A Text Book on the Chemistry and Agriculture of Tea: Including the Growth and Manufacture (Classic Reprint)

In this work on the Chemistry and Agriculture of Tea, an endeavbur has been made, without entering into the minute details of cultivation, c., to lay before the Planter the main chemical and physical facts affecting all the processes included in the cultivation and manufacture, and to point out, where necessary, the means that may be adopted to increase or modify the natural influences at work. A brief account is given of theoriginal introduction of the plant from China as collated from Ball s Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea, and Fortune s Wanderings in China, and the discovery of the Indigenous Variety in A ssam; also of the soils on which it is grown in the former country, in order to contrast them with those which have been selected for its growth in I ndia. The functions of the various parts of pljints and their importance in the vegetable economy are fully dealt with to point out the effects of plucking, pruning apd root cutting, and to show the necessity of performing these operations on scientific principles as well as in a practical manner. As this book is chiefly the outcome of the investigations on tea soils and manures in 1891 and manufacture in 1892, it will,probably be expected that certain manures will be recommended for application to particular soils, and as far as possible this has been done; but the experiments, which have been made, have not been sufficiently satisfactoryj or conducted over a period long enough.to warrant any more definite statements on this subject. The composition and relative value of different kinds of manure (chiefly those procurable in I ndia) have been given to assist the planter in selecting those, which, if employed, would yield the most satisfactory results, and to prevent the useless expenditure of money on unsuitable material. In dealing with the manufacture, I have necessarily been somewhat brief, as the ex
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