Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-12-05
The Question Of Tea Culture In the
Limited Afnnna.

At the regular monthly meeting of the New
York Horticultural Society, Mr. William
Saunders, of Washington, for many years
connected with the Agricultural Department,
read an elaborate paper on the cultivation of
the tea plant. The substance 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.
Although the tea plant (Thea yiridis) has
been cultivated in China from remote antiq-
uity, it has never been found in that country
in a wild state In 1882 it was discovered
that the plant was indigenous in Upper As
sam, and English capitalists at once conceiv-
ed the idea of cultivatng it in that region.
In 1910 joint stock company began opera
tions on an extensive scale, and after i'm
mense OUTLAWS, reckless management and tenn
porary disaster, the enterprise at last became
an established success.
The success of these English planters in In
dia is of special interest because it has over
thrown many supcrstitions in regard to the
curing and preparation for the 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 established fact that the tea plant
will grow in the United States. Specimens
were fiourishing in a Charleston nursery as
early as 1919, and in 1913 Junius Smith, of
Greenville S. c., made an attempt at cult
waiting the plant which was, however, aban-
doned before any conclusive evidence was
furnished for or against this industry's be-
coming a profitable venture. In 1928, our
Government, through the Commissioner of
Patents, imported 10, 600 plants from China,
which soon increased to 10000, and these
were distributed through the Southern States.
In 1860 the Department of Agriculture con-
tlnued to propagate plants and furnish 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 la
Dor of the Asiatics, no special effort was made
to disseminate the plants Reports of the
success in India now began to arrest attention,
and the Department was stimulated to secure
more seed and begin the preparation of the
plants in earnest In 1867 it was found that
an abundance of seed could be obtained from
the plants already growing in the South.
Since 1865 from 10, 900 to II, 900 plants were
distributed every year until 1876, when en-
couragng assurances from planters led to
still more extensive operations, so that l00,-
600 plants have been sent out during the past
two years, and the Department has now some
1901 on hand. All this has been done
with the intention of rendering the cultva-
ton of tea popular as a domestic product
and with the hope that public interest would
ultimately be directed to its cultivation as an
article of commercial value.
One moro fact hod boon ostobEohed
dnnhtAd teStiHony. A good quality of toa
can be produced here. Even with the imper-
feet knowledge of planters as to the proper
time for picking and the proper means of cur
ing, an article has been produced which cx-
perienced dealers call very good. 1t has
L I Al q.
with the same result. One lady in Columbia,
S. c., reports that she has obtained five
pounds of good tea from a single plant An
other lady makes an article which sells read
lily at Sl.20 per pound, and which experts
pronounce stronger and of superior flavor to
the imported article.
The remaining question to be solved is
Can tea be grown In this country as profit
able market crop? The cultivation of the
plant is as simple as that of the goosebery.
The plants only need to be set in rows, thor
Oughly titled and properly pruned to induce
n low, compact growth and an abundance of
shoots. No leaves should be picked until the
fourth year from planting to insure robust,
healthy and well-established growth so that
they will endure the strain of successive strip
ping, for under the best conditions the leaves
are picked several times each year. What
are those conditions 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 a zero chill, it
thrives best where the summers are long and
where the temperature is never lower than
g. or 81 below freezing The last necessary
condition is abundant moisture. In India
the rainfall is from so to 100 inches per IN
mum, and it is doubtful whether the leaves
would form with sufficient rapidity to make
the crop successful in any part of the coun-
try where the annual rainfall is less than 60
inches, and even this should be diffused pref
ty equally over the spring and summer
months OF course where irrigation is posi-
BILE the rainfall is of less importance.
There is only one way of learning whether
these and other essential conditions if such
there be, exist together in this country to a
degree which would insure success. Perhaps
the Government might accomplish some
thing if it would cease to rely upon indirect
methods of encouraging experiment, which
can only be desultory and unsatisfactory, and
begin some persistent trial of its own on a
scale of sufficient magnitude to settle the ques-
ton conclusively.
An appropriation of SO, 600 would be suf-
fcient to purchase and stock farm of ample
size in what seems favorable location, and it
would cover all needful expenses for a series
of experiments through term of years. 1t
1t would then be found what guam
tity 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 enter
prise will hardly grapple with such an uncer-
tain undertaking and wait several years for
results. MANY acute observers have faith