Kæmpfer tells us, that no particular gardens or fields are allotted for this plant, but that it is cultivated round the borders of rice and corn fields, without any regard to the soil. Any number of the seeds, as they are contained in their seed vessels, not usually less than six, or exceeding twelve or fifteen, are promiscuously put into one hole, made four or five inches deep in the ground, at certain distances from each other. The seeds contain a large proportion of oil, which is soon liable to turn rancid; hence scarce a fifth part of them germinate, and this makes it necessary to plant so many together. The seeds vegetate without any other care; but the more industrious annually remove the weeds, and manure the land. The leaves which succeed are not fit to be plucked before the third year’s growth, at which period they are plentiful, and in their prime. In about seven years the shrub rises to a man’s height; but as it then bears few leaves, and grows slowly, it is cut down to the stem, which occasions such an exuberance of fresh shoots and leaves the succeeding summer, as abundantly compensates the owners for their former loss and trouble. Some defer cutting them till they are of ten years growth. So far as can be gathered from authors and travellers of credit, this shrub is cultivated and prepared in China, in a similar manner to what is practised in Japan; but as the Chinese export considerable quantities of Tea, they plant whole fields with it, to supply foreign markets, as well as for home consumption. The Tea-tree delights particularly in vallies; or on the declivities of hills, and upon the banks of rivers, where it enjoys a southern exposure to the sun; though it endures considerable variations of heat and cold, as it flourishes in the northern clime of Pekin, as well as about Canton[23], the former of which is in the same latitude with Rome; and from meteorological observations it appears, that the degree of cold about Pekin is as severe in winter, as in some of the northern parts of Europe[24]. SECTION VI. GATHERING THE LEAVES. At the proper seasons for gathering the Tea leaves, labourers are hired, who are very quick in plucking them, being accustomed to follow this employment as a means of their livelihood. They do not pluck them by handfuls, but carefully one by one; and, tedious as this may appear, each person is able to collect from four to ten or fifteen pounds in one day. The different periods in which the leaves are usually gathered, are particularly described by Kæmpfer[25].