The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-07-17
AMERICAN TEA.

use in this country. Some time ago
he procured seed from plants that
had been raised in this country from
seed brought from China some twelve
years ago, by his department, and
went into tea planting on a large
scale. He has now several thousand
fourishing young plants in the gar
dens Of his department grown from
seed put into the ground in Februa-
~ last, and is shipping numbers of
them to different points in the South
ern and Middle States and to the
Pacific slope every day.
Although the plant might be
grown, it does not follow that a good
article Of merchantable tea could be
made from it. The commissioner
had also taken this into consideration,
and was confident that he could cure
his tea as easily as he could raise it.
An experimental trial was made the
other day by experts in the tea trade
who had spent years in China and
Japan. The leaves were gatherd by
a number Of the lady clerks, from the
young plants in the hothouse,-mere
seedlings planted in February last
and not more than five or six inches
high. This was a disadvantage to
begin with, as the Chinese never
take tea from plants under three
years old. The leaves gathered were
the young tips, two or three only be-
ing taken from the top Of each plant.
They were then carried to the labo-
ratory TO be cured. They then be-
gan operations by placing portion
of them in seive and holding it over
a pan of boiling water until the leaves
were thoroughly wilted. They were
then put into thick cloth and sub
jected to heavy pressure to express
the juice or sap, which contains
large portion of fannie acid. When
taken from the cloth they formed
solid mass, very glutinous, and some
what difficult to separate. In this
stage the leaves can be made to as.
sumo any shape desired, and it is
while they are in this condition that
the Chinese make them up into the
different brands, like gunpowder,
imperials, &c. After having been
thoroughly separated the leaves were
next g fred. :" This was done by
placing them in a tin pan over a gas
fire, taking care not to permit the
bottom to get hot enough to burn,
and gently stirring them with the
hand until perfectly cured. When
the process was complete, the tea
was of deep green color, and re.
sembled very much Chinese o.
long, or a Japan tea, such as is used
by the natives of those countries. In
appearance, it compared very favor
ably with a sample which cost So per
pound in Japan. The whole process
did not take an hour from the time
the leaves were first plucked, and so
soon as boiling water could be pro-
cured tea was made and presented
to,the ladies and gentlemen who had
witnessed the experiment. 1t was
pronounced excellent, the experts
present saying that the flavor was
between that Of a high grade Of Jap
an and the finest of Moyune China
green teas.
The loss of weight during the pro-
cess was as follows: Steaming, 11.33;
matter expressed, 6.8s; firing, 6l.37;
total amount, 1858; amount left,
2O.42.
The ATTITUDES in which tea is sue
cessfully cultivated in China, Assam
and Japan corresponds geographic
cally with the latitudes embraced in
the states of Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, West Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ar
kansas, Missouri, and a portion of
the Pacific coast, and the conditions
of temperature, soil, ETC., are about
the same. Wilmington, in Delaware,
is parallel with Pekin, one of the
finest tea growing districts in China.
And the upper portions of South
Carolina are parallel with three of
the most abundant of its tea growing
provinces. So with other states
mentioned. In the gardens of the
department it's culture had been
attended with complete success.
There are now thousands of flourish
ing young plants ready for distribu,