The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-07-09
THE UNIVERSAL BEVERAGE.
ENORMOUS PRODUCTIONS or TEA IN
NEW FIELDS.


lately enqaged In tea culture Ia Assam, Upper
India, may DO IN eresting;
aplanting IN India has increased from 3, 1000
600 pounds. IN 1898, to upward ~ 23,0O00p pounds
IN 1875. The lrincipsl tea dist lots IN lodia are
lachat, Upper aud l. iwer Assam, and tue slopes
Of the Hin,nlava ranges, extending norm from
Darjeellng, IaDdour, and huseOorie, to SimIa.
In Assam the greater portion are ~ JUNGLE dts
tricts, lands either Dough or held ny tenure
from the Government. Labor Is done by hiring
Tor three to Ave yelfs coolies sa, $50 10 40. 40
cordDg to the extent uf the PLANE r's operati ms
This IL zone by eng ging them from the Gov
eminent Emigration DeDo In Calcutta. a. local
labor IN ASS IN Is only TO be had In yer, limited
the Nagas. will only work for the privilege Of
taking their pay IN opium. The planter mas 70
Ot tain the services II a native 100 VI who has
graduated In the @ lCutti Medical College, and
h to supply each CuOie with one pair Of blan
Gov rnment Cooiie 1nspeotor, or rather ooolie
prOtect or, who-e particular uuty ! 10 To inquire
into any gre vance. Hut cases OF III treatment are
not Of very frequent occurrence. Tue coolies are
yaccinated ana despatched to their several des-
tinations In rye barges towed by steamers On
their arrival the planters troubles commence, ss
the BenRalee Is not OF a robust temperament.
Iiuts have 10 be huilt,the jungle mt Ell TO twenty
feet high, has to Oe cleared, and, ON account OF
the jungly nature OF the land, II Ia almost an
impOssibility to burn 1t; consequently II 10
allowed to decay. and the sfiiuvium arising from
80 much routing vegetable matter produces
jungle fever. which very soon ~ kes SAD havoc
among the coolies, and often the planter fnds
that hsnf his complement OF hands are sick. The
tea plant II indigenous to Assam, but they gen
orally plaDt he Assam hybrid ma China varte-
tiee. Allowing that all eoes on well, the plants
do not yield anything Of importance before the
third YEAR anu then n he obtains for the season
one ma one half mauuds, OF one hundred and
wenly-three pounds per acre Of manufactured
tea, the PLANTER has good cause TO COngr ~ te
himself 81 planting Is now reduced to a
science. The pants are as carefully prnned,
noed, and MANFRED as any choice flower garden.
Tue seas n IN Assam runs from bout April TO
September, and only the INST three leaves Of the
Young All 'uts are plucked, And IN ONE cases the
fourth leaf The nrst lest, winch Is partly ex
banded, has duwny IT,, and VII n nanufao-
tured produces hOwery Pekoe. named from the
tip ON the leaf the second lenf, which Is more
fully developed, forms Souchong or Pekus
SuuchOne the Third lie (, Congo, and In most
cases the iuuTth leaf h, n, morally epeaKing, too
ola ana brittle to roll, ana III the ~ tuufaOture,
from Its axe. breaks And turns brown. THIS
Latter Is sold with the dust aud broken leaf.
PICKING THE LEAVES
Women and CHILDREN o neatly II the Dlucking
aud IRE required daily To- bring In sixteen se r.,
or tnrty-two Iounos Of green leaf, AN Tor any
more they are PAD one " ce per seer. or two
pounds. Il ch le has to be plucked SO parate-
~. sometimes the tops Of the barkcts show a
nne sample uf well piucked leaves, while the
bottom leaves We teen plucke or strip
ped 10y the handful. 10 Obviate THIS petty
swincle, to each gang OF 4 rty OF nfty Iluck-
eis an over esr - employed TO watch hoth
the new aud Oiu nds. 10 produce a tea simi-
lar to the uncolored Japan, the leaves are roast
ed tnd rolled. As soon us Ulucked thcy are
uaoed on mats aud sun dried previous to their
finish oy Oryit 2 over the char gal fires. Tue
leaf then retains Rreenish hue winch Is the
he rest approach to green without using arIin
cial means.
In making bl ok tea. the leaves s,e allowed to
rem ,in in bulk 10 sweat, 10y whicn the leaves
urn "A browDish color, similar to leaves IN the
fat u the yeur, aud wren they are roasted
rolled, and dried they turn black In most gar
uens of uOte they We tea-roling machines
The old styie Of Maud rolling was not sAti fac
tory IN many RESPECTS, as each man had certain
au nttty To roll. In some cases he work
well done. but often II was shitkrd: md the
p ntcrs nd assist nts not being able to be
everywhere at once, large portions Of the CROP
were -poied A badly rolled leaf l. n gre Il deiri
men to the sale, AS no pelson Mi Duy a rough,
coarse-looking leaf. he tea-roliing machine Is
% Calcutta invention, Which came out about siz
years ago. 1t Il worked bv ouiiOcks. steam. or
water power. the steam y ,wef being preferred
on ccuunt Of the faCttir 4 affords for run ing
q saw Gu tue lumber for the pla att pn. when
Is considerable item H. India. HE tea sorting
macuins IS lso very useful. 1t l. similar 10 A
haud-winuowlng tn.ouiue. wi coarse ana tne
screens. by which means tue diherepl sizes ana
and classes uf leaf re separated. Giris aud boys
also work with hand sieyos. 10 stranger, "A
pile Of chests Of India tea do not ofef ca
attraction, rs the chests are very pl in. They
are a. ade VI teak ur "A native wood called taon,
similar 10 Common &c a., ana ruapled either
WITH rattan u. hoop irOu, ana the weight, gross
und tae, together With Tue name Of eacu f.c-
tory, Is marked leelnlY on each. lbey form
quite a cuntr 81 To the gaud -cOlured Celestial
nieroel' pines which, IA a majority Oi cases, con
talns leaves once used w honest Junn On ma
man, tlen Terulled, uned. packed. aud exported
70 lac delectd ION Of JOhn Ban ana his Ameri-
En- cousin ms /, fact when was lately
proved IN the Lancet newspaper, when several
hundred Udckage- were seiLod, marked me
" Moning,' =" Cohgou,' &c. &c. Ia lndi, they
toniu NOT, II 50 lntilntu, iiluil re To make
qutntity Ot what may he termed crooked tc.. as
Toe only consumers IA tue tea di-tiicts are the
planter ana family ana one or two assistants.
