takes as to site, soil, and methods of manufacture were made in those early days, and bitter disappointment was the chief result. But while private enterprises languished, Government steadily persevered. It retained a portion of its Assam gardens in its own hands until 1849, when the Assam Company began to emerge from their difficulties. Government also carried on the business in Kumáun, under the able management of Dr. Jameson, as late as 1855.

The real progress of tea-planting on a great scale in Assam Rapid dates from about 1851, and was greatly assisted by the progress, 1851-65. promulgation of the Waste-Land Rules of 1854. By 1859, there were already 51 gardens in existence, owned by private individuals; and the enterprise had extended from its original headquarters in Lakhimpur and Síbságar as far down the Brahmaputra as Kámrúp. In 1856, the tea-plant was discovered wild in the District of Cáchár in the Bárak valley, and European Cáchár. capital was at once directed to that quarter. At about the same time, tea-planting was introduced into the neighbourhood of the Himalayan sanitarium of Dárjiling, among the Sikhim Dárjíling. Himálayas.

The success of these undertakings engendered a wild spirit of speculation in tea companies, both in India and

at home, which reached its climax in 1865. The industry Crisis of recovered but slowly from the effects of the disastrous crisis, 1865. and did not again reach a stable position until 1869. Since that date, it has rapidly but steadily progressed, and has been ever opening new fields of enterprise. At the head of the Bay Subse of Bengal in Chittagong District, side by side with coffee on quent history. the Nilgiri Hills, on the forest-clad slopes of Chutiá Nágpur, amid the low-lying jungle of the Bhután Dwárs, and even in Arakan, the energetic pioneers of tea-planting have established their industry. Different degrees of success may have rewarded them, but in no case have they abandoned the struggle. The market for Indian tea is practically inexhaustible. There is no reason to suppose that all the suitable localities have yet been tried; and we may look forward to the day when India shall not only rival, but supersede, China in her staple product.

of Indian

Assam.

The following statistics, unless otherwise stated, refer to the Statistics year 1877-78. The total area taken up for tea in Assam, tea. including both the Brahmaputra and the Bárak valleys, was 736,082 acres, of which 538,961 acres were fit for cultivation; the total number of separate estates was 1718; the total outturn was 23,352,298 lbs., at the average rate of 286 lbs. per acre under mature plant. In Bengal, the area taken up was Bengal.

N.W.

Punjab.

Madras.

› 62,642 acres, of which 20,462 acres were under mature plant, including 18,120 acres in the single District of Dárjiling; the number of gardens was 221; the out-turn was 5,768,654 lbs., at the rate of 282 lbs. per acre under mature plant. In the North-Western Provinces, there were, in 1876, 25 Provinces. estates in the Districts of Kumáun and Garhwál, with an out-turn of 578,000 lbs., of which 350,000 lbs. were sold in India to Central Asian merchants; and in 1871, 19 estates in Dehra Dún, with 2024 acres under tea, and an out-turn of 297,828 lbs. In the Punjab, there were 10,046 acres under tea, almost entirely confined to Kángrá District, with an outturn of 1,113,106 lbs., or 111 lbs. per acre. In Madras, the area under tea on the Nilgiris was 3160 acres; the exports from the Presidency were 183,178 lbs., valued at £19,308. Excluding the figures just given for Madras, the whole of the Indian tea is shipped from the port of Calcutta, and almost the whole is sent to the United Kingdom. The total exports by sea for 1877-78 were 33,459,075 lbs., valued at £3,044,571. Of the total supply, about 26,000,000 lbs. came from Assam, about 8,000,000 lbs. from Bengal, 787,000 lbs. from the NorthWestern Provinces, and 684,000 lbs. from the Punjab. In the same year, the exports of tea from the Punjab to Central Asia were returned at 1,217,840 lbs., valued at £181,634, being a considerable decrease on the previous year. In the year 1879-80, the exports of Indian tea to Great Britain rose to 40 million lbs., and new markets have been successfully opened in Australia and the United States.

Total

exports.

Tea cultivation.

The processes of cultivation and manufacture are very similar throughout the whole of India, with the exception that in Upper India the leaf is prepared as green tea for the markets of Varieties Central Asia. Three main varieties are recognised-Assam, of the tea- China, and Hybrid. The first is the indigenous plant, someplant. times attaining the dimensions of a tree; yielding a strong and high-priced tea, but difficult to rear. The China variety, originally imported from that country, is a short bushy shrub, yielding a comparatively weak tea and a small out-turn per acre. The third variety is a true hybrid, formed by crossing the two other species. It combines the qualities of both in varying proportions, and is the kind most sought after by planters. In all cases, the plant is raised from seed, which in size and appearance resembles the hazel-nut. The seeds are sown in carefully prepared nurseries in December and January, and at first require to be kept shaded. About April, the seedlings are sufficiently grown to be transplanted, an operation

Seed.

tea

gardens.

which continues into July. The site selected for a tea-garden Sites for should be comparatively elevated land, for it is essential that water should not lodge round the roots of the plants. In Assam, which may be taken as the typical tea district, the most favourite situation is the slopes of low hills, that everywhere rise above the marshy valleys. On the summit may be seen the neat bungalow of the planter, lower down the coolie lines, while the tea bushes are studded in rows with mathematical precision all round the sides. The best soil is virgin forest Soil. land, rich in the decomposed vegetable matter of ages. Great pains are expended to prevent this fertile mould from being washed away by the violence of the tropical rains. In bringing new land into condition, the jungle should be cut down in December, and burned on the spot in February. The ground is then cleaned by the plough or the hoe, and marked out for the seedlings by means of stakes planted at regular intervals of about 4 feet from each other.

