Western Dooars.

When the second edition of this work was printed, this district was unknown as Tea locality.

My attention was directed to it in 1874; I was the second who planted Tea in it, and I have now completed a garden there.

As regards climate, soil, and lay of land, it is perfect, and I believe it will eventually prove the most paying district in India for Tea.

The Northern Bengal Railway, just opened, gives it great advantages for transport.

Having now discussed each district, all of which, except the Dehra Dhoon, I have seen, I give, in further elucidation, Meteorological Tables. For those not mentioned in the tables I have failed to acquire the necessary information.

My thanks are due to Dr. Coates, at Hazareebaugh, for his kindness in supplying me with much of the data from which the following tables are framed:—

TABLE OF ELEVATION AND TEMPERATURE OF TEA LOCALITIES.

N.B.—The exact temperature of other Tea Districts not being known, I have confined myself to these; but general remarks on the elevation and temperature of other Tea localities will be found elsewhere.

DistrictsPlaceElevation in feetDetailsJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberD.J.F.M.A.M.J.J.A.S.O.N.Year
AssamGoalparah386Monthly Temp.61·763·072·677·676·080·382·181·680·577·569·064·663·175·481·375·673·8
Do. Max.77·287·994·097·091·091·092·091·592·089·084·378·3
Do. Min.49·048·057·262·667·070·073·773·070·162·350·850·0
Gowhatty134Monthly Temp.63·667·674·577·480·481·883·082·982·279·271·165·565·677·482·677·575·8
Seebsaugor370Monthly Temp.60·064·169·373·878·582·483·683·583·178·369·462·462·273·783·276·974·0
Debrooghur396Monthly Temp.62·263·471·372·777·180·783·781·881·075·667·461·062·273·782·174·773·2
CacharCachar76Monthly Temp.62·966·673·476·880·982·283·381·781·279·670·665·464·977·082·477·175·3
ChittagongChittagong191Monthly Temp.68·572·380·583·584·584·082·282·383·081·673·768·969·982·882·879·478·7
DarjeelingDarjeeling6952Monthly Temp.42.243.852.058.762.163.764.964.463.057.349.444.743.557.664.358.455.9
Do. Max.62·066·072·078·079·079·079·075·080·078·069·060·0
Do. Min.32·028·039·048·048·057·058·059·057·044·038·033·0
Chota NagporeHazareebaugh2010Monthly Temp.62.767.173.785.688.683.877.879.377.572.664.861.463.782.680.371.674.5
Do. Max.82·091·094·0107·0100·0103·089·088·087·084·078·076·0
Do. Min.44·046·455·067·072·071·071·073·070·059·052·044·0
NeilgherriesOotacamund7490Monthly Temp.51·552·857·360·160·857·955·856·156·455·953·951·952·159·456·655·455·9
DistrictsPlaceElevation in feetDetailsJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMay
AssamGoalparah386Monthly Temp.61·763·072·677·676·0
Do. Max.77·287·994·097·091·0
Do. Min.49·048·057·262·667·0
Gowhatty134Monthly Temp.63·667·674·577·480·4
Seebsaugor370Monthly Temp.60·064·169·373·878·5
Debrooghur396Monthly Temp.62·263·471·372·777·1
CacharCachar76Monthly Temp.62·966·673·476·880·9
ChittagongChittagong191Monthly Temp.68·572·380·583·584·5
DarjeelingDarjeeling6952Monthly Temp.42.243.852.058.762.1
Do. Max.62·066·072·078·079·0
Do. Min.32·028·039·048·048·0
Chota NagporeHazareebaugh2010Monthly Temp.62.767.173.785.688.6
Do. Max.82·091·094·0107·0100·0
Do. Min.44·046·455·067·072·0
NeilgherriesOotacamund7490Monthly Temp.51·552·857·360·160·8
JuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberD.J.F.M.A.M.J.J.A.S.O.N.Year
80·382·181·680·577·569·064·663·175·481·375·673·8
91·092·091·592·089·084·378·3
70·073·773·070·162·350·850·0
81·883·082·982·279·271·165·565·677·482·677·575·8
82·483·683·583·178·369·462·462·273·783·276·974·0
80·783·781·881·075·667·461·062·273·782·174·773·2
82·283·381·781·279·670·665·464·977·082·477·175·3
84·082·282·383·081·673·768·969·982·882·879·478·7
63.764.964.463.057.349.444.743.557.664.358.455.9
79·079·075·080·078·069·060·0
57·058·059·057·044·038·033·0
83.877.879.377.572.664.861.463.782.680.371.674.5
103·089·088·087·084·078·076·0
71·071·073·070·059·052·044·0
57·955·856·156·455·953·951·952·159·456·655·455·9

N.B.—The letters in the columns, between December and the year, refer to months; thus, D. J. F. is December, January, February. The figures show the average temperature during those months.

TABLE OF LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, AND RAINFALL OF TEA LOCALITIES.

N.B.—The exact rainfalls of other Tea Districts not being known, I have confined myself to these; but general remarks on the rainfall in other Tea localities will be found elsewhere.

