May 1, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



82s 



THE TEA PLANTING ENTERrKIZE AND 

 TEADE OF JAPAN. 

 {From our special correspondent.) 

 Though 1 was unable to carry out my plan for a 

 visit to the tea districts of Japan, and all my in- 

 formation had to be i)icked up in the coast towns : 

 yet some compensation was afforded by tlie fact that 

 among the " Oceanic" 's jjassengers were some of the 

 merchants, buyers and inspectors mostj largely inter- 

 ested in Japan teas for the American and English 

 markets — one gentleman especially being generally ac- 

 knowledged to be the best authority on the 

 subject by reason of his long experience and heavy 

 traueaotions. He was most ready to afford inform- 

 ation. He had made a large fortune iu " tea " a 

 good many years ago ; retired to America, lost his 

 fortune in niiuiug ; and was now once more select- 

 ing and buying teas. He pointtd out that a visit 

 to the districts v/ould have been of little value at 

 this season of the year, when all labour is suspended 

 and the bushes ax'e looking their worst. Nearly all, 

 if not all, the tea exported from Japan passes through 

 the ports of Yokohama and Kobe. Iu the country 

 back from the latter beyond Osaka and Kioto, there 

 are important tea districts, and the plant is cultivated 

 at intervals throughout the island extending to Yedo 

 (the capital), near to which is pcrh.aps the oldest 

 tea in the country. Some of the trees are reported 

 to bo 200 to 300 years old, but not much import- 

 ance can be attached to this tradition, as the replacing 

 of trees which give sigus of decay by young jilants 

 from the nursery can be readdy carried out. In the 

 Yamashiro district, the people weic long reputed to 

 get their livelihood entirely by tlie planting, culture 

 and gathering of tea ; but iu must districts we 

 have rice cultivated in the vuUej-s and low lauds and 



tea ou the sloping uplands and pUiteaux. Mr. 



mentioned an important fact, that the tea districts 

 reported to yield the very beat leuf iu the estimation 

 of himself and other experienced buyers was that 

 at the highest elevation where tea w.as grown iu Japan. 

 He could not be sure of the hfcighf, but supposed 

 It to be between 2,U0U aud 3,000 leet, which is' con- 

 siderable for a region above 30 d.grees north lat- 

 itude. Passing snowstorms snd host do not per- 

 manently, if at all, injure the tea-plant, coming as 

 they do in the period of rest ; but the cultivation 

 is essentially a garden one, and each owner of a few 

 acres pays special attentiim to his lot, at least iu 

 seasons when good prices pievail, using mats occa- 

 sionally to cover his plants both from extreme cold 

 and a too hot sun. Manuring is the most importaut 

 operation iu the cultivation with the Japanese, 

 although in the interior where fertilizing material 

 may be scarce aud transport costly, a great extent 

 is cropped without much being returned to the soil, 

 But nearer the coast a large quantity of Jish manure 

 is carried and utilized specially for tea. Shoals of 

 herring and other small fish are caught round the 

 northern and eastern coasts mainly for manuring pur- 

 poses and brought to points where a ready purchase 

 IS made. There is groat variety in the mode of plant- 

 ing, but the prevailing system is to plant in rows 

 at from 4 to 6 feet apart according to elevation. 

 In some districts, the plants being raised from seed 

 are put out 3 or 4 together, in raised mounds of 

 eai th, 3 or 4 feet apart, the intervals soon getting 

 covered over, though the trees are not go strong or 

 lasting. Three to four years are required to mature 

 105 



the plants for plucking, which is done maiuly by the 

 women aud children. The first plucking, considered 

 to yield by far the best leaf, takes place iu the beginning 

 of May, or sometimes before April closes ; the second 

 after a month's interval ; the third, when inducement 

 offers, during July. The Japanese make a fourth pluck- 

 ing, taking pretty well what is left on the trees for their 

 own private use, that is of course when the foreign 

 demand at a remunerative price is equal to the crop 

 from three pickings. There can be no doubt, that in 

 Japan as in China the export of tea can iu any year 

 be considerably increased to meet a brisk demand- 

 though Japan after all cannot be counted on for more 

 than four or live millions additional to a good sea- 

 son's export. The buying of the leaf from the villagers 

 or cottiir-gardeuers is done by Japanese miildlemeii, 

 many of whom have central gardens and tea-hciuses 

 of their own and who arrange beforehand sometimes 

 to pluck as well as receive the leaf. These middle- 

 men traverse the tea districts before the plucking sea- 

 son aud make their arrangements. Tiiey give the tea 

 the first course of preparation sufficient to carry it 

 to the coast ports, or indeed to pretcrve its quality, 

 when packed iu earthenware jars for a prolonged 

 period. The Japanese mode of preparation has been 

 described as follows :— the tea leaf brought from the 

 field in flat baskets is laid (in these) over a steam- 

 ing apparatus for a few seconds, the steam permeat- 

 ing and wilting the leaves ; the leaf can then bo 

 rolled easily before being thrown on paper pans over 

 a slow charcoal tire kept up for several hours, while 

 the rolling and stirring with the hiinds is constant. 

 Next, the tea is sorted by the women and children, 

 a small quantity being placed by each on a tray from 

 which by the use of chopsticks the stems and coarse 

 leaves are cleverly separated, the large and small leaf 

 being also separated. The lea is then sifted to separate 

 dust and broken leaves, and all is then ready for tho 

 market at the port of export. The finer teas are 

 often packed in earthenware jars ; but the larger 

 portion is packed iu chests of 75 lb. upwards, and 

 occasionally the tea is transported iu bales made of 

 paper. (The Jap.anese have excelled from tune im- 

 memorial as paper-uiakere. ) 



In the merchants' gardens, the different purchases 

 are bulked according to quality ; the whole u fired 

 and sifted losing from 5 to 10 per cent in moisture 

 aud dust ; the firing is done iu pans over separate 

 furnaces attended by Japanese, so that some godowns 

 have hundreds of these separate furnaces ; but I 

 learned that a good deal has been done, in Kobe es- 

 pecially, in applying labour-saving machinery ; one 

 gentleman especially, who has devoted a good deal of 

 attention for years to the subject, having patented 

 several machines which are working succesbluUy in 

 his tea-garden. Of the nature of the machinery 1 did 

 not get a clear idea, though evidently rolling, drying 

 and sifting were expedited and rendered more regular. 

 We shall hear more about it by-and-bye, from Kobe 

 direct. Of course nearly all the Japanese teas ex- 

 ported are "doctored": America only cares for 

 green, that is artificially-colored, teas, altUough it 

 may be that a small proportion of the tea sent 

 is genuine green tea. Still it is acknowledged 

 that the vast bulk has foreign substances aUUed, 

 before the half-chests are neatly made up iu the 

 style in which Japanese workmen excel. Many of tue 

 wooden cases which came down from the tea dis- 

 tricts are utilized to make these halfchests, aud as 

 many as 000 men are employed in a gedown in tho 

 busy season, the average day's wage lor ten or more 

 hours' labor beiUg under tenpenoe. 



At a tea exhibition held at Kobe towards the end 

 of last year, I see it was stated that no lees than 

 211 varieties of tea were tent from tUe Kioto disti-ict 

 alone. From an account of the oxiening of this 



