The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-12-04

| Ii " ~ lCSI III uClSAl, Uut uAuCl CuAIASo-
tion is kept down to five feet for convent
ence in gathering the leaves.
| Black and green tea are from the same
leaf, the difference in the two varieties be-
| ing in the modes of preparation, treat
| ment and the time of gathering.
| There are said to be over fifty Chinese
varieties Of black tea, the best known
among them being Bohea, Congou, Caper,
| Souchong, Polong and Pekoe.
| Every district in China has its own
methods of manipulating the tea leaves,
| methods which have been handed down
| from father to son from time immemorial
| The quality of Arabian coffee is believed
| to be due to the fact that the absence of
rain permits the berries to become per-
fectly ripe before they are gathered.
In Sumatra the leaves of the coffee plant
are used for making tea which has the es-
sential properties of both tea and coffee,
| resembling both in taste and smell.
| In proportion to population mate drink
| ing is more common in those parts of
| South America where the plant grows
| than tea drinking in the tea districts of
| China
| The leaves of cocoa are generally chewed
with small portion Of quick lime, which,
devotees say, greatly improves the flavor.
| 1t is also used as an infusion like tea.
were imported into this country. In the
same year 100000 pounds of tea were
| brought from the east for the use of our
people.
| About sixty varieties of green tea are
| known to the China trade, the leading
varieties being Twang, Kay, Hyson skin,
Ayong Hyson, Imperial and Gunpowder.
The tea picking season begins in China
about the first of April, second crop is
gathered month later, and a third, OF
coarse inferior leaves, is plucked in July.
| The most marvellous stories are told of
| the power Of mate over the human system,
under its influence men have been known
to endure almost incredible fatigue with
out injury.
| 1t is said that the inferior grades of tea
are greatly adulterated by the Chinese.
who use for this purpose plumbago, tum-
| eric. indigo, Prussian blue, china clay,
and other substances.
| The detection Of an aduterant in coffee
is rendered easy by the use of the micro
| scope. The particles of coffee are readily
| distinguished by their hardness from
| those Of any adulterant.
| The shells of cocoanuts are used to
make an article of cocoa which, while not
having the strength of the nuts them
| selves, is by many preferred on account
| OF us mllder quantities.
| To 100 parts of tea there are q of gum
and sugar. Of fat substance, Is of al
| bumin0dS, 1928 of tannin 20 of vegeta-
BILE fiber, two-thirds Of theme, of min
| eral, 5 of water and of aromatic OIL l.
The Chinese make what they properly
call lie tea," which is manufactured of
tea dust, or broken leaves combined with
the leaves of other plants, this trash being
| rolled up into pellets by the aid of gum
| After the essential oils are extracted
| from the cocoa cake, the remainder is
| used under the name of broma which,
while less strong than the original cocoa,
is from that fact better liked by many
persons.
Cocoa, like mate, confers wonderful.
powers of endurance. Under it's influ-
ence, Indian runners have been known
to travel continually for 80 hours, COW
ering in that time distance of over 100
miles
In 1854 coffee was first sold in the mar
kets of Constantinople. 1t had probably
been previously used by the Turks and
was introduced by them as a beverage di-
rectly after the capture of the city
The injurious effects of tea are sup
posed to be due to volatile oil which it
contains. In China no tea less than a
year old is ever used, this length of time
being necessary to allow the oil to es-
cape from the leaf.
Sassafras leaves contain so much mu-
cilaginous matter that in some parts Of
the Southern states when gumbo. or
okra, is scarce, the leaves of the sassa-
fras are substituted in the making of
gumbo soup.
The brick tea of Thibet is made from
tea sweepings, broken leaves and refuse,
| mjYpd with hu1IOolyc' h1nOd int o
rectangular blocks and sewed up in
skins. 1t is never exported from Thibet
except as curiosity
The wealthy people of China never
make their tea in teapotS, which are only
used by the poor; in good Chinese society
tea is always made in cups, small guam
tity of the leaves being placed in the bot
tom of each cup and hot water poured
in.
AS much mocha coffee comes from Bra
I'll as from Arabia. The Brazilian mo-
cha consists of the small round beans
growing at the tops of the branches.
These are culled out from the Others with
great care and sold at much higher
rate.
The tea plant begins to produce in it's
third year, and the leaves are picked
steadily, year by year. until the plant is
eight or ten years old, when the quality
| begins to deteriOrate. and the plants are
taken up and fresh plantation is set
out
1t is said that up to about 1850 the tea
was trodden into chests by barefooted
Cinnamon, but the fact becoming known
in Europe caused a decided falling off in
the sales, upon which the merchants in
sisted that the tea should be packed by
hand and not by foot
The perfumed tea is scented with the
essential oils of different flowers. The
most popular for this use are those of the
tea olive. or the Cape Jessamine though
others are used The flowers are gener-
ally packed with the tea while the latter
is in process of curing and are afterward
picked out by hand.
The coffee berry closely resembles the
cherry, both in appearance and taste: at
first it is green, and as it ripens, turns
red and finally a dark purple. 1t is
pleasantly acid and in the countries
where coffee grows, is often eaten either
raw or cooked. Every berry has two
seeds in the center like the stone of
cherry.
very large adulteration of tea is said
to be practiced in China by the use of
exhausted tea leaves. In every restau-
rant or tea house receptacles are provid-
ed for the DRAWINGS of the tea cups, and
the exhausted leaves are poured into
these jars and taken thence to be dried
and find their way back into commerce.
considerable adulteration with these
| exhausted leaves NAV he nracticed with