THE SUB -TROPICAL ZONE. 125 



" Young hvson," also, till it was spoiled by 

 the large demands of late years, was a delicate 

 young leaf, called in Chinese "Yu-tseen" 

 " before the rains." As it could not be pro- 

 duced genuine in any large quantity, it has 

 been imitated by cutting up green teas of 

 common quality, and sifting them through 

 sieves of a certain size ; and even the coarsest 

 black teas have of late been cut up in a similar 

 manner, and then coloured green with a pre- 

 paration ; and these spurious articles form the 

 bulk of the " young hyson" now sold. The 

 second collection of leaves is made about the 

 beginning of April, and the third in June. 

 The bulk of the last collection is an inferior 

 and coarse kind of tea, a large quantity of 

 which is retained among the Chinese for home 

 consumption. 



The finest and most delicate teas are almost 

 entirely retained among the Chinese them- 

 selves, for use among the higher orders, and 

 for presents. The middle and some of the 

 coarser qualities are those chiefly exported. 

 Some of the inferior qualities are made into 

 what is called brick tea. It comes into trade 

 in hard cakes, very like thin bricks, consisting 

 of leaves only partially separated from the 

 stalks, held together by some clammy sub- 

 stance, pressed in the form of cakes, and dried 

 in the ovens. In using it, some pieces are 

 broken off, reduced to powder, and then boiled 

 with water or milk, meal, and fat. The soldiers 

 on the northern frontier of China are paid in 

 11* 



