104 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION. 



is nothing in the India pickings to denote their relation- 

 ship to any crop or gathering. The number of pickings 

 from the India plant also varies considerably according 

 to the soil, situation, garden and season. When all these 

 conditions are favorable, the plantation will yield as 

 many as sixteen " flushes," while ordinarily and often 

 under the most unfavorable conditions five to six are 

 obtained in a single season. 



There is no radical difference between the Chinese and 

 Indian methods of preparation up to what is termed 

 the " Rolling process ; " it being performed in the latter 

 country very lightly and only by a minimum of pressure 

 by machinery. Each day's collection is immediately 

 " withered " until thoroughly evaporated, when they 

 are as promptly cured and fired. The processes of 

 fermenting and firing are not as detailed or complete 

 as in China, the India planter aiming to secure 

 the component properties of a strong tea at the 

 expense of flavor and keeping qualities. In India 

 the tea is generally prepared from the young shoots, 

 two leaves only being picked at a time and " withered" 

 in the open air without any extraneous aid, much, 

 however, depending on the skill and knowledge of 

 the operators in arresting the process at the exact 

 moment. When the proper point is reached they are 

 immediately removed to a " drying " room, and laid 

 out on trays until the excessive moisture has been 

 dissipated, this process being hastened by occasional 

 blasts of hot air driven through by a machine. When 

 sufficient moisture has been extracted they are placed in 

 a heavy rolling machine and tossed about until all the 

 cellular tissues are broken, when they begin to curl up 

 tightly, as if by the action of the hand, after which they 

 are placed in heaps on tables for some hours to allow 



