The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-10-06
undergoes in it's manufacture for

In China and Japan the natives know how to prepare tea for market, put they have no notion of the reason why certain processes are required. It has remained for the ingenious Yankee to discover that in the sap of the green tea leaf there are certain ferments call ed "Enzyms," which are much like pep sin and other digestive ferments in ani- mals. Also the tea leaf contain tannin and the green coloring matter called "Chlorophyill." When the leaf is wilted slowly, while undergoing preparation. the enzyms oxydize the tannin. turning it brown, and finally black if the wilt ing goes on long enough. Hence the va rious shades of black tea. But, if green tea is wanted, the original color of the leaf may be retained by quick drying. and in the Orient this is accomplished by throwing the leaves up into the aiI in the hot sun.
 The government experts have found out that the same results may be ob- tained, and the green color kept by ex- posing the fresh leaves to & very high temperature-about 400 degrees Fahren- heit-in the metal cylinder which is made to revolve. Inside of the cylinder are flanges which catch up the leaves and keep them constantly tossed about. In the way, by regulating the duration of the process, any shade of greenness can be secured-a most important point commercially, inasmuch as the market prices of green teas are governed large ly by the mere tint of the leaf, without regard to flavor or aroma. The green color, it will be understood, is secured by using the high temperature to kill the enzyms, which otherwise would turn the leaves black. But there is an- ther important point, and that is that the process of oxidization by the enzyms develops and modifies the volatile oils which are contained in cells the leaves. These oils are the aro- matic flavoring essence upon which the tea depends for it's quality, and the flavor and aroma of the tea are varied by the duration of the oxidizing process. It is easy to realize, then, how import ant in tea-making is a knowledge of such scientific facts.
 Green teas are in much greater de- mand in the United States than black teas, and much of the imported product is poor stuff, colored with Prussian blue and faced" with soapstone, to improve its appearance. When the green tea takes up moisture from the air, it turns dark, and is put into copper vessels to restore it's color Over in China the green tea goes through an elaborate handling by naked and perspfring orientals, who work in a temperature of 100 to 120 Fahrenheit. @ In. short, im-, ported green tea is always to be re- garded with more or less suspicion, and there is every reason for congraulation | in the prospect of substituting for it pure and wholesome article, of high grade, free from adulteration, not too expensive, and produced in this coun- l try.
 i As a matter of fact, only very cheap grades of teas are imported into the United States averaging cost of about 15 cents a pound at the ports of ship ment, simply because the finer qualities canot be transported over long dis tances or across the ocean without great deterioration. Probably we shall always import a good deal of low-grade | tea, but there Is no reason why we should not produce high-grade teas in large quantities in this country. Secre- tary Wilson believesN that an excellent quality of tea can be produced in the southern states at cost of 25 cents a pound, but there will be more profit in growing teas that retail for from $2 to 1 $20 a pound. There are plenty of rich people who are willing to pay such pri ces for teas that are of proportion ately high quality.
 1 At Pinehurst the leaves are gathered 1 by children from the bushes in baskets, and then are taken to the ''withering lcfts," where they are thinly spread up- on clean floors and trays, and exposed to warm air. Under this treatment they lose their crispiness, and can be rolled
 without breaking. In the manufacture of all teas, whether green or black, two processes are necessary. The first consists in rolling and other maniptila- ton, to break up the cells which con- tain the aromatic oils, and thus to make the oils easily extractable by hot water. Next, and finally, the leaves have to be dried in order to preserve them Formerly at Pinehurst the leaves for green tea were roasted as preiim- mary LO IOillIlS CllSILi, but lio" tiicyt uhO
 first rolled and then treated in the hot
 air cylinder above described.
 Tn most of the big cities in this eoun- try the Pinehurst black tea is already
 on sale at one or more grocery shops, and anybody who will take the trouble to buy it, at 80 cents pound, will be convinced that in quality it is far ahead of any imported tea. American teas have higher percentage of the alkaloid
 ''thene," which is the essential princi- pie of the tea leaf As for our green tea, when 1t gets on the market, pur- chasers will notice that the infusion
 made from 1t is greenish, instead of the
 usual yellowish-red, the reason being
 simply that a voyage across the ocean
 makes a change in the leaves. The greenish color is the proper hue.
 Though a tea plantation is trouble some to start, 1t is a source of sure and
 permanent income for centuries after lward The first Japanese teas are
 gathered from bushes 200 years old. At
 Pinehurst there is patch of two acres
 of Dragons Pool tea (the seeds ob-
 taned from a garden near Hankchow),
 which yields 300 pounds of leaves per acre annually. It takes four pounds of fresh leaves, however, to make one
 pound of manufactured tea. Some of
 the children who do the picking have ] hecOnoe very exDert and are able tn