DistrictsPlaceLatitudeLongitudeDetailsJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
AssamGoalparah26°11′90°36′Average rain, several years0·420·761·844·8511·7223·7221·3312·6910·935·610·390·2094·44
Days rain fell in 1869224819242218155NilNil119
Gowhatty26° 5′91°43′Average rain, several years0·701·431·487·2710·9213·2913·0811·986·823·200·470·1270·76
Days rain fell in 186922481616910142Nil184
Seebsaugor27° 2′94°39′Average rain, several years1·182·433·7710·1511·0415·5614·8713·8811·134·461·290·6990·45
Days rain fell in 1869119101322131923178Nil2147
CacharCachar24°48′92°43′Average rain, several years0·503·536·0912·6916·1219·5524·5816·8413·907·777·030·79123·3
Days rain fell in 186929101618201825198NilNil145
ChittagongChittagong22°20′91°44′Average rain, several years0·371·621·315·469·4222·9222·5423·0413·015·932·300·55108·47
Days rain fell in 1869173414152125175Nil1113
Hill Tracts??Rain in 1869Nil1·901·5012·559·0012·5018·2014·3012·705·70Nil0·5088·85
Days rain fell in 1869Nil44713162219194Nil1109
DarjeelingDarjeeling27° 3′88°18′Average rain, several years0·761·601·653·627·0127·5029·4029·0918·066·560·200·14129·50
Days rain fell in 186923591723262224712148
Western Dooars[11]??Rain in 18690·802·001·506·6025·3027·3046·5083·5046·509·60?2·40252·00
Days rain fell in 1869335715192528225???
Chota NagporeHazareebaugh24° 0′85°20′Average rain, several years0·420·520·750·421·3710·9914·6311·446·263·510·190·0250·52
Days rain fell in 18694Nil7Nil5112416219Nil198
DistrictsPlaceLatitudeLongitudeDetailsJanuaryFebruaryMarchApril
AssamGoalparah26°11′90°36′Average rain, several years0·420·761·844·85
Days rain fell in 18692248
Gowhatty26° 5′91°43′Average rain, several years0·701·431·487·27
Days rain fell in 18692248
Seebsaugor27° 2′94°39′Average rain, several years1·182·433·7710·15
Days rain fell in 18691191013
CacharCachar24°48′92°43′Average rain, several years0·503·536·0912·69
Days rain fell in 1869291016
ChittagongChittagong22°20′91°44′Average rain, several years0·371·621·315·46
Days rain fell in 18691734
Hill Tracts??Rain in 1869Nil1·901·5012·55
Days rain fell in 1869Nil447
DarjeelingDarjeeling27° 3′88°18′Average rain, several years0·761·601·653·62
Days rain fell in 18692359
Western Dooars[11]??Rain in 18690·802·001·506·60
Days rain fell in 18693357
Chota NagporeHazareebaugh24° 0′85°20′Average rain, several years0·420·520·750·42
Days rain fell in 18694Nil7Nil
MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
11·7223·7221·3312·6910·935·610·390·2094·44
19242218155NilNil119
10·9213·2913·0811·986·823·200·470·1270·76
1616910142Nil184
11·0415·5614·8713·8811·134·461·290·6990·45
22131923178Nil2147
16·1219·5524·5816·8413·907·777·030·79123·3
18201825198NilNil145
9·4222·9222·5423·0413·015·932·300·55108·47
14152125175Nil1113
9·0012·5018·2014·3012·705·70Nil0·5088·85
13162219194Nil1109
7·0127·5029·4029·0918·066·560·200·14129·50
1723262224712148
25·3027·3046·5083·5046·509·60?2·40252·00
15192528225???
1·3710·9914·6311·446·263·510·190·0250·52
5112416219Nil198

I will now endeavour to draw up a tabular statement of the respective advantages of the various Tea districts as regards climate, labour, lay of land, soil, facilities of procuring manure and transport.

In importance I regard them in the order given. I place labour before soil, because the fact is, in all the provinces suitable and good soil for Tea can be found somewhere; and therefore, while soil is all important in selecting a site, it is secondary to labour in deciding on a district. Lay of land comes after labour. When my information on any point is not sure I place a note of interrogation. Where advantages are equal, or nearly so, I give the same number, and the greater the advantage of a district on the point treated in the column the smaller the number. Thus, under the head of Climate, Assam is marked 1.

As the following table gives no information as to which of all the districts possesses the greatest advantages, all things considered, but only gives my opinion of each under each head, and the subject closed in this way would be unsatisfactory, I may state that, in my opinion, the choice should lie between the three first and the last on the list; and my choice would be the last.

Comparative advantages of the Tea Districts in India as regards climate, labour, lay of land, soil, manure, and transport.

Tea DistrictsClimateLabourLay of LandSoilManureTransport
Assam141143Water carriage
Cachar242242
Chittagong322211
Chittagong Hill Tracts333121
Terai below Darjeeling241135Land carriage
Darjeeling435336
Hazareebaugh611424
Kangra431339
Dehra Dhoon531337
Kumaon534238
Neilgherries432234
Western Dooars131141

[CHAPTER IV.]
SOIL.

To pronounce as precisely on soil as to climate is not easy. The Tea plant will grow on almost any soil, and will flourish on many. Still there are broad general rules to be laid down in the selection of soils for Tea, which no one can ignore with impunity.

When first I turned my attention to Tea, I collected soils from many gardens, noting in each case how the plants flourished. I then sat down to examine them, never doubting to arrive at some broad practical conclusions. I was sadly disappointed. I found the most opposing soils nourished, apparently, equally good plants. I knew not then much about Tea, and judged of the Tea bushes mostly by the size (a very fallacious test); still, after-experience has convinced me I was more or less right in the conclusion I then came to, that several soils are good for Tea.

