The Osceola times., 1881-01-15
TEA PACKING.
How Is II Done-The Various Processes
Described.

4
| Described.
Fooehow Herald
A large tea packing house presents
very different scene from that tive
months ago. Then, at the door one found
lines of fifteen catty boxes filled and
waiting TO be soldered up. Now, none
Next. one found fat bags stacked up eight
or ten feet, bursting with Pehling tea
that escaped here and there through
holes temporarily stopped with bamboo
leaves. the bottom of the bags mostly
stained from contact with wet flights OF
mountain stairs, upon which the exhaust
ed coolie had set them down on the
passage,
Now, one finds but empty chests, hun
dreds in number, square, deep and OBJ
long, used for handling the tea in the fac
tory. Ordinary tea chests would not
stand the rough usage.
Farther on, one came to the dozen long
double rows of sifters facing each other,
LOFTY in a row. the mesh of some taking a
pencil, that of others refusing pencil
point-sfting tea leaf rough and bold,
that after persuasive grasp or two IN
the hand broke, and consented, after a
few shakes in the sieve, to be stripped of
some of the sappy leaf edges and to ap-
pear below, the even and uniform leaf
which the tea drinker insists he must
have (plus the dust due to the persuad.
ing) The transformation in a rough leaf
on passing the meshcs of coarse sieve,
with a gentle crush from the siftersh hands,
enhances rough, bold tea much in
value.
In place of the rows Of men then seen
tiltiag and Jerking their sieves in a mo-
notony only broken by the Cantonese
taskmastcrs' roll call twice day, before
the geneA meal of fish and rice, there
is now TO be seen only the bare floor of
hardened earth, piles of empty benches
stacked in corner, and the sicves of the
twelve different sizes used, each in its
division in the three-story stand,
The dozen or So of tanning mills are
still now. The trained hands are gone
that turned the cranks with a uniform
motion, sending the heavy tea, light tea
and faky dust each down its respective
spout separated, never again to meet, un-
less haphazard, mixed in Il White Chapel
groccrs window.
The tea leaf separated in these tanning
mills has been parted with at the smart
loss Of Tis. 5000 on 5000 piculs to the
foreign buyer, and has been let go by the
latter To the London dealer or auction
room habitue. TIE mills now stand
still. The tea growers in the hills who
waited through June and July for their
money have now been paid. The losses
t. the packers here, however, have been
so smart that there is little third crop
tea now being packed in Foochow, and
the mill will rest until another May shall
bring the physical courage bred Of hot
blood back TO the pale and dispiritcd
native teamen. There are stacked up in
this huge godown few hundred pack
ages of native makers brick tea wrap
ped in plated bamboo strips, bound in
half bamboo and triply rattancd, Aside
here, the Chinese upper milestone is be-
ing turned upon the neither by Chinese
who is grinding the tea seeds left by the
flaming mill.
In these sycee boxes sharp spades are
falling upon tea stems, chopping them
fine enough to 90 into the stcmmy, dusty
mixture TO which the seed dust gives the
strength, while the chopped stems vouch
for lis being tea.
In the firing house four Chinese rice
kettles, two feet across the mouth. set
obliquely upon edge, turn the tea back in
a shower over the hand of the stirrcr. a
wood fire being kept up in the brick
work underneath Fire holes, scores in
number, follow in rows the walls of the
firing house in each an iron pan placed,
now filed and rounded with charcoal
ready to be lii. Placed over each of
these fires is a huge hour-glasS-shaped
basket hood or muller that shuts in the
heat of each fire TO but one outlet-that
through the tea sieve that chokes the
throat of each basket.
| In these baskets is dried oirthe tea that
comes in from the hills wet or fiat from
constant down-pours and from the iirst
/ fermentation Of the leaf These fires are
out and all is still.
Here, too, on the floor above, the
/ benches are empty where girls sand women
| camc-some too oltcn-to throw out the
stems from the leaf getting half cent
| for removing those from the two catties
Of tea given them in wound bamboo
woven trays.
/ The floor is now bare where We then
saw the Ningteh tea brought 10 uniform
shade, by shaking in BAGS with few
spoonfuls Of lamp black; then baked upon
the floor, only 10 be strewn white a. a
grave in spring with the pure muhll
blossoms, then blossoms in turn. buried
under another avalanche of funeral tea
and this again with blossoms, life upon
death; then both were rudely mingled
together and put away In boxes for q
night Till the fragrance should have been
robbed by the dead tea, and the faded
flowers be thrown aside, spent and worth
less.
Our round finishes at the shed where
Chinese lads, out of long sheets of lead
are glibly making lead cases BY moldins
them, batter-like, upon box, and ther
running the soldering iron along tn,
edges. Here, Cinnamon In their nata
costume, beside this huge four-hoesheat
vat OF hot water, are washing off the dus
and sweat of the day. Here are piles o
wood for the hot tea coppers. crates o
up-river hardwood charcoal for the firin,
pans and firing baskets. We must leav,
withor: The sight We then had of tn,
mad derwsh dance of two Chinese. who
given q dozen pounds Of tea stems unde
J their sandsis In tray, perform about tn,
,.s~asess -. eisrst-s