Il6 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION. 



The box containing the pressed tea travels with a cir- 

 cular motion round the table, by which the leaves are 

 pressed, twisted and rolled as they come in contact with 

 the small battens fitted into the centre of the table. 

 After an hour the pressure is increased until at the 

 finish it is from four to five hundred pounds on the 

 leaves, the juice thus expressed being carefully collected 

 and poured back into the roller every now and again 

 until it is all absorbed by the crushed and twisted mass 

 of leaves. When the rolling process is finished, the 

 leaves are then placed on trays holding from 20 to 25 

 pounds, covered with a wet cloth and allowed to ferment 

 from two to four hours according to the weather, or 

 until they become a bright-copper color, when they are 

 again rolled from a half to an hour according to fancy, 

 after which they are ready for firing. 



The " Sirocco machine " for firing tea-leaves by hot air 

 has also superseded the pan or " Charcoal process " in 

 Ceylon. The leaves having been laid out on wire-gauze 

 trays, they are passed through this " hot-air " machine, 

 in which they become thoroughly fired Tea in from 

 twenty to twenty-five minutes, after which it is placed 

 in sieves, which are worked either in a lateral or revolv- 

 ing direction by the aid of steam or manual power, and 

 the different grades are sifted out, the larger and coarser 

 leaves which do not pass through the sieves falling into 

 a " cutter," where they are cut to a uniform size. On 

 estates where they bulk the Tea, in Ceylon, the result, 

 of the day's work is placed in enormous air-tight lead- 

 lined chests, where it remains until a sufficient quantity 

 to form a " Break " or " Chop " is accumulated, which is 

 generally once per week. The chest is then opened 

 from the bottom and the tea bulked, after which it is 

 lightly fired again and packed into the teak-wood chests 



