352 
CHAPTER. XIX, 
in India, the seed had to be imported from China. Once it was discovered 
that the tea plant was indigenous to Assam, the future of the industry 
was assured. The earlier efforts to grow tea in that province were marked 
by many failures, but from 1859 there followed a period of speculation 
which continued until a severe crisis in 1866. From this the industry 
emerged on a much sounder foundation and its subsequent history in 
Assam and Bengal has been one of fairly steady expansion. The figures 
below show the growth of the industry in British India from 1875 on- 
wards :-— 
1875-1879 (average) . 
1880-1884 (average) . 
1885-1889 (average) 
1900-1904 (average) 
910 
915 
920 
925 
926 
927 
928 
090 
Year, 
Area under 
Tea in 000 acres. 
73 
2] 
307 
IN 
2 
" 
3. 
Tne 
- 
Production in 
000,000 1bs. 
cd 
57 
90 
195 
249 
352 
322 
335 
364 
361 
372 
401 
[ndia is now the largest tea-exporting country in the world, and it is 
estimated that it supplies about 40% of the world demand for 
this commodity. We give figures showing the value of the exports of tea 
during the last four years and the percentage it bears to the value of the 
total exports from India. These figures include tea grown in Indian 
States. 
1026-27  .. 
1927-28 .. 
928.29  .. 
1929.30 
Year 
’ 
se 
Amount export- 
ed (million lhs,). 
349 
362 
360 
977 
Value in lakhs, 
Sum shown in 
Col 3 as 9, 
of value of total 
exports. 
29,04 9 
32,48 10 
26,60 8 
26,01 8 
Coffee. 
The coffee industry began in 1830 When the first planta- 
tion was started in Mysore, but its cultivation is believed to have 
been introduced into India from Mecca as early as the 16th cen- 
bury. From Mysore the cultivation of this crop spread rapidly to 
Coorg, the Nilgiris, the Wynaad, the Shevaroy Hills and Travancore. 
By 1862 the industry reached its zenith ; three years later the borer 
beetle and the leaf blight which followed affected it seriously. As a