NOTES TO CHAP. V. 101 



fourth leaves, if plucked upwards, will break a little above the 

 leaf-stalk or petiole, consequently, above the bud ; thus the 

 leaf-stalk, with its fragmental leaf, is left to foster the bud, and 

 to act as a conduit of moisture during rain. When the leaves 

 are harsh and fibrous, and, consequently, too old to be gathered, 

 then they generally break in the middle, leaving behind one 

 half of the leaf. This is a test that may be relied upon ; and 

 the gathering must be regulated accordingly. 



§ 291. The planter will soon know by his eye when the time 

 of gathering is arrived : still it is better to observe the above 

 rule. The plant first shoots forth and develops two leaves ; it 

 shoots again, and two more unfold ; and again in the same 

 manner, till nine or more leaves are produced on one shoot. 

 At this period, the lower part of the shoot becomes brown and 

 woody ; later, three or four buds send forth branches on either 

 side, and the whole together assumes a fan-like shape. Before 

 this state of growth arrives, the leaves should be gathered. 

 The plucking of the leaves from the shoots requires a certain 

 skill : yet women and children may do it. 



§ 296. The gathering is divided into three classes of leaves, 

 and each class is gathered by different men. First, the top-leaf, 

 consisting of the convoluted leaf-bud with its expanding or 

 expanded leaf ; then the fine-leaf tea, consisting of the second 

 and third leaves ; and, finally, the fourth and fifth leaves, which 

 form the middle-leaf tea. The coarse-leaf tea is the refuse of 

 these two classes after manipulation. It is the duty, also, of 

 the gatherers of the middle-leaf tea, as they are the last ga- 

 therers, to search for and gather any other delicate leaves which 

 may have been overlooked by the previous gatherers. The 

 mode of gathering is by turning the thumb downwards, and 

 nipping off the young green succulent shoot with the nail and 

 forefinger, first below the top-leaf, with its expanded or ex- 

 panding leaf. Then below the second and third, and the fourth 

 and fifth leaves. If the sixth and seventh leaves are fit for tea, 

 they may be gathered also. 



§§ 300. and 301. When the last leaves on the shoot are ga- 

 thered, they must not be nipped off, but plucked upwards, and 

 in such a manner as not to injure the buds; otherwise such 

 shoots or branches would be left without the power of repro- 



h 3 



