The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-01-15
70 Cnlture in qeoreia.

As we happened to know that our eli
mate suits the tea plant, we commend
the following letter to the Rural New
Yorker to the attention of our readers
I was very much gratifed on hearing
that you were pleased with the samples
of tea sent you. AS you requested
me to write to you again, I have
thought that an account of our expert
ence in tea culture might be interesting
to you, and to some of your readers. as
several persons, since reading your no.
tice OF my tea, have sent to me for seed,
and inquired as to how the plant was
cultivated.
When the United States government,
through the agency of Mr.. Fortune, in
troduced the Chinese tea plant (I7sea
Bohea) into this country, and distrib-
uted them by the aid 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 were 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 the ball of earth
which surrounded their roots. During
the first summer, they were kept in a
partial shade and watered freely when
ever necessary. They grew off beauti-
fully, and by the next winter were from
eighteen to twenty-four inches high,
and looked very healthy. In the month
OF January we planted them out in our
vegetable garden, five feet apart each
way. They grew remarkably we'll, not
one dying, and stood both the cold of
winter, and the heat of summer as
well as 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
tea, aud we were particular in follow
ing them closely. OF course we had
none of the conveniences which are
used in China, but we tried to initiate
them as nearly as possible. We plucked
the leaves in the afternoon and
spread them out upon a table until
next morning. We then rubbed them
in our hands, and dried them in com
mon Dutch oven, stirring all the time
with the hand to FTevent scorching the
leaves. Each turn was dried in FIVE
minutes, and then taken out and rolled
again. This process of rolling and dry
ing was continued until they appeared
perfectly dry. It was then put in glass
Jars and kept well secured from the air.
In about three months time we began
using it, and were delighted with our
success. OF course all our friends must
have a drawing and each one pro-
| nounced it most excellent. Since that
time we have made our own tea every
spring, and we consider it so far supe-
rior to the imported tea, that we find
no pleasure in drinking the latter.
We made quite mistake in placing
our, tea plants five feet apart, for they
have grown so large that it is impossi-
BILE to walk between them, and they are
about ten feet high. These bushes pro-
duce seed every season in great album
dance. From these seeds we now have
between fifteen and twenty thousand
plants of various sizes, and we continue
to plant the seeds ont every fall, as
soon as they ripen. Many of them fall
to the ground, and come up thickly
under the parent tree. We have quite
a grove set out, ten feet apart, and from
these we are now collecting the most Of
our leaves.
The climate in this latitude suits
them perfectly, and there is no more
trouble in cultivating them than there
is with the apple or peach. When &
plantation is once established it lasts 6
life time, and after the bushes are three
years old, they require only the weeds
to be kept out of them for they shade
around their roots so perfectly as tc
kill out the grass. If our government
would again become interested in max
ing tea one of our staple productions
we would, in n few years, be quite in
! dependent of Chinese production.
Mrs. r. I. SCRRvEN.
Mcintosh, Liberty Co., Georgia.