IOO CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



LEAF PICKING. 



THE first consideration is how to get the largest quantity of 

 leaf without injuring the trees. 



To a certain extent, it is true that the more a Tea bush 

 is pruned and picked the more it will yield. It appears as 

 if Nature were always trying to repair the violence done to 

 the tree by giving new mouths or leaves to breathe with in 

 place of those taken away. I may exemplify my meaning in 

 another way. A Tea bush which has as many leaves on it as 

 it requires will throw out tardily new shoots, and their 

 number will be small. In other words, a plant which is not 

 pruned and from which the young leaves are not taken grows 

 gradually large and bushy, and then gives up flushing alto- 

 gether. It has all the leaves it requires, and it has no 

 necessity to throw out more. 



If, however, Nature is too much tried, that is, if too much 

 violence is done to her, she sulks and will exert herself no 

 more. 'Up to this point, therefore, it is well to urge her. 

 How can we know when we have reached it ? 



Only general rules can be laid down. Experience is the 

 great desideratum on this and many other subjects connected 

 with Tea. 1 



If the plant can always be kept in such a state that the 

 foliage, without being very much so, is still less than nature 

 requires, I conceive the object will be attained. 



The greatest violence is done to the plant when it is 



1 See foot-note, page 86, which shows that for 18 months after transplanting, 

 young bushes should not be pruned or picked at all. 



