Page:The Cyclopedia of India (Specimen Issue).pdf/165

 THE CYCLOPEDIA OF INDIA.

The Tea Industry of India.

It was in 1780. when Warren Hastings was Governor-General. that Colonel Kyd. one at the ear- liest of Indian botanists. first plant. ed tea seeds in the garden at his house near Calcutta. The exist- ence of the indigenous plant in lndia was then unknown. Colonel Kyd received bin seed from China, It was brought to him by the East India Company's Vessels plying between Calcutta and Canton. The Company had determined, at the instance of the British Govern- ment. to make some experiments in tea cultivation in India. These ex ' ents they entrusted to Co~ lonel K 'd. Under his care the bushes ourished. notwithstanding the unfavourable climate. He re.

rted the results to Sir Joseph

ks. who prepared a memoran- dum on the subject for the Govern- or-Geneml. Sir Joseph so ester] that the cultivation of tea 5 cold be seriousl undertaken; and he mentioned hehar and Koch Behar as districts where the bushes would be likely to thrive. From China in 1 Q3 he sent plants and seeds to Chlcutta. But the political dim. culties which aroso about that time kept the question in the back- ground; and no immediate stepa were taken to put his ideas into tice. There scams however to ave been a leeli that an indi- nous ilant existe in the country. ‘0 deride deﬁnitely who actual discovered it is not easy. The records are conﬂicting: they have given rise to Controvemrnd opi- nions diiler. What in is that between 18:9 and 1825 the dis- covery was made. By some it is attributed to David Scott. who was the first Agent to the Governor- (‘aeneral in Assam. By others to one of the two brothers Bruce. who were Scott‘s contemporaries. In
 * 8“. on the breaking out at the

Burma war. C. A. Bruce was up.

Its Rise and Progress.

pointed by Scott to the command ot a division of gunbonts. His com- mand was in Sadiya; and while there he is said to have sent ﬂiecimens of the tea plant to Scott. «3 subsequently stated that he had been previously inlormud by his brother—Major R. Bruce—oi the existence at the plant. 0n the other hand it is asserted that Scott had sent specimens to Calcutta as early as diet. There is doubt as to whether Scott was himself in Assam proper prior to 1821. His speci- mens may however haw: been sent to him from some of the distde within his ﬁrisdiction. But whether the credit longs to the Braces or to Scott. the fact remains that no immediate practical use was made of the discovery. The scientiﬁc adviser to Government at the time was Dr. Wallich, the Soperintent dent of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens. To him the minute and seeds were forwarded. at he was —-as he afterwards admitted—- sceptical as to whether the Assam shrub was reallya That. He recog- nised it as a Camellia: but beyond that he was not prepared to go. As a matter ol fact he appears to have been a little apathetic about the question. He apparently held the view that name tea could not be prodnc outside China. in due Course Captain Jenkins succeeded Scott in the Commission- erahi oi Assam. Jenkins in be. liev to have been previously interested in the tea question. He made investigations; and. aided by Lieut. Charlton, he rediscovered t e plant. He lorwarded bota- nical specimens to Wallich. who was even then reluctant to admit that the plant was a genuine Thea. This was in r834. or actically ten years alter the orginal dis- covery by! Scott and the Bowen. Lord Wt lam Bentinclt was (30-

vernor-General. The East India

Company’s monopoly oi the China trade had come to an end in t833. They had previously foreseen tron» ble in this connection, and were naturally anxious to obtain a new wurce ot supp! '. Consequenth they drew Lord \ 'illiam Bentinck’s attention to the importance ol introducin- tea cultivation into India ; an be announced his deter- mination to do everything possible to acclimatise the best types at China plants. He appointed a Commission to examine the nes- tion. and to report on the localities best suited for China tea. The Commission dcputed Gordon. their Secretary, to China to invest‘ te and to bring back specimens. at

soon after his do they learned of the re-discov oi the Assam plant by Jenkins and Charlton. They hastilv recalled

Gordon. but subsetauently changed their minds. and eputed him to China a second time. For Wallich appears to have been still uncon- vmced of the identiﬁcation oi the Assam plant. In consequence 0! his hesitation, the Governor-Gene ral appointed him and Drs. Me Clelland and Gridiths as a commis- sion to report on the discovery. The three travelled through Assam, and they seem to have agreed that a genuine Thea had at last been tound. But \l’nllich still ia- voured the China t'pe: and he recommended the Hlmala an die. trictn an the most suitable or raw— ing it. His collt es. differin from him. so rtc the claims 0 Assam. But allich'sviewamicars to have prevailed. Gordon bro t plants and seeds with him on is return lrom China. The semis were raised in the Calcutta Botani- cal Gardens; and in due course the young plants were sent. some to Assam. some to the Honolulu localities. and some to M

la the first and last named districtt.