CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION. 105 



them to ferment; the color, meanwhile, changing from 

 green to a dark bronze during the process. 



In the process of " firing " the leaves are spread out in 

 a series of wire-gauze trays, placed in layers in a hot-air 

 machine, known as a " Sirocco," from the fact that the 

 current of vapor arising from it is suggestive of the hot 

 winds of the desert, and in which the temperature aver- 

 ages some 300 degrees. These screens are operated 

 either in a lateral or rotary direction also by steam, the 

 tea being thoroughly fired in from twenty to twenty-five 

 minutes, and separated into the different grades at the 

 same time. But on some plantations the tea is afterwards 

 bulked in large tin-lined cases until a considerable quan- 

 tity is accumulated, when it is again lightly fired, the 

 operations of sorting and grading being again per- 

 formed by machinery previous to being packed in the 

 teak-wood chests, in which it is finally shipped. The 

 curing and firing of tea by hot air and machinery in 

 India is fast superseding the primitive arrangements 

 and charcoal processes so long in use in China. Yet 

 though much more rapid and effective in its work, and 

 certain not to taint the leaves in any manner, it is still an 

 open question whether the older and slower methods 

 of curing in pans over charcoal fires is not after all 

 the better one. That the teas are not properly cured 

 or thoroughly fired by this over-hasty method is 

 evidenced by the fact that India teas in general are 

 noted for their great excess of tannin and peculiar 

 raw, "grassy," uncooked or herby flavor. But labor 

 and fuel-saving machinery are effecting such economy 

 in the cultivation and preparation of tea in India as to 

 yearly reduce the cost of its production. So many 

 improvements for drying, rolling, firing and sorting 

 are annually being recorded that it is difficult even to 



