[ 7 ]
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? "We sow some in November and December, and some in January; when the rains set in they come up." When are the plants fit for plucking? "Sometimes in the third, and sometimes in the fourth year, according to the soil." How high are they in the third year? "From one to two cubits; a great deal depends on the soil." 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? "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." Do you ever dig trenches to prevent the plants being washed away? "Yes, we are obliged to dig many; the shape and form of the trenches depend upon the ground and situation." What quantity of manufactured Tea do you think each Tea plant produces in one season? "This varies
