Hon. James Calhoun, Trotter’s Shoals, Savannah River, S. C., says:—

Eighteen years ago some half-dozen tea-plants, brought from China, were sent me. I set them in what had been a strawberry bed, in a soil friable, of medium quality, unmanured. Nothing had been done beyond keeping down the weeds with the hoe. The plants have had no protection: but during a portion of the first summer, seedlings have some shelter. As yet there has been no damage from blight or from insects. Frequently leaves are clipped in moderation from all parts of the bush, care being taken not to denude it. They are parched in an iron vessel at the kitchen fire, constantly stirred, and immediately afterward packed in air-tight boxes. I enclose leaves plucked to-day, measuring from 3½ to 5 inches, and, as you will perceive, exhibiting three varieties.

Mrs. R. J. Screven, McIntosh, Liberty Co., Ga., says:—

My experience is that the tea-plant does best in land somewhat low, but not such as water will lie upon or is overflowed. I sow the seed in the fall, as soon as they ripen and drop from the bushes, in drills eighteen inches apart. They come up readily in the spring, and by winter are from three to six inches high. Under the shade of some large tree is usually the place selected for sowing the seed, for if the plants are exposed to the hot sun while young, they invariably die the first summer. When six months old they are ready for transplanting; have generally a good supply of roots, and can be set out at any time from the first of November to the last of March. In putting them out, I have generally prepared holes to receive them, to give a good start, so that fine, healthy bushes will be obtained. In April, 1867, I think it was, Mr. Howard, from Baltimore, who had been engaged on a plantation for several years in the East, visited my father’s plantation in this country, and expressed himself as surprised at the splendid growth of the tea. Being there at the time of gathering the young leaves, he plucked from one bush alone, prepared the tea himself, and took it on to Baltimore, where he had it tested and weighed. He wrote back that it had been pronounced stronger and of superior flavor to the imported, and that by calculation he was satisfied that four hundred and fifty pounds of cured tea could be made here at the South to one acre of ground.

Mr. J. W. Pearce, Fayetteville, N. C., writes:—

My plants are now about five feet high, very thick and bushy near the ground; have no protection from any kind of weather, while the mercury has been as low as 10° below zero. They do not seem to suffer from drought, as evergreens, and bear a beautiful white flower, with little scent until nearly ready to fall. The seed are like the hazel-nut; have a hard shell and bitter kernel, and take a long time to germinate. Hence it is better to plant them on the north side of a fence or house, where they will remain moist. They come up readily when left under the bushes where they have been dropped. The plants then can be set out successfully if care be taken to avoid breaking the long tap root peculiar to them. Half a dozen plants furnish my family, of five or six persons, with more tea than we can use. We prepare it by heating the leaves in an oven until wilted, then squeeze them by hand until a juice is expressed from them, then dry them again in the oven. The tea is then quite fragrant and ready for use, improving with age.

About 50 pounds of a fairly marketable article of American tea has recently been produced by a Mr. Sheppard of Summerfield, S. C., who grew and cured the leaves in an ordinary fruit evaporator. On being tested, the sample was pronounced equal to the average of China Congous and much superior to many of the India, Java and Ceylon growths. With other and more proper methods of curing, the quality and character could undoubtedly be much improved. Much more evidence could be selected as to the quality of tea produced by ordinary domestic processes, but it is sufficiently well ascertained that it is within the capacity of hundreds of thousands of people in this country to grow and prepare all the tea they require, leaving the question of its profitable commercial culture to be settled by practical test later.

Transcriber’s Notes