MARCH.] GREEN-HOUSE. REPOTTING. 7 1 



There is also a long low table covered with mats, on 

 which the leaves are laid, and rolled by workmen, who 

 sit round it : the iron pan being heated to a certain de- 

 gree by a little fire made in the furnace underneath, a 

 few pounds of the fresh-gatheried leaves are put upon the 

 pan ; the fresh and juicy leaves crack when they touch 

 the pan, and it is the business of the operator to shift 

 them as quickly as possible, with his bare hands, till 

 they cannot be easily endured. At this instant he takes 

 off the leaves with a kind of shovel resembling a fan, 

 and pours them on the mats before the rollers, who, 

 taking small quantities at a time, roll them in the palm 

 of their hands in one direction, while others are fanning 

 them, that they may cool the more speedily, and retain 

 their curl the longer. This process is repeated two or 

 three times, or oftener, before the tea is put into the 

 stores, in order that all the moisture of the leaves may be 

 thoroughly dissipated, and their curl more completely 

 preserved. On every repetition the pan is less heated, 

 and the operation performed more closely and cauti- 

 ously. The tea is then separated into the different 

 kinds, and deposited in the store for domestic use or 

 exportation. 



" The different sorts of black and green 'arise, not 

 merely from soil, situation, or the age of the leaf; but 

 after winnowing .the tea, the leaves are taken up in 

 succession as they fall; those nearest the machine 

 being the heaviest, are the gunpowder tea; the light 

 dust the worst, being chiefly used by the lower classes. 

 That which is brought down to Canton, then under- 



