The Portland daily press., 1899-11-02
TEA PICKING ATPIN EHURST
DIR. shepard's Experimental Farm I'm
south Carolina.

seedlings produce their first ''nush"-that
Ia. they have sproutsd 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-piokinR % early ~ the secVnd ear.
IL has been found advisable to defer syste-
matte Inaf-pluoking until the third year.
In the axis Of each leaf may DO seen q
diminutiys leaf bud, which on proper en-
enlargement will rapidly produce anoth.
or wholly equipped shoot. This snoour-
agement Ia supplied by furnishing 50
great Q sti mulus to luxurianoe that Its
existent foil age falls to meet the needs Of
the pant. nr by dsprl wing 1t of the great
ar part of its leaves. The cultivated As
sa msss varsity is capable of bearing 20 or
more hushes In a SEASON; the Chinese and
japanese but q few. On young plants
and on the earliest spring flufhes Of the
older bushes, the pickers are taught to
nip off. between the thumb-nail and fore
finger. the "Pskos' tip (ths tiny. unex-
banded leaf-bud at the end of the shoot,
aud an almost equally tender, small leaf
next on the stem. termed the "Orange
Pekoe." As the season advances, u large
proportion of the "Pekos''-a signify
larger and tirmer Leafs taken. Follow.
ing these leaves comes two yet larger and
more mature leaves, the first and sscond
.Souchong" The first IL picked at tbs
height of the season; and two leaf-buds
are left az the end Of the shoot for pro-
duoing others in due time. The pickers
put the leaf into Swiss trou T. baskets,
which have been found the most oonvs-
nient reosptacles. becauss the tips Or
leaves can be dropped one BY one through
the square hole In the oov,r. ami lie
lightly in the basket until It IL removed.
The tea leaves must not be packed dow n
tightly, for fear Of bsooming heated i,
which would seriously injure the quality.
Neither Is the picked tea allowed TO COL
lsot In large quantities In ths tisia, but
10 brought to the factory. very carefully
examined as to tineness and general con-
dition, weighed and spread out on cool,
clean floor, In preparation for the pro-
cess of manufacture.
In the cultivation of tsa, 1t Is very i'm
port mt to prevent the shoots from grow.
ing too long or t,o struggling, and TO In
sure leaf productivensss, thet they be
nippsd of in time. The constant pick
ny Of the young leaves during summer
impoverisiiss the plant. Pruning e,n.e-
qneutly becomes Imperative. In the
earlier stages OF DIR. ShspArd's work, he
followed the plsn OF maintainins clean
stems, with such disastrous and disheart-
ening results that the whole effort was
wall nigh given mp. Later experiment.
"A ctrs. tad IA III
method of pruning, which was directed
toward prod uoing breadth, without In
or-Gsing 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. Instead
Of undergoing q severe pruning every
fourth year, with q gubssquent loss of
crop for a season, as Is the prsctice 10
Indian gardens, the plants are partly re-
newsd annually and need no rest time.
The result has proved that, introduced
into ths open sunlight and properly
pruned and cultivated, the most luxuri-
ant types Of tea from the gloomy jnngles
become capable Of greatly augmented
yield. Nor does intensive cultivation
and cropping, judiciously exercised, APP
pear seriously to impair the strength anu
life Of the plant.
Th. importancs of this discovery was
reoongized by an expert from the nation
al deparsment Of agriculture, who had
grown many Thousands of sa-plants and
was familiar with methods OF culture In
India. he declared the Finehu-st garden
20 be one OF perfect cultivation. The re-
mar able oo,cr of the foliase. a deep vel
| vsty green, shining with vigorous health
on tho iowe- ienves Of the plants. and the
uniformity and perfection OF shape OF
the bushes, indicative Of skillful pruning,
were NEST highly commended
The resent returns from the eai Hest tea
AT binahnT6E
| equal the bsst Yields of the best tea grow
| ing countries. The rose garden In u SIN
| gle year ending with 1898, prod uoed 1900
pounds, an average Of i've ounces Of tea
per bush. In China and Japan the aver
age yield per bnsh does not exceed two
ounS IS; In India and Ceylon IL 10 from
thrss to i've ounces. 1t 10 this result
which enables DIR. shepard to say conf
IDENTIFY at the end Of 10 years arduous
| Iabcrs that he has bsen succs ssfui from
an economic. as we'll as an agricultural
| standpoint.
As a beginning 20 q wider spread Of
taa cult walton throughout shs South,
Dr. Shepard makes q practical, c1mmon-
sense suggestion for the large class Of
people, who, be thinks. might probably
add the cultivation OF tsa to that of dow
ers 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 suSstit uting USEFUL
| as well as ornamental evergreen hedges
Of that plant for the present unsightly.
costly and frequently unreliable tences:
| Cultivated In this way, the outlay OF
| time, labor and money would be- mini
| mized. and the household should be able
l at the outset to supply Its own tea. The
output in green leaf OF these gardens
could be taken for manufacture 70 the
tea factories. which would be established
In each nsighborhooi as demand for them