Chapter XVI: Section I (8)

2_nd, at Kutoor_.--This is the name of a large district 30 or 40
miles northward from Almorah, in the centre of which the old town or
village of Byznath stands. It is a fine undulating country,
consisting of wide valleys, gentle slopes, and little hills, while
the whole is intersected by numerous streams, and surrounded by high
mountains. The soil of this extensive district is most fertile, and
is capable of producing large crops of rice, on the low irrigable
lands, and the dry grains and tea on the sides of the hills. From
some cause, however, either the thinness of population or _the want
of a remunerative crop_,[15] large tracts of this fertile district
have been allowed to go out of cultivation. Everywhere I observed
ruinous and jungle-covered terraces, which told of the more extended
cultivation of former years.

Amongst some hills near the upper portion of this district, two
small tea plantations have been formed under the patronage and
superintendence of Captain Ramsey, Senior Assistant Commissioner of
Kumaon. Each of them cover three or four acres of land, and had been
planted about a year before the time of my visit. In this short
space of time the plants had grown into nice strong bushes, and were
in the highest state of health. I never saw, even in the most
favoured districts in China, any plantations looking better than
these. This result, Captain Ramsay informed me, had been attained in
the following simple manner:--All the land attached to the two
villages with which the tea farms are connected, is exempted from
the revenue tax, a sum amounting only to 525 Rs. per annum. In lieu
of this, the assamees (cultivators) of both villages assist with
manure, and at the transplanting season, as well as ploughing and
preparing fresh land. In addition to this, one chowdree and four
prisoners are constantly employed upon the plantations. The chief
reason of the success of these plantations, next to that of the land
being well suited for tea cultivation, may, no doubt, be traced to a
good system of management; that is, the young plants have been
carefully transplanted at the proper season of the year, when the
air was charged with moisture, and they have not been destroyed by
excessive irrigation afterwards. The other zemindaree plantation at
Lohba might have been now in full bearing had the same system been
followed.

From the description thus given, it will be observed that I consider
the Kutoor plantations in a most flourishing condition. And I have
no doubt they will continue to flourish, and soon convince the
zemindars of the value of tea cultivation, providing three things,
intimately connected with the success of the crop are strongly
impressed upon their minds; viz., the unsuitableness of low wet
lands for tea cultivation; the folly of irrigating tea as they would
do rice, and the impropriety of commencing the plucking before the
plants are strong, and of considerable size. I am happy to add, that
amongst these hills there are no foolish prejudices in the minds of
the natives against the cultivation of tea. About the time of my
visit, a zemindar came and begged two thousand plants, to enable him
to commence tea growing on his own account.

It is of great importance, that the authorities of a district, and
persons of influence, should show an interest in a subject of this
kind. At present the natives do not know its value; but they are as
docile as children, and will enter willingly upon tea cultivation,
providing the "Sahib" shows that he is interested in it. In a few
years the profits received will be a sufficient inducement.

In concluding this part of my Report, I beg to suggest the propriety
of obtaining some of the _best varieties_ of the tea plant which
have been introduced lately into the government plantations from
China. Dr. Jameson could, no doubt, spare a few, but they ought to
be given to those zemindars only who have succeeded with the
original variety.

Having described in detail the various government plantations, and
also those of the zemindars which came under my notice in the
Himalayas, I shall now make some general remarks upon the
cultivation of tea in India, and offer some suggestions for its
improvement.

GENERAL REMARKS.

1. _On land and cultivation_.--From the observations already made
upon the various tea farms which I have visited in the Himalayas, it
will be seen that I do not approve of _low flat lands_ being
selected for the cultivation of the tea shrub. In China, which at
present must be regarded as the model tea country, the plantations
are never made in such situations, or they are so rare as not to
have come under my notice. In that country they are usually formed
on the lower slopes of the hills, that is, in such situations as
those at Guddowli, Hawulbaugh, Almorah, Kutoor, &c., in the
Himalayas. It is true that in the fine green tea country of
Hwuy-chow, in China, near the town of Tunche, many hundred acres of
flattish land are under tea cultivation. But this land is close to
the hills, which jut out into it in all directions, and it is
intersected by a river whose banks are usually from 15 to 20 feet
above the level of the stream itself, not unlike those of the Ganges
below Benares. In fact, it has all the advantages of hilly land such
as the tea plant delights in. In extending the Himalaya plantation
this important fact ought to be kept in view.

There is no scarcity of such land in these mountains, more
particularly in Eastern Gurhwal and Kumaon. It abounds in the
districts of Paorie, Kunour, Lohba, Almorah, Kutoor, and Bheemtal,
and I was informed by Mr. Batten, that there are large tracts about
Gungoli and various other places equally suitable. Much of this land
is out of cultivation, as I have already stated, while the
cultivated portions yield on an average only two or three annas per
acre of revenue.

Such lands are of less value to the zemindars than low rice land,
where they can command a good supply of water for irrigation. But I
must not be understood to recommend poor worn out hill lands for tea
cultivation,--land on which nothing else will grow. Nothing is
further from my meaning. Tea in order to be profitable requires a
good sound soil,--a light loam, well mixed with sand and vegetable
matter, moderately moist, and yet not stagnant or sour. Such a soil,
for example, as on these hill sides produces good crops of mundooa,
wheat or millet, is well adapted for tea. It is such lands which I
have alluded to as abounding in the Himalayas, and which are, at
present, of so little value either to the Government, or to the
natives themselves.

