34 CAMELLIA THEA 



picked, and sorted into the different varieties, as congou, 

 souchong, &c. 



The differences, therefore, in the manufacture of green and 

 black tea are most marked, and fully sufficient to account for 

 their differences of colour and other peculiarities. Thus, Green 

 Tea consists of the leaves quickly dried after gathering, so that 

 their colour and other characters are in a great measure preserved ; 

 and Black Tea consists of the leaves dried some time after being 

 gathered, and after they have undergone a kind of fermentation, 

 by which their original green colour is changed to black, and 

 other important changes produced. It should be noticed, however, 

 that a great part of the Green Tea which is exported from China, 

 and consumed in this country and in Europe generally, and also in 

 America, is coloured artificially with a mixture of Prussian blue 

 and gypsum, or indigo and gypsum, to which a little turmeric is 

 sometimes added. Both black and green teas are also frequently 

 adulterated with the leaves of different plants, and in other ways, 

 but the consideration of this subject does not come within our 

 province. 



Commerce and Consumption. The great tea-producing country 

 is China, where it is said four millions of acres of ground are 

 devoted to its cultivation, and the produce annually is estimated 

 at nearly three thousand millions of pounds. Tea is also largely 

 produced in Japan, Java, Assam, and other countries. In India it 

 is also now becoming an important article of commerce ; thus, in 

 1873 the total produce was over 20,000,000 Ibs., and the value of 

 tea exported from Calcutta was 1,692,699. 



The consumption of tea in all parts of the world must be 

 enormous, as it is more or less partaken of by probably six 

 hundred millions of persons, or about one half of the whole human 

 race. In the United Kingdom the consumption of tea has very 

 much increased of late years. Thus, in 1840 it was about 

 50,000,000 Ibs., in 1856 it was 63,000,000 Ibs., in 1867 more 

 than 100,000,000 Ibs., while in 1873 it amounted to over 

 132,000,000 Ibs., and it is yearly increasing. 



General Characters and Composition. The different varieties 