Nothing, then, but broad general rules can be laid down on this point, for I defy anyone to select any one soil as the best for Tea, to the exclusion of others.

A light sandy loam is perhaps as good a soil as any out of the Himalayas. It ought to be deep, and the more decayed vegetable matter there is lying on its surface the better. If deep enough for the descent of the tap-root, say 3 feet, it matters not much what the subsoil is, otherwise a yellowish red subsoil is an advantage. This subsoil is generally a mixture of clay and sand. Much of Assam, Cachar, and Chittagong is as the above, but, as a rule, it is richest in Assam, poorest in Chittagong.

Where the loam is of a greasy nature (very different to clay), with a mixture of sand in it, it is superior to the above, for it has more body. All good Tea soils must have a fair proportion of sand, and if not otherwise apparent, it may be detected by mixing a little of the soil with spittle and rubbing it on the hand. If the hand be then held up towards the sun, the particles of sand will be seen to glisten.

The soil so common in Kumaon, that is, light rich loam with any amount of decayed vegetable matter on it, and with a ferruginous reddish yellowish subsoil, is, I consider, the finest soil in the world for Tea. The rich decayed vegetable matter is the produce for centuries of oak leaves in the Himalayan forests, and, as all the world knows, oak only grows in temperate climes.

It was long believed that Tea would thrive best on poor soil. The idea was due to the description of Tea soils in China to be found in the first books that treated of Tea. But the fact that Tea, as a rule, is only grown in China on soil which is useless for anything else quite alters the case. If a soil is light and friable enough, it cannot be too rich for Tea.

Ball’s book “On the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea in China” has much on Tea soils, but the opinions the author collected are sadly at variance, and on the whole teach nothing.

In conclusion, I will attempt to point out the qualities in soils in which the Tea plant delights, as also the qualities it abhors.

It loves soils friable, that is, easily divided into all their atoms. This argues a fair proportion of sand, but this should not be in excess, or the soil will be poor. The soil should be porous—imbibing and parting with water freely. The more decayed vegetable matter on its surface the better.

To be avoided are stiff soils of every kind, as also those which when they dry, after rain, cake together and split. Avoid also black-coloured, or even dark-coloured earths. All soils good for the Tea plant are light coloured. If, however, the dark colour arises from decayed vegetation, that is not the colour of the soil, and, as observed, vegetable matter is a great advantage. Judge of colour when soil is dry—for even light-coloured soil looks dark when wet. Soil which will make bricks will not grow Tea; and though I have sometimes seen young plants thrive on stiff soil, I do not believe in any stiff soil as a permanence.

Stones, if not in excess, are advantageous in all soils inclined to be stiff, for they help to keep them open. But then they must not be large, as if so they act as badly as a rocky substratum preventing the descent of the tap-root.

The reason, I take it, why Tea thrives best in light soils is that the spongioles or ends of the feeding roots are very tender, and do not easily penetrate any other.

There is more nourishment in stiffer soils, but for this reason the Tea plant cannot take advantage of it.

If a chosen soil be too stiff, it may be much improved for Tea by mixing sand with it. However, even where sand is procurable near, the expense of this is great. When done, the sand should be mixed with the soil taken out of the holes in which the plants are to be placed (see [Transplanting]), and it may be done again later by placing sand round the plants and digging it in. All this though is extra labour and very expensive, so none but a good Tea soil should ever be selected, and it is very easily found, for it exists in parts of all the districts discussed.

[CHAPTER V.]
NATURE OF JUNGLE.

I have not much to say under this head. I have heard many opinions as to the kind of trees and jungle that should exist in contemplated clearances, but I attach little or no weight to them, at all events in Bengal.

In the Himalayas it is somewhat different. There oak trees should be sought for; their existence invariably makes rich soil.[12] Fir, on the contrary, indicates poor soil. At elevations, however, the desideratum of a warm aspect interferes, for the best oak forests are on the colder side. I speak of course of elevations practicable, say three or four thousand feet; above this it is a waste of money to try and cultivate Tea.

In Bengal I do not think the nature of the jungle on land contemplated signifies much. As a rule, the thicker the jungle the richer the soil; but in seeking for a site large trees should not be a sine quâ non. Much of the coarse grass land is very good, and large trees add enormously to the expense of clearings.[13] It is not cutting them down which is so expensive, it is cutting them up and getting rid of them by burning, or otherwise, after the former is done.

I have discussed soil fully already, and need only add here that if the knowledge to do so exists, it is better to judge of soil from the soil itself than from the vegetation on it, though doubtless a fact that luxuriant vegetation indicates rich soil.

[CHAPTER VI.]
WATER AND SANITATION.

These may be discussed together and shortly.

Of course adjacent water-carriage is a great advantage for a garden, and it should be obtained, if possible, in selecting a site. The expense of land-carriage, where there is no rail, is great, and Tea cultivation requires all advantages to make it pay well.

But it is water for a garden that particularly concerns us now. It is not easy to find land that can be irrigated (this is discussed elsewhere), but no labour or expense in getting such land would be thrown away. Irrigation, combined with high cultivation in other respects, will give a yield per acre undreamt of.

In no case should a plantation be made except where a running stream is handy. Water is a necessity for seedlings, and a plentiful adjacent supply of it is a great desideratum for the comfort and health of every soul on the garden. We all know how dependent the natives are on water, and it is evident facilities in this respect will conduce much (whether the labour be local or imported) both to get and keep coolies. Norton’s tube wells—a cheap and most efficient mode of procuring water—will, I doubt not, be eventually much used on Tea plantations.

