Sept. i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



153 



weather takes about twelve hours. Afterwards the 

 leaves are rolled and fired by machinery: then they 

 arc picked, sifted and finally fired before being packed. 

 From December to March the bushes are pruned, clear- 

 ances made, building and sundry other operations 

 are carried on. Hoeing and cultivation, of course, is 

 done all the year round. This is absolutely necessary, 

 owing to the rapid growth of jungle. The principal 

 beasts of burdeu are the elephant, buffalo, and bul- 

 lock. Horses are foreign to the Assamese, and are 

 only used by S.thib? for ridiug aud driving purposes. 

 The climate for about four months of tlie year re- 

 sembles July iu Englanl, only there i.s little or no rain. 

 The remaining eight months are not (juite so nice, 

 heavy rains and a hot sun causing a moist heat. 

 English people here as in other foreign countries, 

 are very sociable with each other, and minj- are the 

 pleasant days aud evenings spent at tennis, polo, and 

 cricket. English flowers and vegetables grow splend- 

 idly out here ; nearly every resident has a garden worth 

 looking at. Orchids and geraniums are to be found 

 as common as any other kind of jungle; any tree with 

 good sh^.de is almost mre to have an orchis somewhere 

 about it. There is plenty of shooting to be had from 

 the tiger down to the tnipe. .Tackal hunting is greatly 

 resorted to now, aud many fine runs .'ire made over 

 the "Pilars." — Grocers' Chronicle. 



TEA PEEPAEATION IN JAPAN. 



(From the Indian Tea Gazette.) 

 Like everj'tb lag else with this piinstaking people 

 the greatest attention is paid todetiil. Commencing 

 with the growth of the plant, and its incessant manur- 

 ing, the u' most care is bestowed in proteciing the bush- 

 es alike from frost in winter or from uadne sun in 

 summer. This is done, where necessary, by the use of 

 mat covers r ised on poles about 8" feet high; and 

 when riding across the Tea lands in June the time when 

 the young leaves are fully developed the w hole cultiv- 

 ation is seen under matting. The tea plant, as with us, 

 is raised fiora seed, although the Chinese propagate ex- 

 tensively by cuttings. The first p'ucking commences in 

 the fourth year, at the commencement of the summer. 

 Only the youngest leaves are then taken. A month 

 later a second gathering takes place, aud sometimes, at 

 a like interval, a third light plucking follows. It will 

 thus be seen that succulent leaf is alwa)s ensured. 

 Prior to 1,570, we learn, it was the custom to immerse 

 the leaf in boiling water immediately after plucking, 

 and, after drying in the sun, to make the leaf into 

 powder; but in the year 1700 the system of " panning" 

 was introduced. Strange to say, powdered tea, both 

 then as now, is the most esteemed by the .Japanese for 

 their own drinking, but, owing to its more laborious pre- 

 paration, it is an expensive luxury, aud its use is eon- 

 fined to the wealthier classes, none being exported. 

 The infusion is drunk without milk or sugar, and is 

 best esteemed when of the colour of pale sherry. Dur- 

 ing manufacture an incessant "tasting" goes on, and 

 any errors in preparation are thus quickly detected and 

 remedied, with the result that Japan teas are noted for 

 their uniformity in cup. In fact the preparation of 

 good tea is considered by the Japanese almost an art, 

 and none but tried and skilled workmen are employed. 

 The leaves, immediately after being gathered, are 

 taken to the factory. Here the stipules are separated 

 by means of a Bamboo sieve, and ail impurities 

 removed. Then follows a process of artificial wither- 

 ing, which is effected by " steaming " the leaf, over 

 water heated to 200' F, in a covered pan. After 

 this, the leaf is uncovered and turned aud aired by 

 means of fans made of a frame of split bamboo 

 covered with paper. When perfectly cooled, the leaf 

 is taken to the dessicating box, underneath which 

 IS placed the fuel. When the fire is quite bright 

 a sufficient quantity of straw is burnt to obtain a 

 layer of ashes in order to prevent the too direct 

 action of the radiating heat. During the process 

 of firing, the leaves are continually rolled between 

 the hands until tliey commence shrivelling and are 

 nearly dry, when they are transferred to another firing 

 box foM complete dessicatiou :.when this has been ' 



