April  i,  1893,]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST., 
623 
TEA. 
[Fireside  Facts  from  the  Great  Exhibition , by  the 
Editor  of  “Pleasant  Pages"  : being  an  Amusing  Series 
of  Object  Lessons  on  the  Food  and  Clothing  of  all  Nations 
in  the  year  1851,  p,  52  et  seg.] 
( Concluded  from  page  558.) 
L.  Now,  papa,  will  you  please  to  give  us  the 
history  of  tea  ? 
P.  Yes.  But  before  we  leave  the  qualities  and 
uses  of  tea,  I may  as  well  add  that  in  the  compo- 
sition of  the  tea-leaf  are  found  two  metals,  viz., 
iron  and  manganese, — of  course  in  very  small  quan- 
tities. Again,  you  said  that  tea  was  astringent. 
This  is  because  it  contains  the  substance  which  I 
said  was  found  in  the  bark  of  trees. 
IF.  Do  you  mean  tannin,  papa ! 
P.  Yes.  I once  heard  a lecture  from  a chemist, 
in  which  he  amused  the  company  with  a curious 
fact.  You  know  that  the  tannin  of  the  oak-bark  is 
used  in  making  leather.  The  lecturer  showed  us  that 
when  the  tea  with  milk  in  it  reaches  our  stomachs, 
the  curds  of  the  animal  substance,  milk,  are  often 
hardened  by  the  tannin  in  the  tea,  so  as  to  form 
a thin  tough  substance,  like  leather. 
TF.  Then  I won’t  take  any  more  tea ! I don't 
like  the  process  of  leather-making  to  be  going  on 
in  my  stomach. 
P.  The  tannin  in  tea  has,  however,  been  rendered 
useful.  There  have  been  cases  in  which  it  has  been 
used  as  an  antidote  to  poison.  Even  arsenic  has 
been  decomposed  by  the  astringent  tannin. 
The  natural  history  of  tea  is  the  next  point  to  en- 
gage  our  attention. 
The  Natural  History  of  Tea.— Tea  is  brought  from 
China,  where  it  is  grown  principally  on  the 
hills,  and  in  dry  soils.  It  flourishes  best  with 
plenty  of  light,  air,  and  a good  sunny  aspect. 
The  plant  is  a species  of  camellia,  and  it  is  culti- 
vated by  means  of  seeds.  The  plan  of  culture  is 
very  simple.  When  a new  plantation  is  required,  the 
ground  is  carefully  prepared,  and  a number  of  holes, 
about  four  or  five  inches  deep,  are  made.  The 
holes  are  about  five  feet  distant  from  each  other 
to  allow  space  for  the  young  plants  to  grow.  The 
seeds  sown  are  always  such  as  are  quite  fresh,  as 
from  their  oiliness  they  do  not  preserve  well.  Five 
or  six  seeds  are  sometimes  dropped  into  each  hole, 
as  their  growth  is  very  uncertain.  Frequently  all 
of  the  seeds  will  grow:  and  as  the  plants  rise  and 
grow  together,  they  form  a large  bush.  After  they 
are  sown,  very  little  trouble  is  necessary,  except  that 
of  clearing  away  the  weeds.  The  trees  are  left  to 
grow  for  three  years,  when  the  plantation  yields  its 
first  crop. 
If  you  were  to  ask  a Chinaman  which  are  the 
best  kind  of  leaves,  he  would  tell  you  that  those 
which  are  from  the  young  wood,  and  are  grown  in 
exposed  situations  are  the  best.  He  might  further 
inform  you  that  the  leaves  are  gathered  three  times 
in  the  year;  those  which  are  gathered  in  April 
being  of  a bright  and  delicate  colour,  and  aromatic 
flavour,  and  without  bitterness ; the  leaves  which  are 
gathered  at  Midsummer  being  of  a duller  colour, 
and  loss  pleasant  taste  ; “ while  ” he  would  add,  “ the 
leaves  of  the  third  gathering  are  of  a dark  green 
colour,  and  very  coarse  and  inferior.”  “ As  the  trees 
become  older”  he  would  tell  you,  “the  leaves  are 
less  valuable,  and  when  they  are  seven  years  or  ten 
years  old  they  are  cut  down.  Numerous  young  shoots 
then  spring  up,  and  give  a good  supply  of  young- 
wood  and  leaves.”  Thus  you  see  how  many  different 
qualities  of  tea  there  may  be.  The  quality  of  the 
leaves  depends  on  the  time  of  gathering,  the  age  of 
the  plant,  the  soil,  and  the  situation  in  which  the 
trees  grow. 
IF.  And  I should  think,  therefore,  that  it  is  very 
79 
easy  to  procure  bad  tea,  when  the  good  quality  de- 
pends on  so  many  points. 
