AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 117 



China and Japan, the leaves are plucked twice, as a rule. The 

 first plucking, being the chief harvest, commences at the beginning 

 or in the middle of May, according to the situation and advance- 

 ment of the plantation (in Southern China it is earlier still), and 

 lasts from ten to twenty days. The second is after the great 

 summer rain, that is, from four to six weeks later. In many places 

 in China the chief harvest is preceded by one in April, when unde- 

 veloped leaves are plucked, from which the white down has not yet 

 departed, This yields the dearest sorts of tea — the finest Pekoe, 

 Pekoe tips, incorrectly called Pekoe blossoms, and Young Hyson — 

 and naturally demands especial care, so that neither the bushes 

 may be injured, nor the chief harvest prejudiced. For the latter, 

 full-grown, but still young, leaves are taken, fifteen pounds being 

 plucked, on an average, by women and children ; elsewhere, and 

 even in Assam, three times that quantity is reckoned as the daily 

 produce of an industrious man. Four pounds of fresh leaves are 

 reckoned to one pound of prepared tea. The peasant who raised 

 them either cures them himself, or sells them to a middle man. 

 The second, or, as the case may be, third plucking of leaves, yields 

 only older, coarser leaves, for home consumption or the production 

 of brick tea. It is important that the fresh leaves should be worked 

 up as quickly as possible, in order to obtain therefrom, according 

 to the process, the green or black tea of commerce. The Chinese, 

 according to the colour of the infusion, name the one sort Luh-cha, 

 i.e. green tea, and the black, Hungcha, i.e. red tea. It has been 

 discovered that when the leaves have withered for a long time they 

 are easier to roll and otherwise manipulate, but that the extract 

 suffers in colour and flavour. This is especially the case with 

 green tea, whose quality is considerably advanced by rapid, skilful 

 drying. Let us, then, first consider the preparation of green tea. 



Japan, as already remarked, yields almost only green tea. The 

 different processes through which the leaf passes, after being 

 plucked, may be divided into those at the place of cultivation, and 

 those at the wholesale merchant's before shipment. 



a. The steaming of the leaves. A series of immured iron kettles 

 (or pans) are half filled with water, which is brought to boiling by 

 fires of charcoal beneath them. The mouth of each kettle is closed 

 by a sieve, that fits tight into it. This is about 45 cm. in dia- 

 meter, and on its bottom several handfuls (about a half-pound) 

 of fresh tea-leaves are spread out. The sieve is closed above with 

 a cover. For a short time, generally about half a minute, the 

 steam is permitted to act upon the leaves, long enough to produce 

 the characteristic odour of tea. The sieve with its contents is then 

 taken off from the pans. The leaves are shaken together and then 

 spread out over straw mats or tables. The damp leaves, of course, 

 have lost their stiffness. They are soft and easily bent in all 

 directions, showing everywhere traces of the oil which comes from 

 them. Being spread out and fanned, they are quickly cooled, 



