CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION. 



luxuriantly, filling the leaf with sap, added to which the 

 moisture of the atmosphere causes the leaves to ferment 

 quickly during the process of curing, allowing the 

 manufacturers to cure the leaf without exposing it to the 

 sun. The great strength of the leaf enables the manu- 

 facturer to fire the leaves longer ; the longer they are 

 fired the longer they will keep, the third crop, or 

 " Autumn teas," that have been well-fired improving 

 with time after exposure to the air, the action of the 

 atmosphere bringing out the fragrance of the tea, the 

 toasty flavor at the same time disappearing. 



Ankoi-Oolongs Are a doubtful species of the genus 

 tea, said to be prepared from the leaves of a shrub closely 

 resembling yet widely distinct in structure and charac- 

 ter from those of the true plant, found growing in a wild 

 state on the range of mountains known as the Anke 

 hills, separating the district of Amoy from Foo-chow. 

 The leaf, in a dried state, is rough, coarse and reddish- 

 brown in color, poorly curled and ragged in general 

 appearance. In the infusion it is dark-brown, large and 

 irregular in form, notably dissimilar from that of a gen- 

 uine tea-leaf in all respects, while the liquor is dark-red, 

 oily or " earthy," and bitterly astringent to the taste, qual- 

 ities contracted from the presence of oxides in the soil 

 in which they grow. Intrinsically, this variety possesses 

 no value really as tea, bearing the same relation to 

 Oolongs that Pingsueys do to Green teas, and although 

 known to the Chinese as " Bastard tea," it is extensively 

 used by them in the reduction of Amoys, to which it 

 imparts a wild, rank or weedy flavor readily detected in 

 the cup. 



Padrae-Oolong Is a scarce sort prepared in the 

 Bohea district from a species that is unsuited for 

 conversion into plain Oolong. The leaf is long, black, 



