Outline:
- Tea is more popular in Europe than in countries where it grows. Not cultivated in ancient India.
- Conditions required for methods of cultivation? An important article of East Pakistan’s export trade.
The Chinese were first people to use a drink made from the leaves of the tea plant, and they drink it before the Christian era. It was from China that it was first imported to Europe, and at first it was an expensive luxury for the British who used it.
Early in the ninteenth century the tea-plant-began to be cultivated in India; and, are the end of the century, Assam and Ceylon are exporting large quantities of tea. The Dutch, East Indies, Japan Nyasaland and even South Africa are now ministering to the world’s demand for the beverage.
The world’s greatest consumers of tea are the Chinese, the British, Russians, Australians, Dutch, Japanese, and South Africans. About half of the tea exported is sent to the British Isles; and the bulk of this is produced in India, East Pakistan and Ceylon. Only a small part of China’s production is available” for export the hotline consumption being so great. India now ranks first among the countries that export tea, although China and East Pakistan are still the greatest producer.”
The tea growing lands are in the hot, most parts of the world. But, although the tea-plant needs and abundant supply of water, it does not thrive if its roots stand in water. Consequently, the tea plantations are usually on the hill slopes. Much hand-labour is required in the cultivation of the teaplant.
The ground must be kept free from weeds, and the gathering of the leaves provides employment for many men, women, and children. So the cultivation of tea gives employment to many in Pakisan and India and it forms and important export to other countries. The leaves pass through of number a processes they are “rolled” then “fired” and finally “sifted’ or selected. For a long time this was done by hand, but most of the big important plantations in India, and Pakistan. Ceylon now prepare the tea by special machinery. The people of India and Pakistan also use certain amount at home. It is a far better drink for the poor than today.
