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The World's Commercial Products 



JAPANESE WOMEN ROASTING THE TEA 



When the tea finally leaves the drying-pans it is picked over and sifted, and finally sorted 

 into different grades previous to packing. If the tea is intended for export, this is a very 

 important process, since the value of a consignment largely depends upon the "evenness" 

 of the leaf, and considerable experience and manual dexterity are necessary to ensure the tea 

 being of the same grade and quality throughout. Once satisfactorily sorted, the tea is 

 put into boxes or baskets and pressed down by men treading it with their feet, which are 

 covered with clean cloth or straw shoes put on for the purpose. • • - • 



Up to the end of the rolling process, the preparation of black teas proceeds upon lines exactly 

 similar to those described above, but after the rolling, the leaves are subjected to a much more 

 extended drying process in the open air, the period lasting for two or three days. The differ- 

 ence in the colour and character of the teas almost entirely depends upon the differences in 

 the methods of preparation at this stage, and, since the matter is more fully dealt with below 

 in connection with the Ceylon and Indian industry, it will be sufficient to add that the leaves 

 intended to produce black tea, during this extended exposure to the atmosphere, undergo a 

 process of fermentation which does not obtain in the manufacture of green teasJ Great care is 

 taken in the final drying or " firing " of the black teas, an experienced and generally old man 

 being invariably employed to regulate the furnace while the other members of the family 

 keep the leaves constantly agitated in the pans. The finished tea is then sorted and packed 

 as in the case of the green varieties. 



The teas, whether green or black, have next to be sold, and at the end of the season,- the 

 great tea merchants or their agents visit the tea districts, taking with them large supplies of 

 copper coin with which to pay for the commodity. The merchants generally put up at the 

 local inn, and as soon as they have arrived* the growers bring in their baskets of tea, slung, 

 on -bamboo poles, to submit them to the inspection of the prospective buyer. If the quality 

 is satisfactory the bargain is struck and the tea and money change hands. Should the tea not 

 meet with the approval of the merchant, it is promptly taken away and offered in 



