The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-03
THE CUP THAT CHEERS.
FACTS FOR TEA TOPERs
How the Plant is Cared For to Produce Best
 Results.


 the tea used in this country came from China. Now Japan has usurped the leading position and furnishes more than half of all we use, while China gives us only third.
 During the last ten years the amount of tea imported to this country has grown less, but the value has increas- cd owing to the higher price paid, the average now being Is cents a pound, compared with 12.6 cents in 1897. Still, the present price compares pretty fa- vorably with that which prevailed Tn England in the seventeenth century. III those days tea brought as much as $50 a pound and never less than $25. The Chinese cultivate tea chiefly on the southern slope of hills. According to What to Eat, q new plantation IS made by sowing the seed in holes at distances of four feet apart two or three seeds being put into hole to secure plant.
 The first crop is obtained in the third year when the shrub is by no means full grown, When seven years old It yields only scanty crop of hard leaves and is cut down. New shoots then rise from the roots and bear fine leaves in abundance This is repeated from time to time until the plant dies at the age of about thirty years.
 The tea farms are mostly in the north of China, and are usually small and require much attention The plant will thrive only in well manured or very rich soil. The space between tho plants must be kept in good order l and free from weeds.
 The tea plant is an evergreen, put ! the leaves can be gathered only at cer- tain seasons--the first of April, when Inc new leaves begin to appear. some of them are gathered in their most ten der state and made into young hyson.
 This Is the finest tea known, but none of ii ever reaches the United States. The little of it that has been shipped to England lost its flavor III the sea voyage and was unfit for use. some oI if was shipped overland to Russia ana there sold at fabulous prices.
 The ordinary picking of tea begins .hout May i. when the summer rains ara over Later in the season third niol5ing takes place, the product oi which is inferior and is used only by inc poorer classes of the country ana for shipment to America.
 rea leaves when freshly plucked pos soss noth,ng of the odor or flavor of the dried leaves. Different qualltles If tea are prepared from the same leaves. which may be made to ylelo .r,aen or black tea at will. The yari- otias If flavor. odor and taste by winch tha d,fferent kinds of teas are distin- sr,,isbad are produced by the chemical s,anees occurring in the process of drving roasting and scorcning.
 Rv this process is produced the diT- forant oolors of green or black teas 10 ayoduce green teas the leaves are
 assfed in pans immediately after they are gathered and rolled WiIh ene hands. o ,,,noa q
 ,,t ,r the air, then roasted and rolled, o,,, o1 avnosed to the air and then dried
 ,ss,,,,, over charcoal fires until the
 'tao,, color Is brought out Numerous pa'as sa,.,eorous plants are employed to give ouo' .a.o a,fserent special scents to the va rious teas. , nonar+ios well
 Ae@ in ;n China. These are most pow nmuII nnf,,I in tea that is freshly gathered, Garaaauently ea1u in China it is rarely useo untll it is year oia' ,, +hs ui1ssa rna intoxicating quality is due to tne
 ne,na ! ne l,a of volatile oil, of which there 7 piese pso,,t sight-tenths of one per cent 3 IS spous taa and six-tenths of one per ) III stG ,,, black. The new tea contains larger proportion of this oll. ,.o.,, 3 If is this that causes the heaoaeh' @ l and giddiness of which tea tasleI' e ooynniain. - It is especially conducive t' = e,a,. haadaches affecting many habit t "ai +aa drinkers. It causes the attack n af 10 ralvsis to which persons employee : Y, nacking tea are subject. This oi f saos no+ exist in the natural leaf,
 is said hut is producing through tn o vrocass of drying and roasting. Il Tea is especially injurious to youn IS neople. and no one should be permit l. fed to drink it until he is grown. The e it effects, if drunk in moderation, ma d be beneficial.
 e old and infirm persons derive cor a siderable benefit from the beverage. I 10 many persons tea has an irritating e e feet on the nerves and causes viole1 If outbursts of passion Many irritab -e people might trace the cause of the
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