a tea

For the first two years, nothing is required except keeping Work of the plants clear of weeds. Afterwards, it is necessary to garden; prune the luxuriant height of the bushes in the cold season of every ensuing year. The prunings should be buried round the roots of the plant for manure. The plants begin to come into

bearing in the third year, and gradually reach their maximum yield in their tenth year. The produce consists of the 'flushes,' 'flushes ;' or successive shoots of young leaves and buds, which first appear in the beginning of the rainy season. There are

from five to seven full flushes in the season from March to November. The bushes are picked about every ten days by picking; women and children, who are paid by weight on bringing their baskets to the factory, when the operation of manufacture forthwith begins. The leaf is first spread out lightly on trays or mats, in order that it may 'wither,' i.e. become limp and witherflaccid. Under favourable conditions, this result is effected in ing ;' a single night; but sometimes the natural process has to be accelerated by exposure in the sun or by artificial heat. The next operation is known as 'rolling,' performed either by the rolling ; manual labour of coolies or by machinery. The object of this is to twist and compress the leaf into balls, and set up fermentation. The final stage is to arrest fermentation by drying, drying; which may be effected in many ways, usually by the help of machinery. The entire process of manufacture after 'withering,' does not take more than about four hours and a half. All that now remains to do is to sort the tea in sieves, according sorting. to size and quality, thus distinguishing the various grades from

Cinchona.

1860.

Flowery Pekoe to Broken Congou, and to pack it for shipment in the well-known tea chests.

The introduction of the quinine - yielding cinchona into India is a remarkable example of success rewarding the Clements indefatigable exertions of a single man. When Mr. Clements Markham, Markham undertook the task of transporting the seedlings from South America in 1860, cinchona had never before been reared artificially. But the novel experiment in arboriculture has not only been successfully conducted, but has proved remunerative from a pecuniary point of view. A cheap febrifuge has been provided for the fever-stricken population of the Indian plains, while the surplus bark sold in Europe more than repays interest upon the capital expenditure. These results have been produced from an expenditure of about £100,000. The headquarters of cinchona cultivation are on the Nilgiri Hills, where Government owns several plantations, covering an aggregate of about 1000 acres, with about 570,000 full-grown plants. From the Government plantations, cinchona seeds and plants are annually distributed to the public in large quantities; and there are already several private plantations, rivalling the Government estates in area, and understood Varieties. to be very valuable properties. The varieties of cinchona most commonly cultivated are C. officinalis and C. succirubra; but experiments are being conducted with C. calisaya, C. pubescens, C. lanceolata, and C. pitayensis. Now that the success of the enterprise is secure, Government has somewhat curtailed the extent of its own operations. No fresh land is being taken up, but the plantations are kept free from weeds. The quinologist's department has been abolished, and the bark is sold in its raw state.

Nilgiri plantations.

Spread of From the central establishment of the Government on cinchona; the Nilgiris, cinchona has been introduced into the Palni Hills in Madura District, into the Wainád, and into the State of Travancore. Plantations have also been successfully opened by in Southern Government near Merkára in Coorg, on the Bába Budan Hills India; in Mysore, and in Tsit-taung (Sitang) District in British Burma. Failure has attended the experiments made at Mahabaleshwar in the Bombay Presidency, and at Nongklao in the Khásí Hills, Assam. But the success of the Government plantation in Bengal. at Dárjiling, in Northern Bengal, rivals that of the original plantation on the Nilgiris. The area has been gradually extended to more than 2000 acres, and the bark is manufactured into quinine on the spot by a Government quinologist. The species mostly grown is C. succirubra, which yields a

alkaloids.

red-coloured bark, rich in its total yield of alkaloids, but comparatively poor in quinine proper. Efforts are being made to increase the cultivation of C. calisaya, which yields the more valuable bark; but this species is difficult to propagate. The febrifuge, as issued by the quinologist, is in the form of a nearly white powder, containing the following alkaloids:Quinine, cinchonidine, cinchonine, quinamine, and what is Cinchona known as amorphous alkaloid. It has been authoritatively described as 'a perfectly safe and efficient substitute for quinine in all cases of ordinary intermittent fever.' It has been substituted for imported quinine, in the proportion of three-fourths to one-fourth, at all the Government dispensaries, by which measure alone an economy of more than £20,000 a year has been achieved; and it is now eagerly sought after by private druggists from every part of the country.

The following are the financial results of the two Govern- Cinchona statistics, ment plantations in 1877-78:-On the Nilgiris, the crop was 1878. 138,808 lbs., of which 132,951 lbs. were shipped to England, and the rest supplied to the Madras and Bombay medical departments. The total receipts were £35,875, and the total expenditure £6977, thus showing a net profit of £28,898. At Darjiling, the crop amounted to 344,225 lbs. of bark, which was all handed over to the quinologist, and yielded 5162 lbs. of the febrifuge. The total receipts were £9707, of which £6188 represents the amount debited to Government departments for the sale of febrifuge and bark, while £3519 was derived from sales to the public. The total expenditure was £8554, of which £5790 was expended upon the plantation, and £2764 on the quinologist's department. The net profit, therefore, was £1150, which is expected shortly to rise to £4000 a year, as more of the young plants come into bearing.

Sericulture in India is a stationary, if not a declining industry. Silk. The large production in China, Japan, and the Mediterranean countries controls the European markets; and on an average of years, the imports of raw silk into India exceed the exports. The East India Company from the first took great pains to foster the production of silk. As early as 1767, two years after the grant of the financial administration The Comof Bengal had been conferred upon the Company, we find pany's, early silkthe Governor, Mr. Verelst, personally urging the zamindárs, factories. gathered at Murshidábád for the ceremony of the Punya, 'to give all possible encouragement to the cultivation of mulberry.' In 1769, a colony of reelers was brought from Italy to teach