Feb. 1907.] 83 Edible Trodueis. 



a stone pestle. The production of this tea is comparatively small, and it is destined 

 entirely for the home market and is, further, hardly used except for the 

 " Cha-no-yu " tea ceremony. 



Bancha. Best Quality.— The method of preparing baneha may be dismissed 

 in a very few words. The best is that made in some places from the leaves of the 

 third crop. In many of the tea-producing districts of Japan, however, this third 

 crop is made into sencha or sent to be re-fired for export. 



Second Quality.— what may be termed the second quality is that formed 

 from the last year's leaves, stalks, &c, rejected from the hikicha, gyokuro and better 

 kinds of sencha. This and the above, though formerly only the drink of the lower 

 classes, is now frequently served at the end of a meal, and is said to be coming 

 greatly in vogue. 



Third Quality.— The cheapest and the worst kind, which forms the drink 

 only of the poorest classes, consist of the trimmings of the tea bushes when they are 

 clipped with the shears after the first crop. These leaves and twigs are spread out 

 on mats and left to dry in the sun, after which they are broken up small and are 

 then ready for the teapot. 



Average Price. — The average price of bancha throughout the whole coun- 

 try is l|d. per lb., but it varies very much in different districts— from just under 9d. 

 in Kagoshima prefecture to a fraction over Jd. in that of Kyoto. 



Black Tea. — Very little black tea is produced, as for some reason the Japa- 

 nese tea-leaf cannot stand the process of fermentation gone through by the Chinese 

 variety, and does not give good results. It was tried on a fairly large scale some 

 years ago, but without success. Japanese tea is made for the American market, 

 which prefers, so far, the green tea at present produced, and not tea as prepared for 

 the British market. 



The only appreciable quantity produced in Japan comes from the Island of 

 Kyushu. Nagasaki prefecture in 1903 produced about 35,231 lb. to the value of £1,411., 

 and Kumamoto prefecture about 89,889 lb. to the value of £1,955, the best 

 comes from Fukui, average Is. ljtZ. per lb., but only 971 lb. were produced in 1903. 



Oolong. — Oolong is like black tea in colour and appearance, but has the taste 

 of green tea. In Japan proper even less of this is produced than of black tea, but 

 large quantities are shipped from Formosa, especially to New York. 



Over three-fourths of the total amount produced in Japan comes from Higa 

 prefecture, in which 52,132 lb. were produced in 1903. 



Use op Machinery. — No machines are ever used in the preparation of either 

 hikicha or of gyokuro, and even in the case of sencha very few are employed in the 

 Uji and Shisrouka districts, the whole work of firing and sifting, &c, being done by 

 hand. In some districts, however— e.g., in the Sayama region to the North-West of 

 Tokio— machinery is used, though here also to no very great extent. It is said that 

 it is impossible to procure with machinery the same delicate aroma produced by the 

 old fashioned methods. For working up tea for the foreign market machinery has 

 almost entirely supplanted hand labour ; this will be dealt with later. The two 

 machines most used in the Sayayma district are one for partially firing the tea and a 

 winnower. 



Machine for Partially Firing Tea.— The machine for partially firing tea 

 consists of a hollow metal cylinder about 4 feet long with a diameter of about 2 feet ; 

 the ends of the cylinder are formed of wire netting. It revolves on an axis, worked 

 at one end by a handle ; at the other extremity is a charcoal fire, the heat of which 

 is conducted into the cylinder by a pipe, and is then drawn through the middle and 

 out at the opposite end by a fan which revolves in the reverse direction to the axle. 



