The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-15

tlons OF dlnduStan. In the former cOun-
tries the tea is raised in small patches.
The ordinary tea garden of Japan is not
much bigger than city lot snd that OF
China would not be larger than the or
binary American garden. The tea IA
raised by multitude of small farmers
| each of whom works after his own rule
| and in his own way. When the leaves are
pioked there are traders who go about
| through the tea districts and buy I'D the
crops. They sell to other traders and one
| crop may go through a half dozen diff
ferent hands before 1t is shipped to Han
ROW, where Ii gets one of the big steam
ers for Europe.
Here In India the plantations are large.
Some of them have hundreds of acres
and employ thousands of men and women
as laeorers They are handled after busi-
ness methods. The soil Is studied and
carefully cultivated At present there
is more than $100, 600 invested in the
business and In the neighborhood of 6OO-
700 people are employed upon the planta-
tons. The area under cultivation is
steadily increasing, and 1t is said that
the crop may be raised all along the
| southern slopes of the Himalayas at an
altitude of about 5000 feet above the sea.
The plantations here are 5000 or 1000
feet up and there are somo tea fields
which are full half mile above sea
level The most of the land used is fiat
or rolling and the best soil Is a reddish
sandy loan with a free subsoil. The
tea seeds are first planted In beds. After
they have sprouted and reached the age
of year, they are set out in rows a few
feet apart They are carefully cultivated
and trimmed, in order to make them
grow bushy The soil is often top dressed
with wood loan and artificial manures
are frequently used. AS to the droppinps
OF cattle. none are to be had in India. for
the people pick them up and use them for
| fuel. After the plants are three years
OLD they are ready for pluclring. The
leaves are carefully pulled, certain num-
per being left to keep the plants grow
Ing. 1t takes five or six years for a.
shrub to mature and at that time It
should produce pound or more of tea
every year. Some of the trees about
here are 40 years old and there are some
IN emma whose age is so great that no
on knows when they were planted.
How Tea Plant Looks
But let me tell you how the tea looks
III the fields. In the plantations about
here the plants range in height from ones
waist to his head. Sorae have trunks six
inches in diameter and others mere stems
The leaves are like those of the Willow
tree. They smell like tea when you crush
them. The shrub Is species of the On.
nellia. 1t Is an evergreen hot unlike the
maple and the leaves are beautiful The
plant Is supposed to have come originally
from China, but there is no account Of its
having been cultivated until about $40
A. u. 1t grows wild on this side of the
Hinalayas, and there are certain yarie-
ties OF 1t which reach the height of small
trees. The planters are crossing the vari
Gus varieties in their attempts to make
new and better teas.
passed through many Of these planta-
tons on my ride up the mountains. THE
shrubs rise in terraces up the sides of tho
hill, looking not unlike well trimmed box
wood hedges Here and there one sees
gaily dressed women picking the leaves.
their black skins and bright calico gowns
showing out against the green, while thei,
iewelry flashes in the sun. Each woman
has a basket which will hold about two
bushels on her back. kept there by 4
band which rests over the forehead. The
leaves are plucked with the hands and
thrown into the baskets. which, when full
are carried to the factory l am told thar
the planters usually have five pickinps n
year, and on the best lands they iIavc
seven. This is far ahead of China mn.
japan. where the shrub that will Weld
three plckinss is good.
The, tea planters here are chiefly BRIT
ish.. Many of the estates are owned Nv
companies. The planters live in fine bun
galows surrounded ny lawns and gardens
Many OF them are the second sons of no.
BILE families in England.
Making Tea BY Machinery
The processes or making tea II. india
are different from those OF Japan ard
China. In the latter countries nearly ey-
erything is done by hand and the meth
DDS are insanitary to an extreme In
China the leaves are sorted by women
and girls and the moisture is pressed out
Of them by treading them with bare feet
They are rolled over and over on bamboo
trays with the hand and are fred in red