Page:An account of the manufacture of the bla.pdf/20

 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. A short time ago I requested and got permission from Government to try some experiments in my own way. About the middle of last March, I brought three or four thousand young plants from their native soil in the Muttuck country, about eight days journey, and planted them in the tree-jungles of this place, eight and ten close together, in deep shade. From 4 to 500 were planted in different places, some miles from each other; in the latter end of May I visited them and found them as fresh as if they had been in their native soil, throwing out fresh leaves. As these thrived so well, last June I brought from the same place 17,000 more young plants, and planted them in Coor-kah Mutty, about two miles from this place in deep shade; they are now throwing out new leaves and thriving as well as could be expected, although the soil here is nothing like that from whence they were taken-in which point alone the places differ. To shew how very hardy they are I may mention, that they were in the first instance plucked out by the roots by the village people who were sent to bring them from their native jungles, put upright into baskets without any earth, brought two days journey on men's hacks, put upright into canoes, a little common earth only being thrown amongst their roots, and were from seven to twenty days before they reached me; and then they had to be carried half a day's journey to the intended new plantation, and were four and five days with only a little moist earth at their roots, before they were