_The system of Irrigation_ applied to tea in India is never
practised in China. I did not observe it practised in any of the
great tea countries which I visited. On asking the Chinese
manufacturers whom I brought round, and who had been born and
brought up in these districts, whether they had seen such a
practice, they all replied, "_no, that is the way we grow rice: we
never irrigate tea_." Indeed, I have no hesitation in saying that,
in nine cases out of ten, the effects of irrigation are most
injurious. When tea will not grow without irrigation, it is a sure
sign that the land employed is not suitable for such a crop. It is
no doubt an excellent thing to have a command of water in case of a
long drought, when its agency might be useful in saving a crop which
would otherwise fail, but irrigation ought to be used only in such
emergent cases.

I have already observed that good tea land is naturally moist,
although not stagnant; and we must bear in mind that the tea shrub
is _not a water plant_, but is found in a wild state on the sides of
hills. In confirmation of these views, it is only necessary to
observe further, that all the _best Himalayan plantations are those
to which irrigation has been most sparingly applied_.

In cultivating the tea shrub, much injury is often done to a
plantation by _plucking leaves from very young plants_. In China
young plants are never touched until the third or fourth year after
they have been planted. If growing under favorable circumstances,
they will yield a good crop after that time. All that ought to be
done, in the way of plucking or pruning before that time, should be
done with a view to _form the plants_, and make them _bushy_ if they
do not grow so naturally. If plucking is commenced too early and
continued, the energies of the plants are weakened, and they are
long in attaining any size, and consequently there is a great loss
of produce in a given number of years. To make this more plain, I
will suppose a bush that has been properly treated to be eight years
of age. It may then be yielding from two to three pounds of tea per
annum, while another of the same age, but not a quarter of the size,
from over-plucking, is not giving more than as many ounces.

The same remarks apply also to plants which become unhealthy from
any cause; leaves ought never to be taken from such plants; the
gatherers should have strict orders to pass them over until they get
again into a _good state_ of health.

2_nd. On climate_.--I have already stated that eastern Gurhwal and
Kumaon appear to me to be the most suitable for the cultivation of
the tea plant in this part of the Himalayas. My remarks upon climate
will therefore refer to this part of the country.

From a table of temperature kept at Hawulbaugh from November 28th,
1850, to July 13th, 1851, obligingly furnished me by Dr. Jameson, I
observed that the climate here is extremely mild. During the winter
months, the thermometer [Fahr.] at sunrise was never lower than 44
deg., and only on two occasions so low, namely on the 15th and 16th
of February, 1851. Once it stood so high as 66 deg. on the morning
of February 4th, but this is full ten degrees higher than usual. The
minimum in February must, however, be several degrees lower than is
shown by this table, for ice and snow were not unfrequent; indeed,
opposite the 16th of February in the column of remarks, I find
written down _a very frosty morning_. This discrepancy no doubt
arises either from a bad thermometer being used, or from its being
placed in a sheltered verandah. We may, therefore, safely mark the
minimum as 32 deg. instead of 44 degrees.

The month of June appears to be the hottest in the year. I observe
the thermometer on the 5th, 6th and 7th of that month stood at 92
deg. at 3 P.M., and this was the highest degree marked during the
year. The lowest, at this hour, during the month was 76 deg., but
the general range in the 3 P.M. column of the table is from 80 deg.
to 90 degrees.

_The wet and dry seasons_ are not so decided in the hills as they
are in the plains. In January, 1861, it rained on five days and ten
nights, and the total quantity of rain which fell, as indicated by
the rain gauge, during this month, was 5.25 inches; in February,
3.84 fell; in March, 2.11; in April, 2.24; in May, none; and in June
6.13. In June there are generally some days of heavy rain, called by
the natives Chota Bursaut, or small rains, after this there is an
interval of some days of dry weather before the regular "rainy
season" commences. This season comes on in July and continues until
September. October and November are said to be beautiful months with
a clear atmosphere and cloudless sky. After this fogs are frequent
in all the valleys until spring.

In comparing the climate of these provinces with that of China,
although we find some important difference, yet upon the whole there
is a great similarity. My comparisons apply, of course, to the best
tea districts only, for although the tea shrub is found cultivated
from Canton in the south to Tan-chowpoo in Shan-tung, yet the
provinces of Fokein, Kainsee and the southern parts of Kiangnan,
yield nearly all the finest teas of commerce.

The town of Tsong-gan, one of the great black tea towns near the far
famed Woo-e-shan, is situated in latitude 27 deg. 47 min, north.
Here the thermometer in the hottest months, namely in July and
August, rarely rises above 100 deg. and ranges from 92 deg. to 100
deg., as maximum; while in the coldest months, December and January,
it sinks to the freezing point and sometimes a few degrees lower. We
have thus a close resemblance in temperature between Woo-e-shan and
Almorah, The great green tea district being situated two degrees
further north, the extremes of temperature are somewhat greater. It
will be observed, however, that while the hottest month in the
Himalayas is June, in China the highest temperature occurs in July
and August: this is owing to the rainy season taking place earlier
in China than it does in India.

