Ix a Blue Book on East Indian Products, which was published a short time back, we find a very interesting sketch of the history of tea in Assam, by Mr. Campbell, Assistant-Commissioner of Burpetta, from which we couldense the following particulars. The first knowledge of the existence of the tea plant in its indi-genius state, in the Assam territory, Appears to have been obtained by two brothers, named Bruce, when trading in the country before its annexation. The younger of the two, Mr. C. A. Brace, was appointed in 1824 to command a division of gunboats in Upper Assam, during the progress of hostilities with Burmah, and in 1826 he brought down certain plants and seed which were identified as belonging to the ten of commerce. No immediate advantage seems to have been taken of the discovery, but when in 1834 the Indian Government appointed " Tea Committee, to mature and carry out a plan for introducing the culture of the plant into such parts of the British possessions as might be found suited for it, the Commissioner of Assam at once brought to its, notice the fact that the tea shrub had been found indigenous, through a tract of country extending from Suddyah in our territory to the Chinese frontier provi ce of Yunnan. The Committee investigated the matter, and established nurseries, &e.; and about the same time, a supply of Chinese tea seed and young plants was imported, both being found to succeed well in' the soil of Upper Assam.
From various causes, chiefly owing to the difficulty of communicating with Calcutta and the total ignorance which then prevailed on all points connected with the cultivation of the plant and the manufacture of tea, the opera. tions of the Committee proceeded but slowly. In 1887, however, ten-makers and artisans from China were introduced, and some consignments of tea which were sent home turned out so well that company, afterwards styled the Assim Company, was formed, to which, shortly after, two-thirds of the Government establishment, gardens and nurseries, were made over. The Company carried on its operations with great vigour, and the tea sent home was all that could be desired; but, nevertheless, says Mr, Campbell, the undertaking in a few years began to be looked upon as a commercial failure, and about 1847 the shares fell nearly to zero, The causes of this unsatisfactory state of things were probably of a two-tuid nature:—(1) an undue in-portance was attached to the localities where the indigenous plant was found growing; and (2) the establishments maintained were on a most expensive scale, and out of proportion to the resources of the Company: their affairs, however, shewed amatorial improvement in 1852. The first private garden of any importance in Assam was commenced in 1850 or 1851, and afterwards private enterprise began to make headway. Previous to 1853, grants of waste lands had been made on no regular system, and this probably stood in the way of the development of the country. The subject was officially investigated, and a set of rules, which came to be known subsequently as the Waste Land Rules of 1854, was promulgated. During the next fire Years, ten-planting continued to make Stendy progress, and gradually found its way into all the districts of Assam; by the end of 1859, there had sprung up 10 less than fifty-one tea gardens, all owned by private individuals. Meanwhile, however, the Assam Company had remained the only corporate body in the field, and by 1858 its early difficulties bad been almost forgotten, its shares were at a high premium, and those of its factories which had been closed during its perial of financial depression, had been again reopened. From 1859 to 1863 ter planting continued to advance with rapid strides, and yet maintained a healthy state; several joint-stock companies wer? formed for the purchase of private gardens, and were managed on prudent and sound principles, The success of the earlier companies, however, and the large sums which in some instances had been paid by them for private gardens, engendered in time a dangerous spirit of speculation; and, from 1863 to about the end of 1865, a rush took place
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.