The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1874-01-21
Tea Culture in Georgia.

Tea Culture in Georgia,
As we happened to know that our eli
mate suits the ten plant, we commend
The following letter to the Rural New
Yorker to the attention Of our readers
| was very much gratiIted on hearing
that you were pleased with the samples
of ten I sent you. As you requested
me to write to you again, | have
thought that an account OF our expert
once in tea culture might be interesting
to you, and to aome of your readers, M
several persons, since reading your no
| hiun duran 4aq1 ,sh qsq ,Rapt tQ mq fQr. seed.
cultivated.
When the United States government.
through the agency Of Mr.. Fortune, in
troduced the Chinese tea plant (7Hcd
R0hcn) into this country, and distrib-
uted them by the mid Of its Senators
into various sections of the land. my
father had fifty plants sent TO him.
They arrived in good order, growing in
genuine Chinese soil, and wero from
three to four inches-high. We put
them at once in larger pots, with fresh,
rich soil around them, but were very
careful not to disturb tho ball Of earth
which surrounded their roots. During
the first summer, they were kept in n
partial shade and watered freely when
ever necessary. They grew Off boauti-
fully, and by tho next winter were from
eighteen to twenty four inches high,
and looked very healthy. In the month
of January we planted them ont in our
vegetable garden, five feet apart each
way. They grew remarkably well, not
one dying, and stood both the cold of
winter, and the heat of summer as
well rs our native plants. When three
years old, we made our first gathering
Of leaves. We had the directions Mr..
Fortune gave, for the preparation of
uih We NNlc pun tiGillFtI III lJtAoN@
ing them closely. OF course we had
of the conveDiences which are
used in China, but we tried to initiate
them as nearly as possible. We plucked
the leaves in the afternoon and
them ont upon q table until
next morning. We then rubbed them
in our hands, and dried them In q com
Dutch oven, stirring all the time
with the hand to prevent scorching the
leaves. Each turn was dried in five
minutes, and then taken ont and rolled
again. This process of rolling and dry
ing was continued until they appeared
perfectly dry. II was then put in glass
Jars and kept we'll secured from the air.
In about three months time we began
il, and we're delighted with our
success. OF course all our friends must
have n drawing and each one pro-
bounced il most excellent. Since that
lime We have made our own ten every
and We consider IL so far supe-
-ior to tho imported tea, that we find
20 pleasure in drinking the latter.
We made quite a mistake in placing
,ur, tea plants five feet apart, for they
nave grown 30 large that it is impossi-
BE to walk between them, and they are
bout ten feet high. These bushes pro-
luce seed every season in great album
lance. From these seeds we now have
between fifteen and twenty thousand
'lauts Of various sizes, and we continue
o plant the seeds ont every fall, as
Don as they ripen. Many of them fall
o tho ground, and come up thickly
.nder the parent tree. We have quite
grove set out, ten feet apart, and from
heBe we are now collecting the most Of
leaves.
The climate in this latitude suits
lem perfectly, and there is no more
rouble in e%ultivating them than there
with the apple or peach. When o
lantation is once established It lasts q
fe time, and after Tho bushes arc three
old, they require only the weeds
} be kept out of them for they shade
round their roots 80 perfectly M to
i'll out the grass. If our government J
again become interested in max. )
lg tea n OF u staple productions.
Q would, in u few years, be quite in
.pendent of Chinese production. j
MRs. II. /. SoREvBN. g
Mcintosh, Liberty Co., Georgia.