72 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



brown as well as a green color. On account of the lack of 

 uniformity in the color of green teas it was formerly a widely 

 prevalent custom to color green teas artificially with soap- 

 stone, turmeric, gypsum, indigo, and other materials. This 

 process was sometimes called facing the tea leaves. 



China produces both green and black tea, while Ceylon 

 tea is almost all of the black sort. Oolong tea from Formosa 

 is manufactured like green tea, except that it is allowed to 

 ferment only slightly. Oolong tea therefore has the appear- 

 ance of black tea and flavor of green tea. The Japanese 

 manufacture two chief grades of green tea known as gyokuro 

 and sencha and also a low-grade tea from old leaves known as 

 bancha. 



As already indicated, the highest grades of both black and 

 green teas are prepared from the terminal bud and the young- 

 est leaves. In the order of quality, the grades of black tea 

 from Ceylon and British India run as follows : Orange Pekoe, 

 Pekoe, Pekoe-souchong, Souchong, Congou, and Dust. The 

 green teas from China are commonly graded in the order of 

 their quality as follows: Young Hyson, Hyson No. i, Hyson 

 No. 2, Gunpowder, and Dust. Nearly all of these trade names 

 are common Chinese words derived from the tea industry. 

 The young flushing leaves of tea are covered with a fine gray 

 pubescence which turns to an orange color during the process 

 of curing. This pubescence is partly rubbed off the leaves 

 during the process of handling but is sufficiently evident to 

 give the term Orange Pekoe to a high-grade Pekoe tea. The 

 presence of the pubescence in the tea is taken as an evidence 

 of the fact that the tea is made of the youngest leaves. Brick 

 tea, as made in China, is of two forms : That which is com- 

 monly used in Tibet is made of old leaves and twigs with a 

 glutinous substance added, while the Brick tea used in Russia 

 is ordinary Dust tea pressed into bricks. 



In the list given above of tea-producing countries mentioned 

 in the order of their importance only a few countries of great- 



