TEA 



TEA 



633 



strong, flavory tea without astringent effect. The 

 climates of Assam and the lower levels of Ceylon 

 are too tropical for the production of tea seed 

 suitable for this section. 



Great difficulty has been experienced in the 

 attempt to establish gardens from Formosa seed. 

 The very limited number of plants raised must defer 

 any definite opinion as to their utility here. It is 

 now asserted that the best Formosan tea is derived 

 from plants propagated by layers. 



If it be remembered that green tea is non-oxi- 

 dized, and black tea is oxidized, it will readily 

 be seen that those leaves which are less sus- 

 ceptible to oxidation are better adapted for 

 the production of the former sort ; and as 

 the ordinary curing of tea involves the exposure of 

 the leaf for a greater or less time to the atmosphere, 

 whereby soma oxidation is liable to occur, an in- 

 herent proneness to this chemical change renders 

 the making of green tea difficult. The black teas 

 come chiefly from warmer climates, the greens 

 from cooler climates. Either sort may be made 

 from all tea-leaf, but each variety is better adapted 

 for the production of the one or the other, or one of 

 the numerous intermediate kinds of commercial tea. 



Relative values of different parts of the tea plant. 



The names and average weight of the leaves and 

 stem on a young tea shoot, freshly plucked, are 

 given below, beginning at its apex. ("Pekoe" in 

 Chinese means "white hairs," referring to the 

 appearance of the folded tip when dry.) : 



Grains 



Flowery pekoe or tip J 



Orange pekoe leaf 1 



Pekoe leaf 2J 



First souchong leaf 5 



Second souchong leaf 8 



First congon leaf 9 



Second congon leaf 8 



Stem 16 



50 



It appears that' the orange pekoe weighs twice 

 as much as the tip ; the pekoe leaf almost twice as 

 much as the tip and orange pekoe; the first souchong 

 (corruption of Chinese for spiall or scarce sort) more 

 than all the pekoes together ; the second souchong 

 almost as much as every leaf above it, and the 

 congons (corruption of Chinese for labor in rolling) 

 are each as heavy as the second souchong. It takes 

 50,000 pekoe tips to make a pound of dry tea, but 

 less than 4,000 of second souchong or congon 

 leaves. Therefore the estimates of the yield of an 

 acre of tea depend to a considerable degree on the 

 method of plucking, whether fine or coarse. Those 

 before given, as the productiveness of the Pinehurst 

 gardens, are the result of fine plucking, whereby 

 only the pekoe tip and leaves, and very rarely the 

 first souchong, are gathered. A leaf or two more 

 from each stem should greatly enhance the size of 

 the crop, but would materially reduce the quality. 



The constituent principles which give intrinsic 

 value to tea are contained in cells which have to 

 be broken that they may be taken into solution by 

 the hot water poured on the dried leaf. These cells 



yield to slight pressure in the young and tender 

 leaf, but are so securely enveloped in the older leaf 

 that they require severe rolling. Again, by the 

 economy of nature the most valuable substances 



Fig. 856. Pinehurst tea-shoot from the vigorous and productive 

 type known as ' 'Assam-hybiid. ' ' Shows difference in size 

 of leaves ou same stem. One-haif natural size. 



are being constantly withdrawn from the older 

 tissue, to be deposited in parts that are younger and 

 in more rapid growth and replaced by more common 

 and abundant material. The newer, smaller leaf 

 consequently contains more that is valuable and in 

 a much more accessible form. Thus the teas made 

 from the pekoe leaf are more valuable than those 

 from souchong, and the latter than from congon. 



— Culture. 



Soil. — Tea requires for its successful cultivation 

 a deep, fertile soil, easily permeable to air and 

 water, as also to its roots, and entirely free from 

 stagnant water whether on the surface or within 

 its reach. Quite the contrary to the pictures on 

 our grandmothers' blue china, flat lands with a 

 slight slope for drainage are- best, as thereby denu- 

 dation of the soil by severe rains is avoided. The 

 land must be diligently tilled, and consequently 

 should be free from old roots and stumps. With 

 virgin land it is better to raise two or three crops 

 requiring deep cultivation before setting out the 

 tea seedlings. 



Climate. — A copious and even rainfall through- 

 out the cropping season is almost essential, but a 

 milder climate does not require so much precipita- 

 tion as a hotter one. At Pinehurst the total rain- 

 fall for the six to seven months which cover the 

 plucking season has slightly exceeded thirty inches 

 during the past (rather dry) five years. In the 

 great tea-producing regions of the Orient the rain- 

 fall is double or triple that amount. The Pinehurst 

 observations do not exhibit any marked dependence 

 of the size of the crop on excessive rainfall, but 



