The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-03


 strong and invigoratins, instead of the cheap wishy-washy stun bought at the grocery.
 Through our consuls abroad the Gov ernment has been obtaining seeds of val uable varieties of teas from China. Ja- pan. India and Ceylon and fifty acres Of tea bushes are now under cultivation at Pinehurst. Better black tea is being but up to now a satisfactory green tea has seemed to be nnattainable. econom- ically. Nevertheless, green tea and black tea are manufactured from the same leaves, and the experts are satisfied that later They got at it finally by finding out the makeup of a tea leaf and the causes of the changes It undergoes In its manufacture for market.
 In China and Japan the natives know how to prepare tea for market, but they have no notion of the reason why ce'- tain processes are required. It has re- mained for the ingenious Yankee to dis cover that in the sap of the green tea leaf there are certain ferments called "enzyms," which are much like pepsin and other digestive ferments in animals. Also the tea leaf contains tannin and the green coloring matter called "chloroph- yill." When the leaf Is wilted slowly, while undergoing preparation, the enzyms oxydize the tannin, turning 1t brown. and finally black if the wilting goes on long enough. Hence the various shades of black tea. But. if green tea is wanted, the original color of the leaf may be re- tained by quick drying, and in the Orient this is accomplished by throwing the leaves up into the hot air in the hot sum-
 The Government experts have found out that the same result may be obtain ed, and the green color kept, by expos ing the fresh leaves to very high tenn perature-about 400 degrees Fahrenheit in the metal cylinder which is made to revolve. Inside of the cylinder are Ao t~h k1t. khA IanN keep them constantly tossed about. In this way, by regulating the duration of the process, any shade of greenness can be secured-a most important point com mercially, inasmuch as the market prices of green teas are governed largely 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 otherwse would turn the leaves black. But there is another important point, and that is that the process of oxidization by the enzyms develops and modifes the volatile oils which are con- tafned in cells the leaves. These oils which the tea depends for its 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 important in tea-making is Knowledge of such scientific facts.
 Green teas are in much greater demand 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, 1t turns dark, and Is put into copper vessels to restore its color. Over in China the green tea goes through an elaborate handling by naked and perspiring Orientals, who work in a temperature of 100 to 120 Fahr en- heit. In short imported green tea is all ways to be regarded with more or less suspicion, and there Is every reason for congratulation in the prospect of substi- tuting for 1t a pure and wholesome ar ticlc of high grade, free from adulter- ation, not too expensive, and produced in this country.
 grades of teas are imported into the United States, averaging a cost of about 15 cents pound at the ports of ship ment, simply because the finer qualities cannot be transported over long distances or across the ocean without great dee rioratioE Probably we shall always im- port a good deal of lowgrade tea, but there Is no reason why we should not produce high-grade teas in large quan- 1 titles in this country. Secretary Wills on 1 believes that an excellent quality of tea | can be produced in the Southern States l at cost of 25 cents a pound, but there will be more profit in growing teas that retail for from g to $20 pound. There
 
 ling to pay such prices for teas that arc of proportionately high quality. At Pinehurst the leaves are gathered by children from the bushes in baskets, and then are taken to the 'withering lofts," where they are thinly spread upon clean floors and trays, and exposed to warm air. Under this treatment they lose their crispness, and can be rolled without breaking In the manufacture of all teas, whether green or black. two pro- cssses are necessary. The first consists in rolling and other manipulation, to break up the cells which contain the aromatic oils. end trus, to make the oils easily extractable by hot water. Next, and finally, the leaves have to be drie1. in order to preserve them. Formerly at Pinenurst the leaves for green tea were roasted as preliminary to rolling them, but now they are first rolled and then treated Tn the hot air cylinder above de- scribed
 In most of the big cities in this coun- try the Pfnehurst 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 con vinced that in quality it Is far ahead of any imported tea. American teas have a higher percentage of the alkaloid "the- ine,' which is the essential principle of the tea leaf. As for our green tea, when it gets on the market, purchasers will notice that the infusion made from it is greenish, instead of the usual ye1owish- TeOs lne TedSOH DelHB LndL VOy- age across the ocean makes a change m the leaves. The greenish color is the proper hue.
 Though tea plantation is troublesome to start, 1t is source of sure and per- manent income for centuries afterward The first Japanese teas are gathered from bushes 200 years old. At Pinehurst there is, a patch of two acres of Dragons Pool tea (the seeds obtained from garden near HankchowJ, 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 become very expert. and are able to pluck the leaves at the rate of two pounds an hour. The whole plantation of fifty acres Is picked over every ten days. The tea plant in nature is an un- dergrowth in dense forests. Under cul- tivation, therefore h has to be shaded from the sun until it is several months old, when it is removed to the open field. In it's third year 1t yields a small crop, and reaches full bearing in the tenth year.
 Plenty of water Is required, with irri- gation to help out the rain supply, and temperature that rarely falls below % degrees Fahrenheit. Hence 1t is out of the question to raise tea successfully in the United States except in the South, though the opportunities there are as favorable as are to be found anywhere in the world.