Culture.
Soil.—Tea requires for its successful cultivation a deep, fertile soil, easily permeable to air and water, as also to its roots, and entirely free from stagnant water whether on the surface or within its reach. Quite the contrary to the pictures on our grandmothers' blue china, flat lands with a slight slope for drainage are best, as thereby denu dation of the soil by severe rains is avoided. The land must be diligently tilled, and consequently should be free from old roots and stumps. With virgin land it is better to raise two or three crops requiring deep cultivation before setting out the tea seedlings.
Climate.—A copious and even rainfall through out the cropping season is almost essential, but a milder climate does not require so much precipita tion as a hotter one. At Pinehurst the total rain fall for the six to seven months which cover the plucking season has slightly exceeded thirty inches during the past (rather dry) five years. In the great tea-producing regions of the Orient the rain fall is double or triple that amount. The Pinehurst observations do not exhibit any marked dependence of the size of the crop on excessive rainfall, but prolonged droughts seriously curtail the production. Downpours are certainly to be dreaded as of little utility and frequently very destructive.
The mean temperature for the cropping season is about 71A° Fahr. When it falls below 70° Fahr. the yield is scant, especially if accompanied by a dearth of water, and the quality is higher. Unques tionably, an equable amount of heat and rain is safest, but the largest yield has been obtained where both were at their highest. The occurrence of zero temperatures is destructive to all of the plant above ground unless it has entered into full hibernation and its stem is well protected by foli age or snow. Bushes raised from tropical seed very largely succumb if the thermometer falls into the twenties. Late frosts in spring and cool nights in summer have a prejudicial effect on the crop.
The importation of tea seed from the Orient is attended with very considerable risk. Unless the seed be carefully gathered, packed and expedi tiously forwarded, and unless it be zealously pro tected from cold and excessive heat on arrival, and during its further transportation through this country, the chances of securing successful germi nation are exceedingly small.
Seeding.—The seed should be planted in the late winter or early spring in nurseries, in well-drained, ordinarily fertile garden soil, at distances of 3 x 4 inches, at about two inches depth, and well cov ered with pine or other straw as protection from the cold. Where droughts may be expected, it is desirable to command a handy water -supply for keeping the soil fairly moist. Later, when the shoots begin to appear, a moderate shelter from the sun should be raised above the beds and most of the straw removed ; with the advent of autumn the shelter should be gradually dispensed with. The beds must be kept clean of weeds and grass.
Transplanting.—The seedlings may be allowed to grow until a foot or more in height, when they may be transplanted to the future tea garden, which here is best done in the late autumn.
There are two ways of planting : (1) by checks, in single hills at distances conformable to the habit of the bush and the fertility of the soil, at 4 x 4 feet to 6 x 6 feet, either rectangularly or alter nately (" quincunx"), the latter being preferable as affording more plow-ways. Such planting re quires 1,200 to 2,700 seedlings to the acre. Or (2) the plants are set out for hedges, say five feet by fifteen inches apart. The latter method requires much more hoeing, but is better adapted for slop ing land, where, by running the rows at right angles to the declivity, the washing of the top soil is largely obviated.
Subsequent eare.—The cultivation of tea in this country demands the substitution of plows and cul tivators, drawn by horses or mules, for the hand work with spades, forks and hoes in vogue in the Orient. It requires that the soil should be kept free from weeds and grass and as permea ble to rainfall as possible, without injur ing the surface roots of the plants. Where rainfall is excessive or the site too slop ing, suitable measures must be taken to prevent the washing away of the top soil ; where danger of drought prevails, steps for the conservation of moisture are in place. Experimental artificial irrigation has not proved successful at Pinehurst, although theoretically suggested. Here it has been found much more urgent to get rid of water in the subsoil than to supply it superficially.