384 COFFEE. 



largely in the sections tributary to the Yang-tse-kiang Eiver than 

 any other. The tea is mostly gi-own by small proprietors or far- 

 mers, who cure it sufficiently to transport it to the native dealers, 

 who collect and ship it to the treaty ports, where it is again sold 

 to the large dealers, who refire it, assort it into grades, and, in 

 turn, sell it to the foreign merchants, who export it to the different 

 parts of the world. 



When it is first picked, if destined for green teas, it is thinly 

 spread upon bamboo trays and exposed to the sun for an hour or 

 two, then thrown into firing-pans and rapidly moved about for, 

 perhaps, five minutes. The heat develops the moisture and 

 thoroughly wilts the leaves, which are then drawn quickly out 

 and placed upon the rolling-tables. They are then rolled with 

 the hands (and sometimes with the feet) in such a way as to pro- 

 duce the style of tea most desired — a more circular motion being 

 necessary for "Gunpowders" and "Imperials" than for "Toung 

 Hysons " and " Hysons." They are then replaced in the firing-pans 

 and kept moving by the rapid motion of the hands of the work- 

 men, for a length of time, varying somewhat with the degree of 

 heat, but usually for an hour and a half or two hours. The leaves 

 are then quite well dried and their color fixed, and it may now be 

 said to be a natural-colored green tea. After it gets into the 

 hands of the large native merchants at the shipping ports, how- 

 ever, it is refired, and during this process a little coloring matter 

 is added — principally gypsum and indigo — in order to give it the 

 handsome, glossy "face," such as is popular in the American 

 market. With black teas the treatment is entirely different, the 

 leaves being simply dried by the producer, during which process 

 the tea is slightly rolled ; and it remains in this condition until it 

 reaches the hands of the wholesale merchant, who refires it and 

 manipulates it in such a way as to materially change the fiavor. 

 Indeed, it may be said that this manipulation at the tea-firing 

 " go-downs " is the most important part of the process, as different 

 flavors can be produced at will, and upon the assorting and sifting 

 depends the fineness of each grade. In some sections, during this 

 manipulation by the large dealers, artificially flavored teas are 

 produced. In Canton we saw large quantities of tea of ordinary 

 quality being scented by flowers gathered from a variety of jas- 



