It is difficult to determine whether the green and black teas are pro duced by one or two distinct species of plants ; as the statements of apparently equally well qualified judges are not only contradictory, but directly the reverse of each other. The difficulty is owing partly to the Chinese in the neighbourhood of Canton being able to prepare A teawhich can be coloured and made up to imitate various qualities of green tea; and large quantities are thus yearly made up. The Chinese tea-makers in As= and those in Java alike state that the black and green teas may be prepared from the same plant. Bnt as there are plants of the genus Thai, of which the leaves resemble some the black and some the green teas of commerce, and as these differ very con siderably from each other in their powers of resisting cold, and as there are green tea and black tea districts (the former to the north of the latter), it seems probable that different plants are preferred for preparing the finer qualities of these different teas.
Tea having' become so extensive an article of commerce, and a source of considerable revenue, various attempts have been made to introduce it into other countries. The climates are very different in which the several experiments have been made; such es in Rio Janeiro and the warm part of Brazil, and latterly in the hilly parts of Java and Brazil, in Penang. Asam, and the Himalayas. Dr. Abel recom mended the Cape of Good Hope. It is requisite to have not only a suitable soil and climate, but also cheap and abundant labour. Many have been of opinion that tea could be cultivated in the Himalayas, but the first published opinions aeeiu to be those of Dr. Roylo (' Ilustr. Himalayan Botany,' p. 5 and 107, and Productive Resources of India,' p. 259), where, from a consideration of a similarity in latitude, climate, and vegetation, as far as any information could be procured on those subjects, he was of opinion that tea could be successfully cultivated in the Himalayan mountains ; " for the different elevations allow of every variety of climate being selected, and the geographical distribution of this plant is sufficiently extended, and the natural sites sufficiently varied, to warrant its being beneficially cultivated." Ile recommended experiments being made in that tract of the Himalayas which extends from Almomh nearly to the Sutlej, at various eleva tions from the valleys up to 7000 feet, and thought that about 5000 feet of elevation would afford a suitable climate. Dr. Falconer formed similar opinions at the same time in a report to government. The correctness of these opinions has been clearly proved by the success of the tea plantations established in the 1:umaon and Gurhwal districts of these mountains, which were formed when the tea nurseries were established iu Asam, and the seeds and plants sent up which had been obtained from China.
The Asam tea-plant first attracted public attention in 1834, in con sequence of replies to the circulars which bad been addressed to several gentlemen. Captains Jenkins and Charlton, in May of that year, wroto that a kind of tea-plant was undoubtedly indigenous in Asam. Since then it has appeared that several gentlemen were well mare 'of the fact, and also that Mr. David Scott had, in June, 1825,
sent leaves and seeds of a plant discovered originally by Major Bruce, which ho said the Burmese and Chinese concurred in stating to be wild tea. A scientific deputation, composed of Dr. Wallich and Messrs. Griffith and MacC1edand, was scot for the proper inreatigation 3f Upper Aeon. Tea plantations were subsequently established, and , Mr. Bruce was appointed their superintendent. Mr. Maceleland states that the tea tracts are found in Asam, first on the level plain and secondly on mounds or hillocks, and that the former situations have rt porous structure which enables them to maintain a dry surface under sxposure to excessive moisture. Awns teas were first sold in 1839 ; and from the excitement and competition created by the novelty of the sale, such extravagant prices were paid as from 16s. to 348. a pound ; but they in due time found their true level.
Recent explorations have rendered it probable that the teitplant is ;rowing wild in the forests and jungles of Upper Asam, the Sylhet Hills, the Himalaya, and the great range of mountains extending lone through China to the Yang-tse-Kiang. If so, its extended artificial culture may reasonably be expected. Mr. Leouard Wray, in in elaborate paper on the Cultivation of Tea, read before the Society if Arts In January, 1861, gives an account of the recent proceedings in that subject in India. The Asam Tea Company, after many coni mercial discouragements, have brought their affairs into a healthy con dition. They now own 4000 acres of land, which yielded 1,000,000 lb& of tea in the year 1860. This tea, selling in England (wholesale, and minus the duty) at an average of about 2s. per lb., is strong, coarse, harsh, and astringent, and is considered to be well fitted for mixing with China tea, which is mostly of weaker quality. There is another company, and there are many private individuals, also cultivating tea in Asam. Still more important are the operations which the India government has for several years been conducting in the North-West provinces, under the able management of Dr. W. Jameson. Begun on a small scale in 1835, they have now become very extensive. In 1859 the government tea plantations in Kumaon, Ourhwal, Deyra Dboon, and the Kangra Valley comprised 2250 acres and seven factories. The Bohea variety is that chiefly cultivated. The government established these tea plantations with a view to the making of experiments, and the encouragement of companies and private speculators; and a liberal transmission of seeds and young plants is granted to beginners. Land fit for the tea-culture is also granted by the government on very liberal terms; and of such land there is believed to be not less than a million acres in the North-West provinces alone. The experience of 1859 showed that a handsome profit is derivable from the culture; and numerous persons are embarking in the enterprise. Many of these persons are military officers lately in the East India Company's service, who find the healthy climate of the hill districts suitable at once to themselves and their families, and to the tea-culture.