The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-14
SUCCESSFUL TEA GROWING
.*.*.*IN OUR OWN COUNTRY.


China, from celebrated garden called
Loong Psia. which means Dragons Pool"
The product Of the Ningpo home garden is
never exported. It sells for s. a pound in
China. This is not by any means an ex-
orbitant price. There are teas which sell
regularly in Japan and China for from s.
to $50 pound.
TEA OF THE ROSE GARDEN"
Another successful garden at Pinehurst is
plot of about one acre in extent. known
as the Rose Garden on account Of the
quantities of roses which grow near it. This
garden is planted to an acclimated Assam
hybrid tea. The Rose Garden contains the
Oldest plants on the place-about 1900 in
number-set feet apart each way. so
as to admit of thorough cultivation. a
fiourishing tea plant is from TO feet in
height. The yield from the Rose Garden in
a good year is 400 pounds of dry tea. The
tea plant blossoms late in the fall and ma
lures its seeds the next fall. The seed is
a small brown nut. in size and color almost
exactly like what in Missouri the boys call
q hazel nut
The tea seeds are planted In the fall and
lie in the ground until the next spring AS
the young plants are extremely sensitive
TO the sun 1t is necessary to erect shelter
over the nursery. At Pinehurst this is done
by stretching coarse wire netting over posts
high enough 80 that person can work I'M
der The net. The wire is then covered with
pine needles, Sacking or boards.
During the last few years experiments
nave been conducted with a view to cul-
tvatng plants entirely under cover of this
Kind. This keeps the leaves green and
tender. with the result that the dried tea
made from them has a more delicate flavor
This Is probably return to the native cum
ditlonS OF the plant, the trees in the In
dian tungles are shaded by the dense forest
growth. which towers above them.
Where seedlings are set out in the open
field it is necessary to protect them for the
nrst year by shingles set up to intercept the
sun and wind. The fact that Pinehurst is
In the Southern pine country. and that
many OF the trees have been left standing.
makes a certain amount of shade available
there anyway.
1t Is hard to imagine place more beau
tiful in the spring. The tea plants them
selves. on which the seasons first flush"
Is Just starting, are brilliant. glossy green.
Around them the smooth brown trunks OF
the pine trees rise like columns in some
great cathedral, their plumy tops outlined
against the sky. In the neighborhood Of
the house and factory are acres of roses
and azalsas, plants which We of the North
expect to see growing stunted in green
house pots. developing here in the open air
into masses of blossoms which tower tar
above ones reach.
THE FLUSH AND THE HARVEST.
A flush" or two Is sometimes picked
from plants two years old. but usually q
field Is three years old before 1t nourisheS
a profitable harvest. The first flush Of
the season can be picked about the first Of
May; and from that time on the field can
be picked over every ten days for six
months.
At the extremity Of every branch Is .
delicate green tip and few tender leaves.
Naturally the tip Is the choicer portion OF
the plant, and in some foreign countries
this is plucksd alone and cured into what
is known as "F1owery Pekoe," a tea OF
such fabulous value that only Easten po-
tentates can afford to brew 1t.
This bud and the two succeeding leaves
are the crop usually gathered at Pinehurst
They form what IS known as "Pekoe tea"
II the two next leaves on the twig are in
cluded. it becomes 'Souchong." Zach twig
must be pinched off by hand. Immediately
after this pruning. two tiny buds in the
axis of the first two leaves left on the
branch begin to grow. and in ten days ench
of these has developed into a shoot large
enough to be plucked again. Livery few
years It is found desirable to prune the en-
tire plant down smoothly to within about
two feet of the ground, so as to start an
entirely new growth.
The problem of getting the tea picked was
one OF the most serious which Doctor Shep-
ard encountered. Picking by hand is the
only method possible. The employment OF
| men. or even women. as pickers. made the
cultivation of the crop disastrously e1-
pensive in this country, as compared with
the labor in India. China and Ceylon. nor
did many adult persons easily develop the
dextertty desirable for the work.
Doctor Shepard finally hit upon the plan
OF building schoolhouse, hiring a good
| teacher. and then inviting the colored folk
in the neighborhood to send their children
to the school six months In the year free
OF charge. with the understanding that the
children were to work at wages the rest of
the year picking tea.
Tho plan has worked well. Tho children
are getting an education. and the tea plant
er has secured company OF trained pick
ers who do more work and better work
than most adults could do. Each child
wears a wicker trout basket eiung around
his or her neck. The plucked leaves are
dropped through the square hole in the
cover Of the basket. At frequent Intervals
the pickers take the baskets to tho factory,