T2 4 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



moisture and aroma, both of which are got rid of again by a quick 

 heating. The odour, " the bouquet," of the tea remains, however, 

 from one to six years, according to quality and strength, if it is 

 carefully packed. Scented tea was formerly prepared only in Can- 

 ton, but now also in the northern ports, as Shanghai and Ningpo. 

 The traveller who sails towards these cities in early summer in 

 a coaster from the south finds himself sometimes accompanied by 

 hundreds of pots filled with blooming bushes of several of the 

 above-named species, which are sent north for this purpose from 

 Canton, Macao, and Hong-kong. 



Under the names " Orange Pekoe," " Scented Caper," etc., this 

 perfumed tea comes, carefully packed, to London, Rotterdam, and 

 other ports, and is here further mingled with tea that has not such 

 "bouquet." (For further details see Fortune's "A Residence 

 among the Chinese," p. 199 ff. London, 1857.) Good tea must, 

 however, have its own aroma. The addition of a foreign one is, in 

 my opinion, altogether to be condemned. The volatile oil which 

 the tea receives in being scented is just as likely to have an in- 

 jurious effect upon delicate nerves, and produce headache, as in 

 wine and punch essences. 



The property of the green or brownish red extract, which is 

 produced by pouring boiling water on the tea of commerce, to 

 warm, refresh, and invigorate the body, has been highly valued 

 for many centuries by the Mongolian races. Among the civilized 

 nations of the West tea only found entrance two hundred years 

 ago, and very slowly at first. But in this century its introduction 

 and distribution have been all the quicker. In many households it 

 has already completely driven its competitors, coffee and cocoa, 

 from the field. In the Orient it meets with no competition at all, 

 being equally popular with high and low. 



The Japanese, like the Chinese, seldom drinks cold water. Tea 

 is his favourite beverage at every meal and between meals — green 

 tea, from little pots on little saucers to correspond. He drinks 

 it plain, and when it is not to be had does not despise mere warm 

 water from the iron kettle, which always serves otherwise to fill 

 up the tea-pot. No sooner has the traveller in Japan sat down 

 in an inn, than, without delay, a basin with some glowing coals is 

 set before him to light his pipe with, and tea to refresh him. This 

 attention he rewards with the Cha-dai {i.e. tea-table), or tip, which 

 he lays on the salver. When a customer enters one of the larger 

 shops, it is a point of etiquette in the house that a cup of green 

 tea be set before him at once, before proceeding to business. 



In the poor mountain country, however, the quality of the drink 

 offered under the name of Tscha is not always so inviting — an 

 infusion or decoction from the cheapest waste matter of the tea- 

 districts, looking like dish-water and just as little appetizing. 



