126 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



right time. Great exactitude in this is all-important, and 

 therefore, as I say, the balls should be taken in rotation as 

 they were laid down. 



The fermentation is stopped by breaking up the ball. 

 The roll is spread out very thin, and at the same time any 

 remaining coarse leaves are picked out. 



This concludes the fermenting process. 



Sunning. The roll is then without any delay put out in 

 the sun, spread very thin on dhallas or mats. When it has 

 become blackish in colour it is collected and re-spread, so that 

 the whole of it shall be affected by the sun. With bright 

 sunshine an hour or even less suns it sufficiently. It is then 

 at once placed in the dholes, which must be all ready to 

 receive it. 



If the weather is wet, it must directly the balls are broken 

 up, and the coarse leaf is picked out, be sent to the dholes. 

 This is the only plan in wet weather, but the best Tea is 

 made in fine weather. 



Firing or Dholing.\i\ the case of wet weather, unless you 

 have very many dholes, fresh roll will come in long before the 

 first is finished. The only plan in this case is to half do it. 

 | Half-fired the roll does not injure with any delay, but even 

 half an hour's delay, between breaking up the balls and com- 

 mencing to drive off the moisture, is hurtful. 



In any but wet weather necessitating it the roll can be 

 fired at one time, that is, not removed from the drawer until 

 it has become Tea. 



The roll in each drawer must be shaken up and re-spread 

 two or three times, in the process of firing. The drawer must 

 be taken off the fire to do this, or some of the roll would fall 

 through into the fire, and the smoke thus engendered would 

 be hurtful. If the lowest drawer is made to slide in and out 

 a framework covered with zinc should be made to run into 

 a groove below it, and this zinc protector should be always 



