160 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part I. 



905. ^s more select sorts ofteoy the blossoms of the camellia sasanqua {fig. 152, b.) 

 appear to be collected ; as they are brought over land to Russia, and sold by Chinese 

 and Armenians in Moscow at a great price. The buds also appear to be gathered in 

 some cases. By far the strongest tea which Dr. Abel tasted in China, was that called 

 Yu-tien, used on occasions of ceremony. It scarcely coloured the water, and on ex- 

 amination was found to consist of the half expanded leaves of the plant. 



966. As substitutes for tea used by the Chinese may be mentioned a species of moss 

 common to the mountains of Shan-tung ; an infusion of ferns of difl'erent sorts, and 

 Dr. Abel thinks the leaves of the common camellia and oil camellia may be added. 

 Du Halde observes, that all the plants called tea by the Chinese, are not to be considered 

 as the true tea plant ; and Ksempfer asserts that in Japan a species of camellia as well 

 as the olea fragrans, is used to give it a high flavor. 



967. The oil bearing tea plant {Camellia oleifera) is cultivated for its seeds, from which 

 an oil is expressed, in very general use in the domestic economy of China. It grows 

 best in a red sandy soil, attaining the height of six or eight feet, and producing a pro- 

 fusion of white blossoms and seeds. These seeds are reduced to a coarse powder, either 

 in a mortar by a pestle acted on by the cogs of a 

 water-wheel {jig. 153.), or by a horizontal wheel, 

 having small perpendicular wheels, shod with iron, 

 fixed to its circumference, and acting in a groove 

 lined with the same metal. The seeds wlien J 

 ground, are stewed or boiled in bags, and then 

 pressed, when the oil is yielded. The press is a hollow cylinder, with a piston pressed 

 against one end, by driving wedges at the side ; it is very simple and yet powerful. 

 {Dr. Abel's Nar. 176.) An oil used as a varnish is extracted from another variety of 

 the camellia, or tea plant (the Dryandria cordata of Thunb.) which is used as a varnish 

 for their boats, and coarser articles of furniture. 



' 968. The tallow-tree {Croton sebifenun) resembles the oak in the height of its stem and 



the spread of its branches, and its foilage has the green rnd lustre of the laurel; its 



flowers are small and yellow, and its seeds white. The latter are crushed either as the 



camellia seeds, or in a hollow trunk of a tree, lined with iron, by means of a wheel laden 



with a heavy weight, {Jig. 154.), and suspended 



from a beam. The bruised matter next 



undergoes nearly the same process as the 



camellia seeds, and the oily matter is found to 



have all the propctlies of animal tallow. It is 



mixed with vegetable oil and wax, to give 



it consistence, and then made into candles, 



which burn with great flame, emit much 



smoke, and quickly consume. 



969. The wax-tree, or Pe-la, is a term which 

 is not applicable to any one species of tree, 

 but to such as are fastened on by a small 

 worm, which runs up, and fastens to its leaves, 

 covering them with combs. When these worms are once used to the trees of any district, 

 they never leave them, unless something extraordinary drives them away. The wax pro- 

 duced is hard, shining, and considerably dearer than that of bees. 



970. Tfie Sesamum orientate and the Ricinus communis, or castor oil plant, are cultivated for the 

 esculent oils extracted from their seeds. They appear to have some method of depriving the castor oil 

 of its purgative qualities, but Dr. Abel thinks not completely. 



971. Thecamjihire tree {Lauras camphora) grows to the size of our elms or oaks. Tlie 

 camphire is procured by boiling the fresh-gathered branches of the tree, and stirring the 

 whole with a stick, till the gum begins to adhere to it in the form of a white jelly. 

 The fluid is then poured off into a glazed vessel, and left to concrete. " The crude 

 camphire is then purified in the following manner : a quantity of the finely-powdered 

 materials of some old wall, built of earth, is put as a first layer at the bottom of a 

 copper basin ; on this is placed a layer of camphire, and then another of earth, and so on 

 till the vessel is nearly filled ; the series being terminated with a layer of earth : over 

 this is laid a covering of the leaves of the plant Po-tio, perhaps a species of mentha. 

 A second basin is now inverted over the first, and luted on. The whole thus prepared, 

 is put over a regulated fire, and submitted to its action for a certain length of time ; it is 

 then removed and suffered to cool. The camphire is found to have sublimed, and to be 

 attached to the upper basin, and is further refined by repetitions of the same process."* 

 (Narrative, ^-c. 179.) 



972. The oak is as much prized in China as in other countries, and is styled the tree of 

 inheritance. There are several species in general use for building, dyeing, and fuel; and 

 the acorns are ground into a paste, which mixed with the flour of corn is made into cakes. 



