Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-24

NllIe were allowed 10 take care OF them
selves until the spring of 1887 when 1t
was purchased by DR.. Charles L. Shep-
ard of Charleston. He pruned the tea
plants and studied their habits and picked
and cured the leaves with such success
that it attracted the attention of Secre-
tary Wilson. The latter came to Pine
hurst 10 make a personal investigation
and entered into DR.. Shepards work with
his characteristic common sense. He sent
to China through the Department o.
State for a quantity of Dragons Pool
seed. from which the tea used by the i'm
periaf court Is grown and which is too
rare for expectation. Together Prof. Will
son and DR.. Shepard conducted their ex-
periments until the demonstration was
complete and satisfactory and 1t was
settled beyond peradventure that tea
could be made one of the staple products
of the United States. of a quality as good
as any imported from other parts of the
world.
Domestic Tea Pure.
The Summerville tea differs, however in
several respects from that we get from
China. Japan. India or Ceylon. 1t pos
sesses purity strength freedom from
astrngency, and is cured without the use
of drugs. dyes or any Interior substances.
which are almost Invariably introduced
INTO imported teas. Any one who has Wis
tied the tea godoWns of China and japan
and has seen the indelible stains on the
arms of the woman mixers reaching as
high as their shoulders will never believe
the claims that Japan teas are not arti-
fcially colored. 1t is not denied that
lampback and other chemicals are used
habitually to give the teas the color that
is demanded by American customers, but
a Pinehurst it is produced bya me-
chanical process invented by DR.. Shepard
himself for the oxidizing of the leaves
without resort to drugs. ''All tea leaves"
said DR.. Shepard. must be subjected to
two prOcesseS-namely. rolling. which
breaks the oily cells that contain the prin-
clples for brewing the beverage, and, sec
ond. spreading them so that they will dry
The leaf thus cured constitutes green tea,
the nearest approach to natural con-
ditiOns Black tea is produced by the in
PRODUCTION of two additional processes
which cause the green leaf to oxidize. or
change color. In oriental countries this
oxidation or change of color Is produced
by the use of chemicals and by the use
of the naked hands and feet In the Pine
hurst factory we have machines that re-
strict manual labor to that final culling
which removes foreign substances and
Objectionable leaves from the tea. Our
sterlizer consists Of a rotary cylinder
which satisfactorily sterilizes the en-
zymes or soluble oxidizing ferments. in
the freshly plucked leaf by directing
current of hot air at GOO degrees Fahren-
heit upon it as it falls several hundred
times through the diameter OF the tube as
it continues to revolve. The friction OF
the particles OF tea upon each other In a
current of warm air causes chemical
change and color that can only otherwise
be obtained by adulteration.'
A Little Utopia in Black.
DIR. Shepard employs large number
of young colored girls on his plantation
whose nimble fingers are readily trained
to do the work of picking and culling.
and he exercises a patriarchal government
over them and their parents, who occupy
cabins on and around this plantation.
"Pinehurst' is little Utopia in black.
where business and benevolence are mix
ed to the welfare of a large community.
He provides employment for the fathers
and mothers as well as the children. but
requires that the children shall spend
just as much time in the SchoOlhouse as
they spend in the field.
DR.. Shepard does not consider tea Gull
ture any longer an experiment. He be-
lieves that tea can be produced at almost
any place along the south Atlantic coast,
where the soil and climate are similar
to those of Summerville. He estimates
that $4,000 is ample capital to purchase
the land, provide the buildings and ma
chinery. and to put an enterprise on its
feet. But those who undertake 1t must
of pains. patience, care, and higher
degree of intelligence and botanical
knowledge than is needed for ordinary
farming. He believes that with the pro-
lection of reasonable duty our people
could supply very large part Of the 1OO.
OOO. 900 pounds which cost us nearly $780,
100000 a year. And, what is more i'm
portant. he is confident that the health
of the consumers will be no longer eX
posed to the deleterious effects of the
cheap teas that are now imported into
this country without anything to recon-
mend them, and many reasons why they
should be kept out.
DR.. Shepard makes annual reports to
the Secretary of Agriculture concernng
every incident of interest that occurs at
"Pinehurst;' the methods adopted and
the results observed In every experiment;
the improvements made in the machinery
and the processes of manufacture. nearly
all ;of which are his own invention
SO that there is preserved, for the benefit
of whomever shall undertake similar en-
terprises. complete record of everything
that he has done.