St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-06-07

hear say nine leaves Of which three an
p.ucked, and from tho remaining sir
new branches will grow which will
bear leavesin their return. IL we were
to strip . branch Of all its leaves We
should kill tho tea bush, or. in othel
words VIC should be killing Tire
goose which lays the golden eggs
II such . simile may be used. The
nrst leaves thus plucked are called
No. I hush.' They do not make the
finest tea. but rank about as low rs .
leaf can be valued for commerce. These
leaves are taken on trays into the with.
cring-house' BY the women who pluck
them. and who are supervised by 'duffs.
darA' or native men, whose business il
Is to see that the women do not spoil the
bushes. The tea is allowed to rest on
these trays until It is withered to the
pliancy OF kid glove. . process which
takes from twelve to eighteeh hours, &C.
cordtng to tho temperature. Then it 10
carried away by men and put on the
rolling g-table, where 1t 10 manipulated
for fifteen or twenty minutes, according
to the condition Of the Leaf The crush
Ing process brings about the ferments-
tion necessary to develop the quality ct
the Leaf It Is then taken to the fer
mentin9 room, where It ferments until
1t Is in condition to 90 to the drying
machine. its time here being from one
to six hours. In the dryer It remains
until 1t is cooked. . process which re.
quires to be carefully looked after and
in which mono but experienced hands
are employed. BY being cooked Is
meant being dried. Tho tea then goes
to the sifting-house, where the various
grades are made BY sifters OF the requi-
site mesh, that 10 twelve, ten and eight
inches to the inch. The twelve
men sifts the best tea, because
that leaf is smaller and heavier. Tho
smaller the leaf the better the tea. These
three teas are straight and are known
- Pekoe, Pekoe Souchong and Souchong,
representing respectively the first Sec
ond and third grades. Pekoe Souchong
Is the fine tip mixed with lower grade.
or . mixture Of the first and second
grades Souchong is the third straight
grade. While the tea after these proc
essess Is ready for use. it is treated up
again to extract any dampness which
may have accrued. - the leaf is very
dimcult and susceptible. This done It ID
packed in chests for shipping. What 10
the BEST tea? We'll, fifteen days after
the first plucking tho second flush Is
ready. and eight days later the third
flush is plucked and this constitutes the
finest leaf and consequently the best
tea. One grade excels the other in
flavor. but they all 60 through the Same
process which have described. These
Indian teas are pure and straight and
have delicious flavor, whereas most
Of those from Chias and Japan are
faced Or second brews, which
that the leaf has been
once drawn and then fixed up
again. being mixed with aloe
leaves and combination OF iron fllines
and indigo. A. to prices. the Indian
Pekoe sells for sixty-nine cents . pound.
the Pekoe Souchong for fifty cents and
tho SouchonG for Sorty-6ve cents. The
best Chinese tees. II you can get them
can not b sold for less than
one dollar pound; second grade seven.
ty-hve cents and third sixty to sixty-nve
,entA The demand FOR Indian teas has
yreatly increased Of late years. In
1870. whom. I nrst went to India, that
'ountzy sent to England only about Af-
'eea per cent OF tho tee consumed
here, while 1857. ~ hen left she sent |
lfty-one per cent Her principal mar
Iets are England. Australia, America,
;anada and the Cape Of Good Hope, and |
he is steadily increasing her foreign |
commerce. The CONSUMPTION Of tea in |
his country amounts to about one hum
lred and ten million pounds per annum,
md Of this I suppose not moro than i've
hundred thousand pounds come from In
lia- 1t 10 only recently, however, that
indian teas have been introduced here"