and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



PICKLED TEA. 



AN IMPORTANT BURMA PRODUCT. 



Of the multifarious economic products of 

 Burma, pickled tea is one of the greatest. It 

 is manufactured throughout the hills and pla- 

 teaux of the semi-independent frontier native 

 States that lie to the west of the Salween river. 

 These territories, now well-known as the Shan 

 States, are bounded on their northern limits hy 

 the group of mountains called the Cachin Hills. 

 The extreme Western slopes of these hills abut 

 on the ranges of the Upper Chindwin valley 

 which, in turn, connect them with the moun- 

 tains of the Mauipur State. This extensive, 

 elevated, and little-known region of high moun- 

 tain ranges, long river valleys, and gloomy 

 ever-green virgin forests (is the reputed home of 

 the Camellia theifera, Grift". There is reason 

 to believe that throughout the forests of this 

 wild and romantic habitat of the tea plant, 

 its fresh leaves have been boiled and eaten 

 by the hill-tribes from a remote anti- 

 quity. Indeed, this, to us remarkable, 

 utilization of the leaves of the tea plant 

 would appear to have been its chief and primal 

 adaptation ; for, not only is the practice of eat- 

 ing wet tea universal and familiar throughout 

 its habitat, but the Shans, Burmese, and other 

 Indo-Chinese nations, who inhabit the regions 

 contiguous to the latter, appear to have early 

 acquired a taste for and still adhere to the prac- 

 tice of eating wet or picked tea as a luxury. 



The fact that to this day, up in Western 

 Tibet, tea " is boiled with flour and butter and 

 the mixture eaten like a pudding " would point 

 to the practice of eating wet tea as having 

 been in vogue in the home of its production 

 anterior to the introduction of the plant 

 into China ; for, it is well-known that the 

 Tibetans acquired both plant and practice from 

 South-Western China. Seeing that the species 

 is indigenous to the mountains to the imme- 

 diate north of the Northern Shan States, it 

 would be but natural to expect to find so valu- 

 able a plant cultivated there. In this expecta- 

 tion we are not disappointed, for, throughout 

 the mountainous State of Tawngpeng, which is 

 the most northerly of the Northern Shan States, 

 it has been systematically cultivated from time 

 immemorial, the industry forming the chief 

 occupation of its people. The Tawngpeng State 

 is inhabited by the Palaungs — a semi- wild tribe 

 of Chino-Shans. There are several sub-divisions 

 of the tribe, some wilder than the others ; the 

 most enlightened of them, the Paya-taga class, 

 alone engage in the cultivation of tea. The 

 Paya-taga Palaungs are very strict Buddhists 

 and are, in fact, the ruling race. They are a 

 short, well-built, hardy race and a quiet, indus- 

 trious, and law-abiding community. 



Ordinary Burma Tea Compared with Indian. 



Besides pickled tea, they also prepare dry 

 tea of various sorts, the finest of which, 

 the Shwe-pyi-lwin doung, would pass easy 

 muster with the best Indian teas. It is, how- 

 ever, prepared only in very small quantities 

 for local consumption being used by the chiefs 

 and grandees of the State, particularly on 

 Durbar occasions. It is ottered before the highest 



in the land and passes for a great delicacy. The 

 second best quality, the Sliwe-pyipyindoung, is 

 a tea which is used by the majority of the well- 

 to-do ; but, it too, like the Shw-pyi-tioin-doung, 

 does not leave the Shan States plateaux. Among 

 the rest, although several grades find their way 

 into the plains of Burma, their quality is as yet 

 so poor as not to excite special attention. They 

 are, however, generally fragrant and cheap and 

 are consumed by the poorer classes. When it is 

 known that the Tawngpeng State, with its ex- 

 tensive tea gardens and industrious populations 

 lies within easy reach of Mandalay with which 

 it is connected by rail and road ; that Kyaukme, 

 the nearest railway station to the centre of the 

 tea industry of the State, is itself but 110 miles 

 from Mandalay ; that on the excellent Public 

 Works cart road which passes through Kye- 

 gone, which is within three miles of the 

 Kyaukme Station there are furnished bunga- 

 lows at convenient intervals, it will be 

 seen that opportunities for the expansion 

 and development of the tea industry and trade 

 are now wasted owing to no advantage being 

 taken of the especially favourable facilities that 

 offer. The delightful climate and fertile soils of 

 the Tawnpeng State would seem to hold out 

 two at least of the most essential requisites in 

 any locality which may be selected for tea culti- 

 vation. In regard to the rest, it may be stated 

 that though, like every other mountain tribe, 

 the Palaungs, too, are an independent race, 

 they are nevertheless humble and tractable and, 

 being rude and as yet unsophisticated, are 

 likely to appreciate considerate treatment. Be- 

 sides the lines of communication and transport 

 already available, a good cart-road from Tawng- 

 peng to Kyaurake, which is to cost not less 

 than four lakhs of rupees, is in the course of 

 being opened out. The presence of the political 

 officers, police and magistracy installed in tho 

 State by the Government of Burma may be 

 taken as an indication of assured safety, as an 

 earnest of the excellent relations subsisting bet- 

 ween the little Durbar and the great Sirkar and, 

 let us hope, a pledge as well that the investment 

 and circulation of foreign capital there would 

 meet with every encouragement and success. 



How to Prei'are Pickled Tea. 

 But to return to pickled tea : From 300 to 

 400 tons of it a month for at least six of the dry 

 months of the year are exported via Kayukme 

 alone — a large aud growing village which, but a 

 few years ago, was a mere group of huts. The 

 whole of this enormous quantity of pickled tea, 

 and more exported from elsewhere in the Shan 

 States, finds a ready sale in the low country of 

 Burma where it is prized as a great delicacy. 

 It is prepared in the following manner :— On 

 picking the leaves they are carefully sorted into 

 three, four, or even five grades, each of which 

 subsequently forms one quality. The best of 

 these consist of the tenderest leaves, in fact 

 the very buds themselves. The sorted leaves 

 are first gently rolled by hand after which 

 they are boiled in water in which they 

 are let to lie till cool. The vessel is 

 then taken down from the fire and allowed to 

 stand in the shade until the liquor in which the 

 leaves are immersed begins to ferment and turn 

 aour. The leaves are now ladled out into wooden 



