Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1899 — THE CULTURE OF TEA. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE CULTURE OF TEA.

EXPERIMENTS ARE MADE IN THE SOUTH. k t -Gardens in South Carolina Produce a “ Iknitrior Article at Twenty-five Per ■ Cent. Profit - A New and Growing Inr iustry for the Southland. I’ Some years ago a few far-seeing men of the Southern States looked far > enongh ahead to see that cotton would V, not always be king, and opened to dis- »'■ ctißsion the problem of raising tea. Ar that time cotton was king, and there | was no denying it, so the effort to create an interest in tea raising proved $ abortive. In less than fifteen years L came a great war in which the South was swept clean as by a hurricane. One result of the war, minor perhaps, . besides some of the other results, was that cotton was dethroned. Into the new South was introduced other forms of agriculture, and not only that, but manufactures which the South heretoI fore had despised with pride in its 5 “aplendid isolation.” , And now, a generation after the war has losed, after King Cotton has been deposed, Southerners themselves have taken up the culture of tea in earnest, bound to make it contribute to the general prosperity of that section of the f country. A leader anjong these leaders !■ *rof. Charles U. Shepard, of Pinehurst, Summerville, S. C.. and in a publication of the agricultural department in Washington he tells of the success of his experiment. Since be has made a profit of 25 per 1 cent, on his venture the undertaking is S entitled to be taken out of the class of experiments and put in with the solid accomplishments that will endure. It is seven years since he first reported on the operations on the Pinehurst estate. He says that it seems probable from the facts so far gathered that the

cultivation of tea can be made profitable in the warmer portions of the United States In two ways. One is by establishing a plantation on the scale of the experiment at Summerville with capital sufficient to carry the work to a point where the product can be offered on equal terms with teas holding an esteblished place in the markets of the United States. The other is to grow tea for home use in the farm garden. In either case tea growing can be undertaken safely only where the temperature rarely goes lower than 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and never below zero, and where a liberal supply of water can be depended upon. There is probably no place in the United States where the rainfall is sufficient for the best results with the tea plant, and irrigation should where possible be provided for in growidg tea. The experiment at Summerville, on the growth and manufacture of tea, began about ten years ago. At the be- ' ginning it was wisely on a small scale, but has gradually been increased until now over fifty acres have been planted in tea. When the plants arrive at full bearing the yield should be at least 10.000 pounds of high-grade tea; and this should suffice for the object in » view, viz., to determine whether comi, mercial tea may be profitably grown ; under the local conditions of soil, climate and tabor. * r One of the most productive of the i Bumtaerviae gardens is that called the g Bose garden. The output of green leaf from it has been: Crop of 1892, 56 crop of 1893, 81 pounds; crop 4 of 1894. 151 pounds; crop of 1895, 333 crop of 1896. 600 pounds; crop ftjrf 1897, 648 pounds; crop of 1898, nearfrljF 14200 pounds. One thousand two t hundred and sixty pounds of green leaf Kprill afford 300 pounds of standard Pinecarat black tea. But the ••Rose Garden” is not to be regarded as an exceptional result, nor of difficult imitation. Two gardens, also formerly piney- | woods ponds, planted with Darjeeling promise successful rivalry . Within a few years, and yet others appear to be awakening to a more vigor♦u% productiveness. Without undue endeavor. Prof. Sheppard sold his crop of 1898, about 3,000 SteMHids. as also about 500 pounds of the of the previous year (which had been bought to maintain prices), at a profit of about 25 per cent. The Pine-g-liurst black tea has a distinctly characiCjerlstie flavor, and, like some of the choicer Oriental teas, its liquor has . more strength than its color indicates. These qualities render its introduction *;.nlow. But It has always proved a diffi- ■ to change the taste of tea iesbbb. oz imo vjritmx Drii&iu;

Nevertheless there has been a steadily increasing demand for Pinehurst tea, and a great many people will drink no other. • Green tea also is made at Pinehurst, and has attracted keen interest In the trade. There is probably a greater demand in the United States for green than black tea. At present, a large amount of sophisticated green tea is consumed in this country. As it is chiefly made of inferior leaf, highly colored with Prussian blue, and faced with powdered soapstone, etc., so as to hide all natural defects, It cannot be regarded as either nutritious or healthful. But the nature of the demand Indicates a decided preference for the taste and qualities of green, 1. e.. not oxidized, teas, and should stimulate us

to supply in its stead a pure, wholesome article of the same type. Unfortunately, green teas can as yet be majle by hand only; they represent cheap Oriental labor, and In the lower and medium grades competition by American manufacture is well-nigh impossible. Black teas can be made by machinery in almost every step after the delivery of the leaf In the factory. The cost of production of teas in this country is high, owing to the comparative dearness of labor. This must be met by a greater productiveness in the field, by the substitution of machinery for hand labor in the factory, and by the manufacture of Varieties of teas

which, from Inherent chemical causes, cannot be brought from the Orient. Filling Out Garden Corners. There is a large class of people who might profitably add the cultivation ot tea to that of flowers and vegetables, filMng out the corners of their gardens and home fields with tea bushes, as they do in China, or substituting useful as well as ornamental evergreen hedges of that plant for the present unsightly and costly and frequently unreliable fences. Cultivated in this way, the outlay of time, labor and money could hardly prove burdensome; and, as one result, the household should be able to supply its own tea—pure, strong and invigorating, instead of the wishy-washy, often far from cheap, stuff generally sold throughout the country. As these little tea gardens are extended and multiply factories will be established in each neighborhood for the larger manufacture of commercial tea, whither the products of the gardens surrounding may be brought and sold, precisely as canning factories and

dairies consume the sqlplus production of fruit and milk. One feature in the cultivation of tea has only to be stated to appeal to every one who plants, namely, that the season for gathering the leaf lasts in this climate for six months. Thus a crop Is not dependent for at least partial success upon the weather of any one or two months, as is so apt to be the case with most of the objects of the husbandman's labor and solicitude. For the present it will be wiser to limit the production of tea in the South to the better grades, such as retail at from 50 cents to $1 per pound. The greater cost of unskilled labor in this country than in the Orient should constitute a smaller fraction of the total expense if the product commands a higher price. Other things being equal, the quality of any tea depends on the “fineness” of the leaf plucked. If only the tiny, tender, youngest leaf be picked, the quantity of the crop must be comparatively small; but its quality will be decidedly superior to that obtained by “coarse” plucking, which also

embraces the older, larger and necessarily tougher leaves. Problem of Cheap Labor. Leaf-plucking demands the careful attention of the tea grower. It is a light employment, suitable for women and children, but they must be taught patiently and their work must be scrutinized strictly. At Pinehurst colored children do the picking, and very satisfactorily. A free school is maintained for them; every pupil of suitable age and size is required to pick; others are excluded from the gardens. Regular attendanceand-betterdisciplineare thus secured. But, otherwise, there would be no difficulty in securing an ample force, as the wages earned prove in themselves a sufficient attraction. The older children earn from 30 to 50 cents a day; the younger one in proportion. The tea gardens are picked twenty times a season, or once every ten days, and it takes three days for the average force of twenty children to make the round of the gardens. The more industrious and skillful pick from ten to twenty pounds of fresh leaf a day. It takes four and a fifth pounds of fresh leaf to make one of dry leaf.—New York Press.

TEA NURSERY IN JULY.

ROSE TEA GARDEN WITH ASSAM-HYBRID TEA

ROLLING AND DR[?]ING ROOM.