Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/786

720 elephants and buffaloes are attracted by the supply of food and the solitude of the newly-formed land, and in their turn contribute to manure the soil.

1em

article of commerce produced in Assam is tea. The rice crop covers a very great proportion of the cultivated land, but it is used for local consumption. The tea plantations occupy only a very small area, but they are the one great source of wealth to the province, and the necessities of tea cultivation are the chief stimulants to the development of Assam. The plant was discovered in 1823 by Mr Robert Bruce, who had proceeded thither on a mercantile explora tion. The country, however, then formed part of the Burmese dominions. But war with this monarchy shortly afterwards broke out, and a brother of the first discoverer, happening to be appointed to the command of a division of gun-boats employed in some part of the operations, fol lowed up the pursuit of the subject, and obtained several hundred plants and a considerable quantity of seed. Some specimens were ultimately forwarded to the superintendent of the botanic garden at Calcutta. In 1832 Captain Jenkins was deputed by the Governor-General of India, Lord William Bentinck, to report upon the resources of the country, and the tea plant was brought to his especial notice by Mr Bruce; in 1834 a minute was recorded by the Governor-General on the subject, to which it is stated tl at his attention had been called to it in 1827 before his departure from England. In accordance with the views of that minute, a committee was appointed to prosecute in quiries, and to promote the cultivation of the plant. Com munications were opened with China with a view to obtain fresh plants and seeds, and a deputation, composed of gentlemen versed in botanical studies, was despatched to Assam. Some seeds were obtained from China ; but they proved to be of small importance, as it was clearly ascertained by the members of the Assam deputation that both the black and the green tea plants were indigenous here, and might be multiplied to any extent; another result of the Chinese mission, that of procuring persons skilled in the cultivation and manufacture of black tea, was of more material benefit. Subsequently, under Lord Auckland, a further supply of Chinese cultivators and manufacturers was obtained men well acquainted with the processes necessary for the production of green tea, as the former set were with those requisite for black. In 1838 the first twelve chests of tea from Assam were received in England. They had been injured in some degree on the passage, but on samples being submitted to brokers, and others of long experience and tried judgment, the reports were highly favourable. It was never, however, the in tention of Government to carry on the trade, but to resign it to private adventure as soon as the experimental course could be fairly completed. Mercantile associations for the culture and manufacture of tea in Assam began to be formed as early as 1839; and in 1849 the Government disposed of their establishment, and relinquished the manufacture to the ordinary operation of commercial en terprise. In 1851 the crop of the principal company was estimated to produce 280,000 Ib. Since then the enterprise has rapidly developed. The returns for 1871 show 11,475,398 Ib of tea manufactured in Assam, against 9, 5 11,5 17 in 1870,showing an increase of 1,963,881 Ib in one year. There were 416 gardens open, and the whole extent of land held under the different tenures for this purpose was 474,939 acres, of which 54,384 were reported to be under cultivation. The average monthly number of labourers employed on the tea gardens of As sam during 1871 was 54,326, of whom upwards of 38,000 were imported under the Labour Transport Acts, chiefly from the western districts of Lower Bengal. It is to be remembered that Assam now includes Cachar, and these statistics are for the whole province as constituted in 1874. Tea cultivation is steadily progressing in Assam, and has firmly established itself as a staple of Indian trade. Be sides rice and tea, the other principal crops of Assam are pulses, Indian corn, oil seeds, sugar-cane, pan, hemp and jute, rhea grass, mulberry, potatoes, and other vegetables.
 * —The most important

