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important. The great thing to understand at the outset is the principle of tea-manip- 
ulation, and this once mastered the practice may be modified to suit every one’s cir- 
cumstances. 
The difference between black and green teas is entirely due to manufacture. Black 
tea is subjected to the oxidizing influence of the atmosphere, often for a considerable 
time; great chemical changes ensuing. The tannin, volatile oils, extractive matter, 
and sometimes the thein are very much toned down. 
Green teas undergo great changes also, from the raw state, but the preservative qual- 
ities of moderate degrees of heat are brought to bear upon the leaves before they have 
been acted upon by the atmosphere, and the above chemical constituents, together with 
the coloring matter, are better preserved than in the black teas. Black teasare bruised, 
beaten, and tossed before drying; green teasare not. Black teas are like a well-bruised 
apple, laid over for a day or two and then dried in an oven. Green teas are like a 
sound one, driedin likemanner. These are the chief differences; but to make the mat- 
ter more plain it will, perhaps, be best to briefly state the method of procedure and the 
utensils required. 
Tea for family use, either black or green, may be made if the farmer or other operator 
can muster a cook-stove, or even a fire on the floor, and a briek or two, over which to 
set an iron or block-tin pan, measuring 2 feet 4 inches in diameter and 7 inches deep; 
this is, perhaps, the most convenient size, but a smaller will answer perfectly well as 
long as the hemispherical form is maintained. This is the roasting-pan, and in it the raw 
leaves are heated so as to cause them to exude their moisture. The pores of the leaves 
open with a series of miniature explosions, causing a sharp crackling sound; this is a 
tolerable test of the heat; that is, the leaves should crackle, but unfortunately they 
— do so when the pan is red-hot and liable to burn out all the goodness from the 
eaf. 
Whatever heating medium may be employed, whether sun, or fire, or their combina- 
tions, the leaves should be perfectly soft and pliable before they can be rolled without 
breakage. They should be moist enough to stick together. When in this state the 
leaves are thrown on a table on which a bamboo or rattan mat is nailed. The Indian 
matting used for covering floors will answer, or the table may be shallowly grooved. 
A board to be worked by the hands may be grooved in the opposite direction, the 
whole arrangement being somewhat like a pill-making machine on a large scale. Ora 
machine (of which there are several) may be used, where the operations are sufficiently 
extensive to warrant its use, for— 
RoiiinG.—This process has probably attracted more attention than any other part 
of the manufacture. The object is really to extract and press out the bitter juices, 
(probably tannic acid, &ce.,) and it accidentally happens that the leaf receives the vari- 
ous twists seen in commercial teas. The Chinese manage this rolling almost entirely 
with the hands and feet. A ball of leaves is taken in the hands and rolled backward 
and forward, on the table, the pressure used being considerable; the leaves should be- 
come quite saponaceous, and when quite a quantity of juice is pressed out, and the 
leaves twisted, they may be pronounced properly rolled.. It is a good plan to shake 
them out thinly after rolling, that the action of the air may evaporate the juices; and, 
in the case of black tea, oxidize the leaf. Some operators allow the leaves to stand in 
balls for a time, others warm them on the pan again; some place them in the sun, 
others in the shade; some place them in heaps to ferment, both before and after roll- 
ing. In short, the various methods by which good tea may be made are simply innu- 
merable, but the principles of desiccation and manipulation must not be violated. 
What those principles are must in nearly every case be determined by practice; for 
beyond the recapitulation of the process as given, little more is known. I have fre- 
quently proposed the analysis of the leaves of tea in theirraw state to the government 
chemists in India, but I believe it has not yet been undertaken ; consequently the effect 
of exposure, heat, and pressure upon the leaves can only be conjectured. It would 
probably aid the inquiry very materially if a good manipulator could co-operate with 
a careful analytical chemist, who, for the sake of science, would be willing to investi- 
gate the various changes produced by manufacture. t 
The business of the farmer, after rolling and expressing his tea in various ways, suited 
to his fancy or convenience, will be finally to dry it over charcoal fires or on the iron 
pan. The latter will invariably produce a tea of stronger quality, partaking more or 
less of the characteristics of a green tea, even though black in color. When the tea is 
thoroughly dry it may be packed in wooden or tin boxes, always taking care they are 
perfectly dry and air-tight. 