P.  When  the  leaves  are  gathered,  they  are  put 
in  wide  shallow  baskets,  and  are  exposed  to  the  air 
or  sun  for  some  hours.  The  first  dampness  of 
the  leaves  is  thus  removed,  and  they  are  now  ready 
for  the  drying-pan.  The  drying-pan  is  made  of  cast- 
iron,  and  is  of  a flat  shape.  When  the  Chinaman 
is  going  to  dry  his  leaves,  he  prepares  a fire  of  char- 
coal, and  places  the  pan  over  it ; he  then  puts  in 
not  more  than  half  or  three-quarters  of  a pound  of 
leaves,  and  stirs  them  about  quickly  with  a kind  of 
brush.  When  they  are  ready,  they  are  swept  out 
of  the  pan  into  baskets ; and,  as  soon  as  a basket 
is  full,  it  is  handed  over  to  another  workman,  to 
undergo  the  operation  of  rolling.  This  he  performs 
by  carefully  rubbing  them  between  his  hands.  The 
fourth  operation  is  that  of  drying  the  rolled  leaves — 
they  are  again  placed  in  the  pan,  but  in  much  larger 
quantities ; and  are  heated  just  sufficiently  to  dry 
them  without  scorching. 
The  fifth  operation  is  that  of  picking  and  cleaning : 
when  all  the  leaves  that  are  imperfect,  or  not  dried 
properly,  are  removed. 
The  last  operation  is  that  of  packing  it  in  chests, 
which  are  lined  with  tin-foil,  and  sent  to  England, 
and  other  countries.  I might  as  well  add  that  the 
Chinese  preserve  their  own  tea  in  porcelain  jars, 
with  narrow  mouths,  which  they  say  give  additional 
aromatic  flavour  to  the  tea. 
IF.  You  have  told  us,  papa,  of  six  operations : 
but  I think  you  have  left  out  the  history  of  the 
tea-picking , which  is  the  first  thing. 
P.  Yes.  And  that  is  a very  important  business, 
especially  when  the  finer  sorts  are  being  picked. 
The  collectors  of  fine  tea  are  generally  men  ex- 
perienced in  their  business,  and  trained  to  it  from 
a very  early  age.  They  are  compelled  to  clean 
themselves  three  weeks  before  they  begin  their  work ; 
and  they  are  forbidden  to  eat  fish,  or  any  other 
kind  of  food  which  is  reckoned  unclean,  lest  by  their 
breath  they  should  contaminate  the  leaves.  They 
are  also  made  to  bathe  two  or  three  times  a day  ; 
and  when  they  gather  the  leaves  they  must  not 
use  their  naked  fingers,  but  must  wear  gloves. 
IF.  There,  papal  You  have  mentioned  seven  oper- 
ations. The  picking — drying  in  baskets — drying  in 
a cast-iron  pan — rolling — drying  of  the  rolled  leaves 
— picking  and  cleaning  of  the  rolled  leaves— and  the 
packing  of  the  leaves  in  tin-foil.  So  that  we  have 
learned  the  “qualities,”  “uses,”  and  “description” 
of  tea.  Now  will  you  please  tell  us  of  the  different 
sorts  ? 
P.  Yes. 
The  different  sorts  of  Tea. — There  are  too  many  sorts 
of  tea ! but  they  may  be  arranged  in  two  divisions 
— the  good  sort,  and  the  bad  sort.  Let  us  first  name 
them  according  to  their  place.  Beside  the  Chinese 
Tea,  there  is  a tea  which,  about  twenty-five  years 
ago,  was  discovered  growing  wild  in  a district  of 
India  called  Assam.  Assam  is  in  the  north-east 
corner  of  India,  near  Bengal  and  Burmah.  The 
Assam  Tea,  when  it  first  attracted  public  attention, 
became  very  celebrated,  as  it  was  grown  in  a colony 
belonging  to  England.  On  account  of  its  novelty 
it  sold  at  very  extravagant  prices. 
The  tea-plant  may  also  be  grown  in  England,  being 
very  common  in  our  conservatories.  It  may  be  seen 
growing  in  Kew  Gardens,  or  in  Messrs.  Loddige’a 
gardens  at  Hackney. 
The  list  of  names  of  the  Chinese  teas  is  almost 
endless.  It  is  said  that  in  the  catalogues  of  the 
Chinese  merchants  there  are  at  least  160  names. 
Many  of  these  names,  however,  are  only  invented 
to  impose  upon  foreigners  and  obtain  a high  price. 
The  principal  kinds  of  tea,  however,  are  the  Black 
Tea  and  the  Green  Tea. 
The  plants  from  which  the  Green  Tea  is  picked 
are  more  hardy  than  the  others,  and  will  flourish 
when  the  snow  is  on  the  ground.  The  two  teas  are 
cultivated  in  different  parts  of  the  Empire.  The 
principal  difference  between  the  green  and  the  black 
tea  is,  that  the  green  tea  leaves  are  gathered  with- 
out the  stalks,  and  are  not  prepared  like  the  black. 
It  was  supposed,  at  one  time,  that  tlie  green  colour 
