96 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  I,  1896. 
the  chests  should  all  bo  carefully  classified  by 
weight,  those  of  (say)  ‘2;-i  lb.  being  laid  aside 
for  the  '*  brokou  jiekoo,”  those  of  22j  lb.  for 
“orange  pekoe,”  those  of  22  lb.  for  “ pe- 
hoe,”  21.^  for  “ pekoe  souchong,”  and  so  on. 
Providing  the  sawing  has  been  done  with  reason- 
able uniformity,  by  this  meatis  and  tlic  interchange 
of  lids,  the  lares  will  be  found  practically  even.  Put, 
at  any  rate,  this  difticulty  can  surely  bo  surmounted 
by  the  use  of  machine  made  boxes,  patent  “ veneer  ” 
or  metal  chests,  or  some  similar  device.  When 
sufficient  lea  has  been  collected  in  the  bins  to  com- 
plete “breaks”  of  the  desired  size,  it  is  drawn  from 
the  lower  doors,  of  which  it  may  be  found  ad- 
vantageous to  have  more  than  one  or  even  tsvo  to 
a bin.  This  alone  goes  far  to  mix  the  whole.  The 
tea  is  then  slowly  dried  at  a comparatively  low'  tem- 
perature to  ward  off  the  slightest  trace  of  moisture, 
thoroughly  mixed  in  a large  heap  in  a dry  apart- 
ment, on  a canvas  sheet  on  a clean  and  perfect 
floor,  to  complete  the  bulking.  It  is  then  packed 
hot  in  the  lead-lined  cases.  The  packing  c.u 
now  be  done  by  the  •“  Davidsou-McGuire 
patent  packer,”  which  ingeniously  imparts  a 
rapid,  short  vibratory  motion  to  the  chest  being 
filled,  obviating  trampling,  unequal  pressure,  break- 
age, and  discoloration.  This  machine  is  coming  into 
use  on  the  gardens,  and  the  sooner  it  is  also  univer- 
sally adopted  in  the  London  warehouses  the  better, 
not  only  for  the  above  reasons,  but  to  compass  the 
only  missing  link  in  the  entire  circle  of  machine 
manufacture.  This  machine  claims  to  pack  so  as  “ to 
preserve  the  even  grade  of  the  perfectly  bulked  tea,” 
through-out  its  passage  to  market,  which  would  bean 
immense  boon  to  the  industry.  It  may  be  an 
aid,  horvever ; when  packing  by  machine — as  it  cer- 
tainly was  without — to  place  a thin  scale  inside  the 
box  (better  one  at  either  end),  graduated  to,  say,  eight, 
or  some  other  convenient  number  of  equal,  parts  of  its 
depth  to  be  filled,  so  that  exactly  the  proportion  of 
the  weight  to  be  packed  shall  occupy  the  corresponding 
space,  neither  more  nor  less,  and  thus  secure  an  uni- 
form compression  of  the  tea  throughout.  This  will 
prevent  the  tea  having  to  bo  crunched  up  or  irrcs- 
sed  too  much  to  get  the  required  contents  all  into 
the  box  at  the  finish,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  having 
it  too  loose,  in  the  case  of  too  much  pressure  hav- 
ing been  applied  and  the  tea  caused  10  occupy  too 
little  space  at  the  early  stage  of  filling.  As  soon 
as  the  chest  has  received  its  exact  quantity,  the 
top  of  the  led  lining  in  closely  soldered  down,  here- 
metically  scaling  the  contents.  Finally  the  chests  are 
marked  with  stencil  plates,  and  secured  by  hooping 
or  otherwise  for  the  perils  of  a trying  journey  by  land, 
w’hich,  as  regards  strain  upon  the  boxes,  do  not  even 
end  at  the  port  of  export. 
Darjeeling  tea  is  all  can  led  by  the  hardy  hill-men 
up  the  steep  mountain  roads  to  the  nearest  railway 
station  on  the  way  toinarket.  It  is  no  lurusual  day’s 
work  for  a coolie  to  carry  a lea  chest  weighing  110  to 
l;i0  lb.  a dislatrco  of  iivi'  or  s’x  miles,  making  at 
the  same  time  an  ascent  of  from  2,500  to  ii,.500 
feet,  in  sheet  verti('al  elevation.  There  can  bo  no 
deception  about  a lasJc  like  that,  and  we  cairnot  hut 
have  an  admiration  for  the  powers  of  endurance  of 
those  who  perfonu  such  a feat.  Of  course,  these 
people  are  trained  to  load  carrying  and  mountain 
climbirg  from  their  very  infancy,  and  hence  the 
peculiar  set  of  muscles  required  for  it  are  fully  deve- 
loped, if  not  actually  called  into  existence  at  the 
cost  of  others,  so  much  so,  that  walking  on  the  level, 
after  a few  miles,  becomes  )iositively  painful  to 
them.  In  the  proseculioa  of  their  own  ti'adc,  or  on 
domestic  affairs,  they  frequently  undertake,  loTig, 
arduous  journeys  over  ridges  and  along  and  across 
hot  valleys,  varying  many  thousands  of  feet  in  eleva- 
tion, occupying  many  days  on  end,  carrying  heavy 
loads  of  from  1501b.  to  200  lb.,  and  over  and  in  a ’di- 
tion  their  own  food  and  bedding,  most  cheer- 
fully lighting  a fiie,  cooking  and  eating  their 
scanty  meal,  and  going  to  sleep  by  the  way- 
side.  There  is  a stoi'y  still  current  of  a 
llhooteali  in  old  times  having  carried  a grand 
piano  up  the  hill  to  Darjeeling,  a distance  of 
50  miles  forward,  and  involving  a rise  of  over  7,000 
feet  iu  elevation  by  the  old  road.  These  hill  tribes 
are  a hardy  people  capable  of  performing  marvel- 
lous journeys  without  partaking  of  food,  or  on  the 
most  meagre  fare.  They  have  no  surplus  flesh  about 
them.  In  this  they  have  at  least  the  advantage  of 
the  majority  of  Europeans. 
