MANUAL OF THK NiLA(ilKI DISTRICT. 543 



out from this on to the rolling table. It is immediately taken cn. XXIX. 

 up by the rollers, who set to work on it at once. ^^, 



"In rolling green tea a considerably greater amount of pressure 



may be bi-ought to bear upon the leaf than in the ease of rolling for 

 black teas, and the matter of the leaf being a little more broken 

 does not signify so long as it is not literally cut to pieces and a. 

 fine close twist left on the leaf. This is only to be attained by 

 frequently shaking up the leaf during rolling. When the leaf has 

 been sufficiently rolled, each man should take up his handful and 

 compress it into a firm ball, squeezing as much juice as he possibly 

 can out of it. This done, the ball should be thoroughly broken up 

 and the leaf spread out very thin on a table or mat. The latter point 

 is of the greatest importance, as any slight heating of the leaf in 

 this stage would cause fermentation to set in, and a dark colour 

 would be commimicated to the liquor after infusion. 



" So soon as the first batch of leaf has been rolled once, a second is 

 brought from the pan and similarly treated ; and this is done until 

 the whole twenty or thirty pounds has received the first roll. The 

 whole is then again heated at a slightly increased temperature for 

 about ten minutes and is then brought back to receive a second roll. 

 The latter should take about five minutes, and the leaf should then 

 be again compressed, and any superfluous juice squeezed out. The 

 balls are now broken up again, and the whole returned to the pans 

 for the final drying off. The temperature of the pans may now be 

 materially increased, but not to an excessive degree, until nearly all 

 the juice contained in the leaf has been evaporated and the latter 

 has assumed a greyish black colour. The leaf will turn very dai'k in 

 the drying process, but the colour will come out all right in the end. 

 When the leaf seems nearly dry and assuming a greyish tint, the pan 

 should be made as hot as the workmen's hands can bear it. Two 

 men should now be set to each pan, and the leaf whirled round and 

 round as quickly as jiossible, not a single particle being allowed to 

 remain stationary at the bottom of the pan for a second, or burning 

 will result. It is on this final process that the "colour " depends, and 

 until the men have become expert at it, and their hands hardened, it 

 is very difficult to get them, without close supervision, to keep the 

 pans at the proper temperature. The men should relieve each other 

 every half minute or so until the bloom has come out, which may be 

 ascertained by taking up a handful and holding it to the light. As 

 the tea cools the bloom will be more strongly developed. 



" The colour to aim at is a bright pearly French grey ; and if the 

 planter has never seen a really first-class green tea turned out, he 

 should procure a sample from a broker, and try to work up to it. 

 It is of still more importance to keep green tea dry than black ; it 

 will absorb moisture freely, and the bloom will be lost, probably 

 beyond hope of recovery, by another firing. 



"The time taken in turning out a batch of gi'een tea wiU occupy 

 from two to three hours ; an even steady heat up to the time of 



