable  yerba  mate,  fills 
a  very  large  part  of  the  Brazilian  demand  for  this  kind  of  beverage. 
In  France,  Madeira,  Mexico,  Florida  and  California  the  plant  is 
cultivated  to  a  small  extent,  but  as  yet  the  product  of  these  localities 
has  little  importance.  Experiments  in  South  Carolina  have  been  of 
sufficient  importance  to  attract  the  attention  and  aid  of  our  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  In  the  year  book  of  the  Department  for  1901, 
the  Secretary  makes  the  following  statement  :  "The  production  of 
several  kinds  of  tea  in  the  United  States  is  now  an  assured  fact,  and 
in  addition  to  this  it  is  encouraging  to  be  able  to  announce  that 
experts  who  have  examined  the  tea  produced  here  this  year  pro- 
nounce it  equal  in  flavor  and  aroma  to  the  best  imported  teas..  As 
pointed  out  in  my  previous  report,  the  profit  in  this  crop  averages 
from  $30  to  $40  per  acre  net.  During  the  year  Dr.  Chas.  U.  Shep- 
ard,  of  Summerville,  S.  C,  has  been  in  charge  of  the  government 
work,  conducting  it  in  connection  with  his  large  tea  gardens  at  the 
place  mentioned.  This  year  Dr.  Shepard  produced  about  4,500 
pounds  of  high-grade  tea,  for  all  of  which  a  ready  market  was  found 
in  the  North."  The  value  of  our  tea  imports  justifies  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  in  promising  that  "  the  extension  of  the  industry  in 
the  South,  and  studies  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  quality  of 
tea  will  be  pushed  as  rapidly  as  the  moneys  at  hand  will  permit." 
There  is  little  difficulty  in  getting  the  plants  to  grow  and  thrive 
in  tropical,  subtropical  or  even  moderately  cold  climates.  A  real  or 
supposed  lowering  of  quality  in  the  prepared  leaf  has  been  the  main 
drawback  to  a  general  cultivation  of  tea  in  many  parts  of  the  world, 
but  it  is  a  question  whether  this  lowering  of  quality  is  not  due  to 
lack  of  skill  in  curing,  rather  than  to  any  deficiency  in  the  leaf  itself. 
The  South  Carolina  experiments  have  practically  proved  that  tea  of 
high-grade  can  be  grown  in  that  region.  Corn,  coffee,  wheat, 
potatoes,  tomatoes,  tobacco  and  many  other  plants,  some  animals 
and  the  Caucasian  race  itself,  have  done  better  in  localities  far 
removed  from  their  native  habitats  than  at  home,  but,  until  quite 
recently,  at  least,  the  tea  plant  has  been  regarded  as  a  home-lover, 
