GROWING OF TEA

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXI, Issue 8834, 19 October 1942, Page 3

GROWING OF TEA

SOME INTERESTING, FACTS VISIT TO PLANTATION WAIHI BOY’S EXPERIENCE Interesting facts about the cultivation of that now; rather precious item in general household use, tea, are given by Wrifer J'. Say, of a Naval Unit, in a letter from India written to his mother, Mrs E. J. Say, of Johnston street, Waihi. “ ‘Join the Navy and see the world’ —it seems to be panning out pretty well for me so far—everything seems to have happened at once so it’s hard to know where to begin,” he writes. “I was rushed off here the day I returned from seven days’ leave at Nuwora Eliya (pronounced New Raylia—-probably for the same reason as the people of Auckland say ‘Ota-hu’ —sheer laziness). I had a strong suspicion that I was leaving Colombo, but I did not think it would be quite so precipitously. Better take first things first and tell you about the leave. I was granted ten days, but could only spend seven on the tea estate. The trips are arranged by the sports officer in conjunction with a patriotic committee at N’Eliya and cost absolutely nothing. I think I described in a sketchy way the scenery between Colombo and Kandy. On the low country,there is nothing to be seen except coconut and plantain plantations (thank goodness I can call them bananas again here) with paddy fields in every suitable corner; and then, as you get higher, the coconuts merge into rubber; and, above the 3000 ft. mark, there is nothing but tea. In The Tea Country “ It is really a wonderful sight to look down from the tea country to the paddy fields hundreds of feet below. After leaving the junction near Kandy the country is devoted almost entirely to tea. It is. -very rough, steep with many rocky outcrops and waterfalls, but the tea thrives in such surroundings. It is larely grown by itself but with cocoa on the lower country and grevillea and acacias higher up. The main reason for this is soil conservation for the tea has to be kept weeded and cultivated and you can imagine the effect of several inches of rain in an hour on dug soil in country similar to that round about Hikurangi mountain, if there were nothing to break the force of the fall. A secondary reason for the trees, though it is nearly as important, is to provide green manure. The young branches are frequently lopped off and spread amongst the tea. Sunflowers (similar to our Mexican, but yellow) are also extensively grown for green manure The tea bushes are uninteresting. They are kept flat and about 2ft. high by severe pruning partly for easier plucking but mainly to force new shoots. Tea belongs to the camelia family and is rather similar. The leaves are rather longer and narrower but not so large and coarse. The bushes are pruned severely about every three years and sufficiently to keep them flat between whiles but occasionally they are taken right down to the stumps to force a completely new growth of wood. It takes about three years for the bush to come into production again after this operation. It is practically immortal. In China bushes have been going strong for ages. On this estate they ivere 60 years old. Plucking and Picking

“Plucking is done from every eight to sixteen days (tea is plucked, berries are picked, I was mildly reproved). The yield varies from 400 to 1000 lb. an acre a year. This particular estate was giving close on the 1000 mark and at the time it was ‘flushing’ so quickly that the pluckers could not cope with it. This letter seems to have developed into treatise in tea. There is still plenty to tell you, but it will have to stand over. I was very interested and used to go out with the superintendent twice a day on his inspections and I don’t think there was any of the 600 acres that I did not see. There was nothing about tea production that he did not know and he was a veritable mine of information when in came to the habits and customs of the people of Ceylon—in fact about almost everything pertaining to Ceylon. Mr U— had been out in Ceylon for 35 years. Fortunately the weather was perfect, bright sunshine like a New -Zealand summer’s day, cool enough to walk miles in comfort (never much over 80 deg. F.), cool at night (two blankets and an eiderdown). The estate was about 5300 ft. above sea level and it was often possible to look down on to the clouds.

Wind’s Effect on Flavour

“Strange to say you never get a good cup of tea in Colombo. It is not the fault of the tea but the water which is very flat after going through various treatments. The quality of the tea at that particular time waa not good from an expert’s point of view but.it tasted good to me. To get a high flavour the bushes must have the wind on them and as I said above, the monsoon was late. The flowers, pretty little white things, had absolutely no scent then but as soon as the wind starts th.ey develop a very strong smell. Mr H—- told me that the tea from some high parts of India in certain seasons the flavour is so strong that it is sickening to drink.”