It has been observed that, as a rule, a good Tea climate is not a healthy one. There is no getting over the fact, and we can only make the best of it. The house, the factories, and all the buildings should be placed as high as possible, and not very close to each other, both for the sake of health and in the event of fire. The locality should be well drained, and cleanliness be attained in every possible way. Give the coolies good houses, with raised mechans to sleep on, and sprinkle occasionally carbolic acid powder in your own house and those of others.

Sanitation is, however, a large subject. It can be studied elsewhere. General ideas on it, and on the properties of the commonest medicines, are a great advantage to any intending Tea planter.

[CHAPTER VII.]
LAY OF LAND.

The first idea prevailing about Tea was that it should be planted on slopes. It was thought, and truly, that the plant was impatient of stagnant water, and so it is, but it is not necessary to plant it on slopes in consequence. Pictures of Chinese, suspended by chains (inasmuch as the locality could not be otherwise reached), picking Tea off bushes growing in the crevices of rocks, somewhat helped this notion; and when stated, as it was, that the Tea produced in such places was the finest, and commanded the highest price—which was not true—intending planters in India went crazy in their search for impracticable steeps! Much of the failure in Tea has arisen from this fact, for a great part of many, the whole of some, gardens have been planted on land so steep that the Tea can never last or thrive on it. This is especially the case in parts of the Darjeeling district.

Sloping land is objectionable in the following respects. It cannot be highly cultivated in any way (I hold Tea will only pay with high cultivation), for high cultivation consists in frequent digging, to keep the soil open and get rid of weeds, and liberal manuring. If such soil is dug in the rainy season, it is washed down to the foot of the hill, and if manure is applied at any time of the year, it experiences the same fate when the rain comes. As it cannot be dug, weeds necessarily thrive and diminish the yield by choking the plants.

The choice is therefore of two evils: “low cultivation and weeds,” or “high cultivation which bares the roots of the plants in a twelvemonth.” Of the two, the first must be chosen, for if the latter were pursued, the plants, getting gradually more and more denuded of soil, would simply topple over in two or three years. But choosing the lesser evil, the mischief is not confined to the bad effects of low cultivation. Dig the land as little as you will, the great force of the rains washes down a good deal of soil. The plants do not sink as the soil lowers, and the consequence is that all Tea plants on slopes have the lower side bare of earth and the roots exposed. This is more and more the case the steeper the slope. These exposed roots shrivel up as the sun acts on them, the plant languishes and yields very little leaf.

Attempts are made to remedy the mischief by carrying earth up from below yearly, and placing it under the plant; but the expense of doing this is great, and the palliation is only temporary, for the same thing occurs again and again as each rainy season returns.

The mischief is greater on stiff than on sandy soils, for on the former the earth is detached in great pieces and carried down the hill. I know one garden in Chittagong, a large one, where the evil is so great, that the sooner the cultivation is abandoned the better for the owners.

A great many gardens in India, indeed the majority, are on slopes; a few in Assam, the greater number in Cachar, some in Chittagong, and almost all the Himalayan plantations. Such of these as are on steep slopes will, I believe, never pay, and instead of improving yearly (as good gardens, highly cultivated, should do even after they have arrived at full bearing) such, I fear, will deteriorate year by year.

Plantations on moderate slopes need not fail because of the slopes. The evils slight slopes entail are not great, but the sooner the fact is accepted that sloping cannot vie against flat land for the cultivation of Tea the better.

Where only the lower parts of slopes are planted, the plants do very well. The upper part being jungle the wash is not great, and the plants benefit much by the rich vegetable matter the rain brings down from above. I have often seen very fine plants on the lower part of slopes, where the upper has been left in jungle, and I should not hesitate to plant such portions if the slope was moderate.

Where teelah land, in Eastern Bengal, or sloping land in the Himalayas, Chittagong, or elsewhere, has to be adopted, aspect is all-important. A good aspect in one climate is bad in another. In Assam, Cachar, Chittagong, and all warm places, choose the coolest; at high elevations (temperate climes), the warmest.

In the Himalayas, moreover, the warmer aspects are, as a rule, the most fertile; vice versâ in warm localities. Many a garden, which would have done very well on the moderate slopes chosen had only the proper aspects been planted, has been ruined by planting all sides of teelahs or hills indiscriminately. The southern and western slopes of plantations in warm sites are generally very bare of plants. Not strange they should be so, when the power of the reflected rays of the afternoon sun is considered. Again, in cold climates plants cannot thrive on northern aspects, for their great want in such climes is heat and sunshine. Let the above fault, then, be avoided in both cases, for though doubtless a garden is more handy, and looks better in one piece planted all over without any intervening jungle, even patches of jungle look better, and are decidedly cheaper, than bare cultivated hills.

