PACKING. 149 



the Tea will be depreciated in value.* It is well there 

 should be about the same weight of Tea in all the boxes 

 that contain any one kind, but this is not essential, which 

 equality in tares is. 



Your boxes all ready and lined with lead, choose a fine 

 day for packing. Do this whether you finally dry the Tea in 

 the sun or over the dholes ; for even in the latter case it is 

 well to avoid a damp day. 



But before you pack you must bulk. That is, you must 

 mix all the Tea, of any one kind, so intimately together 

 that samples taken out of any number of chests shall agree 

 exactly. This can be done by turning out all the Tea on a 

 large cloth placed on the floor, and turning it over and 

 over. No two days' Teas are exactly alike, and you have 

 perhaps a month's Teas to pack ; it is therefore necessary 

 to mix them well. 



Though I know many planters think the fumes of 

 charcoal necessary and beneficial for the last drying, I do 

 not. I have tried both sun and charcoal, and no difference 

 was perceptible. The former costs nothing, is more com- 

 modious, and I always apply it when possible. The sun 

 cannot burn the Teas ; the charcoal, if the heat is too 

 great, may. 



Whether you use sun or charcoal, put the Tea hot into 

 the boxes. The only object of the final drying is to drive off 

 the moisture, which the Tea will certainly, in a more or less 

 degree, have imbibed since its manufacture. Even the large 

 zinc-lined bins which should be fitted up in all Tea stores, 

 and in which the Tea is placed after manufacture, will not 

 entirely prevent damp, so in all cases a final drying is 

 necessary. 



* Note to Third Edition. This matter of equal tares is very important. 

 If they differ more than half-a-pound all the Tea is turned out and re- weighed 

 in London, which is a great loss in many ways. 