effected, the leaf, assorted into three qualities or 

 sizes, is placed in sieves of copper wire, and gently 

 rubbed between the palms of the hands to further 

 equalize the make. Sifting then takes place through 

 bamboo sieves of six different degrees of fineness, 

 and this sifting, for the higher qualities of tea, is 

 repeated several times, — the powdered tea even as 

 often as ten times, which expenditure of time and 

 labour renders this kind of tea extremely dear. The 

 temperature of the room in which the firing-box 

 is placed is very high, and doors aud windows are 

 kept closed. After final sifting into varieties, all 

 faulty leaf is carefully picked out by pincers. 

 Before packing, the Tea is again heated, and 

 trodden down into the chest by coolies with bare feet. 



Adulteration is almost unknown in Japan, and Gov- 

 ernment inspectors have to pass all Tea before ship- 

 ment. From the first stage of growth with the care- 

 ful manuring of the plant, to the final manufacture 

 and packing, the most minute attention to detail is 

 given. The chests themselves are models of strength 

 and neatness, and the marking is very carefully at- 

 tended to. Owing, aho, to the uniformiry of the wood 

 used, the weiglit of the contents of each package is 

 also uniform, aud is accepted as per invoice, invari- 

 ably, iu America. We might do worse than follow 

 more closely the painstaking system of th^- .Japanese. 



rit is not likely that Ceylon will take to withering 

 their leaf by hot steam any more than in this warm 

 climate to protecting the bushes by mats. But there 

 seems to be some philosophy in the expedient of modi- 

 fying strong heat by moans of ashes, and the idea 

 is worthy the attentiou of those who use "chulas". — 

 Ed.] 



JAPANESE TEA BOXES (AND ADULTERATION 



OF TEA IN JAPAN.) 



Kintyre Estate, Ceylon, 8th June 1886, 

 Sir, — I was somewhat astonished when reading your 

 article on " Tea preparation in Japan " (which appeared 

 in your issue of 1st Mayj, to read that " Tea adulter- 

 ation is almost unknown in Japan ;" together with 

 general advice to Indian Tea Planters to follow the 

 painstaking system of the Japanese. Last year I had 

 the pleasure of visiting Japan, and during a stay of 

 some 7 to 8 weeks I saw a great deal of the Japan- 

 ese Tea Industry, and the conclusion I arrived at was 

 that at least three-fourths of the tea that leaves 

 Japan is beyond doubt adulterated; and in four large 

 godowns — two of which were at Kobe and two at 

 Yokohama — -I had the opportunity of seeing tho 

 adulterating process carried out openly with no effort 

 at concealment. The Tea, as prepared by the Japanese, 

 is certainly pure, and your description, iu your article 

 which I am now referring to, is a fair one, though 

 perhaps it would lead readers to conclude that it waa 

 carried out in large factories similar to the "Indian " 

 ones. Asa general rule, however, the tea belongs to 

 peasants, who prepare their few pounds a day over a 

 single pan in their dwelling-houses and then sell 

 tho prepared leaf to dealers who then mix their 

 various purchases together, sort them and send them 

 to the Treaty Ports for sale. It is there bought by 

 Europeans, and then commences the clever and system- 

 atic adulteration and final preparation for shipment. 

 The Tea, when it enters the European godowns, is of 

 good quality, looks more like quills than Tea the ap- 

 pearance, however, of course varies according to quality; 

 in colour it resembles dead twigs, being a green- 

 brown colour, more brown than green. In this state 

 it is put into iron pans measuring 21 inches by lo 

 inches deep, of which in most factories there are 

 some hundreds built into brickwork chulas with char- 

 coal fires underneath. As tho pans get hot the Tea, 

 which before this operation was only three parts 

 fired, begins to get soft ; at a given signal by the head 

 manager, generally a Chinaman, a spoonful of a 

 mixture of gypsum, soap stone, and Prussian blue is 

 poured into the pan (which bye-the-bye contains 5 lb. 

 Tea), and this mixture is rolled and rubbed by hand 

 into the Tea. As the heat increases the moisture all 

 evaporates and the Tea takes its twi.st again and comes 



