34 TEA 



firing lasts about three hours it is seen that each leaf 

 is separately twisted and rolled. The tea is then spread 

 out on paper-lined trays similar to those used for firing, 

 and left until the leaves become quite brittle. If des- 

 tined for home consumption the leaves are sifted with 

 bamboo hand sieves of three or four degrees of fineness, 

 and any impurities remaining are removed by hand 

 if for export, the sifting is not carried out, but the tea 

 is immediately packed in cases made of thick cartridge 

 paper and despatched to the wholesale merchant. 



The methods of cultivation and processes of manu- 

 facture adopted in the case of Gyokuro and Hikacha 

 teas the finest qualities are said to differ in several 

 respects from those described above for the bulk of the 

 tea raised in Japan ; but the actual tU -tails are not 

 perfectly known. 



TEA IN CEYLON 



The story of the rise of the tea industry in Ceylon is 

 one of the most interesting in the history of planting. 

 Up to the middle of the last century, coffee had been the 

 most important of the European cultivations, but in 

 the sixties a terrible fungal disease commenced its 

 ravages in the coffee plantations of the island, and after 

 a comparatively few years it was evident that the indus- 

 try was doomed. The enormous losses, widesj 

 consternation, and distress occasioned by this calamity 

 are known to all those interested in coffee, and 

 need be no more than mentioned here ; but in spite 

 of the blow which had been dealt them, the planters 

 with commendable pluck and energy turned all their 

 attention to the discovery of other crops suitable to 

 the climate and conditions of Ceylon, with which their 

 broken fortunes might be restored. Attention was 

 given to cinchona, cardamoms, cacao, and other crops 



