60 TEA 



on the bamboo frames until the influence of the air 

 induces fermentation. 



3Iuch of the tea exported by China is compressed 

 into " bricks " or into " tablets." Brick Tea, usually 

 of wretched quality, is a roughly prepared mixture of 

 coarse leaves and twigs, thrown into a mould, and 

 pressed into brick-like blocks. Enormous quantities 

 of this poor stuff are made at Yachou, in the province 

 of Sechwan, and at Hankow. The principal importers 

 are Tibet and jVIongolia ; there are also markets for it 

 in some parts of Eussia. Tablet Tea is a very different 

 article, being a compression of good quality tea dust. 

 It is made in large quantities at Hankow, and Russia 

 is a very good customer for it. 



CHAPTER XIII 



IN JAPANESE TEA-LANDS 



Tea bushes were first planted in Japan about 1,200 

 years ago. But it was not until about 1750 that tea 

 was first exported from that country by some Chinese 

 merchants of Nagasaki. Rather more than a hundred 

 years later, in 1859, Yokohama and Kobe were opened 

 to foreign commerce, and with these two new open ports 

 in addition to Nagasaki, as outlets to foreign markets, 

 the Japanese tea-trade increased considerably. At 

 first England was a very good customer, but by 

 about 1871 she had practically stopped patronizing the 

 Japanese product, owing to the development of the tea 

 industry in Ceylon and India. Nevertheless, British 

 competition has not by any means had the same disas- 



