The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1895-11-14
RAISING TEA IN AMERICA.
DIR. SHEPARD'S EXPERIMENTS
IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

The proposition has been maintained
that tea could be produced In America,
and recent experiments seem TO prove
II, saws the New York Sun. For many
years it was not supposed that tea
could be grown successfully in India,
but since 1851 it has been demon
tratcd that Indian tea is not only
good, but also that it is u strong rival
in the markets Of the world Of Chinese
tea. The climate in the States South
of New England corresponds very
closely with that of the Indian tea
regions, and this is especially true of
the section about Charleston, S. c.,
where the only persistcnt effort to
grow tea in the United States hus been
made The annual rainfall Is IL little
less than in either Japan or Ccylon,
and the extremes Of heat and cold are
greater, but otherwise the conditions
are very similar.
Tea plants have boon grown III "
desutory fashion for great mamy
years in various parts Of the South,
and some Of them may bc seen hall
wild to-day in the ovcrgrOwn gardens
of the white planters. where little
tea is raised in Il rude and Ignorant
manner. Some Southern planters i'm
ported tea plants long before the war,
and their efforts to introduce the new
crop were paralyzcd by the war. The
Impoverished planters neglected the
gardens attcrward, but the tca plants
hourished in u way. yielding crops OF
doubtful quality. One Of thcs" early
tea gardens were planted in lSuU bv |,
Mr.. Smith was Fayetteville, n. c.,
aud for Il timc it iluurishrd. n recent
visit to the place showed the neglect
into which the tea plans have fallen
though good tea is still made on tho
place by the widow of tho original
planter. For over twenty-five year:
the plants have had TO struggle for cN
istonce among bricrs, wild shrubs and
pines, but they have held their own ;,
bravely that they are the most con
SpicuOus grOwths il the garden. Tn,
plants are now really young trees. and
they produce annually d crop Of tea
that has been pronounced worth fully
81 u pound by the cargo One would
never suspect the presence Of Il tea
garden in such Il neg glcctcd place, and
it is necessary to push ones way
through bramb!cs, bushes and young
trees to reach the garden proper. This
is an illustration Of how tea has been
grown in the South.
When Gen. IeDuc was made com
missioner OF agriculture in ISIS he be-
came Interested in the private expert
mcnts Of tea culture and after studying
the question he started public cN
pcrimcnts with the plants in the hope
OF Introducing Il new crop for farmers
in the South. He went out Of Office
before he could ccmpictc the expert
mcnts. aud the tea gardens which he
caused to be planted At Summcrvillr,
=. c., were aba liuncd 10 grow up in
wild thickcts. After this individuals
again made experiments, AID in lS32
some tea WAS raised, cured and sold at
proht. Ihc first crop amounted to Il
tribe less than lDn pounds and Judges
pronounced it OF high quality.
The successful cXnrrimcnts were
carried ON hy DR.. Charles l.. Shepard.
At his place, Pinchurst, he has six tea
gardens, OF an acre each which have
been planted With choice Tea seed OBJ
tanned from variods quarters. After
beginning his experiments he huuGh lat
4 part Of the great Nuvington niAutn.
tion and leased the tea Suruuns at
Summcrville, where the government
experiments were: ln.uic. with the.
privilege Of removing the trees and
plants ii he desired. iir also SECURED
now choice seed from abroad and
started Il small nursery OF Lea plants.
The seeds were obtained ir0m Cniuu.
Japan and elsewhere, aAd were plant
ed upon different soils and with ;tii
fercnt exposures. Experiments Win
young plants from the nursery ar,
heinE conducted hy him in this way
to-day. Gardens covering full ter
more acres are in course Of pinpura
ton now, with seeds brought from
Ccylon aud the llimaayas and o,nu,
tea SECTIONS OF tho DricnL Tho tr;
from the old government Dianl
proved ot excellent quality, hut hi
chief hopes arc based upon the plaut
raised from his own selected seed
The North Carolina experiment station
ut Raleigh has since mahc expert
ments with the tea plan,s. At Oh
Point Comfort and on the Dclawar
and Maryland peninsula the har
winters have injured the plants t
such an extent that it docs not pay [
cultivate them for the market Gro,
but in the pincy woods country suut
OF Raleigh the climate and soil ;lppcu
to be emincntly adapted 10 the rultur
of tea.
The actual results nnI possihilitip
OF tea culture in the South have bee
summarized by DR.. Shepard, who say
that the plants can hc grown su,
cessfully here, either from seed o
cuttings. His crop CT lSH2, un,c
nigh cultivation, proved equal to AT
ol Lne lnQlan gardens. Owing to TIL
cheapness of Asiatic labor employs
In picking the tea. the cheap grade
cannot be grown successfully in tn
United States. but the higher grade,
which arc obtained only from tn
young leaves, can be cultivated salts
factorily. The first crop Of tea pickle
at Pinehurst was Of the Assam hy yhri
leaf, and this is well adapted to tn
manufacture Of black Scu Tho CHI
ncse and Japanese plants in Dl
Shepard's gardens are about to yic!,
q crop anl efforts viii be made TO pro
duce.h"5m these green and oolong tea
~'Similar To those imported. lie say
that the gardens are too young yet lo
him to make positive statements us t:
the question Of profits in growing tea
but he thinks that the substitution O
machinery for hand work in picking
and curing the leaf will make it pos
siblc to compete successfully with the
cheap labor of the East. The outlook
for successful tea culture in the Soutl
is now good, ho thinks. The ciicl
drawback is that IL largo expenditure
10 required to get the gardens into
paying order. The cost and skill OF
Ia