326 



CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



raw meats which they are accustomed to 

 eat. 



As the Chinese in different provinces vary 

 in their mode of preparing tea, so do they in 

 regulating the time for gathering the leaves ; 

 in some provinces they make but one har- 

 vest; in others two, according to the de- 

 mand they have for fine or common tea. 

 These people also distinguish the quality of 

 their tea, by the age of the shrub, and whe- 

 ther it be cultivated or not. 



In France the lower class of people, when 

 they take tea, which is principally medici- 

 nally, boil the leaves. But the decoction 

 is very inferior in point of flavour to the 

 infusion in boiling water. 



The Dutch, with all their boasted cleanli- 

 ness, have a disgusting practice in drinking 

 tea ; for instead of adding sugar to their cup, 

 they generally suck a piece of sugar-candy, 

 which they take out of their mouths when 

 they drink. We hear of instances in that 

 country, where one piece is said to answer 

 the purpose of the whole family. 



Persons of quality in China make use of 

 the extract of tea ; and also of aromatized 

 pastilles, made from fine tea, and which are 

 of an agreeable taste. 



