142 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



flavour be distinct and pure, may have their value enhanced from ^d. 

 to lod. per Ib. 



Similar in every respect, except one, is the Oolong kind. The 

 one wanting quality is the strength, sometimes, by-the-bye, the flavour 

 is a little different. It may have the greenish, greyish blackish leaf 

 (though generally the green leaves are distinct from black ones, the 

 Tea thus being composed of greyish blackish leaves with a few green 

 ones intermixed), always has the pale liquor, generally the greenish 

 infused leaf; but sometimes it is sadly intermingled with black leaves, 

 as it is a Tea whose flavour is frequently burnt out, though its weak- 

 ness and green appearance are no doubt often caused by deficient 

 firing. Teas of this kind on the average sell below the ordinarily- 

 flavoured Teas of the same class of leaf. 



In Teas of ordinary flavour the following rules hold good : The 

 darker the liquor the stronger the Tea, and the nearer the approach 

 of the colour of the infused leaf to a uniform salmony brown, the purer 

 the flavour. Whenever we see any black leaves mixed with it (the 

 out-turn) the Tea has been over-fired, and we may either expect to 

 find the strength burnt out of it, or else to find it marred by having a 

 burnt or smoky flavour incorporated with it. When you come across 

 an altogether black or dirty brown out-turn, you may be certain of 

 pale liquor containing little or no strength and no flavour to speak of, 

 unless sometimes it be sour. This is a quality which I shall now 

 touch upon, and regret that I cannot with any certainty give any 

 reliable information whereby the planter may guard against this 

 greatest of faults. It may have various grades, slightly sourish, 

 sourish, and sour, depreciating the value of the Tea, say, from 3^. to 

 is. 6d. per Ib. The flavour of a sour Tea is hardly capable of descrip- 

 tion. It is not so acid as sour milk, in fact, not acid at all, rather a 

 sweet flavour than otherwise being blended with the sourness. It is 

 extremely unpleasant in its more developed grades, and cannot be 

 easily understood except by actual tasting. To the uninitiated fhis 

 fault is only perceptible in the more strongly marked instances, but to 

 one of the trade the least tendency to it not only condemns the parcel 

 at once, but also causes him to suspect any other lots made at the 

 same or any other time by the same grower, and it is a curious but 

 unaccountable fact that some two or three gardens (or growers ?) 

 almost always produce Teas having this fault. I will not cite all the 

 different explanations that have been offered on this subject ; I will 



