The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-05-15

those OF the willow tree. They smell
like tea when you crush them. The
shrub Is species OF the camellia- 1t
is an evergreen not unlike the maple,
and the leaves are beautiful. The plant
IS supposed to have come originally
from China, but there Is no account of
its having been cultivated until about
$50 A. d. 1t grows Wild on this side
of the Hinlalayas, and there are GER
tain varieties OF It which reach the
height OF small trees. The planters
are crossing the various varieties in
their attempts to make new and bet
ter teas.
I passed through many OF these
plantations on my ride up the noun
tains. The shrubs rise in terraces up
the sides OF the HILL looking not I'M
like we'll trimmed lockwood hedges.
Here and there one sees gaily dressed
women picking the leaves. their black
skins and bright calico gowns showing
out against the green, while their jew
elry flashes IN tho sun. Each woman
has a basket which will hold about
two bushels, on her back. kept there
by band which rests over the fore
head. The leaves are plucked with the
hands and thrown into the baskets,
which, when full, are carried to the
factory. / am told that the planters
on the best lands they have seven. This
is far ahead of China and Japan. where
the shrub that will yield three pick
ings Is good.
The tea planters here are chiefly
British. Many of the estates are own
ed by companies. The planters live IN
fine bungalows surrounded by lawns
and gardens. Many of them are the
second sons of noble families in Eng
land
Making Ten by Machinery.
The processes of making tea in In
dia are different from those OF Japan
nearly everything is done by hand
and the methods are insanitary to an
extreme. In China the leaves are sort
ed by women and girls and the moist
ure Is pressed out of them by treading
them with bare feet They are rolled
over and over on bamboo trays with the
hand and are fired in red-hot pans by
half-naked perspiring workmen.
1t is the same in Japan. | once
visited a large firing establishment at
one of the ports where they We're pre-
pairing green tea for the American mar
ket. They were curing 1t by what Is
known as pan-firing. Imagine a long
row of ovens filled with copper pans
each twenty inches wide and thirty
inches deep The tops Of the ovens
wore at about the height Of mans
waist or lust high enough to enable
one to stir tho contents about with
the hands There We're at least thirty
OF these pans, and over each bent a
Japanese woman. her dress pulled
down to her waist and the upper part
Of her body as bare as the Venus de
Medici. Each was stirring and knead-
Ing and rolling the drying tea. The
fires were hot and the steam rose. Pearl
drops of perspiratlon stood out upon
the backs and busts of the workers,
and 1t seemed TO me as though the tea
might be brewed by the sweat. 1t
took those women almost an hour to
finish each lot. and after that the teas
We're put up by hand.
Here In India the tea is all rolled by
machinery Every plantation has It's
factories where the leaves are wlther-
ed and rolled between steel plates SO
carefully graduated that they do not
injure tho tea, The drying Is done by
hot blasts aud revolving fans. ana the
result Is that the tea comes out per-
fectly pure and clean. 1t Is carefully
graded and packed while warm in lead
lined chests for shipment abroad.
The Hindoos DO Not Drink.
The chief tea drinkers Of Asia are
north of the Himalaya Mountains. on
the other side OF these hills The ma
tives soak themselves in tea. and IN
Tibet and the other Asiatic highlands1
3h&;;Qs Rlosma ke tea so I, .1rll XII q tne |