TEA-CULTURfc,, \ PROBABLE AMERICAN INDUSTRY. 265 



in an oven until wilted, tho squeeze them by hand until a juice is 

 expressed from them, then dry them again in the oven. The tea is 

 then quite fragrant and ready for use, improving with age. 



About 50 pounds of a fairly marketable article of 

 American tea has recently been produced by a Mr. Shep- 

 pard of Summerfield, S. C, who grew and cured the 

 leaves in an ordinary fruit evaporator. On being tested, 

 the sample was pronounced equal to the average of China 

 Congous and much superior to many of the India, Java 

 and Ceylon growths. With other and more proper 

 methods of curing, the quality and character could 

 undoubtedly be much improved. Much more evidence 

 could be selected as to the quality of tea produced by 

 ordinary domestic processes, but it is sufficiently well 

 ascertained that it is within the capacity of hundreds of 

 thousands of _ people in this country to grow and pre- 

 pare all the tea they require, leaving the question of its 

 profitable commercial culture to be settled by practical 

 test later. 