In China rain falls in heavy and copious showers in the end of
April, and these rains continue at intervals in May and June. The
first gathering of tea-leaves, those from which the Pekoe is made,
is scarcely over before the air becomes charged with moisture, rain
falls, and the bushes being thus placed in such favourable
circumstances for vegetating are soon covered again with young
leaves, from which the main crop of the season is obtained.

No one, acquainted with vegetable physiology, can doubt the
advantages of such weather in the cultivation of tea for mercantile
purposes. And these advantages, to a certain extent at least, seem
to be extended to the Himalayas, although the regular rainy season
is later than in China. I have already shown, from Dr Jameson's
table, that spring showers are frequent in Kumaon, although rare in
the plains of India; still, however, I think it would be prudent to
adopt the gathering of leaves to the climate, that is to take a
moderate portion from the bushes before the rains, and the main crop
after they have commenced.

_3rd. On the vegetation of China and the Himalayas_. One of the
surest guides from which to draw conclusions, on a subject of this
nature, is found in the indigenous vegetable productions of the
countries. Dr. Royle, who was the first to recommend the cultivation
of tea in the Himalayas, drew his conclusions, in the absence of
that positive information from China which we possess now, not only
from the great similarity in temperature between China and these
hills, but also from the resemblance in vegetable productions. This
resemblance is certainly very striking. In both countries, except in
the low valleys of the Himalayas (and these we are not considering),
tropical forms are rarely met with. If we take trees and shrubs, for
example, we find such genera as pinus, cypress, berberis, quercus,
viburnam, indigofera, and romeda, lonicera, deutzia, rubus, myrica,
spiræ, ilex, and many others common to both countries.

Amongst herbaceous plants we have gentiana, aquilegia, anemone,
rumex, primula, lilium, loutodon, ranunculus, &c. equally
distributed in the Himalayas and in China, and even in aquatics the
same resemblance may be traced, as in nelumbium, caladium &c. And
further than this, we do not find plants belong to the same genera
only, but in many instances the identical species are found in both
countries. The indigofera, common in the Himalayas, abounds also on
the tea hills of China, and so does _Berberis nepaulencis_,
_Lonicera diversifolia_, _Myrica sapida_, and many others.

Were it necessary, I might now show that there is a most striking
resemblance between the geology of the two countries as well as in
their vegetable productions. In both the black and green tea
countries which I have alluded to, clay-slate is most abundant. But
enough has been advanced to prove how well many parts of the
Himalayas are adapted for the cultivation of tea; besides, the
flourishing condition of many of the plantations is, after all, the
best proof, and puts the matter beyond all doubt.

_4th. Concluding Suggestions_.--Having shown that tea can be grown
in the Himalayas, and that it would produce a valuable and
remunerative crop, the next great object appears to be the
production of superior tea, by means of fine varieties and improved
cultivation. It is well known that a variety of the tea plant
existed in the southern parts of China from which inferior teas only
were made. That, being more easily procured than the fine northern
varieties, from which the great mass of the best teas are made, was
the variety originally sent to India. From it all those in the
Government plantations have sprung.

It was to remedy this, and to obtain the best varieties from those
districts which furnish the trees of commerce, that induced the
Honourable Court of Directors to send me to China in 1848. Another
object was to obtain some good manufacturers and implements from the
same districts. As the result of this mission, nearly twenty
thousand plants from the best black and green tea countries of
Central China, have been introduced to the Himalayas. Six first-rate
manufacturers, two lead men, and a large supply of implements from
the celebrated Hwuy-chow districts were also brought round and
safely located on the Government plantations in the hills.

A great step has thus been gained towards the objects in view. Much,
however, remains still to be done. The new China plants ought to be
carefully propagated and distributed over all the plantations; some
of them ought also to be given to the zemindars, and more of these
fine varieties might be yearly imported from China.

The Chinese manufacturers, who were obtained some years since from
Calcutta or Assam, are, in my opinion, far from being first-rate
workmen; indeed, I doubt much if any of them learned their trade in
China. They ought to be gradually got rid of and their places
supplied by better men, for it is a great pity to teach the natives
an inferior method of manipulation. The men brought round by me are
first-rate green tea makers, they can also make black tea, but they
have not been in the habit of making so much black as green. They
have none of the Canton illiberality or prejudices about them, and
are most willing to teach their art to the natives. I have no doubt
some of the latter will soon be made excellent tea manufacturers.
And the instruction of the natives is, no doubt, one of the chief
objects which ought to be kept in view, for the importation of
Chinese manipulators at high wages can only he regarded as a
temporary measure; ultimately the Himalayan tea must be made by the
natives themselves; each native farmer must learn how to make tea
as well as how to grow it; he will then make it upon his own
premises, as the Chinese do, and the expenses of carriage will be
much less than if the green leaves had to be taken to the market.

But as the zemindars will be able to grow tea long before they are
able to make it, it would be prudent, in the first instance, to
offer them a certain sum for green leaves brought to the government
manufactory.

