260 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. XV. 



sidered very bad management to begin to pluck the 

 leaves until this is the case. Even when the planta- 

 tions were in full bearing I observed that the natives 

 never took many leaves from the weaker plants, and 

 sometimes passed them altogether, in order that their 

 growth might not be checked. 



But, under the best mode of treatment, and with 

 the most congenial soil, the plants ultimately become 

 stunted and unhealthy, and are never profitable when 

 they are old : hence in the best-managed tea-districts 

 the natives yearly remove old plantations and supply 

 their places with fresh ones. The length of time 

 which a plantation will remain in full bearing de- 

 pends of course on a variety of circumstances, but 

 with the most careful treatment, consistent with profit, 

 the plants will not do much good after they are ten 

 or twelve years old ; they are often dug up and the 

 space replanted before that time. 



Size of tea farms and mode of packing. — The tea- 

 farms about Tsong-gan, Tsin-tsun, and Woo-e-shan 

 are generally small in extent. No single farm which 

 came under my observation could have produced a 

 chop of 600 chests. But what are called chops are 

 not made up by the growers or small farmers, but in 

 the following manner :— A tea-merchant from Tsong- 

 gan or Tsin-tsun goes himself or sends his agents to 

 all the small towns, villages, and temples in the dis- 

 trict, to purchase teas from the priests and small 

 farmers. When the teas so purchased are taken to 

 his house, they are then mixed together, of course 

 keeping the different qualities as much apart as pos- 



