TEA AND SILK FARMING IN NEW ZEALAND. 211 



and daughters, with probably a little boy or two, take their 

 places, when a couple of coolies deposit in their midst a basket 

 containing a picul of tea (133J lbs.). Presently their nimble 

 fingers are at work among the leaves, which they usually separate 

 into three classes, often to a vocal accompaniment of the melody 

 Moh-li-Hwa, or Jasmin Flower, a great favourite throughout the 

 tea districts. When the quantity served out has been picked, it 

 is taken by the coolies, accompanied by one of the family, to the 

 overseer, who, if satisfied, pours each quality down its appro- 

 priate shoot, hands over another picul to be operated on, and 

 pays for that which he has passed. Consigned once more to the 

 roasting pans for five minutes, the leaves are now exposed to the 

 strongest heat they are capable of enduring without being in- 

 jured, followed by a final and very careful manipulation on the 

 rolling table, and by the process of firing. A series of tubular 

 baskets, shaped like gigantic hour-glasses, are placed over sub- 

 dued open charcoal fires, made in little scoopecl-out hollows all 

 over the firing shed. Sieves, in which about a couple of inches 

 of tea have been deposited, are placed on the tops of these baskets, 

 the tea being often stirred, and as frequently taken away for a 

 few minutes to receive a kind of finishing twist or curl. When 

 in the sieves over the fires it is necessary to see that not even a 

 singls leaf drops through, otherwise the flavour of the finished 

 tea would be permanently injured by a smoky taint. 



It may be desirable to remark in this connection that, on 

 account of the difficulty of preventing small broken leaves or 

 dust from falling through into the fire beneath, the Chinese 

 method of drying tea is now all but abandoned in India, and 

 has been superseded by others attended with no such risk. 

 There are several plans at present in operation there, among 

 which Jackson's may be quoted as a good type. The fire as 

 well as the tea are wholly enclosed and separated by plates of 

 iron. The tea reposes upon a series of shelf-sliding trays, placed 

 one above another, and, in the language of the patentee, " by a 

 convenient arrangement of shields and shoots the small tea which 

 may fall from the trays in the drying chamber is immediately 

 ejected outside the apparatus altogether, thus freeing it from all 

 risks in burning, togetlier with relieving the attendant from 

 much tedious attention in the working." 



The original gathering of leaves has now become finislicd tea 



as regards colour and curl, but it is not yet perfectly dry, and 



the rich aroma so characteristic of the finest ^loninLr and Kaisow 



1 • • • 



descriptions is not fully developed. Experience has taught that 



the teas possessing the most delicate natural flavour are ]»ro- 

 duced not only in the northerly districts, but also at a consider- 

 able lieight above the level of the sea. Indeed, Chinese writers 

 and tea manipulators are unanimously of opinion that the natural 