I have pointed out the land most suitable for the cultivation of
tea, and shown that such land exists in the Himalayas to an almost
unlimited extent. But if the object the government have in view be
the establishment of a company to develop the resources of these
hills, as in Assam, I would strongly urge the propriety of
concentrating, as much as possible, the various plantations. Sites
ought to be chosen which are not too far apart, easy of access, and,
if possible, near rivers; for, no doubt, a considerable portion of
the produce would have to be conveyed to the plains or to a
sea-port.

In my tour amongst the hills, I have seen no place so well adapted
for a central situation as Almorah, or Hawulbaugh. Here the
government has already a large establishment, and tea lands are
abundant in all directions. The climate is healthy, and better
suited to a European constitution than most other parts of India.
Here plants from nearly all the temperate parts of the world are
growing as if they were at home. As examples, I may mention myrtles,
pomegranates, and tuberoses from the south of Europe; dahlias,
potatoes, aloes, and yuccas from America; Melianthus major and bulbs
from the Cape; the cypress and deodar of the Himalayas, and the
lagerstroemias, loquats, roses and tea of China.

In these days, when tea has become almost a necessary of life to
England and her wide-spreading colonies, its production upon a large
and cheap scale is an object of no ordinary importance. But to the
natives of India themselves, the production of this article would be
of the greatest value. The poor _paharie_, or hill farmer, at
present has scarcely the common necessaries of life, and certainly
none of its luxuries. The common sorts of grain which his lands
produce will scarcely pay the carriage to the nearest market town,
far less yield a profit of such a kind as will enable him to
purchase some few of the necessary and simple luxuries of life. A
common blanket has to serve him for his covering by day and for his
bed at night, while his dwelling-house is a mere mud-hut, capable of
affording but little shelter from the inclemency of the weather.
Were part of these lands producing tea, he would then have a healthy
beverage to drink, besides a commodity which would be of great value
in the market. Being of small bulk compared with its value, the
expense of carriage would be trifling, and he would return home with
the means in his pocket of making himself and his family more
comfortable and more happy.

Were such results doubtful, we have only to look across the
frontiers of India into China. Here we find tea one of the
necessaries of life, in the strictest sense of the word. A Chinese
never drinks cold water, which he abhors, and considers unhealthy.
Tea is his favorite beverage from morning until night; not what we
call tea, mixed with milk and sugar, but the essence of the herb
itself, drawn out in pure water. One acquainted with the habits of
this people can scarcely conceive the idea of the Chinese empire
existing were it deprived of the tea plant; and I am sure that the
extensive use of this beverage adds much to the health and comfort
of the great body of the people.

The people of India are not unlike the Chinese in many of their
habits. The poor of both countries eat sparingly of animal food, and
rice, with other grains and vegetables, form the staple articles on
which they live; this being the case, it is not at all unlikely the
Indian will soon acquire a habit which is so universal in the sister
country. But in order to enable him to drink tea, it must be
produced at a cheap rate; he cannot afford to pay at the rate of
four or six shillings a pound. It must be furnished to him at four
_pence_ or six _pence_ instead; and this can be done easily, but
only on his own hills. If this is accomplished, and I see no reason
why it should not be, a boon will have been conferred upon the
people of India, of no common kind, and one which an enlightened and
liberal government may well be proud of conferring on its subjects."

I shall now add a description of the Chinese method of making black tea in Upper Assam, by Mr. C.A. Bruce, superintendent of tea culture:--

