Jtrtv 1 iSse,-} 



TME TROPiCAL AGRiCVLTUUiBT, 



29 



ferred to steep land, and great attention is psid to 

 complete drainage. It is when we come to the plant- 

 ing of the tea bushes that the custom in Japan differs 

 so much from what we have been accustomed to. 

 The seed is planted in circles of about two feet diameter 

 and about five feet apart. As many as thirty seeds 

 are at fiist sown round each circle. The circle of 

 seed developes into one thick bush, and here a diffic- 

 idty presents itself which we avoid by our single plant 

 system. The plants in the circle develop into 

 different classes of bushes, so that it often happens 

 that several varieties of plant are growing also, and 

 consequently the leaf gets mixed together. Plucking 

 commences in the third year, and the bush is considered 

 at its best from the fifth to the tenth year, after 

 which it may require manure. The bushes are topped 

 ao a height of from tliree to four feet. There are 

 not more than three rounds of plucking in the year ; 

 and each lasts about twenty days or a month, the 

 first beginning at the end of April or the beginning 

 of May, the second in June or July, and the third 

 (which is not always available) later on in the year. 

 This work is done principally by women and girls, 

 and seems to be done very roughly, as whole shoots 

 and long stems are frequently met with in the basket. 

 Quoting from Mr. H. Gribble's '• Preparation of Japan 

 Tea " a pubiioation by the Asiatic Society of Japan, 

 " as a rule the tea belongs to very small proprietors, 

 who fire their few catties a day, generally in the 

 entrance of their own apartments, and then sell the 

 fired leaf to larger dealers, who as principals or go- 

 betweens, mix their various purchases together and 

 then send 20 or more boxes of similar tea for sale 

 at the treaty ports. But the process of preparing the 

 green leaf is the same whether done in a small shanty 

 or the godowns of a well-to-do merchant." This is done 

 by steaming it for about half-a-minute in a wooden 

 tray with brass wire bottom, placed in the mouth of 

 an iron cauldron set in plaster, over a wood fire and 

 covered over with a lid. The workman t'tkes a look 

 at the leaves and stirs them before removal, and the 

 moist leaves, with their natural oil brought to the 

 surface are thrown on a wooden table for a few minutes 

 and then fired. "A box-shaped wooden frame, about 

 four feet long by 2| feet broad, coated with plaster 

 forms the oven. Charcoal (well covered with charcoal 

 ash) is alight at the bottom of the oven, and about 

 a foot and a half above the charcoal rests the wooden 

 frame with tough Japanese paper stretched across 

 it." Six-and-a-half lbs. of steamed leaf is reduced 

 by firing to about one-and-a-half. " At first he throws 

 up the soft, moist leaves in quick succession aud keeps 

 the whole mass moving without any attempt at rolling 

 or twisting ; gradually the leaves assume a darker 

 color, and gradually he works them up into balls, 

 rolling the balls between his hands, separating the 

 leaves again, rolling them on the hot surface of the 

 paper, and finally does so with considerable strength 

 and pressure, occasionally resting one elbow on the 

 edge of the tray and rolling the tea between the 

 pakns of both hands with all his might. After some 

 hours' work (depending upon the quality of the tea) 

 the leaves have all become separately twisted, and have 

 changed their color to dark olive purple. They are 

 now crisp, long, thin, wiry spills, and in the case of 

 the best leaf look more like slender tooth-picks than 

 the leaves of a shrub. When finished the tea is strewed 

 on a similar firing ti^y, but at a lower temperature 

 (about 100 ° ), and is then allowed to dry until it becomes 

 quite brittle. .The heat is then further reduced to 

 about 95 ® and the tea left for four to six hours, 

 even longer, if it is intended to keep it in stock for 

 many months. Tea well fired in this manner and 

 afterwards packed in earthenware jars will keep for 

 a whole year without spoiling." From this description 

 our readers will see that, though steaming is substi- 

 tuted for withering, and a great saving in time is 

 thereby) effected, still the process as detailed above 

 is one that requires considerable time and trouble ; 

 and to such as it is, must be added ''sorting" by 

 hand trays; "sifting" through sieves suspended from 

 the ceiling ; and finally " hand picking " by which 

 tsa^lks »od refuse are separated and removed. After 



this, the tea is collected and taken to the treaty 

 ports to be finally manipulated and forwarded to 

 America and Canada, which constitute its principle 

 markets. " There are two systems of final-tiring Japan 

 tea— pan-firing and basket-firing. Pan-tii-ing is done 

 in rows of iron pans (21 inches in diameter by 13 

 inches deep) set in brick work and heated by charcoal." 

