Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-08-04

succeeded in raising a small annual
crop, all of which was disposed of to
regular customers, these being largely
people in Charleston and Washington,
who have become more or less interest
ed in the tea growing experiment,
Many of the people who come to this
health resort and who visit the tea gar
dens are on DR.. Shepard's list of regular
patrons The last crop was too large
to be taken by his private trade, and he
sent considerable quantity to New
York, where it was sold at wholesale
and then placed on sale at retail. 1t is
represented as American tea and brings
higher price than the rarest varieties
of tea from the orient.
Although DIR. Shepard has carried this
unique experiment up to point where
success is practically assured and has
made it fairly paying enterprise, it is
not yet fully out of the experimental
stage. There are some difficulties still
to be overcome before tea growing can
become generally profitable in this coun-
try. principal of which is the matter of
labor. In the picking. curing and pack
ing there is no inconsiderable element
of labor. While it is mainly light work,
it takes not little skill
The tea grower here must compete
with the cheap labor of China, Japan
and India. DR.. Shepard estimates that
it costs eight times more to pick and
prepare pound of tea in South Caro-
A., H. = &c
the question to keep constantly en-
ployed force large enough to pick the
leaves from time to time as they ripen,
and accordingly hit upon sort of kim
dergarten plan. He secured a large
number of colored children to attend
free of charge a school conducted by
him. teaching them reading and writ
ing. in return for which they were to
pick tea. for which they also received
enough money to pay for their food and
clothing. The children required great
deal of drilling before they learned to
pick only leaves of proper age. This is
the foremost requirement and one which
depends upon the nicely of touch of the
fingers in passing over the leaves rapid
ly and deciding at once as to what to
pick and what to leave. Some of the
pickers are quite expert, though none
of them has yet acquired the proficiency
credited to the experts of the orient.
The latter. however, have much larger
leaves to pick than are taken from the
bushes of the Pine Hurst gardens, as
DR.. Shepard selects only the most deli
cate leaves, aiming to produce much
finer grade of tea than is imported.
1t is fact that hardly need be men-
toned that the ocean voyage robs tea
of much of its flavor and fragrance and
that we rarely get in this country tea
of the finest quality. The Asiatic tea
growers have to resort to the most ex
pensive methods of packing their prod
uct for shipment abroad, wrapping the
tea in heavy tin foil several layers of
mating and other coverings in order to
preserve the natural taste and other
qualities of the plant. In this DR.. Shep
ard has distinct advantage over his
foreign competitors and which goes
quite long way toward equalizing the
difference in the cost of labor here and
abroad.
Secretary Wilson of the department
of agriculture recently visited the Pine
Hurst tea gardens and was thoroughly
delighted with the success attained by
DR.. Shepard, believing that the industry
can be extended to other parts of the
south with great profit There are con-
siderable sections of this country where
the climate and atmospheric conditions
are favorable to tea growing While it
may be some years before the industry
assumes very great proportions. DR.
Shepard s experiments have demonstrat-
ed that tea of the highest grade can be
produced here, and his pioneer work
will be followed by others.