Of flat land, after what I have written, I need not add much. It is of two kinds, table and valley land; the former is very rare in Tea districts, at least of any extent, which makes it worth while to plant it. There are two gardens in Chittagong on such flat table land, and they are both doing very well. Table land cannot be too flat, for the natural drainage is so great no stagnant water can lie.[14]

Valley land is not good if it is perfectly flat. It will then be subject to inundation and stagnant water. There is nothing that kills the plant so surely and quickly as the latter. Even quite flat valleys can be made sweet by artificial drainage, but to do this a lower level, not too far distant, must exist, and the danger is not quite removed then. Valleys in which no water-course exists, and which slope towards the mouth alone, are to be avoided, for the plants near the mouth always get choked with sand. The best valleys are those with a gentle slope both ways, one towards the lowest line of the valley, be it a running water-course, or a dry nullah which carries off rain, the other towards the mouth of the valley. Such valleys drain themselves, or at least very little artificial drainage is necessary. A valley of this kind, with a running stream through it, is most valuable for Tea, and if the other advantages of soil and climate are present it is simply a perfect site. Such however are not frequent. If in such valleys, as is generally the case, the slope from the head to the mouth is enough, the running stream can be “bunded” (shut up) at a high level, and brought along one side at a sufficient elevation to irrigate the whole.

I have never seen but one garden in a valley that fulfils all these conditions exactly. It is in Chittagong; the soil is good, labour plentiful, and manure abundant. It ought to do great things, for the possibility of irrigating plants in the dry season (which, as observed, is very trying in Chittagong) will give several extra flushes in the year.

Of course in the wet season on such land the water must be allowed to resume its natural course.

Narrow valleys are not worth planting. No narrow tracts of land, with jungle on both sides, are worth the expense of cultivation, for the continual encroachment of the jungle gives much extra work. The plants, moreover, in very narrow valleys get half-buried with soil washed down from the adjacent slopes. Narrow valleys are therefore, in any case, better avoided.

To conclude shortly, flat lands can be highly cultivated, steep slopes cannot. Tea pays best (perhaps not at all otherwise) with high cultivation—ergo, flat lands are preferable.

[CHAPTER VIII.]
LAYING OUT A GARDEN.

By this I mean, so dividing it when first made into parts, that later the said parts shall be easily recognised, and separately or differently treated, as they may require it.

The usual custom is to begin at one end of a plantation, and dig it right through to the other. In the same way with the pruning and plucking, and I believe the system is a very bad one. Different portions of gardens require different treatment, inasmuch as they differ in soil, and otherwise. One part of a plantation is much more prolific of weeds than another—how absurd that it should be cleaned no oftener! This is only one exemplification of difference of treatment, but in many ways it is necessary, most of all in plucking leaf.

All parts of a plantation, owing in some places to the different ages of the plants, in others to the variety in the soil and its productive powers, in others to slopes or to aspect, do not yield leaf equally, that is, flush does not follow flush with equal rapidity. In some places (supposing each part to be picked when the flush is ready) seven days’ interval will exist between the flushes, in others nine, ten, or twelve; but no attention, as a rule, is paid to this. The pickers have finished the garden at the west end, the east end is again ready, and when done, the middle part will be taken in hand, be it ready or be it not! It may be that the middle part flushes quicker than any other; in this case the flush will be more than mature when it is taken, in fact it will have begun to harden; or it may be the middle part does not flush as quickly as the others; in this case it will be picked before it is ready, that is, when the flush is too young, and the yield will consequently be smaller.

I believe the yield of a plantation may be largely increased by attending to this. Every Tea estate should be divided into gardens of, say, about five to ten acres each.[15] If no natural division exists, small roads to act as such should be made. More than this cannot be done when the plantation is first laid out, but when later the plants yield, any difference between the productive powers of different parts of the same garden should be noted, and these divided off into sections. To do this latter with roads would take up too much space, and small masonry pillars, whitewashed, are the best. Four of these, one at each corner of a section, are enough, and they need not be more than 3 feet high and 1 foot square. Thus each garden may, where necessary, be divided into two sections, which, in a 300-acre estate, partitioned off into thirty gardens, would give about forty to sixty sections. No matter where a section may be, directly the flush on it is ready it should be picked. Where the soil on any one garden is much the same, and observation shows the plants all over it flush equally, it may be left all in one. I only lay down the principle, and I am very certain it works well, the proof of which is that, where I have practised it, some sections during the season give three, four, and five flushes more than others. Had the usual plan of picking from one end to the other been adopted, they would have been all forced to give the same number; in other words, the said extra flushes would have been lost, and further loss occasioned by some flushes being taken before they were ready, others after a portion of the tender leaf had hardened.

The best plan is simply to number the gardens from 1 upwards, and the sections in each garden the same way. Thus supposing No. 5 garden is divided into three sections, they will be known respectively as 5-1, 5-2, and 5-3. This is the best way for the natives, and I find they soon learn to designate each section. I have a man whose special duty (though he has other work also) it is to see each day which sections are ready to pick the following, and those, and those alone, are picked. Practice soon teaches the number of pickers required for any given number of sections, and that number only are put to the work. If a portion is not completed that day, it is the first taken in hand the next, and if any day on no sections is the flush ready, no leaf is picked the following.

Apart from leaf-picking, the garden and section plan detailed is useful in many ways. Each garden, if not each section which most requires it, is dug, pruned, or manured at the best time, and any spot on the plantation is easily designated. The plan facilitates the measurement of work, and enables correct lists of the flushes gathered to be kept. It is thus seen which gardens yield best, and the worst can, by extra manuring, be brought to equal those.

In short, the advantages are many, too numerous to detail.

Of course all this can be better done on a flat garden than on one planted on slopes, and though it may not be possible to work it out as much in detail on the latter, still a good deal in that way can be done, and I strongly recommend it.

