NAT. ORDER. THEACEiE. 
91 
are then taken up, and the leaves picked off. The leaves are not 
collected from the cultivated plant till it is three years old ; and 
after growing seven or ten years it is cut down, in order that the 
numerous young shoots may afford a gi-eater supply of leaves. 
The leaves should be dried as soon as possible after they are 
collected ; and for this purpose Koempfer relates, that public build- 
ings are erected, containing from five to ten, and even twenty 
small furnaces, about three feet high, each having at the top a 
large iron pan. There is also a long table covered with mats, on 
which the leaves are laid, and rolled by workmen who sit round it. 
The iron pan being heated to a certain degree by a fire made in 
the furnace beneath, a few pounds of the leaves are put upon the 
pan, and continually turned and shifted by the hands, till they be- 
come too hot to be endured ; they are then thrown upon the mats 
to be rolled, which is done between the palms of the hands, after 
which they are cooled as speedily as possible. 
It is desirable that all the moisture of the leaves should be 
completely dissipated, and their twisted form preserved, for which 
purpose the above process is repeated several times with the same 
leaves, but less heat is employed than at first. The Tea thus 
manufactured is afterwards sorted, according to its kinds or good- 
ness. Some young, tender leaves are never rolled, and are im- 
mersed in hot water before they are dried. 
From this account of the Japanese method of curing their 
Teas, it appears that a prompt and complete exsiccation is the 
chief art employed. We suspect, however, that the Chinese are 
more indebted to art than to nature for the various kinds of Tea 
with which they supply this country. Many of their Teas are so 
widely different in taste, odor, color, and form, that instead of ap- 
pearing to be the leaves of the same species of plant, they are so 
much disguised as scarcely to manifest any resemblance to each 
other. It is true that some species and varieties of the Tea, as 
appears by Loureiro, are naturally more odorous than others; yet 
