In these days, when tea has become almost a necessary of life to England and her wide-spreading colonies, its production upon a large and cheap scale is an object of no ordinary importance.  But to the natives of India themselves, the production of this article would be of the greatest value.  The poor paharie, or hill farmer, at present has scarcely the common necessaries of life, and certainly none of its luxuries.  The common sorts of grain which his lands produce will scarcely pay the carriage to the nearest market town, far less yield a profit of such a kind as will enable him to purchase some few of the necessary and simple luxuries of life.  A common blanket has to serve him for his covering by day and for his bed at night, while his dwelling-house is a mere mud-hut, capable of affording but little shelter from the inclemency of the weather.  Were part of these lands producing tea, he would then have a healthy beverage to drink, besides a commodity which would be of great value in the market.  Being of small bulk compared with its value, the expense of carriage would be trifling, and he would return home with the means in his pocket of making himself and his family more comfortable and more happy.

Were such results doubtful, we have only to look across the frontiers of India into China.  Here we find tea one of the necessaries of life, in the strictest sense of the word.  A Chinese never drinks cold water, which he abhors, and considers unhealthy.  Tea is his favorite beverage from morning until night; not what we call tea, mixed with milk and sugar, but the essence of the herb itself, drawn out in pure water.  One acquainted with the habits of this people can scarcely conceive the idea of the Chinese empire existing were it deprived of the tea plant; and I am sure that the extensive use of this beverage adds much to the health and comfort of the great body of the people.

The people of India are not unlike the Chinese in many of their habits.  The poor of both countries eat sparingly of animal food, and rice, with other grains and vegetables, form the staple articles on which they live; this being the case, it is not at all unlikely the Indian will soon acquire a habit which is so universal in the sister country.  But in order to enable him to drink tea, it must be produced at a cheap rate; he cannot afford to pay at the rate of four or six shillings a pound.  It must be furnished to him at four pence or six pence instead; and this can be done easily, but only on his own hills.  If this is accomplished, and I see no reason why it should not be, a boon will have been conferred upon the people of India, of no common kind, and one which an enlightened and liberal government may well be proud of conferring on its subjects.”

I shall now add a description of the Chinese method of making black tea in Upper Assam, by Mr. C.A.  Bruce, superintendent of tea culture:—­