4 JULY 1863, Page 22

Tea Cultivation in India. By W. N. Lees, LL.D. (Allen

and Co.)— The object of this volume is to present a summary view of the history and results of the attempts that have been made within the last few years to introduce the tea plant into the Indian peninsula. Dr. Lees arrives at the satisfactory conclusion that these efforts have been entirely successful, and that Great Britain is now practically independent of China for her supply of tea. He acknowledges that, in the case of

cotton, a similar result has not as yet been attained, but he attributes the failure in this case to the fact that the experiment has not been made with all the minute attention to details which are necessary to ensure its success. Dr. Lees's view appears to us to be generally sound and judicious, and we can only regret that its effect should be injured, as it cannot fail to be, by the unusual paper and print which are the medium of its transmission to the public. His book, in its present form, looks as if it had been printed by some Indian firm.