The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-06-13
Thea-Tea.

The tea plant grows from three to six
feet, having numerous branches and a
dense foliage. The wood is hard and
tough, the leaves smooth and shining, of
dark-green color. The plant flowers
early in the spring, remaining in bloom
about a month, its, seeds ripening in De-
cember. The leaves are first gathered
from the plant at three years old. The
plant reaches its maximum size about the
seventh year, and thrivcs, according to
care bestowed upon it, from ten to twenty
years. There are two great varieties of
the plant, viz: Thea Bohea (black teal,
and Thea Vividis (green teal, though
both black and green tea are manufac-
tured from either bush; the quality of
the soil, the state of the leaf, the degree
of heat applied in it's curing, and the
method of manipulation producing all
the differences perceived in the cured teas
OF commerce.
Approaching, then, the degrees of deli
cacy that may arise from the different
periods Of gathering the leaf-from the
just-opening leaf to its maturity-we will
look at the modus operandi of preparing
the leaf for market.
For black tea, the leaves after being
gathered are spread out to the air
until they become tlaccid, then put in
large pans on steady fires and roasted five
minutes, then rolled by hand, then ex-
posed to the air in their soft and faccid
state, and, lastly, dried slowly over char
coal fires until their black color is fairly
brought out and fixed.
For green teas, the leaves are subjected
to the roasting process Immediately after
been gathered; after five minutes they be-
come t1accid, then are rolled by hand,
then returned to the roasting-pans and
kept in motion over the fires for about one
hour, when they become we'll dried and
have their green color.
The dark hue Of the black tea is due to
the exposure to the air oxygen on the
leaf juices. The Chinese give peculiar
metallic luster to the green teas by an ar
tificial coloring of indigo or gypsum in
small, innoxious quantities. This is "to
give force" for the foreign market.
In order to impart the delicate flavor of
the finest teas to the commoner sorts, the
Chinese scent both green and black teas.
For black teas, sprinkling with the chu-
can (chloranthus) flowers just before the
last firing of the leaf.
For green teas, placing alternate layers
of the leaves and fresh flowers until
basket IS full, covering the basket and
letting it remain twenty-four hours, then
firing it in lined sieve, and sitting the
flowers out before packing for market.
Frequently these highly-tlavored teas
are mixed with plain teas to impart del
icate flavor, say about one catty Zone and
one-third pounds) to ten catties of the plain
tea. The cultivation of the flower for
scenting teas is branch of agriculture of
considerable Importance.
The tea plant is cultivated in all the
Chinese provinces south of the Hoangho
-" Yellow River" The "Bohca hills"
and the "Sungho hills" are celebrated
localities, as producing the finest black
and green teas of commerce.
Such, in BRIEF. is an accurate account Of
that delicious leaf from which little
boiling water ever evokes spirit potent
to soothe and smooth most ills that mind
is heir to.-Geo. Rodgers, IN Chicago Jour-
nal