TEA 499 



at the higher altitudes once a fortnight or three weeks, ac- 

 cording to elevation. When the bushes stop flushing, they are 

 pruned back severely, this being necessary at intervals of about 

 fifteen to eighteen months in the low-country, or of three to four 

 years up-country. When in full bearing at seven or eight years 

 old, the crop of made tea may, according to elevation, soil, and 

 degree of cultivation, be from about 400 Ib. to over 1,000* Ib. or more 

 per acre ; 600 Ib. is considered a good average yield. The 

 tea plant lives to a great age. The oldest tea in cultivation 

 in Ceylon is over fifty years of age, and shows no lack of vigour. 

 Plucking, which is usually done by women or boys, consists in 

 nipping off by hand the tender end leaves with the bud and shoot ; 

 taking two leaves and end bud constitutes fine plucking and 

 affords a good quality tea, while three or four leaves and a bud 

 forms coarse plucking and yields tea of a lower quality. Pluckers 

 will pluck from 20 to over 80 Ib. of green leaf a day, according to 

 the condition of the field and the activity of the workers. The 

 leaf being brought to the factory, it is withered on tiers of hessian 

 screens in drying sheds, through which hot air is driven; it is then 

 rolled by means of rolling machines (during which the process of 

 fermentation takes place), being followed by firing, in drying 

 machines, and finally sifted. By the latter process the tea is 

 simultaneously graded into such qualities as "souchong," "pekoe 

 souchong," "orange pekoe," "broken orange pekoe (the best 

 quality)," and " dust." It is then packed into lead-lined square 

 cases or chests of uniform sizes for export. A full-size chest 

 contains 80 to 100 Ib.; a i chest, 40 to 50 Ib. Black or ordinary 

 tea has been exported from Ceylon in 1913 to the extent of nearly 

 186J million Ib., valued at over 5,852,600. 



Green Tea. This is made by subjecting the green leaf at once 

 to a process of steaming in a revolving cylinder, and afterwards 

 by rolling, drying, etc., the process of withering and rolling 

 being omitted. China teas are usually made on this principle. 

 There is a certain demand for green teas in some countries, notably 

 the United States, and Ceylon now manufactures and exports a 

 considerable quantity to meet this demand. In 1912 the exportt of 

 green tea was over 8,093,000 Ib., valued at 23,550. 



Brick Tea. A cheap and coarse tea, made in China and used 

 largely in Tibet, being boiled with salt, butter, etc. Brick or 

 tablet-tea is made in two forms, one of which consists practically 



"On Mariawatte Estate, Gampola. Ceylon, a field of over 100 acres has given an average per 

 acre of 1,357 Ib. for seventeen years. tBeing somewhat less in 1913 



