646 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [MARck i, 1892. 
was, and sent by sea from Batavia to Cheribon ; and 
this idea caused me to apply for information to the 
controller of customs, when I landed at Cheribon. 
This official, Heer A. K. J. Kaffer, explained to me 
that the landing of Java tea at his port of residence 
had attracted his attention, and that he had insti- 
tuted successful inquiries regarding the circumstance. 
I learnt from Heer Kaffer that at that time there 
were six tea factories in Cheribon, the chief place in 
the Residency of that name, where Java tea of infarior 
quality was so manipulated that it was converted in to 
a superior kind of China tea, and the difference in the 
selling prices of the two kinds of tea forms the cause 
of the extent attained by this izidustry. 
An import duty of 20 cents per kilo (or about 10 
cents (of a guilder), is levied on tea from China ; 
whilst Java tea is duty free from any port of Nether- 
lands-India to another. 
From the nature of the case the Cheribon tea 
alteration at Cheribon is in the hands of the Chinese. 
Large quantities of the prepared produce of the tea 
plantations in the West Preanger and Buitenzorg dis- 
tricts, of a quality unsaleable in the European market, 
finds eager buyers in the Chinamen of Cheribon, who 
transport it to that place via Tandjong-Priok. This 
product undergoes a manipulation at Cheribon which 
improves it to such an extent that none but good 
tea connoisseurs can distinguish it from the inferior 
•orts of real China tea. 
Heer Kaffer states that the native population 
forms the largest number of consumers of this worked- 
up tea, the packing of which is such that when it leaves 
Cheribon it is impossible to distinguish it from that 
which contains the tea which comes from China. 
For the packing there is an establishment at Cheri- 
bon where the chests are made, and another for the 
preparation of the leaden lining, as well as a 
printing press for the labels for the separate small 
packages ; the paper in which they are put up comes 
from China, as well as the gilt thread for tying 
them. Each package holds about the tenth of a 
katti. The chests are packed in bamboo baskets, 
which contain either one chest of 20 kattis, 4 chests 
of 5 kattis, or 8 chests of 2| kattis each. The last 
mentioned finds the readiest sale. According to our 
above-mentioned informant the small chests holding 
2^ kattis are sold at Cheribon for a guilder a 
piece wholesale, and the larger packages at the 
same rate per katti. For superior qualities the 
price is naturally higher, as the Chinese, by their 
mode of working, obtain tea of varioaie qualities. 
The profits of the China tea-alteratian industry 
are so great that the Chinamen in the Residency of 
Tegal have commenced competition. In a short time 
alieady four factories have been established in Tegal for 
the conversion of Java tea into so-called China tea. In 
September last when I was on board of the " Van 
Goens " in Tegal roads, I witnessed the lauding of 
about sixty large packages of tea from Batavia landed 
at Tegal in praus. There is no saying to what ex- 
tent this industry will reach in the Eastern residencies, 
especially when the natives shall be induced by 
advances of money from the Chinese to cultivate tea 
for them. That the large sale of this Java-China 
tea, as I may call it, amongst the population has 
an injurious effect on the public revenue is evident. 
The records of the Cheribon custom house already 
establish the fact that the import of China tea has 
been of late yearly diminishing. There is nothing 
fraudulent in the circumstance of improving the 
quality of the tea by a peculiar method of prepara- 
tion or re-preparation; tlic fraud consists in the 
sale of the improved article as tlie produce of Ching 
as testified by the tickets and labels on the chests and 
packages. The translation of these (from the Chinese) 
which follows heroaftti-, is due to the kindness of the 
Ilecr W. P. Groeneveldt. On the front and back of 
the chests the writing is tlic same, the name of the 
BcUer Chiiituhun is inscribed in large leUers, and in 
Bmaller characters stands "fine tea from the Thai 
mountains." On the top of the chest the words "fine 
tea, Kimhong sort"— being the nariio given to the sort 
of lea. On eacli sniall packet KUmds tho same in 
black IcttcrH and above tliiH iiiKcription is printed in 
red IcUwH "sclcclcd fiiwli quality " willi the mark of 
the seller. In each chest on the tea lead is placed a 
red paper with a printed notice in black letters of 
which the following is a translation: — 
" The undersigned, Ang Chin Chung, goes himself 
every year to the renowned Bu-hie mountains* in the 
early spring for the purpose of selecting fine kinds 
of tea pure and sweet in taste and smell; this tea 
is immediately packed to be sold far and near. 
