TEA. 



" Tlie tea districts of China extend ' 

 from the 27tii to the 3 1st degree ol" | 

 latitude. Accordinijto the missiona- 

 ries, it thrives in the more northern 

 provinces ; and from Kffiiiipfer it ap- 

 pears to be cultivated in Japan as far 

 north as lat. 45^'. It seems, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Ahel's observation, to suc- 

 ceed best on the sides of mountains, 

 where there can be but little accumu- 

 lation of vegetable mould. The soils 

 from which he collected the best spe- 

 cimens consisted chiefly of sandstone, 

 schislus, or granite. It grows well 

 in St. Helena and Rio Janeiro, and 

 will grow anywhere in a meager soil 

 and moderate temperature. 



"The culture of the tea plant in Chi- 

 na has been given by various authors. 

 It is raised from seeds sown where 

 the plants are to remain. Three or 

 more are dropped into a hole four or 

 five inches deep ; these come up with- 

 out farther trouble, and require little 

 culture, except that of removing 

 weeds, till the plants are three years 

 old. The more careful stir the soil, 

 and some manure it ; but the latter 

 practice is seldom adopted. The third 

 year the leaves arc gathered, at three 

 successive gatherings, in February, 

 April, and June, and so on till the 

 bushes become stinted or tardy in 

 their growth, which generally hap- 

 pens in from six to ten years. They 

 are then cut m to encourage the pro- 

 duction of fresh shoots. 



"The gathering of the leaves is 

 performed with care and selection. 

 The leaves are plucked off" one by 

 one : at the first gathering only the 

 unexpanded and tender are taken ; at 

 the second, those that are full grown ; 

 and at the third, the coarsest. The 

 first forms what is called in Europe 

 imperial tea ; but of this and other 

 names by wliich tea is designated, 

 the Chinese know nothing ; and the 

 compounds and names are supposed 

 to he made and given by the mer- 

 chants at Canton, who, from the great 

 number of varieties brought to them, 

 have an ample opportunity of doing 

 so. These varieties, though numer- 

 ous, and some of them very different, 

 are yet not more so than the difTer- 

 7S-1 



cnt variejies of the grape ; they are 

 now generally considi.'red as belong- 

 ing to one species, the Thai Rohca, 

 now Camellia Bohca {Fig- a), of bot- 



anists. Formerly it was thought that 

 green tea w'as gathered exclusively 

 from Camellia viridis ; but that is now 

 doubtful, though it is certain there is 

 what is called the green tea district 

 and the black tea district ; and the 

 varieties grown in the one district 

 differ from ttiose grown in the other. 

 Dr. Abel could not satisfy himself as 

 to there being two species or one, but 

 thinks there are two species. He was 

 told by competent persons that either 

 of the two plants will atTord the black 

 or green tea of the shops, but that the 

 broad, thin-leaved plant (C. vindi^) is 

 preferred for making the green tea. 



" The tea leaves being gathered, 

 are cured in houses which contain 

 from five to ten or twenty small fur- 

 naces, about three feet high, each 

 having at the top a large, fiat iron 

 pan. There is also a long, low table 

 covered with mats, on which the 

 leaves are laid, and rolled by work- 

 men, who sit round it: the iron pan 

 being heated to a certain degree by 

 a little fire made in the furnace un- 

 derneath, a few pounds of the fresh- 

 gathered leaves are put upon the pan : 

 the fresh and juicy leaves crack when 

 they touch the pan, and it is the bu- 

 siness of the operator to shift them 

 as quickly as possible with his bare 

 hands, till they become too hot to be 



