The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-10-08

shaded and protected by broad shingles
inserted on the south and west in sum-
mer and north and east i'll winter.
The young plants are kept growing
through the winter by all good agr1cul-
/ tural methods. Vacancies caused by
the death of individual plants are filed
Immediately from the surplus stock in
/ the nurseries. Carefully preserved stable
| compost, fortified with acid phosphate
and kainit. is spread wherever it can
be proftaIbly used. Commercial fertili-
! zers rich in soluble potash and availa-
| BILE nitrogen, with a certain part of solu-
BILE phosphates are those employed at
! Pinehurst.
About the middle of March, the young
seedlings produce their first flush
, that is, they have sprouted sufficiently
for picking. The young successive shoots
are allowed to grow until on each are
four or five young leaves. Although the
plants will produce leaves suitable for
tea-picking as early as the second year,
it has been found advisable to defer
systematic leaf-plucking until the third
year. In the axis of each leaf may be
seen a diminutive leaf-bud, which on
proper encouragement will rapidly pro-
~.
This encouragement is supplied by fur
nishing so great a stimulus to luXuriance
that its existent foliage fails to meet the
needs of the plant, or by deprlying 1T of
the greater part of it's leaves. The cul-
tivated Assamese variety is capable OF
bearing twenty or more tiushes in sea-
son; the Chinese and japanese but few.
On yong plants and on the earliest spring
Pushes of the older bushes, the pickers
are taught to nip off, between the
thumb nail and forefnger, the "Pekoe"
tip (the tiny, unexpanded leaf-bud at
the end of the shoot, and an almost
equally tender, small leaf next on the
stem, termed the Orange Pekoe." As
the season advances, large proper
tion of the "Pekoe"-a slightly larger
and firmer leafs taken. Following
these leaves come two yet larger and
more mature leaves, the first and second
'.Souchong." The first as picked at the
height of the season; and two leaf-buds
are left at the end of the shoot for
producing others in due time. The pick
ers put the leaf into Swiss trout-baskets,
which have been found the most conven-
lent receptacles, because the tips or
leaves can be dropped one by one through
the square hole in the cover, and lie
lightly in the basket until it is removed.
The tea-leaves must not be packed down
tightly, for fear of becoming heated,
which would seriously injure the quail
ty. Neither is the picked tea allowed to
collect in large quantities in the field,
but is brought to the factory, very care
fully examined as to fineness and general
condition, weighed and spread out on a
COOL clean floor in preparation for the
process of manufacture.
In the cultivation of tea, it is very inn
portant to prevent the shoots from grow
ing too long or too struggling, and to in
sure eaf-productiveness, that they be
nipped off in time. The constant pick
ing of the young leaves during summer
impoverishes the plant. Pruning conse-
quently becomes imperative. In the
earlier stages of DIR. Shepard's work, he
followed the plan of maintaining clean
stems with such disastrous and dsheart-
ening results that the whole effort was
well nigh given up. Later experiments
demonstrated the success of his original
method Of pruning, which was directed
toward producing breadth without I'M
creasing the height of the plant, and also
secured strength in the shoots, SO that
they are able to react in the production
of new leaves after each picking. In
stead of undergoing severe pruning
every fourth year, with a subsequent
less of crop for a season, as is the prac
tice in Indian gardens, the plants are
partly renewed annually and need no
rest time The result has proved that. |
introduced into the open sunlight and |
properly pruned and cultivated, the most
luXuriant types of tea from the gloomy |
jungles become capable of greatly aug
mented yield. Nor does intensive cult |
yation and cropping, judiciously 'exer-
cised, appear seriously to impair the |
strength and life of the plant.
The Importance of this discovery was |
recognized by an expert from the Ma |
tional Department of Agriculture who |
had grown many thousands of tea-plants |
and was familiar with methods of cul- |
ture in India He declared the Pine /
hurst garden to be one of perfect cult |
walton. The remarkable color of the /
foliage, a deep velvety green, shining |
with vigorous health on the lower leaves |
of the plants, and the uniformity and |
perfection of shape of the bushes, indi-
cative of skillful pruning, We're most
highly commended.
The recent returns from the earliest /
at Pinehurst prove that they |
equal the best yields of the best tea
growing countries. The rose garden in
a single year ending with 1898, produced
1900 pounds, an average of 5 ounces of
tea per bushel. In China and Japan the
average yield per bush does not exceed
ounces; in India and Ceylon, at is from
3 to ounces. 1t is this result which
enables DIR. Shepard to say confidently
at the end of ten years arduous labors
that he has been successful from an
as well as an agricultural
As beginning to wider spread of tea
cultivation throughout the South, DIR.
Shepard makes practical, common
sense suggestion for the large class OF
people who, he thinks. might profltably
add the cultivation of tea to that OF
flowers and vegetables. This can be
done by filling out the corners of their
gardens and home fields with tea-bushes.
as is the custom in China, or substituting
useful as well as ornamental evergreen
hedges of that plant for the present I'M
slightly, costly and frequently unreliable