Charles Alexander Bruce

“ The plants I speak of were from one to three feet high; if they have grown any thing since they were transplanted, it has hardly been perceptible, either in height or thickness; many of them have had the advantage of a little shade from the tree: in my garden, and those that had the most shade I find look healthier than those that had none, and they throw out more leaves. I have often read and heard of the China Tea plant growing no higher than three feet; their being planted in the sun and their leaves constantly gathered, I think accounts for it. ”

“ Does the Tea plant grow amongst the snow? "Yes." Does not the snow kill or hurt the plants? "It hurts them very little, it may kill some of the old trees, but often new shoots come up from the old plants." To what age does the Tea plant attain in your country? "Generally, about fifty years, but some only live ten." How do you plant the Tea seeds? "I dig a hole about four fingers deep and eight inches in diameter, and put as many seeds as I can hold in both hands into it, then cover it up." How long is it before the seedlings come up, and in what months do you put them into the ground? ”

“ When the fire is lighted it is fanned until it gets a fine red glare and the smoke is all gone off; being every now and then stirred and the coals brought into the centre, so as to leave the outer edge low. When the leaves are put into the drying basket, they are gently separated by lifting them up with the fingers of both hands extended far apart and allowing them to fall down again; they are placed 3 or 4 inches deep on the sieve, leaving a passage in the centre for the hot air to pass. ”

“ The soil is well adapted for the plant. Nearly three years ago I by accident left a few Singpho Teaplants, which I had carried away, on the banks of the New Dehing, three days journey from the place where I had got them; they were discovered by some Singpho friends of mine and stuck into the earth; and there they are now growing, as if they had never been transplanted, and notwithstanding they were put in the shade. The Singpho country is a fine one, but as long as that nation can get the Tea leaves from the jungles, they never will cultivate the plant ”

“ The whole of the soil of the Muttuck country appears well adapted for Tea; I have taken particular notice of it, digging and examining it at every place where I have stopped. Great numbers of the Tea tracts have been cut down in sheer ignorance by the natives and converted into paddy fields. I know of three tracts, where the paddy had been collected, and the Tea plants had sprung up again; when these are neglected they all rise up into thick wood jungle. ”

“ If you were not to pluck the leaves, would the plants grow higher? "To be sure they would; it is the constant plucking of the leaves that keeps the plants low.” How many of the seeds that you sow come up in general? "If good seeds from ten to twenty." Do you allow them all to grow in the same place, or do you transplant them afterwards? "We allow them all to grow, and very seldom transplant; if we do, it is perfomed in the rains, and from four to six plants are put close together, so as to form a fine bush." At what distance is one Tea bush from another? ”

“ The Tea plants in Assam have in general been found to grow, and to thrive best, near small rivers and pools of water, and in those places where, after heavy falls of rain, large quanties of water have accumulated, and in their struggle to get free, have cut out for themselves numerous small channels. ”

“ Before it is put over the fire the drying basket receives a smart slap with both hands in the act of lifting it up, which is done to shake down any leaves that might otherwise drop through the sieve, or to prevent them from falling into the fire and occasioning a smoke, which would affect and spoil the Tea This slap on the basket is invariably applied throughout the stages of the Tea manufacture. There is always a large basket underneath to receive the small leaves that fall, which are afterwards collected, dried and added to the other Tea ”

“ The two pounds of hot leaves are now divided into two or three parcels, and distributed to as many men, who stand up to the table with the leaves right before them, and each placing his legs close together; the leaves are next collected into a ball, which he gently grasps in his left hand, with the thumb extended, the fingers close together, and the hand resting on the little finger. The right hand must be extended in the same manner as the left, but with the palm turned downwards, resting on the top of the ball of tea leaves. ”

“ On the top of this land you must fancy a thick wood of all sorts and sizes of trees, and amongst these the Tea tree, struggling for existence; the ground here and there having a natural ditch cut by the rain water, which forms so many small Islands. ”

“ All these tracts can be enlarged almost to any extent from the numerous seedlings that are found amongst the Tea plants, from the great number of seeds that can be collected every year, and from the immense number of cuttings that may be planted. With respect to the seedlings, I have sown numerous seeds at Suddeeah in the sun; many have come up and appeared to thrive very well for the first year, but there was an insect, the Mole Cricket I think it is called. which used to nip off the young and tender leaves, and carry them into a hole under ground near the root of the plant ”

“ I also add a section of the little river Kahong, where the Tea plant abounds, exhibiting many small Islands, every one of which is covered with trees of various sizes, and the Tea among them; the land being never wholly inundated in the rains, though nearly so. ”

“ From three to four feet apart are small ridges of earth, eight inches to a foot high, a hollow space being left between to draw off the rain water; the bushes are at equal distances from each other, and in straight lines. ”

“ People are now employed to soften the leaves still more by gently clapping them between their hands, with their fingers and thumb extended, and tossing them up and letting them fall, for about five or ten minutes. ”