54 TEA 



seventeen or eighteen hours ; but if the weather is damp 

 artificial heat is employed. The withered leaf is then 

 collected from the trays and thrown down through 

 shoots into the rolling machines, which are generally 

 situated on the ground floor. The object of the rolling 

 , process is, firstly, to bruise the leaves so as to allow the 

 leaf juices to become mixed, and, secondly, to impart 

 a twist or curl to the leaf. The rolling machines con- 

 sist essentially of a table with a central depression to 

 hold the leaf and a hopper above it, the two moving 

 one over the other with an eccentric motion. Any 

 required degree of pressure can be put upon the mass of 

 leaf that is being rolled, and at the end of about an hour 

 the door in the bottom of the machine opens and the 

 roll falls out, the twisted leaves, which have become 

 somewhat yellowish, clinging together in masses which 

 are broken up in a machine known as a " roll breaker " ; 

 a " sifter," which separates the coarser leaf from the 

 finer, is usually attached to the breaker. The next 

 process, the fermentation process, is one of the most 

 important in tea manufacture ; for on its efficient 

 accomplishment depends to a large extent the quality 

 and character of the tea. Further, the omission after 

 this stage in the manufacture results in the formation 

 of " green " teas, which formerly enjoyed great popu- 

 larity. In the preparation of black teas, then, the rolled 

 leaf is piled in drawers one above the other or on mats, 

 and then left to ferment or oxidise, air being allowed 

 free access. The process occupies a varying length of 

 time according to the particular garden and the condi- 

 tion of the weather. During the fermentation the leaf 

 emits a peculiar odour and changes colour, and after 

 about two hours, when the right degree of copper-brown 

 colour has been attained, the leaf is " fired " in the drying 

 machines, the heat arresting all further fermentation. 