Green  tea  has  never  been  manufactured  in  Darjeel- 
ing beyond  an  experiment.  (The  process  is  less  va- 
ried than  that  just  described  for  black,  but  here  I 
cannot  speak  from  experience,  air.  Fortune,  who 
travelled  in  Cliina  from  1818  to  1851,  was  the  first 
to  place  beyond  doubt  that  both  kinds  of  tea  are 
made  from  the  same  shrub.  The  Indian  planters 
were  not,  I believe,  successful  in  producing  tea  of  so 
deep  or  uniform  a green  as  the  Chinese,  because 
they  did  not  resort  to  artificial  colouring  with  Prus- 
sian blue,  gypsum,  &c. 
Brick  tea  claims  to  be  mentioned.  It  is  largely  used 
iu  I’lbctaiidthnadjacentcountries,  ou  the  direct  route  to 
which  Darjeeling  is  situated,  but  the  trade  has  so  far 
been  exclusively  with  China.  The  possibilities  of  trade 
in  this  direction  have  never  altogether  been  lost 
sight  of.  A few  bricks  have  occasionally  been  pre- 
pared by  way  of  experiment.  At  present  all  that  can 
possibly  be  done  is  to  ascertain  the  requirements  of 
the  market,  as  by  our  recent  treaty  with  China 
British  grown  tea  cannot  be  imponed  into  Tibet 
before  1st  May,  1899,  and  then  “ at  a rate  of  duty 
not  exceeding  that  at  which  Chinese  tea  is  imported 
into  England.” 
Much  might  be  said  on  the  all  important  subject 
of  quality.  In  Darjeeling  that  depends  mainly  (1) 
upon  .soil,  on  (2)  the  vigour  of  the  bushes,  (3)  variety 
of  plant,  (4)  elevation,  and  last  though  perhaps  not 
least  (.5)  the  season  (and  mysteriously  so  often),  the 
weather.  Apart  fiom  those  natural  advantages  or 
disadvantages  as  the  case  may  be,  much  is  due  to 
skill  and  uuremitted  vigilance  and  care  throughout  all 
the  operations ; and  an  ample  supply  of  machinery  fac- 
tory accomodalion  and  equipment,  to  enable  any  rush 
of  leaf  to  be  coped  with  advantageously.  As  explained 
cultivation  mu.st  tell  in  the  long  run,  but  for  im- 
mediate results  hue  plucking  is  the  main  point,  to 
secure  which  an  am  [he  su]>ply  of  labour  is  indis- 
pensable. Indeed,  I have  always  believed  that  half 
the  battle  is  outside  the  factory  entirely.  It  is 
quite  easy  1 admit  to  make  bad  tea  out  of  good  leaf, 
but  it  is  on  the  other  band  beyond  the  power  of  the 
most  skilled  to  obtain  quality  from  coarse  badly- 
conditioned  leaf.  The  spring  teas  arc  now'  inferior 
to  what  they  could  be,  because  the  plucking  is  then 
for  the  beiicht  of  the  bushes  not  for  quality.  Better 
teas  could  very  easily  be  made  at  the  outset,  as 
had  often  been  done,  at  the  cost  of  the  bushes,  an8 
tliough  not  of  the  quantity  in  the  same  year  cer- 
tainly at  the  expense  of  the  quality  of  the  after 
hushes.  Contrary  to  general  belief,  I am  fully  con- 
vinced that  the  maximum  crop  the  bushes  can 
safely  yield,  is  quite  compatible  with  the  best 
quality.  'This  is  merely  a question  of  labour. 
From  the  illu.stratious  already  shown,  it  must 
be  evident  Unit  one  of  the  great  advan- 
tages of  British  grown  tea  is  the  cleanliness 
of  its  pre])aration  compared  with  the  unsavoury 
methods  ot  baud  and  feet  manipulation  still  com- 
mon in  Chimi,  a d not  pleasant  to  think  of  con- 
sidering the  climate  and  the  habits  of  Oriental  la- 
bourers. The  contrasts,  as  described  and  illustrated 
by  Mr.  Fortune,  furnish  matter  for  a separate  paper. 
The  important  subject  of  the  chemistry  of  tea  I 
am  not  able  to  deal  with,  even  though  time  permit- 
ted. In  spite  of  the  able  and  valuable  elTorts  of  Mr. 
Kelway  Bambcr  and  others,  I fear  practice  has  as 
yet  beuefitod  little,  and  this  remains  practically  an 
unexplored  held  of  investigation. 
Some  of  the  earliest  Darjeeling  gardens  were  planted 
in  part  witli  a good  variety  of  hybrid,  which  still  in- 
fluences the  quality  of  their  produce.  Afterwards, 
for  a time,  there  seemed  a reaction  in  favour  of 
the  China  plant,  but  for  tlio  last  1.5  years  exten- 
sions generally  have  been  with  hybrid.  It  would 
not  be  well  to  plant  pure  Assnni  or  a high 
class  liybrid  solely,  as  that  would  fail  to  yield  the 
true  Dai  joeliiig  flavour.  The  Assam  indigenous  lias 
also  a tendency  to  become  deciduous  011  the  hills, 
if  not  upon  the  choicest  sites.  A blend  from  China 
and  hybrid  plants  is,  I boliovo,  best  of  all,  and  1 