In laying out a plantation keep it all as much together as possible, the more it is in one block the easier it is supervised, the cheaper it is worked. Still do not, with a view to this, take in any bad land, for bad land will never pay.

Let your lines of Tea plants, as far as practicable, run with geometrical regularity. You will later find, both in measuring work and picking leaf, great advantages therefrom. In gardens where the lines are not regular portions are continually being passed over in leaf-picking, and thereby not only is the present flush from such parts lost, but the following is also retarded.

If your different gardens are so situated that the roads through them, that is from one garden to the other, can be along the side of any garden without increasing the length of the road, by all means adopt that route. There is no such good boundary for a garden as a road that is being continually traversed. It will save many rupees by preventing the encroachment of jungle into a garden, and more space is thus also given for plants. It is, however, of no use to do it if a road through the middle of a garden is shorter, as coolies will always take the shortest route.

The lines of plants on sloping ground should neither run up and down, nor directly across the slope. If they run up and down, gutters or water-courses will form between the lines, and much additional earth will be washed away thereby. If they run right across the hill the same thing will occur between the trees in each line, and the lower side of each plant will have its roots laid very bare. It is on all slopes a choice of evils, but if the lines are laid diagonally across the hill, so that the slope along the lines shall be a moderate one, the evil is reduced as far as it can be by any arrangement of the plants. No, I forgot; there is one other thing. The closer the lines to each other, and the closer the plants in the lines to each other, in short, the more thickly the ground on slopes is planted the less will be the wash, for stems and roots retain the soil in its place, and the more there are the greater the advantage.

Where slopes are steep (though, remember, steep slopes are to be avoided) terracing may be resorted to with advantage, as the washing down of the soil is much checked by it.

On flat land, of course, it does not really signify in which directions the lines run, but such a garden looks best if, when the roads are straight, the lines run at right angles to them.

In laying out a garden, choose a central spot with water handy for your factory, bungalow, and all your buildings; let your Tea-houses be as close to your dwelling-house as possible, so that during the manufacturing time you can be in and out at all hours of the day and night. Much of your success will depend upon this. Let all your buildings be as near to each other as they can, but still far enough apart, that any one building may burn without endangering others. You need not construct any Tea-buildings until the third year.

[CHAPTER IX.]
VARIETIES OF THE TEA PLANT.

These are many, but they all arise from two species: the China plant, the common Tea-bush in China; and the indigenous plant, first discovered some forty years ago in Assam.

These are quite different species of the same plant. Whether the difference was produced by climate, by soil, or in what way, no one knows, and here we have only to do with the facts that they do differ in every respect. A purely indigenous plant or tree (for in its wild state it may more properly be called the latter) grows with one stem or trunk, and runs up to 15 and 18 feet high. It is always found in thick jungle, and would thus appear to like shade. I believe it does when young; but I am quite sure, if the jungle were cleared round an indigenous Tea-tree found in the forest, it would thrive better from that day. The China bush (for it is never more) after the second year has numerous stems, and 6 or 7 feet would seem to be its limit in height. The lowest branches of a China plant are close to the ground, but in a pure cultivated indigenous, from 9 inches to 1 foot above the soil the single stem is clean.

The indigenous grows quicker after the second or third year than the China, if it has not been over-pruned or over-plucked when young. In other words, it flushes quicker, for flushing is growing.

The indigenous does not run so much to wood as the China. Indigenous seedlings require to be watered oftener than China, for the latter do not suffer as quickly from drought. The indigenous tree has a leaf of 9 inches long and more. The leaf of the China bush never exceeds 4 inches. The indigenous leaf is a bright pale green, the China leaf a dull dark green colour. The indigenous “flushes,” that is, produces new tender leaf, much more copiously than the China, and this in two ways: first, the leaves are larger, and thus if only even in number exceed in bulk what the China has given; and secondly, it flushes oftener. The infusion of Tea made from the indigenous species is far more “rasping” and “pungent” than what the China plant can give, and the Tea commands a much higher price. The young leaves, from which alone Tea is made, are of a much finer and softer texture in the indigenous than in the China; the former may be compared to satin, the latter to leather. The young leaves of the indigenous, moreover, do not harden so quickly as those of the China; thus, if there is any unavoidable delay in picking a flush, the loss is less with the former. In the fact that unpruned or unpicked plants (for picking is a miniature pruning) give fewer and less succulent young leaves which harden quicker than pruned ones, the two varieties would seem to be alike. The China variety is much more prolific of seed than the indigenous; the former also gives it when younger, and as seed checks leaf, the China is inferior in this as in other respects. The China is by far the hardier plant; it is much easier to rear, and it will grow in widely differing climates, which the indigenous will not.

A patch of indigenous with a mature flush on it is a pretty sight. The plants all appear as if crowned with gold (they are truly so if other advantages exist), and are a great contrast to the China variety if it can also be seen near.

I have now, I think, pointed out the leading characteristics of the two original varieties of the Tea plant, and it stands to reason no one would grow the China who could get indigenous. But the truth is, a pure specimen of either is rare. The plants between indigenous and China are called “hybrids.” They were in the first instance produced by the inoculation, when close together, of the pollen of one kind into the flower of the other, and the result was a true hybrid, partaking equally of the indigenous and China characteristics; but the process was repeated again and again between the said hybrid and an indigenous or China, and again later between hybrids of different degrees, so that now there are very many varieties of the Tea plant—100 or even more—and no garden is wholly indigenous or wholly China. So close do the varieties run, no one can draw the line and say where the China becomes a hybrid, the hybrid an indigenous. Though as a rule the young leaves are light green or dark green, as the plant approaches the indigenous or China in its character, there are a certain class of bushes all hybrid, whose young leaves have strong shades of crimson and purple. Some even are quite red, others quite purple. These colours do not last as the leaf hardens, and the matured leaves of these plants do not differ from others. Plants with these coloured leaves are prolific.

