ASSAM AND ITS TEA GARDENS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10032, 10 May 1898, Page 3

ASSAM AND ITS TEA GARDENS.

THE TEA PLANT—BIG GAME—THE MYSTERIOUS BRAHMAPOOTRA. By J. A. Carder. Before giving you a description of Assam and its tea gardens, it would, perhaps, be better to tell you there are only two seasons, which are termed the hot and cold. The former commences in April, and goes on until the end of October, when the cold, or 1 cool weather, as it is sometimes called, sets in. During the hot weather; or rather from June until the end of September, it rains in- • cessantly, two or three inches of rain being registered during the night. From October until the early part of June very little rain falls; in some seasons the rain during these months has been under an inch. The hot season is the busiest time of the year for everyone. The manufacturing of tea is carried on for two or three months "day and night," so heavy are the flushes from the bushes and so important is it that it should be manufactured as soon as the leaf is plucked, that it necessitates, as I have said, one to be working day and night. • This, as one can imagine, is no easy time for the European, where the heat is anything over a hundred in the tea house. The manufacturing season generally lasts about seven months of the year, from May till November, according to the rainfall. The busiest months of as a rule,' are from July until September, after which time the flushes decrease, and towards the end of November the season is practically over. Then commence the cold weather operations, such as clearing fresh land, i.e., cutting down jungle, and when considered dry enough burning it, this being the only means by which the land can be properly cleared. Erecting new buildings such as bungalows, ■ coolie houses, and repairing of all descrip- <•. Jions.J«edon<B.-.-■.^- : ■ ■ %■•;<„, ;-.-■'. ■ •,.5;«*., '. ' The young tea plants are taken from the 1 nurseries and planted into the open. Sowing of new seed usually takes place about this time. New machinery is erected, and the old thoroughly cleaned and looked to ready for the next season, and various other ' undertakings too numerous to mention. Three years is the time given before any leaf is plucked from the bush, so that for three years one has to wait, no return being given for outlay. After this time the leaf is plucked an--1 nually until the plant is considered too old, whea it is cut down altogether. I had omitted to tell you that at the end of every manufacturing season the bushes are pruned, i.e., cut down close to the stem, so that the appearance a garden presents during the cold season is merely row 3 of stumps,-"a different sight indeed to that seen during the rains. I The cold weather is the time the planter has the most time to himself. Various forms of amusement are gone in for, although I do not mean to say that during -the rains he does not enjoy himself, bufr c certainly not to that extent he does in the" 1 cold season. During the latter period Gymkhanas'- are largely indulged in, racing, cricket matches, shooting competitions are brought off, besides fishing and shooting expeditions. ■ Assam abounds in parts with game. In ' the low-]ying swamps the rhinoceros is found, and close to the hills wild herds of elephants are to be seen. The jungles are still the home of the tiger, leopard, and various other kinds of fauna; the more open country contains many varieties of deer, besides birds of all kinds. The tracks of tigers and leopards are still seen in many of the plantations, and in some instances tigers have been shot close to a station. . The rivers of Assam contain many varities of fish, fom 1201b in weight to a few ounces, the mahseer being one of the largest and ; the pufta being the smallest. The ■Brahmapootra, or as it is called in some parts the Dehong, affords the best sport. Many hundredweight have been landed in a few . hours, and an angler could not enjoy himt self better than in Assam, or rather in Uppeg Assam. Fishing can' only be had to advantage during the cold weather > when the rivers are . low and clear,.the time of year being suitable for such enjoyments. The Brahmapootra is one ok the most mysterious and wonderful rirers in the world; its length is given as 1800-miles, but this is merely a guess. So far no European knows itjfc source. It is supposed to take its rise in |be mountains of Thibet, but whether this imao or not remains yet to be seen. -.4. It is navigable as far as Dibangarh, tihis being about 1200 miles from Calcutta. There are any number of country boats which go up considerably farther,, and a Government launch goes np to Sadiya, this being the frontier post. A political officer is stationed here, and a regiment of the faithful Goorkhas keep guard. Picture to yourself a river some seven miles in width, ' with a current of eight knots, bringing down trees of enormous size, besides quantities of other vegetation, and this will give you some idea of the Brahmapootra in the rains. Powerful steamers bare been known to stand completely still, and in some instances, although going full speed ahead, nave drifted backwards, such is the force of the river ; during the height of the floods. The land I in some parts where it is very low is flooded for miles on either side, ana any number of deer are very often seen carried down. At this time of the year the shipping of tea is very often stopped for days on account of the land being flooded, and the ghabs, or landing stages, not being approachable. Tea has very often to be Kept at the factory until the roads improve, and, as it is, the greatest difficulties' are experienced in bringing the tea by bullock waggon from the outlying gardens. It is a wonderful sight during the season at the ghats, very often a hundred waggons are to be seen loaded, with tea waiting to be taken on board the steamers, but I can assure you it is a different matter should you attempt to walk about where these carts have been, in fact it would be impossible, the roads, never good; are then extremely bad. Ail goods are. brought up from Calcutta by steamer, the river (Brahmapootra) being toe only means by which Auam is reached. Thar* if a railway in coarte of oonitnaotion,.

