BEVERAGE PLANTS 279 



Different countries have their own methods of 

 curing tea. They involve much special knowledge 

 and skill, much use of the hands and sometimes 

 the feet! This course of moulding, rolling, tread- 

 ing, and firing is a secret in some parts of China. 

 But the essential processes are known, and machin- 

 ery has been substituted for coolie labor in some 

 places. The product so pleases the tea experts 

 that more modern methods will surely supersede 

 the time-honored, primitive ones. 



Green tea is distrusted because coloring matter 

 is often used to give it a more attractive appear- 

 ance. Since the American trade demands a 

 green tea^and does not exclude, by law, teas con- 

 taining injurious dyes, we can hardly blame the 

 shrewd manufacturers for catering to our taste. 



COFFEE 



The coffee shrub is grown in sections of all 

 tropical countries, producing yearly for the mar- 

 kets of the world 1,500,000,000 pounds of the 

 beans. Brazil raises three fourths of this crop. 

 TheUnited States consumes one half of the world's 

 coffee crop. This astonishing demand places the 

 average for each man, woman, and child in the 

 country between eleven and twelve pounds. 

 Great Britain consumes less than one pound per 



