Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1878-01-05

A pamphlet treating of the culture of
the tea plant in America has been pre-.
pared at the agricultural department,
under the supervision of Gen. lie Due,
the commissioner. 1t will soon be pub
lished as a supplementary report of the
department.. Quoting from treasury
statistics, which show that the value of
the annual importatioHs Of tea into this
country FROM China amounts to about
$1,000, 600 in coin, the commissioner ex-
presses the belief that the payment of this
large sum to foreign countries can be
avoided. He thinks that the United
States can at least compete with those
countries for its local consumption, even
if it cannot rival them in supplying
foreign markets, The pamphlet gives IL
detailed history Of the cultivation OF the
tea plant in the east, and then continues :
"The attitudes in which tea is success.
fully cultivated in China, Assam and
Japan corresponds with those OF the
states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia.
West Virginia. North Carolina, South
Carolina Georgia, Alabama Tennessee,
Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and a
portion Of the Pacific coast, and the
conditions OF temperature OF the soil are
also about the same. Successful expert
ments in tea culture already made in
several OF the states mentioned, amply
Justify the opinion that it can be made
an industry in this country OF immediate
advantage and profit"
A little calculation will show the
profits which may be derived from an
acre OF land containing 1000 tea plants
three years old. The third year the
yield should be lS7 pounds, the fourth
year 3l2 pounds, the fifth year $50
pounds and the sixth year 100 pounds
per acre, When the leaves are abundant
one person can gather lG pounds per day,
but the average result OF a days work
may not extend ten to twelve pounds.
The leaves are gathered at three different
periods, ranging from March to Septem-
Der, and on an acre yielding 800 pounds
the first picking would be about f20
pounds, and could be gathered by four
p 'rons in two days. The same number
could pick the two crops in three days"
Many extracts from letters written by
farmers in the localities named above are
given with the report and the commits.
si0ner thinks they Justify the opinion
that the practicabiIity of the cultivation
ofthe tea p'antsuccessfully in this country
is no longer q matter Of doubt On the
subject OF preparing the tea leaves for use,
the report says
" As business, and in competition
with the cheap labor of the Chinese, it
would be an experiment in this country,
especially as regards the Coarser article.
As the finer teas rarely leave China, and
the finest never, there would be no com.
petition in these grades if the manipua-
tion Of the leaves is carefully and success
fully attended to, while the possibility
that modern methods and appliances
might be substituted for the tedious
hand wor; of the Chinese, seems to
promise sufficiently well to make the ex-
pertinent a wise one"
The conclusions reached are that
whether or not the cultivation and cur
ing of tea can ever become an Industry
among us, it is plain that there are thou
sands OF families in our land who may
proftably cultivate tea gardens, and enjoy
the fruit Of them as they DO that of the
orchard or the berry patch, at the same
time that they have the agreeable sensa-
ton of drinking beverage never before
known in this country, prepared from q
grade Of tea worth in China and japan
rom five to fourteen dollars per pound.
The culture of the tea plant is not new
idea in the United States, nor does the
commissioner claim il to be an original
one with him. DR.. Junius Smith made
very careful aud extended experiments
with it at Gracnville, S. c., about thirty
years ago, and reported his success in the
patent cfige reports from lS4S to 1859.
The same experiment is now being re.
peated III California by a colony OF
japanese,