In doing this we must speak of elevated (as Himalayan) gardens separately. The cool climate of heights makes it impossible for Tea to flush there as on the plains.
Speaking generally of elevated gardens (the higher they are the shorter the period, and _vice versâ_), seven months may be considered as the average producing period, viz., from beginning of April to end of October, and during that time twelve to fifteen flushes may be obtained, which, I believe, with high cultivation and liberal manuring, can be increased to eighteen.
In all localities, with favourable Tea climates, the plants flush both for a longer period and oftener. Speaking generally also, in this case, of the five best localities, viz., Assam, Cachar, Chittagong, the Terai below Darjeeling, and the Western Dooars (for even in these districts many advantages exist in one garden which do not in another), the following is an approximation to the flushing periods:--
_Upper Assam._--February 25th to November 15th.
_Lower Assam._--February 20th to November 20th.
_Cachar._--February 20th to November 20th.
_Chittagong._--March 10th to December 20th.
_Terai below Darjeeling and Western Dooars._--March 1st to November 20th.
The opening period is a little late in Upper Assam on account of the cold, and closes a little earlier for the same reason.
The opening in Chittagong is later than in the two just mentioned from want of early rains, but the season continues longer on account of the low latitude and consequent deferred cold weather.
Roughly, then, rather more than nine months may be assumed as the flushing period for these districts. The next point is how _often_ do gardens in these localities flush in that time.
Not very many planters can say, certainly, how often their gardens have flushed in a season, because they are picked so irregularly, and no account of the different flushes kept. Enquiring on this point, when I was in Cachar some thirteen years ago, 9 to 24 were the minimum and maximum numbers given me at different gardens, showing how little was really known about it.
Such knowledge as I have on the subject is mostly derived from carefully kept records of my own garden in the Chittagong district. The plantation is all worked in sections, in the way described previously, and the dates given in the table below are the days each flush was finished (that is, the picking was finished) during the seasons 1869 and 1870; 1869 being carried up to the end of the season, 1870 up to the date I wrote the first edition of this Essay.