The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-28
AMERICAN GROWN TEA.
Highly Satisfactory Results From
the Recent Experiments

| the Recent Experiments.
! America is destined to become one Of
/ the great tea producing countries Of the
world. The imports from China, Japan,
Ceylon. and other tea growing countries
viii diminish from year 20 year in the
/ future until, IL the opinion Of Secretary
| Wilson. the United States GiI become IN
! exporter Of this article fSf which the
: American people are now paying annually
( from $12, e0O.G GEO to SO. 00G 600
. As result Of recent experiments by the
I Agricultural Department, preparations are
/ making for the establishment OF several
! tea plantations in the Southern States. Al
/ ready one company. with a capital of S50,-
. otJ, has been organized in New YORK; an
other, with a capital Of S1C0, coo. is being
! perfected. while still others with large
capital are ii contemplation for the pur-
( pose Of securing suitable lands IN South
! err States with soil and climatic condi-
( tions adapted TO the growth of tea.
This is the result Of the efforts Of James
I Wilson, who. shortly after his instaIla-
ton as Secretary OF Agriculture. became
; convinced that tea culture IN the Southern
: States was not only practicable but might
he made profitable. Gathering together ali
the data obtainabIe upon the subject Sec
{ rotary Wilson directed the establishment
. OF an experiment station at the Pinehurst
, Gardens. in South Carolina Al first a
/ doctor Of divinity was placed in charge
! IS a special agent Of the Government. Dur
ing the first year there was little progress
made IN tea culture. To use the language
{ Of Secretary Wilson. divinity and tea did
J not seem TO harmonic" ana as tie de-
{ partment was particularly interested ia
{ The development OF The tea industry. divin-
ity was superseded By q special agent of
the department Dr. Charles Shepard. rs
. result Of his labors more than =, $50
worth q rzzE Ma IN ~
markets OF Washington, New York, PhIla-
/ delphia. and other cities in 1899.
! The American product was found TO be
/ superior TO any Of the black teas I'M
! ported. Some of the crop of 1899 brought
! as high as 81 . pound which is three or
! four times greater than the price OF the
teas imported from china and Japan Last
! year there was an increase in the yield
OF the tea gardens OF y per cent over
the yield of 1899, and the total product
! was sold in bulk at price netting
handsome profit to the Government
/ The experiments during the last -hree
years have established the fact that Il good
grade of American tea can be Grown ard
I put on the market IN bulk at cost not
exceeding i cents = pound Under aver
age conditions an acre VIII Yield 200
pounds Of marketable tea. and this at u
cents a pound. would make the expense OF
I growing the tea $50 an acre The tea can
be sold in bulk at from 80 10 so cents
( pound, and the profit on this basis would
! be from 100 to 10 per cent
In discussing this subject the other day
Secretary OF Agriculture Wilson said:
The last Congress appropriated $1,000 for
experimenting in the tea industry. We
now have a large number Of plants ready
10 be sent out, and have written 10 State
! agricultural colleges in the Gulf States
+ stating that they can secure the plants
on application to the department. accom-
id ~ E-~.r
sist the department in establishing tea
gardens on their lands We propose 10
render them every assistance possible by
sending our scientific agents there 10 give
them advice By this method we exreet
to demonstrate to the people Of every
State in that region the absolute pTac-i-
CabiIity Of the tea Industry
Then you believe that tea culture Will
be confined almost exclusively to the
Gulf States2"
No. I did not say that. Our first ex-
pertinent viii be IN that section best
suited by climatic conditions. rainfall. and
soil to the industry. A little later we
viii experiment II Tennessee. North Caro-
3 lima. Arkansas, Indian Territory, Okla
bona Territory. Missouri, and other
border States It may be that it can be
successfully produced in that section
Our experiments have led US 10 believe
that It cannot be successfully grown in
4 climate where the thermometer records
a winter temperature lower than Il de-
grees above zero.
The question Of moisture Is also an i'm
portant one 1t requires from forty 10
sixty inches OF rainfall annually TO grow
II successfully. At Pinehurst We have
an annual fall Of about sixty inches. but
for certain kinds of tea this is Inadequate
We propose. however. to overcome this
by irrigation, so that the plants viii re
tain their green foliage all the year
round
Secretary Wilson believes that the tea
industry in the United States can be bet
ter promoted through companies than
through individuals. for the reason that
il requires a considerable outlay of cap
ital 10 cultivate properly a considerable
number of acres OF TEA. but the returns
viii be greater than in many other in
dustries With the development of this
new industry Secretary Wilson looks for
a substantial change in the condition Of
the negroes in the South. as the main
work can be done by the children who
have not attained sufficient maturity TO
become field laborers. II viii keep them
employed and out of mischief furnish
them q substantial basis for an education
and start them On the road to frugaIity
and thrift which heretofore has been
practically closed to them