VARIOUS METHODS OF CULTIVATION, ETC. 33 



There are, as a rule, two cropsjn the year, one in May 

 "ImdTthe second in the middle of Juiie7~atter~the rams ; 

 a third crop is sometimes obtained, but the quality of 

 the leaf is very poor. The bushes are pruned after the 

 first crop, and again during the winter. 



In the manufacture of the teas it is interesting to note 

 that in the case of the better class green teas, and a 

 considerable proportion of Sencha, no machinery is 

 used, the whole process being carried out by hand, the 

 popular belief being that it is impossible to procure with 

 machinery the delicate aroma produced by the old- 

 fashioned hand methods. For the production of teas 

 destined for the export trade, however, machinery 

 has entirely supplanted hand labour. 



The preparation of the leaves begins as soon as possible 

 after picking, and in the case of Sencha, which forms 

 the bulk of the tea consumed in Japan, the first process 

 is said to be that of steaming. The steam is allowed to 

 act on the leaves for about four minutes, when they 

 are shaken by hand, and spread out on mats to dry. 

 The important process of firing now follows. The 

 workman first smears the surface of the paper lining 

 of the firing tray with rice paste, which, when dry, 

 affords a hard polished surface. A small quantity of the 

 steamed leaf is then poured into the tray, which the 

 workman turns over repeatedly until the edges of the 

 leaves begin to curl as a result of the heat and mechanical 

 friction. The workman then works the leaf into balls, 

 which he breaks and again works up, extracting, mean- 

 while, the stalks, dried leaf, and other impurities. As 

 the firing progresses, the fresh green colour of the leaves 

 gradually changes to an olive brown, and the fragrant 

 odour of the tea becomes perceptible. The mass gradu- 

 ally shrinks in size as the moisture evaporates, and when 

 finally pronounced to be dry the whole operation of 