The nearer each plant approaches the indigenous, the higher its class and excellence, ergo one plantation is composed of a much better class of plants than another. Had China seed never been introduced into India, a very different state of things would have existed now. The cultivation would not have been so large, but far more valuable. The propagation and rearing of the indigenous, as observed, is difficult; the China is much hardier while young. So difficult is it to rear successively the pure indigenous, perhaps the best plan, were it all to come over again, would be to propagate a high-class hybrid and distribute it, never allowing any China seed or plants to leave the nursery, which should have been a Government one. But we must take things as they are. The Government nurseries in the Himalayas and the Dehra Dhoon (there have never been any elsewhere, and worse sites could not have been chosen) were planted entirely with China seeds, the seedlings distributed all over the country, and thus the mischief was done. The Indian Tea is vastly superior to the Chinese, and commands a much higher price at home, but it is still very inferior to what it would have been, had not Chinese seed been so recklessly imported and distributed over the country.

The home of the indigenous Tea tree is in the deep luxurious jungles of Assam and Cachar.[16] There it grows into a good-sized tree. I have seen it 20 feet high. These are of no use, except for seed, until they are cut down. When this is done, they throw out many new shoots, covered with young tender leaves, fit for Tea. They are, of course, far too big to transplant, but on some sites where they were numerous, that spot was chosen for the plantation, and some of these are the best gardens in Assam and Cachar.

The indigenous plant and high-class hybrid require a hot moist climate, and will not therefore flourish in any parts of India outside Eastern Bengal. I have tried them in the Himalayas, there the cold kills them. In Dehra Dhoon and Kangra the climate is far too dry; besides, the hot winds in the former, and the cold in the latter, are prejudicial. The Terai under Darjeeling suits them. In Assam, Cachar, and Chittagong, the indigenous and the highest class hybrids will thrive, for the climate of all three is suitable, but perhaps Northern Assam possesses the best climate of all for such plants.

The Himalayan gardens consist entirely of Chinese plants mixed occasionally with a low class of hybrid. They were all formed from the Government Nurseries where nothing but Chinese was reared. Occasional importations of Assam and Cachar seed will account for the sprinkling of low class hybrids which may be found. The same may be said of Dehra Dhoon and Kangra. In some gardens in the Terai below Darjeeling a high class of plant exists. In Assam, Cachar, and Chittagong the plantations vary much, but all have some indigenous and high class hybrids, while many gardens are composed of nothing else.

It is evident, then, that the value of a garden depends much on the class of its plants, and that a wise man will only propagate the best. Only the seed from good varieties should be selected, and gradually all inferior bushes should be rooted out and a good kind substituted. When this shall have been systematically done for a few years on a good garden, which has other advantages, the yield per acre will far exceed anything yet realised or even thought of.

Government action in the matter of Tea has been prejudicial in many ways, but in none more so than when they were doing their best to foster the cultivation by distributing Chinese seed and seedlings gratis. No one can blame here (would the Government were equally free from blame in all Tea matters!), but the mischief is none the less. It will never be possible to undo the harm then done.

The seed of indigenous, hybrid, and Chinese is like in appearance, and cannot be distinguished. Thus, when seed formerly was got from a distance, the purchaser was at the mercy of the vendor.

High cultivation improves the class of a Tea plant. Thus, a purely China bush, if highly cultivated and well manured, will in two or three years assume a hybrid character. High cultivation will therefore improve the class of all the plants in a garden; but the cheapest and best plan with low class Chinese plants is to root them out and replace them with others, as will be explained hereafter. Low class seedlings should also be rooted out of nurseries.

I cannot conclude this chapter better than by giving an extract from the “Government Records” alluded to in a previous chapter, and I add a few remarks at foot, as otherwise the reader might be puzzled with some opinions expressed which are so much at variance with the generally received opinions on Tea to-day.

Kinds of Tea Plants cultivated.—“When Government resolved on trying the experiment of cultivating Tea in India, they deputed Dr. Gordon to China to acquire information respecting the cultivation and manufacture of Teas, and to procure Tea seeds. Aided by Dr. Gutzlaff he procured a quantity of seeds from the mountains in the Amoy districts. These seeds were sent to the Calcutta Botanical Garden, where they were sown in boxes. On germinating they were sent up the country in boats, some to Assam and some to Gurhmuktesur, and from thence to Kumaon and Gurhwal. From these plants date the commencement of the Tea plantations in the Himalayas.[17] Tea was first made in Kumaon in 1841, and the samples sent to England, and were pronounced to be of good quality, fitted for the home markets, and similar to the Oolong Souchong varieties. Thus Messrs. Thompson, of Mincing Lane, report on a sample sent by us to Dr. Royle in 1842: ‘The samples of Tea received belong to the Oolong Souchong kind, fine-flavoured and strong. This is equal to the superior black Tea generally sent as presents, and better for the most part than the Chinese Tea imported for mercantile purposes.’[18] By many it was supposed that there were different species of the Tea plant, and that the species cultivated in the south districts of China was different from that met with in the north. To solve this mystery, and at the same time procure the best varieties of the Tea plant, Mr. Fortune was deputed to China. By him large numbers of Tea plants were sent from different districts of China celebrated for their Teas, and are now thriving luxuriantly in all the plantations throughout the Kohistan of the North-west Provinces and Punjab. Both green and black Tea plants were sent, the former from Whey Chow, Mooyeen, Chusan, Silver Island, and Tein Tang, near Ningpo, and the latter from Woo-e San, Tein San, and Tsin Gan, in the Woo-e district.

