Bibliography. 169 



tive leaf which had escaped the winnowing and sifting was picked out 

 by hand. The residue, which was left from the first fanning, was sub- 

 mitted to all the operations of winnowing, sifting, and scorching, and 

 it then afforded the Fine Hyson Tea of commerce ; while the same 

 operations performed on the residuum of it, yielded the Common Hy- 

 son; and the refuse of the third quality again, afforded the Coarse 

 Hyson. Finally, the broken and unrolled foliage, which was rejected 

 in the last siftings, furnish what is called Family Tea, the better kind 

 of which is called Chato, and the inferior Chvto. The latter sort is 

 never sold, but kept for consumption in the families of the growers. 



" Such is the mode of preparation pursued at Rio Janeiro, though 

 I must add, that the process employed at the botanic garden being- 

 most carefully performed, in order to serve as a model for private 

 cultivators of tea, the produce is superior to the generality, so that 

 we dare not judge of all Brazilian tea by what is raised at the garden 

 of Rio." 



Mr. Guillemin recommends the western extremity of the depart- 

 ment of Finisterre, as having a soil and climate more suitable to the 

 culture of tea, than any other part of France. 



"And now to come to the important question, whether the growth 

 and preparation of tea can furnish an advantageous branch of agricul- 

 ture in France, — the decision rests on so many contingencies, of the 

 quantity of respective produce from a given portion of soil, and the 

 price to be realized by the article when produced, that it is very diffi- 

 cult to arrive at a satisfactory and correct answer. In Brazil, where, 

 as 1 have stated above, the culture of the shrub succeeds perfectly well ; 

 where the gathering of the foliage proceeds with hardly any interrup- 

 tion during the entire year ; where the quality (setting aside the aroma 

 which is believed to be artificially added) is not inferior to that of the 

 finest tea from China, still the growers have not realized any large 

 profits. They have assuredly manufactured an immense quantity of 

 tea, to judge by what I saw in the warehouses at St. Paul, but they 

 cannot afford to sell it under six francs for the half kilogramme, a lb. 

 weight, which is higher than Chinese tea of equally good quality. 

 Indeed, the trade of tea is still in great activity between China and 

 Brazil, partly by ships which come straight from the former country 

 to Rio Janeiro, and partly through the United States. Could we in- 

 sure France a similar modicum of success in rearing the plants, as in 

 Brazil, it may be fairly calculated that considerable improvements 

 would take place ; the lower price of labor would diminish the cost of 

 its produce; more economical and expeditious plans for preparing the 

 leaf might easily be invented ; and finally, if we could succeed in im- 

 parting the perfume which distinguishes the Chinese tea, there can 



Vol. XL, No. 1.— Oct.-Dec. 1840. 22 



