Carol Gullidge Jan 23, 2015:

Yes it is odd! Also, how quickly one can become accustomed to something that appears so strange at first when used in a new context. But there it is! As linguists it is our job to become familiar with (and accept) all the possible uses of a word or phrase whenever the occasion arises :-)

Edgar Bettridge Jan 23, 2015:

Just noticed use of "garden" yesterday... ... on a packet of Twinings Ceylon teabags - so their marketing guys seem to like it. Odd how you see things everywhere once you have noticed them for the first time.

Carol Gullidge Jan 22, 2015:

yes, we Brits do tend to think of a tea garden as a place where we might go to enjoy a nice cup of tea. However, it seems that it also applies to the place where the tea is grown, and maybe, who knows, it might be more "select" than a tea plantation. But in any case, it's immaterial to the translation here

philgoddard Jan 22, 2015:

I'd never seen "garden" used to mean "plantation", but I've checked and it is strictly speaking correct. However, I imagine it would look wrong to a lot of people.

Alexander Hatch (asker) Jan 22, 2015:

Thanks a lot for all your help!

Philippa Smith Jan 22, 2015:

@Carol Oh yes, that makes sense: there are few gardens, and they don't yield much - but what they do is excellent! You can tell it's the end of the day....;-)

Carol Gullidge Jan 22, 2015:

By the way, I was referring to the yield per plant rather than the number of tea gardens

Murielle M Jan 22, 2015:

Donc aurait effectivement un autre sens, mais le reste de la phrase "mais l’une des plus réputées" me fait penser que l'auteur oppose la *quantité* limitée de thé Darjeeling à la taille de son succès...

Philippa Smith Jan 22, 2015:

@Francis I really don't agree, going by the context of the whole sentence - and who said anything about "donc"? "dont la récolte" => "whose harvest is limited" (implicit: limited by small numbers). If you look up Darjeeling tea, the theory of low production due to limited officially-recognised Darjeeling estates (see Wikipedia, for instance) seems to bear this out. For example, "It’s interesting to note that there are more fakes of this tea out there than any other, the reason being limited production, that is, limited harvests." http://www.likecroatia.com/news-tips/the-best-tea-in-zagreb/
But it is ambiguous, so "limited" is a good solution.

Carol Gullidge Jan 22, 2015:

@ Francis Yes, that was the grammatical point I was trying to make! However, this would not appear to affect the outcome as it seems that the yield in Darjeeling is restricted by altitude and climate rather than by human intervention:-

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gxCBfNmnvFEC&pg=PT449&lp...

Francis Marche Jan 22, 2015:

The fact that "récolte est restreinte" bears no connection with the limited number of gardens. It's "dont la récolte est restreinte", not "donC la récolte est restreinte".

Carol Gullidge Jan 22, 2015:

you're probably right, Philippa! It seems that the tea plants in Darjeeling produce low yields, although I haven't delved into the reasons for this (natural or artificial?)… Either way, the upshot is the same - that it is highly sought after. I think Murielle's "limited" probably nicely covers both meanings!

Philippa Smith Jan 22, 2015:

@Carol You make a good point Carol, but 87 sounds like such a tiny number (compared to vineyards!), would the harvest really be restricted? I also think the end of the sentence, with the "mais", points to "limited" rather than "restricted"; the tone is, there's not much of it, but it's excellent...(if it was restricted to maintain quality, would the "but" make sense?). However, as Phil points out, "limited" is also ambiguous, so could work whatever the meaning...

Carol Gullidge Jan 22, 2015:

sorry to go against popular opinion but my interpretation is that "dont" refers to the 87 gardens, and that their yield is restricted, i.e., kept low. I don't know about tea, but with wine growing, this is a common practice to maintain quality, amongst other things

Philippa Smith Jan 22, 2015:

I'd say it's limited, seeing as it follows the "only 87 xxx worldwide', i.e. there aren't many of them so there won't be a very big harvest.