542 MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CH. XXIX. should be a good brisk heat at first, so much so that the hand 

 m can only just be held iuside for a few moments without discoin- 



fort. If this is not carefully attended to, it is quite as easy to 



turn tea sour in the trays as by allowing it to ferment unduly 

 during the colouring process. Thermometers are useless as a test, 

 as the heat has invariably burnt the bulb of all that I have ever 

 tried. Practice alone can decide when the heat is sufficient, and 

 a few trials will give the requisite knowledge. When the whole 

 process of drying off has been completed, the drawers may be 

 filled up any how with the tea made, and laid one above the other 

 on top of the wood-work to give the tea the benefit of the 

 w'armth given out by the cooling plates all through the night. 

 The next morning the whole may be weighed, and, if not required 

 for immediate sale, be thrown into a large bin to await the 

 process of sifting. 

 Manufacture "We now come to the manufacture of green teas. The chief 

 green ea. (jj.^^|3g^^.]^g ^q ^\^q manufacture of these are that they require more 

 labour, closer supervision, and are, as a class, wholly unsaleable in 

 the local market. Their London value, too, fluctuates to such an 

 extent as to render the manufacture of them a most precarious 

 business. The advantage about them is that they can readily be 

 turned out in dull cold weather, when the turning out of black 

 teas of fine quality is a somewhat difficult task. The planter 

 will do well to have a sufficient number of pans in his factory, 

 so as to enable him to turn out teas of this description as occa- 

 sion may require. 



With regard to the setting up of these pans, some lay them 

 in the masonry horizontally, others at a slight incline, say of 30°. 

 I prefer the latter method. It lessens the risk of burning odd 

 leaves here and there, renders it easier to empty the pans of leaf, 

 facilitates the regulation of the temperature, and in the final 

 process of bringing out the colour at a high temperature makes 

 this process less trying to the workman's hands. 



Leaf that is intended to be made into green tea is not withered 

 in the sun ; in fact manufacture may be commenced from the 

 time of its being brought into the factory. Previous to com- 

 mencing, the pans have, I conclude, been fired up to a moderate 

 heat, but not sufficiently so to cause the leaf to ci-ackle violently 

 so soon as it touches the pan. One man will be required to 

 warm the leaf for every eight to ten men employed in rolling. 

 The quantity of leaf weighed out for each pan at a time should 

 be from twenty to thirty pounds. This amount having been 

 weighed out, the head tea-maker takes up enough leaf to make 

 up a double handful for each man engaged in rolling, and pans it 

 at a gentle heat until it is thoroughly warm, soft, and flaccid. 

 The mass is then swept out of the pan into a basket and thrown 



