The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-07-21

&ReH%* e@Fee ~ ~ S~sY - 49,
TO he Editw ofAt Journal If Commsree.
DkAR SIX Upon tits national holiday. =
national elaim may b appropriately answered.
although it does not come with the sound Of
cannon, or the blast ola trumpet.
On the 2sth ult, further advance was made
in the progress Of American tea, which will
answer some Of the calls of the public. and trau-
quilize the doubts and fears of the timorous--
on that day plucksd from several OF my green
tea plants, small quantity Ut tea leaves, and
proceeded to dry and convert them into tea.
The small number Of my plants and the partial
growth of the leaves, forbid my attempting to
gather beyond suffciency for experiment; but
enough, | apprehend, to confirm and establish
the important facts that the tea plant OF China
is congena 10 our climate; that the tea is pure
American growth unmixed with any other herb
or material that is cured by solar heat alone
and is in every respect the genuine tea of China
tea plants Its fragrance, flavor, and physical
qualities, may undoubtedly be changed by the
process of manipulation and manufacture. But
my object was to obtain the Interchangeable,
natural properties of the leaf, grown in this
country, and under the influences Of soil, atmos-
phere, and local circumstances peculiar to its
present condition. Whether the taste of the tea
corresponds with that Of Congou, Gunpowder,
Hyson, Bohea, or OF any other kind, is Of small
consequence. Ii the United States can pro-
duce one good quality Of tea from the China
plant, various kinds Of SOIL the diversity of
climate, temperature and location, will produce
every kind that grows in China, and satisfy
the national demand, 80 far as concerns that
article.
july An 1851. have now before me a pot
Of fresh Green tea, from my own plantation the
first have enjoyed. Having no experimental
evidence in this country of the effect of curing
tea by solar heat only, contrary to the Chinese,
Indian, and Jayian mode Of curing by firing, or
roasting in iron kettles, felt some reluctance
to expose this my first experiment to the public
gaze, and therefore conducted the whole, from
the picking of the leaves to drinking the tea, in
a private way. ! am much gratified with the re-
suit Of this my first essay in manufacturing
American tea The drying is SO simple that any
farmer in the Union can make his own tea, with
the same certainly and the same ease as he can
make his own bread. The fragrance is not so
high as imported Hyson tea, but the taste is far
more pure and clean in the mouth, although it
leaves the stamp of fresh made tea, or rather
tea from fresh leaf. 1t has not the slightest
dsagreeable taste, but has full delicious flavor,
indicating, in an eminent degree, perfect purity,
and the presence OF u sweet refreshing beverage.
Connoisseurs will, perhaps, measure the quality
of my tea by their own, to which they are accus-
toned. Bat the comparison will not hold good.
My tea is 80 peculiar, AS always use it in the
Chinese way, without sugar or milk, and have
the taste of the tea only, and cannot easily be
mistaken in the flavor and true properties of the
tea. If the ten be good, any thing and every.
til ing added to it, is detriment. II bad, use as
much sugar and milk as will neutralize the bad
qualities, and leave nothing but the taste sugar
and milk. do assure you that am so delighted
with my pot of tea that have drank of it half a
dozen times whilst wiring this article, and near
ly exhausted the tea pot. My black tea plants,
since their removal in April, have grown much
slower than the green tea plants. Indeed, the
green tea plant is much more hardy plant than
the black. Ihave written an article upon Assam
and EIimilayah tea, but omit it at present rather
than swell this communication.
Your obedient servant,
JUNiUS SMITH, LID.
p. S.-July 5th.-I kept part of a pot of my
tea until this morning, and took tumbler cold
1t is most excellent, and shade higher colored
than Hyson ten. But the taste is superior to
any China tea have drank, always excepting
few pounds from Archangel, which came over
land from the North of China, and which be-
lieye WAS cured by solar heat. At any rate, it
was, in my judgment, the finest tea ever drank
J. s.