Ne above IS a. general outline Of the uianufac-
tufe Of to, IA lnul-, out planters differ IN small
sus OF manasemen,.
SUPERIOR INDIA TEAS.
That Indian ELS are suptr iOr 10 the China AM
j pan o. uduCtions Is proved b, the fact that
they meet wI,h reader sale aud higher RAGS
than the ca ia. flrst-class nOweriug Indian
f,k"e Is worth whole ale three sniliings auu
sixps nee To three and tenpence sterling, ana Is
used iar.el, 10 NIX win Interior Chm. teas ;
ahd The London Tunes OF last April shows that, IN
1863 2,iUO,UO POUNDS Of Japan tea were i'm ported
into England, aganst tareiN JOlOu pouncs In
1910. The opening of the Suez Lanal has gwen a
great impet1s to tie Indian ieA trade Freight
l. ~ los to - los. per ton, ana the passage
aoout thirty ave days, Instead of from i've TO
six months round the cape OF Good Hope, IA IN
former days. A venture IN tea culture IA the
south would be likely to produce similar results
to those that ave been achieved in ASS m and
other parts Of lldia. the 2UUU.UOO y unds Of
Indian tea al a very low hv thge OF Is. ia. per
pound, rep esents tll2oOO, winch has been re-
tained In John Bars pockei; aud according To
the In rease for the last ten years, he may be
ex cied In a few more years 10 Oe independent
The following is the statement II the London
Times, above ,terred To under uale OF Apri /,
1876 Aiessrs. j. .. Siliar & Co. Of 81 siucInx
Lam, have just published an elaborate t.be OF
tea II tissues, showing tue Import. delivery and
stock Tor the last forty We RS, or since the aoOli
TO Of the East lnul COmphni's monopoly. 1t
gives the statistics OF each description OF tea,
where the Government ittuins. published by
tue ID ldIl 81 llhut, Onlf rive me loIil iluHntl-
ties imported and delivered. GA ref- ence to
tue t.Dle, 4 Will be observed that the quantity
taken Tor consumption In The country has rarely,
II ever, f,llvn III. lhus Ia loi6, the qu.ntity
upon whcu duty was paid Was less than
100000 y unds. In 1916 II D7unted to neany
4e,WJ,Uc. la 1873 IL Was - joOUO (ne do. =
having teen redDcec from - 49, ~ Is.
Cd per pound. In 1865 II amouat-u - = a
than lE0O,Ol pounds, the uuty being only 81.
yer puund, nd last year II had reached l45,UUOOVU
pounds. Tue exports II tea from TINS cuuu ~
nave huctuated CONSIDERABLY. mo falling OF Is
accounted for DN the direct shipments 10 ltu--
sla VIA tho SueI (an.l. For exam pie, upwards
of lOOol,uOU pouuus went from China Last year
to Russia .nd Tue Continent, Chiefly VIA the
Suez Cinal to ODESSA, but one vessel with about
2,uOuuto pounds went ia the B4ltic. Ine TAME
SHOWS lhe delivery ot Japan teas TO have fallen
on rom 2,4uO.tO pounds IA 1853 To barely 5UO,UOO
pounds 81 year, wnile the consumption OF IN
dian tea has Increased ftnm 3,UUU,UO pounds in
1870 to upN ards vi .o,U,O,OOO pounds last year.
lhe table also gives snort outline Of the pnn-
ciua eyenls connected Win Culua and tho lraue
generally ~ l, the end OF last year"
CONDITION or THE TRADE.
Touching the same subj q the Toronto Globe
says: " lho Yea trade, IKE every Z. ntT hrAucn OF
commerce has suffered from tue duii times, and
buth tea ana sugar arc to-day cueapur tuau Was
ever before knoMn. The tnnIhets are glutted,
tine supply la Canada being ,qdai To a fun
twelve months demand, ANA foreign growers
are pressing Tor Or4eis In anticipation, appar-
emily, nf "A further decline In pm es. his s.ats
OF things Is, hove yer, y rtly owing 10 The area
of production, the supply having greatly ex-
teudcu Of late years. japan tea, quite uuknOMn
leW Yeas since, Is now a pOpulir article Of
consumulipn, wmle India ana Java have en-
tered ACTIVELY mo competition wi IA Iuiua in
Tsa.a f.aa Adj .afafl