1738 
recollections of his childhood. The pictures are in their original 
frames and measure 23 X 28 inches; the canvas used is of very 
high grade and the brush work exceedingly delicate. The 
perspective is excellent, showing that the generally accepted 
idea that Chinese artists are lacking in this respect is incorrect. 
These paintings have been renovated and carefully mounted 
in four panels placed on the broad landing between the main 
floor and the second floor of the museum, directly opposite the 
main entrance of the building. At present, they are not arranged 
in series, but are grouped so as to give harmonious and pleasing 
effects and to display each picture in the best light. Taking the 
panels in order from left to right and the pictures from top to 
bottom, the subjects represented are, as follows: 
Tea leaves being carried from the fields in baskets by laborers. 
Tea leaves being tasted by women to determine their quality 
Women receiving baskets of green leaves from the field cid taking them to the 
uring house. 
Field of tea plants with women picking the leaves 
Tea leaves being dried over slow fires, mainly by women. 
Women assorting the finer grades of tea. 
Laborers planting tea. 
Cheaper grades of leaves being dried over fires by men. 
Grading, packing, and shipping the dried t 
Laborers preparing the soil for the planting of tea. 
Sprinkling the small tea plants with liquid manure. 
ringing tea from a rural plantation to a tea merchant, the ceremonies accom- 
anying a sale being indicate 
The usual tea-picking scene, reminding one of cotton-picking 
in the southern United States, is notably absent from this series. 
The presence of so many women and the comfortable houses 
figured indicate that the better grades of tea are being handled. 
The word ‘“‘tea’’ in China may represent a wide range of vari- 
ations, from the costliest products of the real tea plant to the 
cheapest substitutes made from the leaves of willows and other 
wild shrubs and herbs. 
W. A. MurrILe. 