the Assam-Bengal, which is to connect Assam witdj, Bengal, but the earthquake of. the 12th June last, which played havoc with the greater part of Assam, destroyed several of the bridges and foundations, and from reports has thrown the work back to an enormous extent, so that it will be years before it is completed.

There are two lines of steamers, the passenger and the cargo. The former start from a place called Goalundo, which is reached by rail (the Eastern Bengal) from Calcutta. The journey to the terminus takes seven days up and seven days down. The cargo steamers leave Calcutta and come through the Sunderbunds, by which they join the lirahniupootra. As anile, the whole journey takes about a mouth, depending greatly upon the amount of cargo to be delivered on the way up. These steamers do not carry passengers- The passenger or mail steamers are manned throughout by natives, and from my experience I must say they have surprised mc by the manner in whioh they handle their* steamers. The cargo boate have European commanders and European engineers. There is a daily mail service, and from Calcutta two sailings weekly, so that although Assam is, to all appearance, cut off in a way from civilisation, vet we are kept in touch "daily by the splendid service of mail steamers, improving every year, and at the present time fitted up superbly, in fact better than a great number of ocean going steamers.

I will just give you an instance of the quantity of tea despatched from one ghat alone during a week of the busy time. It was 15,000 packages, this will give you some idea of the quantity of tea sent from Assam.

I may say Assam has the finest gardens in the world. All the labour is imported, mostly from Bengal (the Assamie will not work in the garden except in very few instances), and recruiting has to be resorted to. Rice, which is the coolies' staple food, has all to be imported, besides machinery and stores, &c., for the planters. Thus you will see the necessity of such a system , of running the steamers, when so many tnousands depend mainly upon the supplies brought up from Bengal. Another great and important industry of Assam is the making of tea shooks, or in other words, tea boxes. These are made at the mills, of which there are several.

The logs or trunks of the trees are cut and brought in by the hillmen. The mills as a rule, are built near a river, so that the logs can be floated down to them. On their arrival they are measured and paid for accordingly, should they be under certain dimensions they are rejected. They are kept some time before being cut up in order to allow them to season. So great is the demand for boxes that the mills are working the whole year round, if not cutting up for immediate use they are laying in a stock for the coming season. Contracts are made months ahead to ensure their being delivered up to time, for should the contractor fail to carry out his' contract, or fail to supply the Quantity a,t the appointed tinle it would mean ruin to the Garden Manager, who would have nowhere to pack his tea. Greater difficulties are experienced each year owing to the distances the logs have to be brought, and the increasing demand. I may tell you that the coolie is well looked after and cared for. Sunday is the great day, they get chutey or leave, and it is a sight to see them in hundreds, men, women, and children, marching from the gardens to the bazaar; to see their appearance is the only way to judge as to whether they are well cared for. All gardens are visited by a' European doctor so many times a month, and reports have to be submitted to Government as to the general health of the coolies. The gardens supply them with rice at a fixed rate, very often selling it to them at considerably under what it cost to import. Of course, a coolie's wages do not appear to be very large, as a rule the average coolie gets ten rupees a month, &c. During the picking season he very often makes considerably extra from what is called " ticca pice," but with this wage he lives and does well, and in many instances you will find him settled down on his own plot of land, as happy as can be. It is mainly owing to the cheapness of labour that we are able to produce teas at so small a cost, so that we have not only the managers and assistants to thank, but also the coolie.

It is not more than thirty years ago when the number of tea-gardens in Upper Assam coufcTbe counted on.the 'fiiigere of 'ofie hand, and now there are some sixty to seventy, if not more.

Considering the land now growing tea was covered with dense jungle, and such jungle " the heaviest in the world," through which it was impossible to penetrate, and which gave pff a great amount-of the so much dreaded malaria, and considering the great hardships undergone to bring the cultivation to the present state of perfection, great praise is due to those who have made Assam the country it is of the present day.