Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-02-11
TEA CULTURE IN CAROLINA.
The Tea Farm at SummervilIe-Wha
the Experiment Has Proved.

The Tea Farm at SummervilIe-yVhat
the Experiment Has Proved.
A Summeryille Is. c. correspondent of
the Baltimore Day, writing under date of
February 4, says: at was three years ago
that Gen. LIE Due, the late Commissioner
of Agriculture, leased for twenty wears
from the MiddletOns, family of revolu-
lonary fame, 100 acres of land, near Sum-
merville, for the establishment of an ex-
perimental tea farm. The agreed rental
OF this land for the twenty years was 81.
and silver one was specially coined for
the purpose, commemorative of the Occa-
sion. Congress appropriated $4,000 to
carry on the experiments, more than half
of which sum lie Due spent on this farm.
He was rather QuiXotic in his schemes,
and the bulk of the labor was devoted to
preparlnga 'shoW" place, rather than for
the furtherance of the main object,
which was tea growing. This it was, as
much as anything else, that caused the
partial abandonment of the experiment.
Now from neglect the tea plants, ofwhich
several hundred thousand were planted
out In nursery beds, are growing wild
and so close together that they are more
like crop of wheat than the bushv habits
that the tea plant assumes when properly
taken care of, while, in this light, sandy
loan and crowded condition the only root
they seem to make is an immense top root
which a foot under ground is twice as
thick as any portion of the stem. In vain
did L attempt to reach the end of one of
these roots, and the most reasonable con-
clusion ! could arrive at was that the
plants, disgusted with the treatment they
were receiving from civilized America,
were turning their backs on us and re-
turning to their native land by the under
ground route. | was after a 'Especimenv
TO take back to Baltimore and show how
tea would grow in our land, but that end
less top root put a stop to taking one
alive, and the next best thing was to take
him dead, and what better way than a
walking stick, and who could better dis
play that stick than our Mayor? So with
his permission he will find himself pos
sessed of the first tea cane in the land.
VIII tea grow in America? is often
asked. Here is the answer: Seedlings,
just three years old, l measured seven
feet high. VIII tea made from these
plants be good tea? Yes, for l have made
the best tea L ever drank from American
leaves. say "best' not because the leaf
grows better here than in China, not
"best" because the tea was fresher. for
tea is never so good as it is at the place of
strength, and the absorption by it of any
surrounding moisture or fiavOrs is
another source of deterioration. Tea
should be put in metal-lined packages as
soon as cured, of suitable size for fam
lily use, and not in big chests that are
open to outside influences. Will tea pay
to cultivate in America? That is the ques-
tion and one not easily answered. To
cesstully make tea requires a climate
that will, in the season, continually
force out new leaves in the place of those
that are picked off; it is warm moisture
that does this, and whether our climate
offers these advantages remains to be
found out, for the experiment has not beer
carried far enough. Most people imagine
1t is the expense of making the CONNER
clal article out of the leaves wherein lies
the difficulty, and they talk about cheap
Chinese labor, ETC., but you might as well
compare the "cheap Chinese'' mode of
transportation by coolies over mountain
roads to our railroads. Tea making.
which in China is a tedious process. en-
tirely by hand, under European manage
ment in India is a simple and quick pro-
cess by machinery, and, no doubt, if the
tea making ever becomes an industry in
America, Yankee ingenuity will greatly
simplify and excel the cumbrous English
tea machines now used in India