1839.] extent and produce of the Tea Plantations in Assam. 515 



a few days longer, and turn all into Souchong; which it must 

 be remembered, takes all the small leaves above it. If it is the first 

 crop, the Souchong and Pouchong leaves may all be turned into 

 Souchong Tea ; but even if it is the second crop, when the Pouchong 

 leaves ought not to be gathered, they are nevertheless plucked and 

 mixed up with the Souchong leaves. Almost all our Black- and all 

 the Green-Teas have just been made from one garden. When 

 the Green-Tea makers complained that the leaves were beginning 

 to get too large for them — that is, they were fast growing out 

 of Souchong and running into Pouchong — the Black-Tea makers 

 took up the manufacture, plucked all the leaves, and made excel- 

 lent Pouchong ; so that between the two, there is not a leaf lost. 

 When the Black-Tea makers have a garden to themselves they 

 are cruel pluckers, for they almost strip the tree of leaves for 

 the Souchong, and are not at all nice in the plucking; the third 

 and even the fourth leaf on a tender twig is nipped off in the twink- 

 ling of an eye ; they then look about for more young leaves, and 

 away go the Pouchong, and Toychong too, which is the largest 

 leaf of all. But the Green-Tea men pluck quietly, one by one, down 

 to Souchong. The Black-Tea men separate all their Teas into first, 

 second, third, and fourth crop; but the Green-Tea manufacturers 

 make no distinction ; they prepare all the Tea they can, throughout 

 the season, box or basket it up, and when the season is over, they 

 set off for Canton with their produce; at least all those who do 

 not wish to sell their Tea on the spot. The different merchants go in 

 quest of it there. It now indiscriminately undergoes the second 

 process; that is, the different crops are all mixed up together. No 

 old leaves can be mixed in the Green, as in the Black-Teas; for 

 the long rolling in the pan crushes them, and the fan blows them 

 away, so that only the young leaves are left. 



We shall now take a comparative view of the number of men 

 required by the Black and the Green-Tea makers for one pair of pans. 



For the Black-Tea makers there will be required, 



to tatch, . . . . . . . . , . 2 men 



— roll, 4 „ 



— attend to the fire, . . . . . 1 „ 



— dry, 1 „ 



— beat and put in the sun, . . . . . . 2 „ 



Total number of men .. ..10 



To keep these men fully at work, from twenty-five to thirty coolies 

 will be required to pluck leaves, and they will turn out about two 



