Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-12-20

for foreign inventions, and as for the
native wholesaler or shipper he like
wise finds cody labor too cheap to be
replaced by expensive machines. With
the exception of rice tea is the Chinese
crop of greatest Importance, and it is
only second to silk as an article of ex-
port. The Chinese themselves are great
tea drinkers. A somewhat curious re-
suit of Chinese tea drinking is that the
foreign consumer of Chinese tea some
times, of course unconsciously, uses tea
leaves that have already done service
in Chinese houses. The exhausted
leaves are frequently dried, recolored
and added to make up the bulk of a
shipment. In the Chinese tea trade, as
in everything else, the native is filed
with guile and deceit.
Tea is grown by vast number Of
Chinese farmers, for every tillcr Of tie
soil in the tea growing districts has his
patch of tea shrubs, just as in Ireland
every landholder grows his own pOta-
toes. The crops require an endless
amount of care and watching to keep
them from being stolen, as do all other
Chinese products. When, however, the
time for harvesting arrives, the real
trouble begins. There is very great
number of processes to be gone through
before the crop is ready for market,
picking the leaves, drying them in the
sun, remoistening and redrying them,
sorting and packing being only few
Of the many labors to be performed.
Only in countries like China, where
labor is cheap to an incredible degree,
is it possible to grow tea for general
consumption without machinery.
&out the time of harvest or some
times after the tea has been prepared
for shipment the wholesale dealer
comes around to purchase it. In China
the tea trade is principally in the
hands of a number of petty merchants,
who purchase the leaves in lots Cf 80
or 100 pounds from the farmers. These
traders travel from place to place in
China and not only buy tie tea out
right, but also arrange for its transpor
"heathen Chinee" knows that stone or
iron weighs more than tea, and at al
most all stages Of buying tea in bulk
from a Chinaman eternal vigilance is
the price of not buying stones cunning
ly concealed in the bales at the price
by weight of tea leaves. One China
man does not Of course hesitate to
swindle another when he gets the
chance.
When the leaves finally reach the eX
porters at Shanghai, Canton, Annoy and
other cities, they are stored in ware
houses awaiting shipment There also
the tea is graded and sorted. There are
very great number of grades and
kinds of tea, although some dealers
claim that all the varieties may be
grouped under four or five heads. Ex-
perts on the other side say that they
can detect many minute differences,
some going so far as to say that they
can tell by the taste the parts of the
various provinces from which the tea
comes. The ordinary classifications,
oolong, English breakfast, black, green,
etc, are familiar to everybody. Some
times the various colors are natural;
more often they are given to the tea
by artificial means.
Tea that has been shipped across the
sea loses much of it's aromatic flavor.
The voyage causes fermentation among
the leaves and consequent deteriora-
tion. This accounts in great measure
for the superiority of Russian tea often
remarked by travellers. Tea intended
for the Russian trade is transported
acress Siberia and thus escapes the sea
voyage.
Bad as the Chinese adulterators Of
tea are, it is only when the leaf reach
es England, France or Germany that
the ingenious tea merchant uses ma
chinery to complete the Justification.
When the tea finally reaches the con
sumer, it is more frequently than not
far different article from that which
grew on the shrubs in China.
CHARLES E. ROBINSON.