The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-25
FACTS ABOUT TEA.
GREEN. BLACK AND ALL KINDS
FROM THE SAME BUSH.
Scientific Method of Making the Diff
ferences Are in the Time Taken
for Curing-Tree Not a Native of
China.

IN tnG
for Curing-Tree Not a Native of
China.
From the Chicago Tribune.
Many years ago it was believed that
there were two kinds OF tea shrubs. one
producing green tea and the other black,
and this idea was handed down in CYCLIC
pedias and articles on tea by writer's, none
of whom probably ever saw a tea tree or
knew anything Of the manufacture Of tea
The fact is, there is only one genus of
plant, Camellia Theifera, from which the
tea of commerce is produced, though there
are many species produced by difference
in soil, climate. hybridIzation and eultiva-
ton. All the different kinds Of tea
green. black. golden tips. Pekoe Oo.ong,
Soochong. Bohea, etc.-are made from The
same bush. Pure green tea is made by
quickly drying the leaves after they are
plucked, and black tea is produced from
the same kind of leaves by drying them
after they have been withered and allowed
to ferment or ripen for a short time in
heated room.
Pure green tea can be made by rolling
the leaves on a board in the sun or in
bowl or pan over fire until they are thor
oughly dried and their color would be that
of fresh mown dried grass as cut by
lawn mower NIIEt-ll lSei 10 iiOi SUN hC-
cause of its color, but on account of its
unripeness. as it has all the astrinSeut,
bitter qualities that unripe dried fruit
would have.
In making black tea a longer time Is re-
quired. The leaf is first wilted or with
cred, and then left for a time in a warm
room to ferment This could be done by
throwing the leaves in a pile, but this pro-
cess would be unequal, as the inner part
would be fermented too much and the
outer layers none at all, and there would
be no uniformity.
Modern Scientific Method.
The modern scientific method is to wilt
the leaves in a machine by means of
slow fire, then to place the wilted leaves
in shallow bamboo trays. placed in room
where the heat is from 10 degrees to 100
degrees. BY placing the leaves In trays
all are equally affected by the heat Dur
ing this stage the greatest watchfulness
has TO be given lest the leaves being
under are over-fermented, as on this de-
ponds the value OF black tea, in the same
degree as fruit might not be ripe enough
or too ripe to suit the taste.
AS a good illustration of the difference
between pure green and black tea, take
clover grass. Any one who has tasted
green clover as 1t is growing in the field
knows that il has a bitter, astringent
taste, not at all pleasant. Dry this grass
QUICKLY, SO LndL us COlOT IctIidluS SANNhS
and it will have the same unpleasant ia
vor. Take some of the grass after ii
has fermented and turned black and dried
as hay, and it will have a sweet, agree
able flavor and one is not surprised that
cattle enjoy it. Any farmer will say that
to make good clover hay it must sweat
in the cock or winrow before ii is gather
ed in. All he may know about 1t is that
his grandfather or father said so. In the
sweating or fermentation chemical
change takes place, the starch becomes
sugar, and the hay is nutritious and pala-
table
For a long time 1t was supposed that
the tea tree was a native of China, when
so little was known in the Western world
about tea and its manufacture. There is
much ignorance still about 1t, as l have
been asked If we sow the plant every
year. If we NOW it with scythe, or could
we harvest it with a reaper. The Thea
Camelia is a tree sometimes forty feet
high, and a foot in. diameter, as 1t Is
found in the forestS of Assam, in India.
It is now conceded that there has been
its native home, whence the seed or
plants were taken to China across the
mountains and thence to Japan. In the
forest it grows to wood, with few laurel
like, large, tough leaves For plantation
only young, tender leaves are desired
Picking the Leaves.
The seeds, IN appearance ike naZeinutS,
are sown in a nursery While they are
growing the acreage is prepared by fire.
quent digging and terracing, as the best
plantations are on the hiilsides. Holes are
dug four or five feet apart each way,
ready for the little trees. When these
are about one foot high they are trans
PLANTED from the nursery. They are care
fully protected and shielded from the sun.
They are pruned with a knife or shears.
and not allowed to grow more than two
and one-half to three feet high. They re-
MANNED dwarfed trees, the top one mass of
small trenches and thes stem at the age of
thirty years not more than three inches
In diameter During the first two years
no leaves are plucked.
In the third year perhaps fifty pounds
of tea may be gathered from an acre.
When the planta ton has arrived at matur-
ity from 500 to 800 pounds of tea may be
gathered from an acre.
The season commences In March and
lasts till November During this time there
there are from ten to fifteen sproutings or
''fiushes," as the growth of the young
twigs is called. From these the young
leaves are picked. according to the kind
of tea desired. If the finest, the little
tips at the top of the twig, only a few
hours old, making tea costing from $50 to
$1O0 a pound; then the next leaf below
for flowing Pekoe; still further down Pc
lSoe. Oolong, Soochong and down to the
long. harder leaf, Bohea. The old leaves
are not plucked as they are withered and
to pluck them would injure the tree. The
flowers are never used. though beautiful
enough to adorn brides hair. When
seed is not desired the flowers are plucked
from the tree and thrown away.
The India and CeyIon Industry.
Since the tea Industry has been assum-
ed by Europeans. during the last thirty
years in India and Ceylon, inventors have
been al work. and various machines have
been constructed for every process except
that of plucking the leaves. 1t would be
as difficult to pick tea leaves as it would
be to gather raspberries with machine
This Is Clearly done. Each picker has a
little basket and plucks each leaf with the
thumb and forefinger. The different ma
chimes are for whitening, rolling drying.
sitting and packing. With them there is
scarcely any hand work on the leaves.
The European tea houses are models of
cleanliness. Bread in the best furnished
bakeries could not be more clearly than
the tea produced on these nlantat;or7S