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قراءة كتاب Tea and Tea Drinking
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and a visit to the frontier station of Upper Assam ended in a determination on the part of Government to cultivate tea in that region.[1] In 1840 the "Assam Company" was formed, and it is claimed for them that they possess the largest tea plantation in the world. Some idea of the progress of tea cultivation in India may be gathered from the following official figures. In 1850 there was one tea-estate, that of the Assam Company, with 1,876 acres under cultivation, yielding 216,000 lbs. In 1870 there were 295 proprietors of tea-estates, with 31,303 acres under cultivation, yielding 6,251,143 lbs. In 1872-73 the area of land held by tea-planters covered 804,582 acres, of which about 75,000 were under cultivation, yielding 14,670,171 lbs. of tea, the average yield per acre being 208 lbs. Every year thousands of acres are being brought under cultivation, and in a short time it seems likely that we shall be independent of China for our supplies of tea. In the year 1879-80 the exports of Indian tea to Great Britain rose to 40,000,000 lbs., and in the following year to 42,000,000 lbs. In Ceylon, also, a proportionate increase is taking place. The plant appears to be a native of the island. In Percival's "Account of Ceylon," published in 1805, occurs the following paragraph:—
"The tea-plant has been discovered native in the forests of Ceylon. It grows spontaneously in the neighbourhood of Trincomalee and other northern parts of Ceylon.... I have in my possession a letter from an officer in the 80th Regiment, in which he states that he found the real tea-plant in the woods of Ceylon of a quality equal to any that ever grew in China."
A large quantity of tea is now imported from this island, and new plantations, it is reported, are being made every month; day by day more of the primeval forest goes down before the axe of the pioneer, and before another quarter of a century has passed it is anticipated that the teas of our Indian empire will become the most valuable of its products.
The cultivation of tea in India, and the processes to which it is subjected after the leaf is gathered, differ from those of China. According to Dr. Jameson, the great difficulty of the Indian tea-planter arises from the wonderful fertility of the soil and the strength of the tea-plant. As soon as the plants "flush" the leaf must be plucked, or it deteriorates to such an extent as to become valueless, and at the next "flush" the plant will be found bare of the young leaves. The delay of even a single day may be fatal. The leaf when plucked must be roasted forthwith, or it ferments and becomes valueless, as is also the case in China. There, however, the tea-harvest occurs only four or five times a year, but in India once a fortnight during some seven months of the year. The number of work-people required on a tea-farm may be estimated from the figures given by Dr. Rhind, who says that to manufacture eighty pounds of black tea per day twenty-five tea-gatherers are requisite, and ten driers and sorters; to produce ninety-two pounds of green tea, thirty gatherers and sixteen driers and sorters.
From "A Tea-Planter's Life in Assam" we take the following account of work in a tea-garden:—
"After the soil has been deep-hoed and is quite ready, transplanting from the nursery begins; few men sow the seed at stake. The nursery is made and carefully planted with seed on the first piece of ground that is cleared, so that by the time the remainder of the garden is ready to be planted out the seed has developed into a small plant, with strength enough to stand being transplanted. Holes are prepared at equal distances, into which the young plants are carefully transferred. The greatest caution is exercised in both taking them up and putting them in their new places, that the root shall be neither bent up nor injured in any way. For this work women and children are employed, as it is light, but requires a gentle hand to pat down the earth around the young plant. It speedily accommodates itself to its new circumstances, and thrives wonderfully if the weather is at all propitious. A succession of hot days with no rain has a most disastrous effect on transplants; their heads droop and but a small percentage will be saved, which means that most of the work will have to be done over again. Once started, plenty of cultivation is the only thing required to keep the plant healthy, and it is left undisturbed for a couple of years to increase in size and strength. At the end of the second year, when the cold season has sent the sap down, the pruning knife dispossesses it of its long, straggling top shoots, and reduces it to a height of four feet; every plant is cut to the same level. The third year enables the planter to pluck lightly his first small crop. Year succeeds year, and the crop increases until the eighth or ninth year, when the garden arrives at maturity and yields as much as ever it will. During the rains the gong is beaten at five o'clock every morning, and again at six, thus allowing an hour for those who wish to have something to eat before commencing the labours of the day. In the cold weather the time for turning out is not so early; even the Eastern sun is lazier, and there is not so much work to get through. Few of the coolies take anything to eat until eleven o'clock, when they are rung in. The leaf plucked by the women is collected and weighed, and most of the men have finished their allotted day's work by this time, so they retire to their huts to eat the morning meal and to pass the remainder of the day in a luxury of idleness. For the ensuing two or three hours there is perfect rest, except for the unfortunate coolies engaged in the tea-house; their work cannot be left, and as fast as the leaf is ready it must be fired off, else it would be completely ruined. At two o'clock the women are turned out again to pluck, and those men who have not finished their hoeing have to return to complete their task. About six o'clock the gong sounds again, the leaf is brought in, weighed, and spread, and outdoor work is over for the day. No change can be made in the tea-house work, which goes on steadily, and if there has been much leaf brought in the day before, firing will very frequently last from daybreak until well into the night, or small hours of the morning."
At present, however, the greater proportion of tea consumed in England comes from China and Japan, which produce no less than 325,000,000 lbs. annually, against 52,000,000 lbs. by India.
India may be the tea-country of the future, but China still supplies nearly all the world. Millions of acres are devoted to its cultivation, and the late Dr. Wells Williams states that the management of this great branch of industry exhibits some of the best features of Chinese country life. It is only over a portion of each farm that the plant is grown, and its cultivation requires but little attention, compared with rice and vegetables. The most delicate kinds are looked after and cured by priests in their secluded temples among the hills; these have often many acolytes, who aid in preparing small lots to be sold at a high price. But the same authority tells us that the work of picking the leaves,