"In the first place, the youngest and most tender leaves are
gathered; but when there are many hands and a great quantity of
loaves to be collected, the people employed nip off with the
forefinger and thumb the fine end of the branch, with about four
leaves on, and sometimes even more if they look tender. These are
all brought to the place where they are to be converted into tea:
they are then put into a large, circular, open worked bamboo basket,
having a rim all round, two fingers broad. The leaves are thinly
scattered in these baskets, and then placed in a framework of
bamboo, in all appearance like the sides of an Indian hut, without
grass, resting on posts, 2 feet from the ground, with an angle of
about 25 deg. The baskets with leaves are put in this frame to dry
in the sun, and are pushed up and brought down by a long bamboo with
a circular piece of wood at the end. The leaves are permitted to dry
about two hours, being occasionally turned; but the time required
for this process depends on the heat of the sun. When they begin to
have a slightly withered appearance, they are taken down and brought
into the house, when they are placed on a frame to cool for half an
hour; they are then put into smaller baskets of the same kind as the
former, and placed on a stand. People are now employed to soften the
leaves still more, by gently clapping them between their hands, with
their fingers and thumbs extended, and tossing them up and letting
them fall, for about five or ten minutes. They are then again put on
the frame during half an hour, and brought down and clapped with the
hands as before. This is done three successive times, until the
leaves become to the touch like soft leather; the beating and
putting away being said to give the tea the black color and bitter
flavor. After this the tea is put into hot cast-iron pans, which are
fixed in a circular mud fireplace, so that the flame cannot ascend
round the pan to incommode the operator. This pan is well heated by
a straw or bamboo fire to a certain degree. About two pounds of the
leaves are then put into each hot pan, and spread in such a manner
that all the leaves may get the same degree of heat. They are every
now and then briskly turned with the naked hand, to prevent a leaf
from being burnt. When the leaves become inconveniently hot to the
hand, they are quickly taken out and delivered to another man with a
close-worked bamboo basket, ready to receive them. A few leaves that
may have been left behind are smartly brushed out with a bamboo
broom: all this time a brisk fire is kept up under the pan. After
the pan has been used in this manner three or four times, a bucket
of cold water is thrown in, and a soft brick-bat and bamboo broom
used, to give it a good scouring out; the water is thrown out of the
pan by the brush on one side, the pan itself being never taken off.
The leaves, all hot in the bamboo basket, are laid on a table that
has a narrow rim on its back, to prevent these baskets from slipping
off when pushed against it. The two pounds of hot leaves are now
divided into two or three parcels, and distributed to as many men,
who stand up to the table with the leaves right before them, and
each placing his legs close together, the leaves are next collected
into a ball, which he gently grasps in his left hand, with the thumb
extended, the fingers close together, and the hand resting on the
little finger. The right hand must be extended in the same manner as
the left, but with the palm turned downwards resting on the top of
the ball of tea leaves. Both hands are now employed to roll and
propel the ball along; the left hand pushing it on, and allowing it
to revolve as it moves; the right hand also pushes it forward,
resting on it with some force, and keeping it down to express the
juice which the leaves contain. The art lies here in giving the ball
a circular motion, and permitting it to turn under and in the hand
two or three whole revolutions, before the arms are extended to
their full length, and drawing the ball of leaves quickly back
without leaving a leaf behind, being rolled for about five minutes
in this way. The ball of tea leaves is from time to time delicately
and gently opened with the fingers lifted as high as the face, and
then allowed to fall again. This is done two or three times to
separate the leaves; and afterwards the basket with the leaves is
lifted up as often, and receives a circular shake to bring these
towards the centre. The leaves are now taken back to the hot pans
and spread out in them as before, being again turned with the naked
hand, and when hot taken out and rolled; after which, they are put
into a drying basket and spread on a sieve, which is in the centre
of the basket, and the whole placed over a charcoal fire. The fire
is very nicely regulated; there must not be the least smoke, and the
charcoal should be well picked.

When the fire is lighted it is fanned until it gets a fine red
glare, and the smoke is all gone off; being every now and then
stirred, and the coals brought into the centre, so as to leave the
outer edge low. When the leaves are put into the drying basket, they
are gently separated by lifting them up with the fingers of both
hands extended far apart, and allowing them to fall down again; they
are placed three or four inches deep on the sieve, leaving a passage
in the centre for the hot air to pass. Before it is put over the
fire, the drying basket receives a smart slap with both hands in the
act of lifting it up, which is done to shake down any leaves that
might otherwise drop through the sieve, or to prevent them from
falling into the fire and occasioning a smoke, which would affect
and spoil the tea. This slap on the basket is invariably applied
throughout the stages of tea manufacture. There is always a large
basket underneath to receive the small leaves that fall, which are
afterwards collected, dried, and added to the other tea; in no case
are the baskets or sieves allowed to touch or remain on the ground,
but always laid on a receiver, with three legs. After the leaves
have bean half-dried in the drying-basket, and while they are still
soft, they are taken off the fire and put into large open-worked
baskets, and then put on the shelf, in order that the tea may
improve in color.

Next day the leaves are all sorted into large, middling, and small;
sometimes there are four sorts. All these, the Chinese informed me,
become so many different kinds of teas; the smallest leaves they
call Pha-ho, the second Pow-chong, the third Souchong, and the
fourth, or the largest leaves, Zoy-chong. After this assortment they
are again put on the sieve in the drying-basket (taking care not to
mix the sorts), and on the fire, as on the preceding day; but now
very little more than will cover the bottom of the sieve is put in
at one time; the same care of the fire is taken as before, and the
same precaution of tapping the drying basket every now and then. The
tea is taken off the fire with the nicest care, for fear of any
particles of the tea falling into it. Whenever the drying-basket is
taken off, it is put on the receiver, the sieve in the drying-basket
taken out, the tea turned over, the sieve replaced, the tap given,
and the basket placed again over the fire. As the tea becomes crisp,
it is taken out and thrown into a large receiving-basket, until all
the quantity on hand has become alike dried and crisp, from which
basket it is again removed into the drying-basket, but now in much
larger quantities. It is then piled up eight and ten inches high on
the sieve in the drying-basket; in the centre a small passage is
left for the hot air to ascend; the fire that was before bright and
clear has now ashes thrown on it to deaden its effect, and the
shakings that have been collected are put on the top of all; the tap
is given, and the basket, with the greatest care, is put over the
fire. Another basket is placed over the whole, to throw back any
heat that may ascend. Now and then it is taken off, and put on the
receiver; the hands, with the fingers wide apart, are run down the
sides of the basket to the sieve, and the tea gently turned over,
the passage in the centre again made, &c., and the basket again
placed on the fire. It is from time to time examined, and when the
leaves have become so crisp that they break by the slightest
pressure of the fingers, it is taken off, when the tea is ready. All
the different kinds of leaves underwent the same operation. The tea
is now, little by little, put into boxes, and first pressed down
with the hands and then with the feet (clean stockings having been
previously put on).

