Feb. 1907.] 85 Edible Products- 



lower being naturally much cooler than those above. The tea is first placed in the 

 pans of the upper level and is turned over and over by a two-bladed helix, shaped 

 something like a ship's propeller, which revolves at the bottom of the pan. It is left 

 for about 25 minutes until it becomes thoroughly dried. From time to time powdered 

 gypsum is put in to give it a lighter colour ; youug leaves require more of this than 

 older ones. A very little Prussian blue, as much as will lie on a knife's point is also 

 added. This colouring matter is absolutely inocuous and is only put in to give what 

 is called a " facing," without which the tea is not saleable on the American market. 

 About two minutes before the drying is completed a little powdered wax is added 

 to give lustre to the tea ; if the leaves are old, more wax is required than in the case 

 of the fresher young ones. When the time comes a lever is pulled and the tea is 

 allowed to drop through an orifice in the bottom of the upper pan into the cooler one 

 on the lower level, where it remains for about 15 to 20 minutes. Here the leaves 

 gradually cool and it is noticed that their colour has changed from olive to dark sage— 

 the result of the gypsum and in a less degree to the polish given by the wax. 



Sifting.— After the firing the leaves are passed through the sifter— a machine 

 constructed on the same principal as that used during the first firing described 

 above, only more complicated. This sorts the tea into different varieties — generally 

 nine or ten — according to weight. The heaviest kind is placed on horizontal wire 

 sieves moved horizontally from side to side, so that the finer leaves are shaken through 

 and fall into baskets placed to receive them. What remains is sifted again, and 

 the heavier leaves are placed in another sieve which breaks them up small. The 

 patterns of sieves employed differ to a certain extent in different manufactories, 

 some special types being patented by the inventors. The object of all this sifting 

 is to make the weight and fineness of the leaves as nearly uniform as possible, and 

 it is with this intent that the heavier leaves are passed through several kinds of 

 sieves and finally broken up. As many as forty different sieves are sometimes 

 used in busy times, 26 worked by machinery and 11 hand-sieves. The final result of 

 the various sif tings is that the tea is separated into about 20 degrees of fineness and 

 weight— from the coarse heavy leaves which have to be broken up by machinery, 

 to mere dust, which is generally sold locally at about 20 sen per lb. These various 

 kinds are combined according to the discretion of the manufacturer. Sometimes 

 he will combine them all in suitable proportions, sometimes he will only mix half- 

 a-dozen of the medium varieties which are the best and most expensive, and some- 

 times, to make a cheaper quality of tea, he will take the heavier leaves and add to 

 them a proportionate quantity of the lighter kinds. The best kinds of tea are 

 carefully gone over by hand, but it is impossible to do this with all the various 

 qualities produced by a large manufacturer as the length of time that would be 

 required would make the price prohibitive. 



Basket-firng.— This is a mu3h cheaper and simpler process than pan-firing 

 but it is not so much employed as the latter ; the figures for the export of basket 

 fired tea being only half those for pan-fired, 



Sifting. — The better kinds of tea are generally sifted before being fired ; 

 this is done first on horizontal wire sieves moved by machinery from side to side, 

 and the leaves are then passed through hand-sieves ; they are not broken up small 

 as are those which are pan-fired, but largely retain their original form and 

 appearance. 



Firing.— The firing is done in a large room with a cemented floor, in which 

 circular hearths are constructed at intervals of about 3 feet. Above the hearth, in 

 which is a slow charcoal fire banked up with white ashes, is placed a woven basket 

 about 2 feet 6 inches in length, narrowing in the middle and open at both ends. In 

 shape it is much like a dice-box. In the upper end of the box is a convex lattice- 



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