The district, its social structure, its development, technical and economic aspects of Opheusden as a tree-growing centre were. discussed. The earliest information on tree growing at Opheusden was from 1656. It had always formed part of the mixed holding. Large-scale nurseries of the type found in the rest of the Netherlands never developed in Opheusden. Through the particular structure of farming and the social relationships of the community, tree growing lagged behind for a long time in Opheusden and only adapted itself with difficulty to market requirements. This difficulty was also associated with the limited variety of culture possible on the clay soil. Until 1932 times had frequently been prosperous, while the independence of the holdings made the farmers less vulnerable to set-backs. After the Second World War, in which the village had been almost entirely destroyed, a healthy spirit of enterprise had grown up among the villagers, so that the future could be viewed with optimism. This enterprise was visible in the effort put into reconstruction, in the activeness of the local association of tree-growers, the high membership of the Dutch General Inspection Service for Field Crops and the greater desire for technical education.

The district, its social structure, its development, technical and economic aspects of Opheusden as a tree-growing centre were. discussed. The earliest information on tree growing at Opheusden was from 1656. It had always formed part of the mixed holding. Large-scale nurseries of the type found in the rest of the Netherlands never developed in Opheusden. Through the particular structure of farming and the social relationships of the community, tree growing lagged behind for a long time in Opheusden and only adapted itself with difficulty to market requirements. This difficulty was also associated with the limited variety of culture possible on the clay soil. Until 1932 times had frequently been prosperous, while the independence of the holdings made the farmers less vulnerable to set-backs. After the Second World War, in which the village had been almost entirely destroyed, a healthy spirit of enterprise had grown up among the villagers, so that the future could be viewed with optimism. This enterprise was visible in the effort put into reconstruction, in the activeness of the local association of tree-growers, the high membership of the Dutch General Inspection Service for Field Crops and the greater desire for technical education.

From experiments the following conclusions could be drawn: The increase in diameter of the stems of free growing tea plants is practically proportional to time if the growing conditions of the shrubs do not change. However, tea plants in gardens producing tea leaf are planted so closely, that full development of the bushes is hampered. Pruning and plucking further influences the trees physiologically.Tea shoots have an alternation of periods in which leaves are formed, and periods in which the development of leaves completely stops. Every shoot has its own rhythm not necessarily coinciding with that of other shoots of the same bush. This rhythm is not autonomic but is determined by outward circumstances. The effect of plucking green leaves for the production of dried tea can be divided into influences of the kind of leaves plucked, the length of the plucking round and the kind of leaves left on the bush on the production, quality of the leaves, and physiological condition of the plant. So nine different influences can be distinguished.Over a long period tea bushes cannot stand such severe plucking that would prevent the plucking level rising. Consequently pruning periodically is essential to keep the tea plantation productive. Pruning of tea gardens is also necessary to keep the plants in a good physiological condition.