Several varieties.

Assam species.

“That the Assam plant is a marked species is true, it being distinguished by its large membranous and lanceolate leaf, small flower, and upright growth.

“It is a very inferior plant for making Tea, and its leaves are therefore not used.[19] Though the plants received from the different districts of China do not differ from those first sent to the plantations, it is highly important to know that the Tea plants from well-known green and black Tea districts of China now exist in the plantations, as it is stated that local causes exert a great influence in the quality of the Teas as much as the manufacture does. The expense, therefore, incurred in stocking the Government plantations with the finest kinds and varieties of Tea plants procurable in China, though great, will be amply repaid. From them superior kinds of Tea are produced.”

The above extract is a sample of the said “Records.” They abound in errors and highly coloured statements, which induced many to embark in Tea on unfavourable sites, and “the red book” (it is bound in a red cover) is not exactly blessed by the majority of the Himalayan planters!

[CHAPTER X.]
TEA SEED.

Though there is a great difference in Tea plants (see last chapter) the seed of all is the same, and it is therefore impossible to say from what class of plants it has been gathered.

When Tea seed was very valuable (it has sold in the Tea-fever days as high as Rs. 200 and Rs. 300 per maund) it was the object of planters to grow as much as possible.

High class plants do not give much seed, a plantation therefore with much on it should be avoided in purchasing seed.

The Tea flower (the germ of next year’s seed) appears in the autumn, and the seed is ripe at the end of the following October or early November.

It takes thus one year to form.

Seed is ripe when the capsule becomes brown, and when breaking the latter the inner brown covering of the seed adheres to the seed and not to the capsule.

One capsule contains 1, 2, 3, and sometimes even 4 seeds.

Though the mass ripens at the end of October, some ripen earlier; the capsule splits and the seed falls on the ground. If, therefore, all the seed from a garden is required, it is well to send round boys all October to pick up such seeds.

When the seed is picked at the end of October or early November the mass is still in capsules. It should be laid in the sun for half an hour daily for two or three days until most of the capsules have split. It is then shelled, and the clean seed laid on the floor of any building where it will remain dry. Sunning it after shelling is objectionable.

The sooner it is sown after it is shelled the better.

If for any reason it is necessary to keep it, say a fortnight or three weeks before sowing, it is best kept towards germinating in layers covered with dry mould. But if to be kept longer leave it on the dry floor as above, taking care it is thinly spread (not more than one seed thick if you have space) and collected together, and re-spread every day to turn it.

For transport to a distance it should be placed in coarse gunny bags only one-third filled. If these are shaken and turned daily during transit a journey of a week will not very materially injure the seed.

For any long journey it is best placed in layers in boxes with thoroughly dry and fine charcoal between the layers, and sheets of paper here and there to prevent the charcoal running to the bottom.

It is scarcely necessary to consider how Tea seed can be utilized when not saleable, for seed prevents leaf, and therefore it should not be grown if there is no market for it. It will, however, make oil, but the price it would fetch for this purpose would not compensate for the diminished yield of leaf it had caused. It is also valuable as manure mixed with cattle-dung, but it would not pay to grow it for this purpose either.

My advice therefore is to allow no more seed on the garden than you require for your own use (even the fullest gardens require some yearly) or than you can sell at a remunerative price.

If the object is to produce a considerable quantity of seed, set apart a piece of the plantation for it, and do not prune it at all. A large number will then be produced on that piece.

If the object is to grow as little seed as possible after the pruning in the cold weather, which destroys the greater part, send round boys to pick off such of the germs as remain.

If this is done ever so carefully, some will escape, enough say to give one maund seed from 10 acres of garden, and this as a rule is enough to fill up vacancies in a good garden.

The following figures regarding seed will be found useful, but remember the higher the class of plant the less durable the seed:—

Seven maunds seed, with capsules, give 4 mds. clean seed.

One maundclean seed(fresh)=26,000seeds.
„„(ten days old)=32,000„
„„(one month old)=35,000„

Say therefore, in round numbers, that one maund Tea seed = 30,000 seeds.

With good Tea seed, sown shortly after it is picked, about 20,000 will germinate.

If you get 8,000 to germinate with seed that has come a long distance, you are lucky.

After a two months’ journey 3,000 is probably the outside which will be realised.

My experience, with seed imported into another District from Assam or Cachar, is that more than 4,500 Seedlings cannot be expected from each maund.

[CHAPTER XI.]
COMPARISON BETWEEN SOWING IN NURSERIES AND IN SITU.

In the one case the seed is placed in nurseries at the close of the year, and the young plants transplanted into the garden at beginning of the following rains.

In the other the seed is (at the same time, viz., close of the year, if you can get it so soon) sown at once in the plantation where the plants are intended to grow.

Each of these plans has its advocates, who don’t believe in the other plan at all! The question is which is the better?

Their respective advantages may be shortly summed up as follows:—