The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-12-11
THE TEA PLANT.
Reasons Why the Tea Plant May be Sue.
ccssfully Grown by Americans.

ccssfully Grown by Americans.
At the regular monthly meeting of the
New York Horticultural Society Mr..
Saunders of Washington, for many years
connected with the agricultural depart
ment, read an elaborate paper on the
cultivation of the tea plant. The SUBJ
stance of that portion of the address
which bears upon the question of the
possible introduction of this industry into
the United States is given below: AL
though the tea plant Thea virldia) has
been cultivated in China from remote
antiquity, it has never been found in that
country in a wild state. In 1885 it was
discovered that the plant was indigenous
in Upper Assam, and English capitalists
at once conceived the idea of cultivating
it in that region. In 1910 a joint stock
company began operations on an extern
sive scale, and after immense outlays,
reckless managements and temporary dis
aster, the enterprise at last became an
established success. The success of these
English planters in India is of special
interest because it has overthrown many
supcrstitions in regard to the curing and
preparation for market of the tea leaves.
These operations are by no means so
mysterious and complicated as the world
has been led to believe. 1t is an estab-
lished fact that the tea plant
WILL GROW IN THE UNITED STATES.
Specimens were fourishing in Charles
ton nursery as early as 1872, and in 1S4S
Junius Smith of Greenville, S. c., made
an attempt at cultivating the plant.
Conclusive evidence was furnished for or
against this industry becoming profita-
BILE venture. In 1858, our government,
through the commissioner of patents i'm
ported 10000 plants from China, which
soon increased to 10000, and these were
distributed through the southern states.
In 1862 the department of agriculture
continued to propagate plants, and fur
nished them to all who applied for them,
but, under the prevalent belief that so
much manipulation was needed in the
manufacture of the article that we could
not compete with the cheap labor of the
Asiatics, no special effort was made to
disseminate the plants. Reports of the
success in India now began to arrest atten-
tion, and the department was stimulated
to secure more seed, and begin the prop
agation of the plants in earnest. In 1868
it was found that an abundance of seed
could be obtained from the plants al.
ready growing in the south. Since 1868
from 10000 to $4,000 plants were dis
tributed every year until 1876, when en-.
couraging assurances from planters led
to still more extensive operations, so that
100000 plants have been sent out during
the past two years, and the department
has some 120, 900 now on hand. All this
has been done with the intention of rem
dering
THE CULTIVATION OF TEA POPULAR
as domestic product, and with the hope
that public interest would be ultimately
directed to its cultivation as an article of
commercial value. One more fact has
been established on undoubted testimony
"a good quality Of tea can be produced
here. Even with the imperfect knowl-
edge of planters as to the proper time for
picking and the proper means of curing,
an article has been produced which ex-
perienced dealers pronounce very good.
1t has been tested in Washington and
other cities with the same result. One
lady in Columbia, S. c., reports that she
has obtained five pounds of good tea
from single plant. Another lady makes
an article which sells readily for S1.50
per pound, and which experts pronounce
stronger and superior flavor to the i'm
ported article. The remaining question
to be solved is: Can tea be grown i'll this
country as a profitable market crop?
The cultivation of the plant is as sim
pie as that of the gooseberry. The plants
only need to be set in rows, thoroughly
titled and properly pruned to induce a
low, compact growth and an abundance
of shoots. No leaves should be picked
until the fourth year from planting, to
insure a robust, healthy and we'll estab-
lished growth, so that they endure the
strain Of successive strippings, for under
the best conditions, the leaves are picked
several times each year.
wHATARE THESE CONDITIONS e?
In the first place, rich, loamy soil is
indispensable, and the strength Of the
land should be sustained by fertilizers.
The climate must be warm, for although
the plant will endure zero chill, it
thrives best where the summers are long,
and where the temperature is never low
er than six or eight degrees below freez-
ing. The last necessary condition is
abundant moisture. In India the rainfall
is from eighty to 100 inches per anunm,
and it is doubtful whether the leaves
would form with sufficient rapidity to
make this crop successful in any part of
the country where the annual rainfall is
less than sixty inches, and even this
should be diifused pretty equally over
the spring and summer months. OF
course where irrigation is possible the
rainfall is of less importance. There is
only one way of learning whether these
and other essential conditions, if such
there be, exists together in this country
to degree which would insure success
Perhaps the government might accom-
plish something if it would cease to re-
ly upon indirect methods of encouraging
experiment, which can only be desultory
and unsatisfactory, and begin some per-
sistents trials Of its own on q scale of suf-
ficient magnitude 10 settle the question
conclusivcly. An appropriation Of $25,.
600 would be sufficient to purchase and
stock farm of ample size in what
seems a favorable location, and it would
cover all needful expenses for a series of
experiments through term Of years. It
would then be found what quantity of
leaves an acre would yield, and what
would be the cost of picking and curing.
Until some satisfactory data on these
points are established, private enterprise
will hardly grapple with such an uncer-
tain undertaking and wait several years
for results. Many acute observers have
faith that the United States will produce
its own tea, and better tea than is now
consumed. .hcre.-7he Tribune.
- A man at Columbus, Ga, pawncd
his false teeth for money to buy circus