 About 5 lb. weight is put into each pan, and stirred 

 until sufficiently done ; then it undergoes a second 

 stirring in a cold pan and is sifted to remove the 

 dust, being packed into the lead-lined chests while still 

 warm. The hot firing may take from 40 to 65 minutes 

 and the cold-pan stirring from 25 to 60 minutes. 

 If coloring matter has to be added it is thrown in 

 during the firing process, and is absorbed by the tea. 

 The American demand for colored tea is becoming 

 less every year, and in all probability will fade away 

 altogether before long. Allusion is here made to a 

 matter of which we have heard before '' the remanu- 

 faeture in London or New York of teas shipped from 

 the East, a process for which merchants here are not 

 responsible." Then we have to learn how basket-firing 

 is effected. "Basket-firing consists in simply refiring 

 the tea without any of the stirring process as gone 

 throug-h in the pans. A bamboo basket, shaped like 

 a dice box, but open at the ends, is placed over a 

 large iron brazier containing lighted charcoal (well 

 covered with ashes), and the tea is strewed about an 

 inch in thickness, on a close-woven bamboo tray which 

 fits the neck of the dice box. The baskets are oc- 

 casionally removed from the brazier and the tea turned 

 over by hand in order that all may be equally fired. 

 They are carefully replaced on the brazier without 

 allowing any dust or leaves to fall through the tray 

 on to the charcoal, and in the course of 40 to 60 

 minutes the tea is ready fof packing." 



The foregoing description'relates to the manufacture 

 of ordinary .Japan tea, known as Japan green tea, and 

 in which, as our readers will no doubt note, ferment- 

 ation takes no part, but in the making of Japan 

 Congous fermentation has to occur. Hitherto the 

 financial result of Japati-made Congous has not been 

 a success, but, as the demand for green teas is year 

 by year less than the supply, and American and Canada 

 are the only markets for it, it is felt that by making 

 black teas instead of green an outlet would be found 

 in Europe and Australia. The greater part of the 

 Coagou made in Japan is shipped to England, where 

 it is mixed with Indan tea.s, the former most effectu- 

 ally toning the latter, and thus forming an excellent 

 combination. To make the black or Congou the leaf 

 is " spread out on bamboo or straw mats in a sunny 

 place till it is quite soft. In wet weather, or when 

 it is cold, the leaf may be rendered sufficiently pliable 

 by wilting on iron plates or ordinary firing jjans over 

 charcoal fires. Steaming, as in the green tea process, 

 must be avoided, as it takes too much vitality out of 

 what is naturally a weak tea," The rolling is done 

 by hand : " each cooly takes a double handful and 

 rolls, as a baker kneads dough, for thirty minutes, 

 after which it is packed tightly in large round baskets 

 and covered over with a cloth for an hour or so to 

 allow it to ferment, at the expiration of which time 

 it attains a reddish brown tint. To assist the process 

 of fermentation the basket containing the rolled leaf 

 should be placed in the firing-room. The leaf is then 

 tipped out on the rolling-table, well shaken out and 

 rolled for fifteen minutes more and fired on iron gauze 

 sieves or drum baskets, over charcoil fires. The first 

 mentioned process takes 45 minutes and the drum 

 baskets seventy-five." Sifting and sorting are much 

 about the same in making both green and black teas : 

 in the latter case, the larger leaf is broken by the 

 hand, and the bulk is fiually reduced to 5 sizes— large 

 and small congou, large and small pekoe, and dust. 

 The models we have had the pleasure of inspecting 

 fully illustrate every implement that is used in the 

 manufacture as above described even to the box and 

 brush for the paste used in papering the boxes. Mini- 

 ature boxes ready for shipment are also included with 

 a remarkable sample of tea in one of them. It is 

 not j)robable that our planters can learn much, it 

 auytbing, from the Jspaneee tbat would be of adraut« 