" Now there are shameless fellows (schaamtelooze 
kerels), who actuated by an unwarrantable thirst for 
gain have counterfeited my marks, and have thus 
deceived the public. 
" I therefore request my honored customers to be 
pleased to note that I have, to provide against this, 
had a red mark printed obliquely across each packet — 
this is the true packing — and it is found as described, 
there can be no mistake. Spring of 1886. 
"Respectful notification by the seller." 
The Chinese of Cheribon attribute, what to their 
taste is, the inferiority of the Java tea first to its pre- 
paration by means of machinery, and secondly to 
the absence of perfume, because the flowers which 
serve in China are not made use of. If they could 
obtain the fresh tea leaves, they would be in a 
position to make a still closer approach to the real 
China tea, than they can do by working up already 
prepared tea. Therefore some of them have entered 
into contracts with certain tea plantations in the 
Sumedang districts for the supply of fresh leaf or 
leaves partially prepared to be delivered at Cheribon. 
Lately the following circumstance was mentioned 
to me : — 
As is well-known the tea bush has to be pruned, 
when the branches become too long, the prunings 
serve to make manure, and locally have no other 
value. A Chinaman of Tegal, however, made a bid to 
a tea planter of the Buitenzorg district of 2J cents 
for the prunings of each tree with the object of 
transporting the leaves to Tegal. I do not know what 
preparation such tea leaves were to undergo at 
Cheribon or Tegal. 
The Heer Kaffer describes the process to which the 
prepared tea is subjected as follows : — 
As soon as the tea arrives and is unpacked a portion 
of it is mixed with flowers, after which the mixture is 
covered over with blankets or gunny bags for one 
night in such a way as to exclude the outer air. 
The proportion cf flowers to the tea is from 5 to 
10 litres of flower. :o 1 hectolitre of tea. These quan*. 
titles mixed together are just sufficient to fiU 
drying basket. The day after the flowers have 
been mixed with the tea the whole is dried together. 
The drying basket in which the further preparation 
is effected, is of interwoven bamboo, and has the form 
of two truncated cones, the smaller sections being 
joined together, so that the upper portion is 
of the same size as the base, gradually narrow- 
ing from top and bottom to the middle. The 
basket is divided into two equal portions by a 
partition forming a sieve. The upper portion is 
of sufficient capacity to hold the mixture above- 
mentioned, whilst the lower portion remains empty. 
The whole is placed over a charcoal fire made on the 
floor, and covered with a thick layer of ashes, so 
that only a moderate warmth radiates, sufficient how- 
ever to dry the tea thoroughly. The more slovvly 
the drying is effectei, the better the quahty of the 
produce obtained. This drying lasts from 3 
to 5 hours. Simultaneously with the drying of 
the mixture of tea and flowers m this manner, 
a similar process is carried on with another portion 
of the same lot of tea, that has not been mixed 
with flowers, and with which the upper divisions of 
three drying baskets of similar size are fiUed. 
On the completion of the drying process which 
occupies the same time for all four portions, the 
baskets are taken off the fire, and the contents of 
the three last mentioned are intimately mixed with 
those of the first, from which last the flowers 
have been, for the most part, carefully removed. 
The tea is then ready for packing. The flowers 
used in this mode of preparation, are tho 
* The so-called Bohea mountains in the Prov inca 
of ilokkicn (China). 
