The large import of 1840, of 250,000 chests, of which 200,000 were green, was in anticipation of the disturbances arising from the war with Great Britain, and the blockade of the ports.

In 1850, there were 173,317 chests of green tea, and 91,017 of black tea exported from China to America; these quantities, with a further portion purchased from England, made a total of about twenty-three million lbs. of tea which crossed the Atlantic in 1850.

The imports and exports of tea into the United States, in the years ending Dec. 31st, 1848 and 1849, were as follows:—

IMPORTS.
1849.1848.
lbs.lbs.
Green14,237,70013,686,336
Black5,999,3153,815,652
Total 20,236,91617,503,988
EXPORTS.
Green230,470262,708
Black186,650194,212
Total 417,120456,920

The value of tea imported into the United States during the year ending June 30th, 1851, amounted to 4,798,006 dollars (nearly £1,000,000 sterling); of this was re-exported a little over 1,000,000 dollars worth, leaving for home consumption 3,668,141 dollars.

The quality of tea depends much upon the season when the leaves are picked, the mode in which it is prepared, as well as the district in which it grows.

The tea districts in China extend from the 27th degree to the 31st degree of north latitude, and, according to missionaries, it thrives in the more northern provinces. Kœmpfer says it is cultivated in Japan, as far north as 45 degrees. It seems to succeed best on the sides of mountains, among sandstone, schistus, and granite.

In 1834, the East India Company introduced the cultivation of tea in Upper Assam, where it is said to be indigenous; and they now ship large quantities of very excellent tea from thence.

Mr. Boyer, director of the museum at Port Louis, Mauritius, has succeeded in rearing 40,000 tea-trees, and expresses an opinion, that if the island of Bourbon would give itself up to the cultivation, it might easily supply France with all the tea she requires.

The culture has also been commenced on a small scale, in St. Helena, and the Cape Colony.