The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-03-02


TEas.-THe Black and Green Of
Comnseyce.-The subjoincd abstract of a
lecture before meeting of the British
Association at Belfast, (Ircland,) is de-
rived from the report of the mercantile
Journal and statistical Register, publish
ed "und0r the control Of committee of
merchants -
DR. Roylc set out hy stating that the
thea or tea was one Of the most impor-
tant articles Of consumption, and, conse-
quently, of Commerce There we're diff
fcrcnt tea plants, which had different
names assigned them, such as thea Johea
and thea riridis, supposed to yield the
different kinds Of Tea though some
might dispute whether they were only
adulterated varieties or distinct species,
slight as the characters were upon which
species were now frequently established
1t was a remarkable fact, that the sub
ject of the difference between the black
and green Teas has been. until recently,
matter of great uncertainty The Jes
uits, who had penetrated into China, and
Mr.. Pigiou, were of opinion that both
the black and green Teas were produced
from the same plant; while Mr.. Reeve
believed that they were manufactured
from two distinct plants Now, as re-
garded himself, he(Dr Royle) had adop-
ted the view that best kinds of black and
green Tea were made from different
plants, and examinations of Tea samples
seemed to confirm that view but repe-
tition of the experiment had not done So
1t having been inferred from various rea-
sons that the Tea could be cultivated in
the Himalaya Mountains, Mr. Fortune,
subsequent to the China war, was sent
out to China by the Horticultural Soci-
ETY. of England, in order to make inqui-
ries on this subject. He, therefore, found
the thea Johea in the Southern parts of
China, employed for making black Tea /;
and in proceeding as far north as Shang-
hal, he found the thea ciridis used in
making green Tea, was near the districts
where the best green Tea was made.
So far, therefore, the information OBJ
tained seemed to confirm the view of two
different species of thea being employed
to make the two different kinds of tea
but Mr.. Fortune, in visiting the distric
of Fokein, was surprised to find what he
conceived to be the true thea ririCliS en-
ployed in making black tea III districts
near where the best black tea was made.
He took plants with him from Fokein to
Shanghai, and could find no difference
between them. 1t was still, however
desirable to get specimens from the dis
tricts where the black and green teas of
commerce were actually made, and this
has latterly been effected Mr. Fortune
procured seeds and plants in great num-
bers, and sent them to the Himalayas
Mr.. Fortune was again sent to China by
the East India Company. He proceed
ed to the Northern parts of the country,
in order TO obtain tea seeds and plants OF
tho best descriptions, as the most likely
to stand the Himalaya climate. When
he had reached Calcutta the tea manu-
faoturers whom he had grought with him
made from plants in the Botanic Gar
dens, their black and green tea from the
same specimens so that it was evident
it was the process of manufacture, and
not the plant itself, that produced the
green tea All now who were acquaint.
ed with the difference between green and
black teas, knew that they could be pre-
pared from the same plant without the
assistance of any extrancous materials,
though il was common thing for man.
ufacturors to use copper, indigo, Prussian
blue, tumeric, &c., in coloring the tea.