, 1874-12-26
Rise and Downfall Of q Great
Speculation.
Prcse,it FlourislItng Condition Of
tho Business.
A Prospective Annual Yield Of 10000
600 to 40,00O,0O0 Pounds.


lively, Of recent iate yet thirty-f,,o ycars
old. It is only within tho last fiftocn years tint
1t has boon conducted On m extensive Hcalo.
think 1t was about tho ynar 1923 that n 1}rit-
iah officer, travelling ii, Tho Province OF Assam.
dincovorcd fow toa-sl,rMbp. Experiments OH
emall scaio woro soon made but it waa not till
1nauy years after tllat
THE AHHsM TEA COMPANY
VAS formed, With q capital Of ,Et00, ,0Dn. Tho
Company took up u largo tract Of ,vasto lan2e In
tho Province OF Assam, and commenced tic cul-
tiya!ion of tca OIL an extended scale. Tho in
digenous a1lruba Wcto not doomed OF q good
quality, 30 tho Company imported ton aeods aud
plants from China, as also large numbers Of
Chinese laborors, at n worry groat expense.
As toa-culturo waB something quite now in
India, tho Company's oycrscnra wero inexpo-
rlence1; but Tho Directors Of tho Company wero
liberal IN tlaor vioTs and expenditure. lilo con-
sequence wns that tho Company's capital was
nil gonn boforo any results wero obtained. All
that tho Company had to show for tho money
speut WAS, In tho language Of Prof. Don-
amy Price, number OF holos dug into tho
ground in q jungle district GOO mics
away from Calcutta; and also steamboat
just brought out from England. Tho Company's
sharon were not worth tho parchment they wcro
printed upon. anu tne1f alaiEH Fcrc ABOUT TO 20
wound up, when q fow cpergotio men camo to
tho front, bought up 4 ia1gH nnnhor Of shares,
aud formed n now Board Of Directors. 4 friond
Of rl,inc, who Was on that Board, honght 1a0
Bhnres. on which G., 600 haA been paid, for tho
sum OF E1,-thht IN, about IL conta Por aharo-
Some Of thcso shorea he aold III tho ycnr 1861
for E5D each, aftor having received large .su1ns
in dividcnds for sovorat yonts.
Tho nov Directors sold tllo steamboat for
r. 000 aud this waa their cntro working-capital.
Tho plantations formed by the fortner inan-
agetuont hnt, in tho meantime, been neglected.
aud, In tho tropical climate Of 1ndia. lantia
Boon lapse. into junsles,-so thnt most Of
tho ten-Bluuts Ind either persisted, or become no
stuntod in growth tint they had to be rooted out
However. tho NOW management went to work
with will n,d e,,urgy. aud tho word "failuro"
waa not in their dictionary. With careful nlan-
agelnont mud economy, they oyercame evory OBJ
Elnttc. anu their annir3 soun began to prosper.
After d fow yonra their slthres bocamn hce'moro
salabln, though still Mt discount; hut, in course
of time, they roae to par, and in 1861 wore
quoted at n proullu1n Of
175 FER CENT OYER TAR VALUE.
When tho hssam Ton C0n,,'anrs experiment
seemed 10 turn o,ls fnilurc. tho (oyorn,ncnt Of
Intia determined not 10 allow tho matter to fali
to tho groaan'd without EivnE i iair
wisely forcsaw that toa-caltl.re, II practicable
wond become Il great Hource tf Noaith to tho
country. lie nccording(T decl}cd to establish
a number Of experimental tca-gar.lena III various
1aInEpN Oh Lti9 HupEH u tIO NlEluLHlllB
The expenditure was d heavy one for niauy
years but tho rosult haR proved tho wisdom Of
tho actinn of tho Government. Without tho
fostofng caro- ala long pl,rso Of tho Govorli~
mcnt, telt-culture would certainly hayo perisl,ed
For, with tho faitura Of tho ABsa.n Ton Company,
privato capitalists had beconle Hcared, and would
no mora ventura their money in wllat thoy
looked upon III fouligh experiments. Tfso final
ss1cccss Of tho old Assam lea Company Ind not
yet been aaHured. Moreover, thoro arc good
grounds for believing That, without tho MD from
tho Government tca-puntations, and tho nxpor~
cnees gained there. tho ABnam Compa.ys second
ciIort would nut haFo bcou moro uucceksful than
it's frat.
About the ychr 1854. tho Government tca-gar-
dona were beginning to y;ed sulall crops, al'd
proved to tho mercantile community Of Calcuttn
TINT tea-cultivation was practicable, and would,
with careful management, bo d profitable invest
mont. Tho old Assnnl Tea Com pany WAS, at Tint
poriod, also doing vol. lust thou, Capt. Stewart
tho Superintendent Of CaehaE-a province OH
tho caatorn frontier of HenGal.-discoyored for
ests Of indigenous toa-troes, Of large size u htH
province. lie dried some Of tho loayes til tho
snn. and found thc1n possessed OF Ill eScoelont'
llayor. As aoon as this discovery became known
in Cnlcutta it caused great oxci:emoMt amongst
tho EnropoanH t'ero. Everybody wns
ATTACHED WITH THE TEA-FEyER.
Hundreds Of nien flushed up.country to tRko up
tautis for cultivation for themselves una tilclr
friends. bonlo commenced cultivation lnmeli-
atoty with the indigenous tea~sccd others nero
as to bo abio to start their utantutionu Whenever
convenient. While tho Teal ioycr and speculation
VIM at itB height it vas suddenly checked by tl1e
outbreak Ut tic Indian sepoy loyolt Europca,ls
Iii Calcutta then foIt Uttte INCLINATION to rink
their lives by Eoing up-country in tho than-tis-
trncd state Of tl,e interior mud 70 ten was Tor
COTTON for a littlo wLilo, However. thoso WHO
Ind stnlte1 pluutations remalnci on tlcu,
through ali tho Disturbances ,p to 1sG0 In tLat
year, tho most successful planters obtaincd BnalI
uirkingB from tllbir first years XpWiuEB au{!.
with thoir virgin crop. tlley won't to Calcutta
Their arrival thoro wis tlio sigs,al Tor Il irouh
outbreak of tho toa-foyer. pooplo REELECTED that
these men Ind tLroo yenrs boforo spttted dow,
unon thoir lani.gra,,ts; tLnt no obstacles had
deferred them frola their undertaking; mud That
now tiIoy hat boon. euccoapiu YLoy folt yory
Do n they aa no. dona like them uhe
md prououpccd
+ EQUAL TO TIE VERY prsr c1,,sA TEA,
Now, toa-ouItiyation. to 10 profitable, m,lst 10
s;nh;no ~ :, inrrn ns,,n9 ~ IL tuSns ti,rsn n