OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



311 



height of about five feet. The 

 superior green teas are produced 

 by the thea viridis, 13, a larger 

 shrub, which grows to the height 



13 14 



857. 



of about seven feet. These plants 

 thrive best in the cooler parts of 

 the tropical zone, but grow in 

 the temperate zone as far north 

 as 45° ; they are raised from 

 seed. When one year old they 

 are planted out, and by cropping 

 the main shoot for the first year, 

 are kept down to a height of 

 about three feet, and made to 

 spread. They are placed in 

 rows, three or four feet apart, 

 and resemble gooseberry bushes. 

 In the fourth and fifth years the 

 leaves are gathered by women, 

 and converted into tea. The 

 youngest and earliest leaves are 

 the best and highest flavoured. 

 The second and third gatherings 

 are more bitter and woody. 



The leaves, when freshly ga- 

 thered, are neither decidedly 

 astringent, aromatic, nor bitter. 

 The pleasant taste and odour for 

 which they are afterwards re- 

 markable, are developed by the 

 process of drying. 



Another interesting chemical 



858. 



fact is, that different qualities of 

 tea are prepared from the same 

 leaves, according to the way in 

 which they are treated in the 

 drying. Either green or black 

 tea — though these varieties are 

 so unlike each other — may be 

 prepared from the same leaves, 

 gathered at the same time, and 

 under similar circumstances. 

 Mr. Fortune, who has had pecu- 

 liar opportunities for investi- 

 gating the subject, thus explains 

 the modes of preparation : — 



For Green Tea. — When the leaves are brought 

 in from the plantations, they are spread out 

 thinly on flat 

 bamboo trays, 

 15, in order to 

 dry off any 

 superfluous 

 ^moisture, 

 s They remain 

 for a very short 

 time exposed 

 in this manner, 

 generally from one to two hours ; this, however, 

 depends much upon the state of the weather. 



In the meantime the roasting-pans have been 

 heated with a brisk wood fire, 16. A portion of 

 leaves is now thrown " into each pan, and 

 rapidly moved 

 about and 

 shaken up 

 with both 

 hands. They 

 are immedi- 

 ately affected 

 by the heat, 

 begin to make 

 a crackling 

 noise, and be- 

 come quite 

 moist and flac- 

 cid, while at ^ 

 the same time 

 they give out 

 a considerable 

 portion of va- 

 pour. They 

 remain in this 

 state for four 

 or five minutes 

 and are then drawn quickly out, and placed 

 upon the rolling-table, and rolled with the 

 hands. 



Having been thrown again into the pan, a 

 slow and steady charcoal fire is maintained, and 

 the leaves are kept in rapid motion by the 

 hands of workmen. Sometimes they are thrown 

 upon the rattan- table, and rolled a second time. 

 In about an hour, or an hour and a half, the 

 leaves are well dried, and their colour has 

 become fixed, that is, there is no longer any 

 danger of their becoming black. They are of 



1G 



859. 