There is a small room inside of the tea-house, seven cubits square,
and five high, having bamboos laid across on the top to support a
network of bamboo, and the sides of the room smeared with mud to
exclude the air. When there is wet weather, and the leaves cannot be
dried in the sun, they are laid out on the top of this room, on the
network, on an iron pan, the same as is used to heat the leaves;
some fire is put into it, either of grass or bamboo, so that the
flame may ascend high; the pan is put on a square wooden frame, that
has wooden rollers on its legs, and pushed round and round this
little room by one man, while another feeds the fire, the leaves on
the top being occasionally turned; when they are a little withered,
the fire is taken away, and the leaves brought down and manufactured
into tea, in the same manner as if it had been dried in the sun. But
this is not a good plan, and never had recourse to if it can
possibly be avoided."

In 1810, a number of tea plants were introduced into Brazil, with a colony of Chinese to superintend their culture. The plantation was formed near Rio Janeiro and occupied several acres. It did not, however, answer the expectations formed of it, the shrubs became stunted, cankered and moss grown, and the Chinese finally abandoned them. The culture was again tried in 1817. The plantations lie between the equator and 10 deg. south latitude, nearly parallel with Java, and of course are exposed to the same intemperate climate, and suffer in a similar manner. In addition to these physical disabilities, the enterprise has had to contend with the natural indolence of the natives, the universal repugnance to labor, the crushing effect of committing so important a work to the superintendence of slaves and overseers, the amazing fertility of the soil, the extent of unappropriated land, the ease with which subsistence can be obtained and the low degree of personal enterprise. These are frowning features, and would rather seem to indicate a failure, before the attempt at cultivation was made. But, nevertheless, the plant does nourish to some extent, even in Brazil, under all the disparaging circumstances which surround it. From the Brazilian Consul General, I learn that although the plant for some years after its introduction received but little attention and was almost abandoned, yet within the last few years the cultivation has revived and is now prosecuted with energy and with a corresponding success. Some of the large and wealthy land proprietors of Brazil have directed their attention to tea culture, and one gentleman has given up his coffee plantation and directed his attention exclusively to the cultivation of the tea plant. The market of Rio Janeiro is said to be largely and almost entirely supplied with tea of domestic growth, and the public mind is awakened to the prominent fact, that no plant cultivated in Brazil is more profitable and none is deserving more decided attention.

_Experimental cultivation of the tea plant in Brazil_.--I now proceed to notice the report of M. Guillemin, presented in 1839 to the French Minister of agriculture and commerce, on the culture and preparation of the tea plant in Brazil--in a climate of the southern hemisphere just equivalent to that of Cuba in the northern. The report enters very minutely into the incidents of temperature and cultivation, and cannot fail to strike the attention when disclosing the important fact, that the tea plant grows luxuriantly with the coffee and other valuable plants of the equatorial regions, and even on low-lying lands, on a level with the sea, and exposed to the full rays of a burning sun.

"As the tea shrub," says M. Guillemin, "is grown in several
plantations about two days' journey distant from Rio, in different
directions, I hired a lodging at St. Theresa, sufficiently
contiguous to all the establishments I meant to visit, and further
recommended by having a small garden attached to the house, where I
could deposit the growing plants of tea, and sow seeds. During the
month of November, except when hindered by slight indispositions
incidental to the Brazilian climate, I pursued my researches, and
principally in the charming valleys of the Tijuka and Gavia
mountains. There, together with coffee, their principal product, the
most valuable plants of the equatorial region are cultivated.

In the middle of November I had an opportunity of observing the
method pursued when culling the tea, which is performed by black
slaves, chiefly women and children. They carefully selected the
tenderest and pale-green leaves, nipping off with their nails the
young leaf bud, just below where the first or second leaf was
unfolded. One whole field had already undergone this operation;
nothing but tea shrubs stripped of their foliage remained. The
inspector assured me that the plant received no injury from this
process, and that the harvest of leaves was to become permanent by
carefully regulating it, so that the foliage should have grown again
on the first stripped shrubs at the period when the leaves of the
last plant were pulled off. About 12,000 tea shrubs are grown in
this garden: they are regularly planted in quincunxes, and stand
about one metre distant from each other; the greater number are
stunted and shabby looking, probably owing to the aspect of the
ground, which _lies low, on the level of the sea, and exposed to the
full rays of a burning sun_; perhaps the quality of the soil may
have something to do with it, though this is apparently similar to
what prevails in the province of Rio Janeiro. This soil, which is
highly argillaceous, and strongly tinged with tritoxyde of iron, is
formed by the decomposition of gneiss or granite rocks. The flat
situation of this tea ground is unfavorable to the improvement of
the soil, for the heavy rains which wash away the superfluous sand
from slanting situations, of course only consolidate more strongly
the remaining component parts, where the land lies perfectly level,
and thus the tea plants suffer from this state of soil.

