SORTING. 145 



Young Hyson is smaller than Hyson, occasionally slightly broken. 

 It fetches from yd. to 2s. 6d. 



Hyson skin consists of the bold broken leaf of Hyson and Young 

 Hyson. A small broken Green Tea is seldom sent on the home 

 market. The reason of this is obvious. When we consider that 

 Hyson skin only fetches from yd. to is., it is apparent that anything 

 approaching a dust would give very little chance of a profit. I have 

 seen one or two parcels, too much broken to come under the title of 

 Hyson skin, sell at 3^. to 6d. per Ib. in London. It would be well if 

 some of the Indian planters would take a lesson from the Chinese, and 

 not send home their very low Teas, black or green, as they are very 

 difficult of sale in London, and in many cases cannot pay the cost of 

 packing and shipping. The Chinese make a great quantity of their 

 broken Teas into Brick Tea, and send it into the Central Provinces of 

 Asia, where it meets with a ready sale. I do not see why this should 

 not be done by the Indian growers. There is a large consumption of 

 Tea on the other side of the Himalayas, not very far from Darjeeling 

 and Assam. I hear also that in the neighbourhood of the growing 

 districts, especially in the North-west Provinces, the natives are 

 beginning to consume largely, and will pay 8 as. to i rupee for a Tea 

 that could not possibly fetch more than is. to is. 6d. per Ib. in England. 

 Whether the natives of India, as a whole, do or do not take to drinking 

 Tea will have a material effect on the future prospects of the article. 



Before dropping the subject of Green Teas, I will say a word or 

 two as to the expediency of making Green Tea. I have questioned 

 several experienced people on the subject, but none can tell me their 

 especial object in manufacturing their leaf into Green Tea. One 

 gentleman told me that he thought it was because their Tea-makers 

 (Chinamen) knew better how to make greens than blacks. I have 

 carefully examined the leaf of several of the North-west Green Teas, 

 and, noticing their English sale prices, consider that they would 

 have sold on the average at least $d. per Ib. higher had they been 

 made into Black Tea. The best way to test this would be to have a 

 Green and a Black Tea made from the same leaf, and then to value 

 the one against the other. I regret that I have never had the oppor- 

 tunity of doing this. We notice that the largest and most experienced 

 producers never make Green Tea.* 



* Note to Third Edition. As previously stated in foot-note page 133, 

 Green Teas are now but little used in Great Britain. 



