Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-19
TEA PLANTING In JOHORE.
An Industry Which the Sultan is Cuitiyat
ing Among His People.

An Industry Which the Sultan is Cuitivat
ing Among His People.
Johore tea is the subject of an interesting
communication from Consul Widman of Singa-
pore to the State Department as follows:
Just across the famous old Straits of Ma
lscca is the Sultanate of Johore, the only in
dependent Malay kingdom on the peninsula.
Under the wise and humane rule Of its enlight-
ened prince Johore has kept along abreast Of
the more stirring English civilization of Singa-
pore, and her IL, 600 square miles are under as
good cultivation any part of the English col
ony and its 200, 900 inhabitants as loyal and pa
triotic as their neighboring Europeans
1.-The sultan. in his work Of building up his
country, has gone outside the natural products
Of the soil and has experimental with staple
productions that are native to other sections.
In coffee, pepper and tea his experiments have
proven SO far successful that today they COM
prise the chief output of his little kingdom.
outstripping in value the native products of the
soil-eago, tapioca. cocoa. pineapple, gambler,
spices and gums. Especially in regard to tea
has the soil proved efficacious, giving it a de-
licious odor and flavor that to the taste of many
connoisseUrs places it ahead of the original
Assam or the now famous Ceylon.
In Johore no tea crop was picked until five
years old, but this was due to difficulties in
starting new industry in foreign country.
Planting was commenced in 1882, when labor
was difficult to find and expensive to keep; now,
in 1892, thanks to the wise government of the
state by its enlightened ruler, labor is cheap
and plentiful. Coolies in these gardens receive
IS ceuts In Mexican silver per diem for every
day they work Tor, at present exchange. saw IL
cents in American money!. The whole garden
has to be dug over three times year. and with
manure once in three years Is capable of pro-
ducing an all-round average Of 500 pounds per
acre.
Every morning, with the exception of Friday
(the Mohammedan Sunday. men, women and
children are called out at daybreak by a horn
TO pluck the young leaves. At III a. M the horn
is again the signal for their return to the fac
tory to have their mornings pluckings weighed
in by the manager.
Fuckers are paid at fixed rate per pound of
green leaf. Each basket of leaf as it is handed
in is weighed by the mandore, the weight of the
basket deducted. and ticket for the balance
handed over. At / pm the horn calls them
out again, and a similar weighing operation
takes place at pm, excepting only that the
morning tickets are called in and the total
puckings for the day put against the name Of
each plucker in the check roll With a good
flush Of leaf on the bushes q smart plucker can
pick sixty pounds Of leaf in day.
The green leaf thus received into the factory
is then handed over to a set Of Chinese coolies
(also on contract), who have to turn it into
made tea" First, all the leaves are sprinkled
over bamboo trays and placed on stands in the
upper floor of the factory under cover in order
to written" The leaf must be handled as
little as possible. Second. when the leaves are
sufficiently withered which is known by touch
and color and the time 1t takes, depending very
much on the state Of the weather (wet or dry),
they are put into q rolling" machine lin this
case a hand roller. in large factories steam or
water power is used), the box of which holds q
charge Of fifty pounds. The box is so con-
structed that when in motion sliding over .
wooden platform it thoroughly presses, twists
and rolls the leaf without losing the juice. A
charge takes about an hour to properly roll,
when it Is ready for the third stage, which is
fermentation. The ''roll" or macs of leaf as
Withdrawn from the roller is pressed into Q
heap upon q low table and turned over re-
peatedly by hand until the whole mass
bright coppery color which takes place in abou
an hour. Fourth, the fermented roll is spread
over wire gauze trays and placed in the Isl
rocco" which is . large iron chest over q fur
mace. The temperature Of the air in this chest
is raised to $50 degrees Fahrenheit There are
four trays which slide into the chest at differ
ent levels; the topmost tray filed with the roll
is put in first and after five minutes is with
drawn, turned over by hand and placed on the
second shelf, a newly filed tray taking its place
on the top shelf, and 30 on until the first tray
has passed through the four sides, when it has
become made tea, the whole operation taking
from twenty to twenty-five minutes. About
100 pounds can be manipulated in an hour.
Sorting into grades il the 9th stage. The
unassorted teas are fed into . machine consist
ing Of two long cylinder composed Of wire
mesh OF different degrees Of fneness. Az the
cylinders are made to revolvs by turning the
handle the tea works down the top horizontal
cylinder, dropping out through the meshes &C.
cording to sizs. and finally fa1ls into the bottom
horizontal cylinder and out IT its further end
The finest mesh, Of course, gives the best tea,
the lower cylinder being the coarsest