334 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov,  r,  1892. 
2.  It  was  kept  moist  by  the  peculiar  forma'ion  of 
the  rooks,  and  the  water  which  was  constantly  oozing 
from  their  sides. 
3.  It  was  well  drained,  owing  to  the  natnnl  de- 
clivities of  the  hills,  or,  if  on  the  plains,  by  being  a 
considerable  height  above  the  watercourses. 
These  seem  to  be  the  essential  requisites  as  regards 
soil,  situation,  and  moisture. 
In  China  and  in  India  most  of  the  tea  cultivation 
is  oarried  on  so  far  north  as  between  25°  and  30°, 
and  in  both  places  the  temperature  ranges  from  100° 
to  freezing  point.  In  the  Ceylon  tea  districts  the 
mercury  rarely  or  never  exceeds  90°  in  the  shade, 
and  still  more  rarely  does  it  descend  below  40°. 
Snow,  whioh  is  a near  neighbour  of  tea  in 
China  and  in  the  Himalayas,  has  never 
been  seen  and  cannot  occur  in  Ceylon  ; while 
the  rainfall  is  generally  sufficient  and  well 
distributed  without  being  excessive.  Planters 
with  only  Indian  experience  to  guide  them  have 
been  greatly  surprised  that  tea  should  flourish  as 
it  has  done  in  Ceylon,  an  island  without  a winter 
and  20°  nearer  the  equator  than  the  plantations 
of  Assam  and  Darjiling.  They  fall  baok  on  the 
idea,  that,  having  gone  up  like  a rocket,  our  de- 
scent will  be  of  like  rapid  character  ; but  our  olimate 
is  humid  as  well  as  hot,  and  therefore  we  cherish 
the  belief  that  tea  plantations  here,  especially  in 
our  mountain  regions,  will  be  as  lasting  as  those 
of  Darjiling  on  which  snowy  Kinchinjunga  looks 
down  or  those  in  the  valleys  of  Assam  throu.h 
which  the  frequently  flooded  Brahmaputra  pursues 
its  course  to  a junction  with  the  Ganges  and  the 
ocean.  The  tea  farms  of  China  are  of  small 
extent  and  are  cultivated  in  a style  very  different 
from  the  scientific  system  pursued  in  India  and 
Ceylon  ; and,  as  far  as  we  know,  tea  in  China  is 
never  packed  on  the  land  or  even  in  the  district 
where  it  is  grown.  It  is  finally  prepared,  fired 
and  paoked  at  the  ports  of  shipment,  its  previous 
treatment  being  generally  not  conducive  to  the 
retention  of  its  good  qualities.  After  going  into 
the  long  transit  and  ohanges  on  tea  in  Great 
Britain,  Mr.  Fortune  thus  concludes  his  chapter 
on  tea  production  in  China  : — 
Let  me  confer  a boon  upon  my  countrywomen, 
who  never  look  so  charming  as  at  the  breakfast- table 
by  a quotation  or  two  from  a Chinese  author’s  advice 
to  a nation  of  tea-drinkers  how  best  to  make  tea. 
“Whenever  the  tea  is  to  be  infused  for  use,”  says 
Tung-po,  “take  water  from  a running  stream,  and 
boil  it  over  a lively  fire.  It  is  an  old  custom  to  use 
running  water  boiled  over  a lively  fire  ; that  from 
springs  in  the  hills  is  said  to  be  the  best,  and  river- 
water  the  next,  while  well-water  is  the  worst.  A 
lively  fire  is  a clear  and  bright  charcoal  fire. 
“When  making  an  infusion,  do  not  boil  the  water 
too  hastily,  as  first  it  begins  to  sparkle  like  crabs’ 
eyes,  then  somewhat  like  fish’s  eyes,  and  lastly  it 
boils  up  like  pearls  innumerable,  springing  and  wav- 
ing about.  This  is  the  way  to  boil  the  water.’’ 
The  same  author  gives  the  names  of  six  different 
kinds  of  tea,  all  of  which  are  in  high  repute.  As 
their  names  are  rather  flowery,  I quote  them  for  the 
reader’s  amusement.  They  are  these : the  “ first 
spring  tea,”  the  “white  dew,”  the  “coral  dew,”  the 
“dewy  shoots,”  the  “money  shoots,”  and  the  “rivulet 
garden  ten.” 
