Reading Tea Leaves discussion

Please use this thread to discuss chapter 6 through 10.

How were gardeners selected by the East India Company? When reading chapter 10 and even if it was complex to send seeds to another country, it seems that they made some bad decisions regarding the tea seeds sent by Robert Fortune.

Xavier wrote: "... it seems that they made some bad decisions regarding the ..."

I wondered that too. There was Camellia sinensis assamica already growing in India that was acclimated to the area. I keep wondering why the English felt compelled to import Chinese seeds and plants when there was a perfectly good variety already on site in India. Was it ignorance? lack of experience with that kind of tea? lack of trust in its potential quality?

Hillel wrote: "I keep wondering why the English felt compelled to import Chinese seeds and plants when there was a perfectly good variety already on site in India. ."

First, they believed that green, black... teas were produced from different plants, which meant they needed these plants.

And second, "The Calcutta tea was good enough for experiments on planting depth and pollination, but no good for drinking; it came from native Assam stock, tasted bad, and was ill-suited for the high-altitude Company gardens in the Himalayas." (Chapter 9 p. 127)