148 Mr Bruce on the Manufacture of Tea, and on the 



second crop, when the Pouchong leaves ought not to be gather- 

 ed, they are nevertheless plucked and mixed up with the 

 Soucho7ir/ leaves. Almost all our black and all the green teas 

 have just been made from one garden. When the green tea 

 makers complained that the leaves were beginning to get too 

 large for them — that is, they were fast growing out of Sou- 

 chong and running into Pouchong — the black tea makers took 

 up the manufacture ; plucked all the leaves, and made excel- 

 lent Pouchong ; so that between the two, there is not a leaf 

 lost. When the black tea-makers liave a garden to them- 

 selves they are cruel pluckers, for they almost strip the tree 

 of leaves for the Souchong, and are not at all nice in the 

 plucking ; the third and even the fourth leaf on a tender 

 twig is nipped off in the twinkling of an eye ; they then look 

 about for more young leaves, and away go the Pouchong, and 

 Toychong too, which is the largest leaf of all. But the green 

 tea-men pluck quietly, one by one, down to Souchong. The 

 black tea men separate all their teas into first, second, third, 

 and fourth crop ; but the green tea manufacturers make no 

 distinction ; they prepare all the tea they can, throughout the 

 season, box or basket it up, and when the season is over, they 

 set oflF for Canton with tlieir produce ; at least all those who 

 do not wish to sell tlieir tea on the spot. The different mer- 

 chants go in quest of it there. It now indiscriminately under- 

 goes the second process ; that is, the different crops are all 

 mixed up together. No old leaves can be mixed in the green, 

 as in the black teas ; for the long rolling in the pan crushes 

 them, and the fan blows them away, so that only the young- 

 leaves are left. 



We shall now take a comparative view of the number of 

 men required by the black and the green tea makers for one 

 pair of pans. 



For the black tea.makers there will be required, 



To tatcb, ..... 2 men 



... roll, . . . . . 4 ... 



... attend to the fiiv, , . . . l ... 



..dry, ..... 1 ... 



... beat and put in the sun, . . . 2 ... 



Total number of men, , 10 



