8oo 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1889. 
which have been proved of lie-tea being sent off have 
been applied to the en'ire export. The stimulus 
for fome of this adulteration has come from the 
foreigner, who desires to get good pure tea at half 
its cost of manufacture. The foregoing details will 
plainly show that an article which has to go through 
so many hands before its infusion is poured out 
of the tea-pot on the other side of the world, and 
where the only machinery used is a farming mill 
and a roasting pan, cannot be furnished at much under 
twenty-five cents a pound for the common sorts. The 
villainous mixture known at Shang-hai as ma-lu cha, 
or " race course tea," was the answer on the part of 
the native manufacturer to the demand for cheap 
tea, until the consumers in Great Britain protested 
at the deception put on them, and its importation 
was prohibited. Which of the parties was most 
blameworthy may be left for them to settle, but 
in our own papers, of course, most of thp blame 
rested on the tempted party. It is not to be inferred, 
however, that all cheap tea is adulterated. "The process 
of manufacture leaves a large percentage of broken 
material, which can be worked into passable tea: 
the produce of many regions has not the flavor of 
the finest sorts, and, as it is with wines, will not 
bear so much cost in curing. The tea-brokers know 
this, and things equalize themselves. The dust, the 
leaf ribs, and the siftings are all consumed by the 
poor natives, who mix other leaves, too, with the 
real leaf. Tea can perhaps bear comparison with 
any other great staple of food in this respect ; and 
when we can fairly estimate the consumption of 
tea sent out of China and Japan at more than 
three hundred millions of pounds, it must be con- 
ceded that it is a very pure article — not as much, 
probably, as even five per cent, of false leaf. 
One mode of using tea known among Tibetans 
and Mongols remains to be noticed. The rich pro- 
vince of Sz'chuen in the west part of Ohina, fur- 
nishes an abundance of good tea ; much of which 
is exported to Russia by way of Si'-nganfu and 
Kansuh, to supply the inhabitants of Siberia. This 
brick tea is cured by pressing the damp leaves into 
the form of a brick or tile, varying in size and weight, 
eight to twelve inches long and one thick: in this 
form it is far more easily carried than in the leaf. 
In Tibet, as we have seen, it appears more as a 
soup than an infusion. The brick tea is composed of 
of coarse leaves, or of stalks moistened by steaming 
over boiling water, and then pressed till dry and 
hard. When used, a piece is broken off and sim- 
mered with milk and butter and water, with a touch 
of vinegar or pepper. The dish is not inviting at 
first, but Abbe Hue endorses its refreshing qualities 
in restoring the failing energies. The pressing and 
drying is assisted by sprinkling the mass with rice 
water as it is forced into the moulds. The Chinese mix 
other leaves with real tea to eke it out, in districts 
where it is not commonly grown, but they do not 
regard this as adulteration. Willow leaves are com- 
mon in such mixtures. Large caravans cross the 
plateau laden with brick tea. 
Packing tea is mostly done in the interior where 
it is cured. The large dry leaves frequently found 
inside are usually furnished by a peculiar species 
of bamboo: the lead is made into thin sheets by 
pouring the melted lead on to a large, square brick, 
covered with several thicknesses of paper, and letting 
another brick drop down instantly on it. In order 
to te-t the honesty of the packing, the foreign 
merchant walks over the three hundred to six hundred 
chests which make a chop, and selects any four or 
five he may choose for examination. If they stand 
the inspection the whole is taken on their guarantee, 
and (they) are then weighed, papered, labelled, and 
mottood ready for shipping. In all these matters 
the Chinese are very expert. It is impossible to 
calculate the number of persons to whom the tea 
trade furnishes employment: nor could machinery 
well come into use to dihplare human labour. 
The introduction of tea among western nations 
was -low at first. Marco Polo has no notice of 
its use. The Dutch brought it to Europe in 1591 
According to some accounts ; but a sample or two 
did not make a trade, and there would have been 
reference to it if it had been used. In 1660 Sumuel 
Pepys writes, Sept. 28th:— I did send for a cup of 
tea (a China drink), of which I had never drank 
before. Nearly seven years after he says: "Home, and 
there find my wife a making of tea, a drink which 
Mr. Pellin, the apothecary, tells her is good for her 
cold and deflexions," In 1670 the importation into 
England was 79 pounds : in 1685 it was 1,207 
pounds: most of it came irom Ba^avia and sold for 
a long time between £10 and £5 a pound weight. In 
1657 Mr. Garney [Garraway ?] opened a .shop in 
London to sell the infusion, and ptM an excise of 
8d. per gallon. * * * Russia takes more good tea 
than any other nation and pays more for it, because 
the former overland trade to Siberia could not afford 
to transport poor tea. * * * Tea is a native of 
Assam, but its discovery only dates from 1836 or there- 
abouts. It is cultivated iu Java and Brazil, * but 
there is not much to encourage the manufacturer 
in any country where coff-e supplies a similar beverage 
and the price of labour makes it equal to the imported 
article. 
The remarkable work on agriculture of Paul Sii, 
a convert to Christianity in 1620, contains a brief 
account and directions for cultivating tea. In con- 
cluding the chapter he urges the greater use of tea 
as against spirits. " Tea is of a cooling nature, and 
if drunk too freely will produce exhaustion and 
lassitude. Country people before driakin,' it aid gin- 
ger and salt to counteract this cooling property. It 
is an exceedingly useful plant: cultivate it and the 
benefit will be widely spread : drink it aud the animal 
spirits will be lively and clear. The chief rulers, 
lords, and great men esteem it : the lower people, 
the poor and beggarly, will not be destitute of it, 
all use it daily aud like it." 
The chemical analyses which have made known to 
us the components of the four or five substances 
used as warm beverages, viz., tea, coffee, mate, 
cocoa, guarana, and kola, indicate three constituents 
found in them, to which, no doubt, their virtues are 
owing. 
A volatile oil is observed when tea is distilled 
with water ; about one pouud comes from one hun- 
dred pounds of dried tea f possessing its peculiar 
aroma and flavor to high degree. Much of it is 
pressed from the leaves when rolled aud cured, but 
little as still remains, its effects upon the human 
system are noticeable and sometimes powerful- Tea 
tasters who continually taste the quality of the 
various lots submitted by sample for their approval, 
do so by breathing upon a handful of leaves, aud 
instantly covering the nose, so as to get this volatile 
aroma as one important test. They also examine the 
infusion in several different ways, by its taste, color, 
and strength. Long practice in this business is alleged 
to have deleterious influence upon their nervous systems. 
The other beverages we drink, as well as tea, derive 
their peculiar and esteemed flavor and aroma from 
chemical substances produced in them during the 
process of drying and roasting ; at least nothing of them 
can be perceived in their natural state. Another 
substance in tea regarded as the chief inducement and 
reward in its effect on the system is the peculiar 
principle called theine. If a few fiuely-powdered leaves 
are placed on a watch glass covered with a paper 
cap and placed on a hot plate, a white vapor slowly 
rises and condenses in the cap in the form of colorless 
crystals. They exist in different proportions in the 
different kinds of tea, from one and oae-half to five 
or six per cent in green tea. Theine has no smell aud 
a slightly bitter taste, and does not therefore attract us 
to drink the infusion ; but the chemists tell us that it 
contains nearly thirty per cent of nitrogen. The salts 
in other beverages, as cuffee and encoa, likewise con- 
tain much nitrogen, and all tend to repair the waste 
* Ceylon not deemed worth of mention in 1883, 
is, in 1887 likely to take rank far before Java as 
a tea-exporting country.— Ed. 
f That is 1 per cent. — Ed. 