The kindness of M. de Brandao, director of the Botanic Garden,
induced him to invite me, shortly after I had seen the above
described tea ground, that I might inspect all the operations for
the preparation of tea. I found that the picking of the leaves had
been commenced very early in the morning, and two kilogrammes were
pulled that were still wet with dew. These were deposited in a
well-polished iron vase, the shape being that of a very broad flat
pan, and set on a brick furnace, where a brisk wooden fire kept the
temperature nearly up to that of boiling water. A negro, after
carefully washing his hands, kept continually stirring the leaves in
all directions, till their external dampness was quite evaporated,
and the leaves acquired the softness of linen rag, and a small pinch
of them, when rolled in the hollow of the hand, became a little ball
that would not unroll. In this state the mass of tea was divided
into two portions, and a negro took each and set them on a hurdle,
formed of strips of bamboo, laid at right angles, where they shook
and kneaded the leaves in all directions for a quarter of an hour,
an operation which requires habit to be properly performed, and on
which much of the beauty of the product depends. It is impossible to
describe this process; the motion of the hands is rapid and very
irregular, and the degree of pressure requisite varies according to
circumstances; generally speaking, the young negro women are
considered more clever at this part of the work than older persons.
As this process of rolling and twisting the leaves goes on, their
green juice is drained off through the hurdle, and it is essential
that the tea be perfectly divested of the moisture, which is acrid,
and even corrosive, the bruising and kneading being especially
designed to break the parenchyma of the leaf, and permit the escape
of the sap.

When the leaves have been thus twisted and rolled, they are replaced
in the great iron pan, and the temperature raised till the hand can
no longer bear the heat at the bottom. For upwards of an hour the
negroes are then constantly employed in separating, shaking, and
throwing the foliage up and down, in order to facilitate the
dessication, and much neatness and quickness of hand were requisite,
that the manipulators might neither burn themselves nor allow the
masses of leaves to adhere to the hot bottom of the pan. It is easy
to see that, if the pan was placed within another pan filled with
boiling water, and the leaves were stirred with an iron spatula,
much trouble might be obviated. Still, the rolling and drying of the
leaves were successfully performed; they became more and more crisp,
and preserved their twisted shape, except some few which seemed too
old and coriaceous to submit to be rolled up. The tea was then
placed on a sieve, with wide apertures of regular sizes, and formed
of flat strips of bamboo. The best rolled leaves, produced from the
tips of the buds and the tenderest leaves, passed through this
sieve, and were subsequently fanned, in order to separate any
unrolled fragments which might have passed through them; this
produce was called _Imperial_, or _Uchim Tea_. It was again laid in
the pan till it acquired the leaden grey tint, which proved its
perfect dryness, and any defective leaf which had escaped the
winnowing and sifting was picked out by hand. The residue, which was
left from the first fanning, was submitted to all the operations of
winnowing, sifting, and scorching, and it then afforded the _Fine
Hyson Tea_ of commerce; while the same operations performed on the
residuum of it yielded the _Common Hyson_; and the refuse of the
third quality again afforded the _Coarse Hyson_.--Finally, the
broken and unrolled foliage, which were rejected in the last
sittings, furnish what is called _Family Tea_, and the better kind
of which is called _Chato_, and the inferior _Chuto_. The latter
sort is never sold, but kept for consumption in the families of the
growers.

Such is the mode of preparation pursued at Rio Janeiro, though I
must add that the process employed at the Botanic Garden being most
carefully performed in order to serve as a model for private
cultivators of tea, the produce is superior to the generality, so
that we dare not judge of all Brazilian tea by what is raised at the
garden of Rio. I was also assured, that at Saint Paul each grower
had his own peculiar method, influencing materially the quality of
the tea, which decided me to visit that province, where I hoped to
gain valuable information respecting the culture and fabrication of
tea, especially considered as an article of commerce.

In the interim, the month of December proving excessively hot and
rainy, so as to forbid any distant excursions, I turned my attention
to the important object of procuring _tea plants_ in number and
state fit for exportation; and, observing that almost all the shrubs
I saw were too large for this purpose, I applied to M. de Brandao
for his help and advice. This gentleman, in the most courteous
manner, offered me either seeds or slips from his own tea shrubs.
The striking of the latter was, he owned, a hazardous and uncertain
affair, though it had the probable advantage of securing a finer
kind of plant than could with certainty be raised from seed. I,
however, began by asking him for newly gathered seeds, in order to
set them in my little nursery garden at Santa Theresa, and he
obligingly gave me a thousand of the seeds, perfectly ripe and
sound, which is easily known by the purplish-brown color of their
integument. M. Houlet immediately set about preparing the soil in
which to plant these seeds, and the earth being excessively
argillaceous and hard, much digging, manuring, and dressing were
needful; in a word, we neglected no precautions which could
contribute to the growth of our seeds. In the interim I allowed not
a single dry day to elapse without visiting the country house near
Rio, in all of which I saw something more or less interesting,
either in the culture of tea, or other vegetable productions of
commercial value.

* * * * *

I detected, growing not unfrequently in the environs of Rio, the
_Ilex Paraguayensis_ of M. Auguste de St. Hilaire, perfectly
identical with the tree which the Jesuits planted in the missions of
Paraguay, and whose foliage is an article of great importance
throughout Spanish America, and vended under the name of _Paraguay
Tea_. A living plant of this shrub was brought home by me, and
placed in the Royal Garden at Paris, as well as a species of
Vanilla, and many other rare and interesting plants. I also made a
valuable collection of woods employed for dyeing, building, and
cabinet work, with samples of their flowers, fruits, and leaves, to
facilitate botanical determination.

