TEA AND THE TEA PLANT. 



93 



After beinp; rolled the tea had to be "dried." This was accomplished in a 

 basket shaped like an hour-glass and placed over an open charcoal fire (fig. 

 9 and lo). The basket was lined with paper inside to retain the heat and prevent 

 the loss of tea. After being dried the hour-glass basket was placed over a tray 

 and the tea shaken out (fig. 16, ii). Lastly it was assorted according to quality 

 by women and children, who, sitting on the floor among the tea, took up in 

 the basket (fig. 10, 13) a small quantity at a time and hand-picked it. 



These appliances show the process of manufacture taught by the 

 Chinese who were conveyed to India specially for that purpose, and, crude 

 though these methods and contrivances were, they are the prototypes of 

 the machinery at present in use. In two respects only is the system just 

 described departed from in modern Indian usage : first the drying in the 

 sun previous to withering, and second the panning before rolling have 

 been, for thirty years at least, entirely discontinued in India. 



It must suffice for our present purpose to deal very briefly wdth the 

 modern methods of manufacture of black and green teas separately, and 

 for the purpose of furnishing the most accurate and approved opinions 

 I shall draw largely from the communication recently to hand from my 

 distinguished and indefatigable colleague Dr. Harold Mann. 



Black Tea. — Withering. — The first stage after the tips of leaf have 

 arrived at the factory is to wither them. For this purpose they are spread 

 very thinly on special trays made of jute canvas or wire netting and arranged 

 in tiers in a specially constructed withering house. On the hills this is 

 usually a loft which can be closed and warmed with hot air. In the plains 

 similar lofts fitted with fans to draw the air over the leaf are often seen, but 

 the consensus of opinion seems to be that in attempts to shorten the drying 

 stage by raising the temperature over 80° F. the quality of the tea suffers. 

 In the districts that produce the best Assam teas withering is almost 

 entirely carried on in houses open to the outside air. In cold as also in 

 damp atmospheres withering would be injuriously delayed, and so hot air 

 becomes a necessity. The leaf must wither, or become flaccid, and if too 

 much time be spent before this condition is attained, the tea is always 

 inferior in quality. At a temperature of 80° F. withering should be 

 complete in twenty hours, and the maximum of thirty hours cannot be 

 exceeded with safety. 



The process of withering is a very important one. If well carried out, 

 the amount of tea ferment (enzyme), which afterwards causes the change 

 in the leaf known as fermentation, nearly doubles in quantity ; during 

 that operation the soluble matter in the leaf considerably increases as 

 well as the tannin, to which the pungency of the finished leaf is due. 



Rolling. — The pressing-out of the juices of the leaf into contact with 

 the air is the essential part of this process. It was accordingly soon per- 

 ceived that machinery might be devised which would bring about this 

 result more completely and economically than had been done by rolling 

 with the hand or foot. During the past forty years there has been a 

 succession of machines for this purpose. It would be beyond my province 

 to describe these or to express opinions on the merits of the various 

 patents. 



The principle of all these machines is the same, namely, the rubbing 

 of the leaf between two surfaces, either rotating in opposite directions or 



