The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-20
TEA. RAISED FIN SOUTH
DR sHERARD's EXPERIMENTAL
 GARDEN AT PINEHURsT, s. c.
Makes Profitable Crop-Has Sold the { Finest Variety atSt2 Pound. .sS Yield of Acre Worth
 fy>.5s.s4 $500.

Record-Herald. rated very highly insfiost sections of this country.s and yet the history Of American agriculture will reveal that to the enter prise of this sectiohs particularly Sou.n follow a, visit to the Pinehurst tea gar dens at this place. where, according to the declaration of Secretary of Agrlcui- WisUn ss made tbs % s dsys ;sa fso s the s world is s'raised'' Here. just twenty-two miles from the spot where the first grains of rice were planted in American soli, the finest Sea Island cotton In the world is grown-tne substitute for silk-and in the section where fortunes were made in Ras9 @ b n' Ssses sEs sss shs Hsre for, just ten years he has worked and ex- Perimented, groping in thetHark very of- ten for the secrets of the tea growers of the difa6ailties of labor, and other prob- lemsfiess serious, but whose solution
 was reqtisite for final commercial sue cess, have been met and overcome.
 Government Experiment Failed, Twenty years ago Congress made an appropriation for an experiment in tea cuihire. but the money was injudicio,is- ly expended. ard. on the report that there was little prospect of of-anything of value being accomplished. the experiment Was of Agriculture has gi1en him hearty sup port. bearing much of the expense, and
 making him the Departments special Experiments were begun on a small scale. and were necessarily expensive. Success' has been achieved. the gardens have1not. yet reached their full growth. Knowledge has heSn gained says Dr. Shepard, and path opened! but only to reveal more room for continued appii- not been aonined tei those varieties that promised most remunerative returns. but other1seeds that seemed to require differ~ ent conditions have been given trials, the effort being always to increase the prCductiveness. as there lies the profit.
 a + Survived g Freexe.
 ~These tea gardens. in February. 1ss9, endured conditions seldom experienced In the South, when the mercury fell here to degrses o1, heloW zero e. The gardens n 1t was feared they were ruined, but they have now entirely recovered. After the freeze the bushes were pruned literally. or s0urse this temporarily affected thei7
 Considering that Americans use SO much tea. astonisfingl.' little is known about it. Tie multi millionaire paws ltf-
 tie more for his tea Tn America than the poorest laborer; the difference in price is not greater than q half-cent a cup. In the Fast the millionaire's tea may cost nm rom fN 10 Zn cents a cup. ana the cooliee may get fifteen or twenty cups for cent This is because the tea for the | most delicious beverage of the Orient cannot be transported. The tea we pay livered at the Chinese ports for about 15 cents. vet theshest ten sells in China as high as $50 pound. IL is not surprising. therefore, that an American tea garden has already predVceds and given to Amer
 icans the finest tea Ever drank in this country. \
 Black and Green Raised Together. Experiments have bAen made with both black and green teas, the same gard sn in some cases furnishing equally good | in the manipulation of the leaf. As to black tea. Dr. Shepard thinks the South | FTasier garden has made a remarkable
 bushes were planted four feet apart eacn
 way and wess from seeds procured hy 1 United State. C5n~ul Fowler at Ningpo. GhFS 4S. de 1Ssf; fro@ celebrated g1cdsn
 'NerY best f"Only Chinese can afford
 to use it; 1t is too dear, for those in
 tea would cost in the Tinted States about
 S12 a pound, The garden at Pinehurst
 yielded in 1891 eishty-three pounds, two
 years later 2b pounds and last year over
 Chfnaf that yield over 2oo pounds of dry
 tea to the acre.
 < Over $500 an Acre.
 | The "Rose Tea GAaRden' is little less than an acre and produced last year l.20o pounds of green leaf According. to pr Ehepard 120N pounds of green leaf m lkes 300 pounds of standard Pinehurst bl1ck
 tea, for which there Is an established
 market at sbsa pound.
 Among other experiments the cultivc-
 tion of tea in gardens protected by mat. ting from the direct sunlight has proved
 succeSgfnl as to quality. pr. Shepard
 Wears may, eiapse before. there shall
 be a reliable demand irf the United States for teas costing $5 or S10 a pound or up yard. Other things being equal, the cost Of tea depends Somewhat on the amount of skilled labor expended upon it. but
 chiefly on the 'fineness' of the leaf-pluclx-
 ing. The Pelzoe tips (that is the unfold
 ed leaf at the end of the young shootl
 might cost $10 per pound when dry. If
 the wholesale stripping of the leat, as practiced in China during the great early
 summer crop. should oe followed, the cost might not exceed a few cents. The
 same bush produces tea of vastly dif-
 ferent value. depending upon when the
 leaf is picked Dr. hepard has sold his
 ''fnest tea for SIP per pound.
 1 Making of Green Tea.
 -lSo mechanical substitute has yet been
 invented at PinehurSf>sfor the Eastern
 processes of making green stea.roasung
 the fresh tea in an iron pot with very
 thick bottom, then hand-rolling on a taele Young and tender leaves from va