632 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March 1, 1902. 
INDIAN AND CEYLON GREEN TEA. 
how to adapt it for the american marki5t. 
—•glazing' without adulteration.-- 
THE CHINESE FACING 'FAKE' EXPOSED. 
By H Druinmond Deane (specially contributed 
to " Tea)." 
In dealing with the subject of green tea and its 
manufacture and suitability for the American and 
Canadian markets, I must premise that, beyond a small 
experimental invoice from this estate, I have so far 
been unable, partly from want of a steam boiler and 
Eartly through being more or less in the hands of 
london Agents, to go in for these teas on a large 
commercial scale. Still almost every pound (if not 
quite every pound) of green tea that has been shipped 
in the last two years to America or Canada from 
Ceylon and most, if not all. of the Indian green tea 
now finding favour in those countries , has been made 
on my system and with a machine of my invention 
for the steaming process. 
My first attempts in this direction were made in 1887 
when I returned from visiting China and Japan and 
making a special study of the Japanese manufacture. 
I came to the conclusion that what was suitable for the 
small holdings of Japan would be too costly a process 
on account of the hand labour involved either in 
Ceylon or in India, and further modification in mani- 
f>nlation must be made to deal with the fine large- 
eaved varieties of the Indian indigenous tea plant. 
In 1889 or 1890 I made and sent to London my first 
complete invoice of ' Ceylou Green Tea.' The prices 
were most sati^factory, averaging all round, as far as I 
remember, about Is 2d per pound. The teas were sold 
as ' Kintyre ' Estate Green Teas by Messrs. Wilson 
and Smithett. I continued to ship Green Teas for some 
time afterwards to a firm called, I think, Messrs Chas. 
Lamb & Co. of Philadelphia. Finally I took a first 
award for Green Teas at the Chicago Exhibition. 
There is abundant evidence at present that Ceylon 
and India can and do produce a first-class article 
in Green tea of ' Moyune ' type, as regards liquor, and 
with perseverance a large business will in the end 
bo built up. 
THE PLANTER'S DIFFICULTIES. 
The difficulties to be overcome are three in number. 
First of all, there are the vested interests of the American 
merchant in the China and Japan trade. Secondly, 
we have to contend with the ignorance of the public 
in general as to what the true appearance of a Green 
Tea should be. They have been so long accustomed 
to the ' faced ' teas of t'hina and Japan and the small 
leaf from the dwarf variety of plant common to those 
countries! that it must take time for our plain looking 
bat far more economical and purer teas to get the 
attention they deserve. In the third place there is 
the diflSculty from a Planter's point of view of 
getting rid offannings and small broken teas, which, 
as with Pekoe fannings and broken orange Pekoes 
in black teas, are almost the finest liquoring 
and most economical teas made, were it so under- 
stood by the American and Canadian house- 
keeper. But in China and Japan these grades of tea 
are consumed in the country itself and not shipped 
as they do not lend themselves to the ' faking ' pro- 
cess known as 'facing,' so it is an unwritten law in 
America and Canada that broken teas must be 
avoided, and the problem at present is what to do 
with them, as we have no Green Tea drinkers on 
Ibis Bide. 
I am of opinion that our able Commissioner should 
do hi'i best to introduce these teas to Amerisana, 
provinff by the test of the teapot what fine flavoured 
economical teas they really are — in nearly every case 
Letter than whole leaf ' Imperials ' or grades answer- 
ing to Fekoe and Pekoe Souchongs of black teas. 
COMPRESSED TEAS, 
In order to encourage the production of Green Teas 
by Indian and Ceylon Planters, arrangements should 
be made to send out to Calcutta and to Colombo 
the most modern Hydraulic Presses for preesing 
these teas into ' Compressed Cakes,' like cakes of 
chocolate, the cakes to be stamped by the Indian and 
Ceylon Tea Associations. Until such time as the 
prejudice against this grade of tea is lived down, 
either the bonus should be paid to producers on their 
grades, up to, say 10 per cent of an invoice or the 
teas should be bought by the Associatiou at least at 
the average cost price of manufacture, and made into 
compressed tea, any profit over and above, say 10 
per cent being divided among the producers as a bonus 
after sale and realisation. 
HOW CHINESE GREENS ARE PRODUCED. 
' Facing ' teas as is done with over two-thirds of 
the China and Japan teas is done in the following 
way. The tea is bought from door to door, village 
to village by travelling buyers. It is about three- 
quarters fired at time of purchase. It then finds its 
way down to the treaty ports, where it undergoes 
sorting and bulking. The bulked teas are taken to 
the 'Hong' or firing house which as a rule contains 
from 100 to 600 iron pans heated by charcoal fires. 
About a pound or two of tea is poured into each pan 
which is warmed, but not hot at that step. The 
warmth for the moment renders the three-quarters 
fired tea slightly flaccid. A spoonful of a mixture of 
soapstone, gypsum and indigo or Prussian blue is 
quickly put into each pan, and a cooly in charge of 
each commences rolling the tea in the pan, the fires 
being banked up, and the heat increased until the 
tea is finally fired. Meanwhile the glaze or facing 
has been thoroughly rubbed into the tea, giving it 
that shiny peculiar colour always apparent in Chinese 
and Japan Green Teas, The mixture is apparently 
harmless, but there is no use for it, except to keep 
up the tradition that 'Green Tea' should have this 
peculiarly coloured, plumbago-like appearance. Now 
Indian and Ceylon Greens can, if wished, be given 
a glazed appearance without any adulteration simply 
by the use of the juice of the Tea Plant. To illus- 
trate my meaning, 1 am posting you under separate 
cover, three samples of Green Tea, identically the 
same tea— Plain, Glossed and Glazed. Perhaps the 
glazing is a little overdone, but the amount can be 
regulated. I do not consider the liquors of these 
particular samples quite Ai, as they are purposely 
made off a Hybrid Tea grown oa poor soil j but 
I feel certain the expert you show them to will say 
the teas are pure and good teas, and quite able to 
hold their own for quality with an average good 
Japan tea at least so I am advised by Calcutta and 
Colombo experts. 
THE COST OF PRODUCTION. 
Anyone working on my lines can, without any extra 
expense beyond ordinary rolling and drying machi- 
nery and &. steam boiler, turn out a similar class of 
tea (the quality depending, of course, on jat eleva- 
tion and soil,) with no extra expense beyond the 
£40 charged for my Patented Steam Apparatus. As 
the best Green Teas are made in the rainy season, 
factories that can't manage to wither black teas on 
account of insufficient space in wet weather, 
when leaf often takes two to four days to wither, 
can avoid all increase in capital expenditure in the 
shape of withering accommodation by making 'Green 
Teas ' during the wet months. 
One word more. Green Teas must be divided into 
two classes, viz. True Greens which are entirely 
unfermented, and Green Teas that are in part 
fermented, commonly known as ' oolongs.' These 
latter are represented in India by so-called 'Kangra' 
Green Teas, good teas of this class, but by no 
means up to the Greens of ' Moyune ' type. There 
is no reason why Kangra, Cachar and Sylhet shoald 
not each produce magnificent Green 'Teas, when 
working on the system I advocate and I am glA4 