Early in January, 1839, M. Houlet began anew sowing tea, not only in
the open ground in our little garden, but also in pans, in order to
facilitate the lifting of the young plants, and putting them into
the cases that I had brought for the purpose. The heat being
excessive, we purchased mats, that we might shelter them from the
sun, and we gave them water far more frequently. Many of the seeds
that we had sown a month previously, were already appearing above
the ground, but the soil being of too compact a nature, some did not
come up, which warned us to make choice in future of a lighter kind
of soil.

The period now arrived when I was to visit the tea plantations in
the province of St. Paul; and hoping that the cultivators would give
me some of the young shrubs, I took M. Houlet with me, leaving the
charge of our collections and seedlings to M. Pissis, a French
geologist and engineer, with whom I had formed an intimate
acquaintance, and who most obligingly offered to attend to them
during my absence. Many were the influential persons at Rio Janeiro,
who gave me introductory letters to the proprietors and tea growers
of St. Paul.

We started on the 15th January, by steam-boat, and in two days
reached Santos, the principal port in the province of St. Paul;
thence crossing the great chain of mountains, named the Serra do
Mar, in caravans drawn by mules, we reached the city of St. Paul on
the 20th January, where I experienced the warmest reception from the
governor, two ex-governors, and some other gentlemen.

* * * * *

Accompanied by M.J. Gomez and a M. Barandier, an historical painter,
whom the desire to visit a new country, and to see its inhabitants,
had induced to become _my compagnon de voyage_, we visited almost
immediately a M. Feigo, ex-Regent of the Empire, and now President
of the Provincial Senate. We found this venerable ecclesiastic at
his country-house, two leagues distant from the city, and here we
saw all the process pursued on the tea leaf, commencing by the
bruising, drying, and scorching of a large quantity of foliage
picked the preceding evening. The chief difference that struck me in
the mode here adopted, was, that the tender, flexible, and not
brittle leaves, were gathered with the petiole and tip extremity of
every bud, and that some water was put with them into the iron pan,
in which the negresses twisted, squeezed, broke and shook the masses
of foliage. The operation was, on the whole, more neatly performed
than at Rio. When the tea was perfectly dry and removed from the
pan, it was placed aside in a box, shaded from the air and light,
and was considered ready for present use, on the spot; but M. Feigo
informed me, that when sent to a distance, the cases were
hermetically closed, and the tea underwent an extra dessication over
the fire.

The plantations belonging to M. Feigo, and surrounding his chagara,
are extensive, containing about 20,000 tea shrubs, of fine growth
and high vigor, most of them six or eight years old, set in regular
lines, a metre asunder from each other, and the lines with a metre
and a half between them. The soil is excellent,
argillaceo-ferruginous, as is generally the case near St. Paul.

In the Botanic Garden at St. Paul, some squares are devoted to the
growth of tea; but I am not aware that the leaves are ever subject
to preparation.

M. da Luz had invited us to inspect his tea-grounds near Nossa
Senhora da Penha, and I went thither, accompanied by Messrs.
Barandier and Houlet. The cultivation is admirable, the soil
excellent, and the tea-plants peculiarly vigorous. Each shrub was so
placed that a man can easily go all round it, and _young plants,
self-sown, were springing up below every old one_; of these offsets,
I was made welcome to as many as I could take away, and should have
had a great stock, but that the ground had been very recently
cleared. M. da Luz showed me his magazines of prepared tea, which
were extensive and well stocked.

Hence I went to the property of a lady, Donna Gertrude Gedioze
Larceda, situated at the foot of Jarigur, a mountain famed for its
gold mines, and passed two days in exploring this celebrated
locality, and then visited the Colonel Anastosio on my way back to
St. Paul. These plantations are in the most prosperous condition,
situated on a sloping and well-manured tract behind the habitations.
The shrubs are generally kept low, and frequently cut, so as to,
make them branching, by which the process of picking the leaves is
rendered easier. There may be 60,000 or 70,000 plants, but a third
of them were only set a year before. Every arrangement is
excellently conducted here; the pans kept very clean, though perhaps
rather thin from long use and the fierceness of the fires. But the
general good order that prevails, speaks much in favor of the tea
produced in this neighbourhood. The colonel showed me his warehouse,
where the tea is stored in iron jars, narrow-necked and closed by a
tight fitting stopper. I ventured to put some questions to Colonel
Anastosio respecting the sale of the produce. He gave me to
understand that he was by no means eager to sell; but, confident of
the good quality, he waited till application was made to him for it,
as the tea is thought to improve by time, and the price is kept up
by there being a small supply. With respect to the cost of its
production in Brazil, he said, this was so great that, to make it
answer to the grower, a price of not less than 2,000 reis, about six
francs (5s.), must be got for each pound. The whole labor in Brazil
is done by slaves, who certainly do not cost much to keep, but who,
on the other hand, work as little as they can help, having no
interest in the occupation. The slaves, too, bear a high price, and
the chances of mortality, with the exorbitant value of money in
Brazil, augment their selling value.