No. U9.] 359 



It succeeds well in Tonquin, Ava, Cochin China, and Japan. 

 I have raised it in my green-liouse, and brought it to perfection. 



The best provinces for black tea, are Toklen and Canton, and 

 fir gseen tea, Kiaiignan, Kiang-si, and Chi-kiang. Tlio most 

 miserable teas are raised in Wopiug, a district in Canton. 



The cultivation of the tea plant is said to require much care. 

 It is raised Triucipally on the sides of hills, and when it is desir- 

 able to increase the quantity, and improve the quality, the shrub 

 is pruned, and not a) lowed to grow higher than three feet. When 

 the leaves are gathered, they are plucked one by one, and as they 

 select them, so the kinds of tea vary — each laborer gathers in this 

 manner ficm 11 to 15 pounds per day. At the age of seven 

 years, ;he leaves produced are of such inferior quality, that the 

 trees are cut down, and the young fresh shoots take their place. 

 The leaves are not usually dried by the cultivator, but are care- 

 fully picked, assorted, and carried to market and sold to the 

 dealers, who dry and prepare them, and then dispose of them to 

 the tea merchants, who sort them according to quality, give a 

 final thorough drying, and pack them in chests, stamp the chests, 

 and dls23ose of them. 



The youngest leaves afford tea of the most delicious flavor, 

 and are gathered at four different seasons. of the year. 



In 1834, Mr. lieeves gave an account of the preparation of tea 

 before the House of Commons as follows, to wit : — " The tea plant 

 in China has two distinct varieties, if not species, which respect- 

 ively yield the bhick and the green teas. The tree is an ever- 

 green. The picking of the leaves begins about May, when the 

 plant is in full leaf, but ready to shoot out other leaves. In the 

 black tea plant, the first shoot, or the bud coming out, then 

 covered with hair, forms the fine flowery pekoe. A few days 

 more growth, makes the hair begin to fall ofl"; the leaf then ex- 

 pands and becomes the black leafed pekoe. Some young shoots 

 have fleshier and finer leaves, which make the souchong ; the 

 next best leaves make tlie campoi j the next congou, and the re- 

 fuse and inferior leaves the Bohea. These are the states in which 

 the black teas are collected by the tea farmers ; and some very 