“Tea,”  says  he,  “is  of  a coolmg  nature,  and  if 
drunk  too  freely,  will  produce  exhaustion  aud  lassi- 
tude; country  people  before  drinking  it  add  ginger 
and  salt  to  counteract  this  cooling  property.  It  is 
an  exceedingly  useful  plant  ; cultivate  it  and  the 
benefit  will  be  widely  Bpread ; drink  it,  and  the 
animal  spirits  will  be  lively  aud  clear.  The  chief 
rulers,  dukes,  and  nobility  esteem  it;  the  lower  ptople, 
the  poor  and  beggarly,  will  not  be  destitue  of  it ; all 
use  it  daily,  and  like  it.”  Another  author  upon  tea 
says  that  “drinking  it  tends  to  clear  away  all  im- 
purities, drives  off  drowsiness,  removes  or  prevents 
headache,  and  it  is  universally  in  high  esteem,” 
There  is  no  answering  for  tastes  ; and  while  ws 
ehould  soarcely  think  ginger  and  salt  more  agree- 
able additions  to  tea  than  the  butler  and  meat 
wbioh  the  Tartars  mix  with  their  briok  tea,  the 
Chinese  oannot  understand  our  sophistication  of 
tea  with  milk  and  sugar,  while  the  Russians,  with 
better  reason,  contend  for  the  superiority  of  their 
own  elegant  flavouring  of  lemon  peel.  With  sugar 
and  milk,  or  still  better  cream,  however,  tea  is  a sub- 
stantial food  as  well  a pleasant  and  cheering  bever- 
age. Mr.  Fortune  left  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  green 
and  black  teas  were  made  from  the  same  species 
and  that  Thea  viridis  and  Thea  Bohea  were  merely 
different  names  for  the  same  species.  He  gave 
details  of  the  preparation  in  both  oases,  and  showed 
that  the  essential  difference  between  green  and 
black  tea  was  that  the  latter  was  withered  and  oxygen- 
ated, while  the  former  was  not.  After  describing 
the  manufacture  of  green  tea  Mr.  Fortune  writes  : — 
It  will  be  observed,  then,  with  reference  to  green 
tea — 1st,  that  the  leaves  are  roasted  almost  immedi- 
ately af'er  they  are  gathered  ; and  2nd,  that  they  are 
dried  off  quickly  alter  the  rolling  process. 
Black  tea. — When  the  leaves  are  brought  in  from 
the  plantations  they  are  spread  out  upon  large  bamboo 
mats  or  trays,  and  are  allowed  to  lie  in  this  state  for 
a considerable  time.  If  they  are  brought  in  at  night 
they  lie  until  next  morning. 
Then  follow  the  details  of  the  manufacture  of  black 
tea,  after  which  Mr.  Fortune  writes:  — 
It  will  be  remarked,  therefore,  with  reference  to 
the  leaves  which  are  to  be  converted  into  black  tea — 
1st,  that  they  are  allowed  to  lie  for  some  time  spread 
out  in  the  factory  after  beiDg  gathered  and  before 
they  are  roasted ; 2nd,  that  they  are  tossed  about 
until  they  beoome  soft  and  flaccid,  and  then  left  in 
heaps,  and  that  this  also  is  done  before  they  are 
roasted  ; 3rd,  that  after  being  roasted  for  a few  min- 
utes aud  rolled,  they  are  exposed  for  some  hours  to 
the  air  in  a soft  and  moist  state  ; and  4tb,  that  they 
are  at  last  dried  slowlv  over  charooal  tires.  The 
differences  in  the  manufacture  of  black  and  green 
teas  are  therefore  most  marked,  and  I think  fully 
account  for  the  difference  in  colour,  as  well  as  for  the 
effect  produoed  ou  some  constitutions  by  green  tea, 
such  as  nervous  irritability,  sleeplessness,  &c.  This  is 
shown  in  some  observations  made  by  Mr.  Warrington, 
of  Apothecaries’  Hall,  in  his  paper  which  I have 
already  quoted. 
“ The  question  presents  itself,  then,”  says  Mr. 
Warrington,  alluding  to  the  variation  of  physical  and 
chemical  properties  in  green  and  black  teas,  “from 
whence  do  these  distinguishing  peculiarities  arise,  and 
to  what  are  they  to  be  attributed  ? From  observa- 
tions made  in  other  directions,  in  the  coarse  of  the 
rou'ine  work  of  the  establishment  to  which  I am 
attached,  I had  formed  in  my  own  mind  certain  con- 
clusions ou  this  subject.  I allude  to  the  exsiccation 
of  medicinal  herbs;  these  are  for  the  most  part  ni- 
trogenous plants,  as  the  Atropa  ’belladonna , the  Hyos- 
cyamus  niger,  the  Conium  rnaculatum,  and  others. 
The  plants  are  brought  to  ns  by  the  growers  or  col- 
lectors from  the  country,  tied  up  in  bundles,  and 
when  they  arrive  fresh  and  cool  they  dry  of  a good 
bright  green  colour  ; but  on  the  contrary,  it  is  found 
that  if  they  are  delayed  in  their  transit,  or  remain  in 
a confined  state  for  too  long  a period,  they  become 
heated,  from  a species  of  spontaneous  fermentation, 
and  when  loosened  and  spread  open  emit  vapours, 
and  are  BenBibly  warm  to  the  hand : when  suoh 
plants  are  dried,  the  whole  of  the  green  colour  is 
found  to  have  been  destroyed,  and  a red  brown  and 
sometimos  a blackish  brown  result  is  obtained.  I had 
also  noticed  thut  a clear  infusion  of  such  leaves  eva- 
porated carefully  to  dryness  was  not  all  uiidissolved 
by  water,  but  left  a quantity  of  brown  oxidised  ex- 
tractive matter,  to  which  the  denomination  Apothem. 
has  been  applied  by  some  chemists  ; a similar  result 
is  obtained  by  the  evaporation  of  an  infusion  of  black 
tea.  The  same  action  takes  place  by  the  exposure 
of  the  infusions  of  many  vegetable  substances  to  the 
oxidising  influence  of  the  atmosphere;  they  beoome 
