May 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 781 
THE SO-GALLED LOST ART " IN TEA 
MANUFACTURE. 
1. 
Ere proceeding- to deal with the chief theme of 
tliis paper, we must premise that the enormous 
accumulations of low grade tea in importers' aud 
traders' liands at home will need a very large pro- 
portion of Pekoes to salt them for consumers' 
use, so that the argument, for instance on fine 
plucking may be considered closed, and we do nob 
see any p.ecesssity for departing from the usual 
method of manufacture, in so far as the three or 
four leaves and buil are concerned, as such 
leaf will be needed for the necessary blending, 
but as in the usual course of plucking a good 
quantity of larger leaf is unavoidably brought 
in, and autumn requirements denotijig depletion 
of home stocks may demand more being taken ott 
the bushes, the planter has to decide wl-.etlier he 
will scill treat this leaf in the fashion hitherto in 
vogue or, by departing somewhat from, that, fit 
it U>r accDiumodatiou to the pronounced taste of 
the working classes in Europe and tiiat which the 
American and (jolonial consumer looks . for. 
Wliat we have to say upon the subject, it must 
be uiider.-;Luod, i? not writcea to provoke coJitro- 
veisy, but to put before the manuiacturer a 
sumuiaiy of the methods pursued both in the 
plains and hills that resulted in furnishing the 
consumer, who bad been used to the slightly 
sweetish teas of China Congous, an imitation that 
was approved of, leaving our readers to flout or 
adopt the suggestions according to tlieir own in- 
clinations or prejudices. On most, if not all, 
factories, everyone euiploys the common cane or 
wire sieve to separate as much as possible the 
coarse leaf from the fine after the first roll ; the 
more effectually this is done the less manipula- 
tion is required subsequently. Now we leave the 
finer teas alone for the present and recommend 
that the coarse leaf be placed in the roller, going 
slow as possible, in order to retain the juice 
in the same way as in the old hand-rolling 
days, 1869-72a when the leaf was jjassed from 
hand to hand along the line of men, the balls 
being broken Up and disintegrated by each, with 
the result that, on reaching the end of the line, the 
leaf had acquired that light mahogany colour and 
sticky consistency indicating oxidisation has suttici- 
ently been attained for liring. In very Vi'et weather 
the desired condition will not be reached as 
quickly as when the reverse obtains, in which ca-.e 
resort must be had to forcing under blankets as 
is now done in some factories, and here again 
constant testing of the mass to detect fermenta- 
tion will be necessary ; the leaf must be turned 
over and over and the hand thrust in : a bath 
thermometer will prove of service in denoting 
any tendency to heating. Then if spieail tUiiily 
oui on mats, chelnie^, or tables, provided a tem- 
perature of at least under 50° can be secured, an 
evaponuiou of tannin takes piaee and at this 
stage 1 he greatest care is necessary, for, if actual 
ferrneni-ation is allowed to set in, it is almost 
needless to say sourness results ; if the leaf is 
constantly examined by being held against the 
light, diminutive hairs show upon it, and as 
socm as these appear the leaf must go to the 
sirocco at once, but thinly spread in the tri\ys 
to b(t set, in the first instance; if the heat in the 
machine can be properly controlleti, live minutes 
will be quite enough for the contents of a dozen 
bottom trays to be collected together and trans 
f erred CO the upper ones, but overpacking (as we 
sliowed on the 3Ist Mareh last year) must be 
avoiiled ; the main object to be kept in view is to 
avoid haste and dumping too much damp leaf 
together ; for however careful thebattyer may be, 
dumping and too rapid liring dries the exposed 
layers, only half drying the centre, destroying all 
chance of unifoi m roasting and, desjiitethe most 
thorough bulking, an uuuiiiform tea results. We 
do not pretend to a knowledge of what chemical 
action is set up in oxidising by exposure at low 
temperature to evolve the saccharine principle 
that distinguishes tea so treated ; that it acquires 
such is undoubted, as anyone can satisfy himself 
of by tasting samples of genuine China or Japan 
(Jongous ; and it was by treating leaf in the man- 
nei; roughly sketched out that the teas hiade in 
the Nilgiris in 1871 acquired their well-deserved 
popularity, but that the method was not unknown 
in Sylhet can be proved, if papers are extant so 
far back as 1861, when samples sent liome throufrli 
Messrs. Grindlay and Co., on account of the 
Sylhet Tea Company, received high encomiums 
from iVIessrs. W J and H Thompson, as also from a 
well-known tea dealers' (inn of that day, Antrobus 
and Co. With the iiridequate space and kutcha 
buildings then available, coupled with want of 
appliances to cool down the leaf in those days 
it was found quite imni^s.sible in the ])lains to 
carry out this forcing later than the middle ot 
March, so the method gradually fell into disuse 
and was forgotten, being replaced by the present 
hurried' system by wliich, a.s has been repeatedly 
pointed out, u idue evaporation is stimulated from 
the outset ; the rolling machiues squeezing out the 
C'jiistituents by turning the leaf into a sodden 
stodge. Panning slightly rolled leaf does away 
with the tedious process of slow rolling oat che 
colour to a great extent, and if care is taken in 
regulating the 'heat the grayish ling-? will be de- 
veloped, wdiile, if all leaf is put through the process 
indicated, the slower the rolling, the more gradual 
the liring, coupleii with close attention to the 
appearance of the hairy llufi", the hner will be tiie 
tips, the more delicate the flavour, and more 
pronounced the sweetish taste the bulk of consum- 
ers demand. — Indian Planters' Gazette, March 30. 
II. 
It would be impossible to lay down one general 
rule for all factories, as sites, temperature, and 
requisite accom.modation differ so widely, but we 
have endeavoured to give an outline of the condi- 
tions leaf should assume at the several stages of 
manufucture. Actual green tea such as is im- 
ported from China can be approached, in so far as 
flavour goes, by elaborating the tedious panning 
and exposure, very slow tiring, and the admixture 
of'small quantities of powdered gypsun), as also the 
sr)rinkling of the leaf, in the final panning, with 
the same preparation —weak tincture of copper- 
that is sometimes used- in giving the brilliancy 
to pickles ; but the use of either of these minerals is 
to be (.liscouraged, and in fact, if Mr Mansell's 
contemplated Bill passes the House of Commons, 
would reiiderieas so doctored liable to confiscation 
at the Home, as they are now at the Atujfi.u-. i:, 
Custom houses. Less ■ objectionable cokmri. g 
matter could be obtained from the solution of the 
plant used l)y Manipuris in dying iheir keishes, 
but it would need to be administered wlien the leaf 
was almost finished. We, however, may leave the 
