970 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[June r, 1883. 



most lively recollection of which is the unspeakable 

 swarm of iiioaquitoes, which however, entirely suc- 

 cumbed to fumes of chemically-prepared touchwood. 

 The journpy thence to Yung Lau-tuug was over a 

 iri'ist interesting mountain track, the path consisting 

 of steps cut out of a precipitous wall of a rock, round 

 which the coolies who carried the chairs in which we 

 rode stepped like cuts, gripping the rock with their 

 tous, iu places so narrow that their bodies only could 

 piss when turned sideways. I doubt it I should 

 have dared to walk on my own legs along such a 

 track, and it was not without considerable trepid- 

 ation that I allowed myself to be carried on the 

 aliouklers of othei- men who far from sympathising 

 with my nervousness, kept up a loud discussion with 

 each otiier at the most critical turns as to how much 

 money they were to receive and how they would 

 spend it. 



Yung Lan-tung is a town of tea-hongs in a val- 

 ley surrounded by tea plantations on the hillsides. 

 The first packing having been finished before my 

 arrival, the sun-dried leaves were being brought 

 into the bongs iu baskets for sale. There is always 

 enough free selling to make a market, but a large 

 proportion of the crop is bespoken by the hong merch- 

 ants, who make advances to the growers. A tea 

 hong is a large solid brick building on the typical 

 Chinese |>lan, court within court, covering ground 

 measuring jOOft. by 200ft. 



The tea buying is carried on very rapidly. The 

 buyer stands on a raised platform, the sellers in the 

 large op'U court in front. Each seller hands up a 

 sample of fiis leaf on a small wicker tray for inspec- 

 tion, when the buyer, without a moment's hesitation, 

 fixes the price, and writes it on a slip of paper, which 

 is handi'd to the seller, who is equally prompt in 

 acciptinji; o[ vf-jecting the price offered, and there is 

 no chaffering, time being too precious. If the ijrice 

 be' accepted, the leaf is at once carried into the hong, 

 weighed, and the money paid on the nail. There is 

 always keen competition among the buying hongs, aud 

 the growers are thus secured a full market price, 

 after the buying for the d.iy is over, the qualities are 

 sorted out, the leaves are slightly fired, and then 

 packed away, as tightly as hay in a stack, in dark stalls 

 in the interior of the hong, where the tea is left till 

 fermentation commences. It is then put into the hands 

 of the pickers, women and girls, each of wbom receives 

 one katty (equal to IJ lb.) at a time, from which 

 they pick out the brown leaves and stalks. The leaf is 

 then winnowed to throw the dust off. The fresh leaves 

 which are left are gathered together aud fired, which 

 a the m-st important process of all, as the appear- 

 ance, character, and flavour of all depend on the skill 

 and are of the firing. There manager sits up all night 

 watching his hundreds of baskets of tea slowly baking 

 over charcoal fires. When done to a turn the charcoal 

 pans are suddenly removed and the tea allowed to 

 cool. It is then ready to be packed into the familiar 

 lead-lined chests for shipment to England. A "chop," 

 or one firing of tea, varies from 600 to SOO chests. 

 Tha chests are made to older, of uniform size and 

 weight, and the tea is not weighed, but carefully meas- 

 ured into the chests. An impression used to prevail 

 that the tea was all picked with chopsticks, hut I 

 found that it was only the samples which are made up 

 fur the sale of the tea that were put through this pro- 

 cess of selection ; aud much labour and sorrow it entails 

 on both buyer aud seller in the rejection of chops of 

 tea for being inferior to sample. 



Not having visited the Indian tea district myself, 

 I should not like to say how much of the above-de- 

 scribed Chinese practice might profitably he adopted by 

 the Indian planters. But as in the course of my busi- 

 ness as a tea dealer both Indian and Chinese tea pass 

 daily through my hands, I should judge from the practic- 



al results of the Ind'an process that the Indian 

 planter has little to learn from the Chinese in respect 

 of the firing or manufacture of the leaf. There would 

 seem, however, to be obvious advantages in separating 

 the growing from the manufacturing and packing, 

 carrying on the latter processes on a larger and more 

 uniform scale and at a very much less cost than is 

 possible where each small garden has to keep up its 

 own separate establishment. — I am, Sir, yours truly, 



7 and 8, Idol-lane, E.G. James Inne.s. 



— London Times. 



[The above is interesting, but there is a good deal 

 which requires explanation. If we understand aright, 

 the tea leaf purchased at the honj;s has been rolled 

 and sundried (!) by the growers. It is then partially 

 sorted, slightly fired and closely packed in dark stalls 

 where it ferments ! It is tben apparently again sorted 

 and sifted, and there is a final firing before packing. 

 But Mr. Innes confuses the matter by stating that 

 it is the "fresh leaves which are left" that are gath- 

 ered together and fired ! India and Ceylon tea is, 

 when gathered, spread to wither, it is then rolled, put 

 under blankets to ferment and then fired. The sift- 

 ing and sorting follow and a final firing before pack- 

 ing. — Ed.] 



YARROW CINCHONA LEDGERS. 



We now publish the promised report on the sale of 

 Yarrow ledger bark to Messrs. J. M. Robertson & Co., 

 agents for the great Milan quinine manufactory. 

 The sale is a very satisfactory one and a good test of 

 what the richer barks will fetch in the market : — 



Colombo, 4th May 1883. 



W. F. Laurie, Esq., Yarrow.— Dear Sir, — Mr. Symons 

 analyzed your small consignment of Ledgeriana bark with 

 the following results : — 



Stem quill 5 '77 Sulphate of Quinine. 



Chips aud branch 5' 18 do 



We sold the quill E2'42 per lb. and the chips and branch 

 Kl'7o per lb. being at the rate of 42 cents per unit 

 of quinine. The buyers, who act as agents for the prin- 

 cipal buyers of cinchona iu this market, informed us 

 that they could not pay more, as they only had limits for 

 hark yielding up to 5 per cent quinine, and the parcel was 

 too small to induce them to exceed their limits. They 

 have, however, written to their principals for limits for 

 bark yielding 5 per cent quinine and upwards. — We ai'e, dear 

 sir, yom's faithfully, SoarERViLLE & Co. 



THE PROBABILITY OF THE BARK OF 

 O. LEDQERIANA DETERIORATING AFTER A 



CERTAIN AGE: SPLENDID BARK FROM 

 YARROW LEDGERS. 



In copying the following account of the bark of 

 Ledgeriaua trees grown at Coonoor, from the Madras 

 Mail, we would attract attention to the fact noted 

 by the writer that the bark of a tree seventeen years 

 old gave less quinine and more cinchonidine than the 

 bark of younger trees. But caution should be exer- 

 cised in drawing conclusions. Mr. Broughtou laid 

 down the general proposition that the bark of the 

 cinchonas deteriorated after ten years of age, but 

 Dr. Trimen shewed recently the gi-and results ob- 

 tained from an old succirubra tree. Our own opinion is 

 that trees of all kinds, even the best, will be found 

 to vary, and it is encouraging to learn that the 

 progeny of Ledger plants yielding only 74 per cent 

 gave 14 per cent of quinine. And this remuids us 

 of a couple of magnificent specimens of Yarrow 

 Ledger bark w'hich have been sent to us with a re- 



