ABSTRACT
The special applications were worked out, for their own conditions, in China many centuries ago where the actual cultivation of tea first became really an industry. From its original introduction into use in Europe the supply of tea had been a Chinese monopoly, and the trade in it to England had been a monopoly of the East India Company. In the early part of the nineteenth century, on the renewal of its charter, the East India Company lost its trading monopoly, and as the trade in tea was one of the most valuable parts of its activities, it became anxious to obtain a rival supply entirely within its own control. A scientific commission was sent to Assam to investigate, experimental gardens were established, which were placed in charge of Mr. C. A. Bruce, whose name will always be honoured as perhaps the most effective pioneer of tea cultivation in India.
