El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-05-14
FRANK G.. CARPENTERS LETTER.
EAST midas Biz TEA INDUSTRY

, China and Japan, where the shrub that
will yield three pickingS is good
The tea planters here are chiefly Brit
ish Many of the estates are owned Dy
companies The planters live In 1lne
bungalows surrounded by lawns ana
gardens. Many of them are the second
sons of ncole families in England
Making Tea by Machinery
The processes of making tea in India
are different from those OF Japan ana
China. In the latter countries nearly
everything is done by hand and the
methods ere insanirary to an extreme
In China the leaves are sorted Dy Wo-
men and girls and the moisture IS
pressed out OF them by tread1ng Ihem
with bare feet They are rolled over
and over on bamboo trays with the
hand and are fired in redhot pans Dy
haIf-naked, perspiring workmen-
1t is the same in Japan. 1 once visit
ed a large firing establishment at one
of the ports where they were preparing
! green tea for the American market
| They were curing it by what is known
as pan-firing. Imagine long row OF
| ovens filled with copper pans each TWEEN
| Nv inches wide and thirty inches deep
| The tops of the ovens were at ABOUT
the height of a mans waist or just high
| enough to enable one TO stir the con-
/
| at least thirty of these pans, and over
! each bent a japanese woman, her dress
pulled down to her waist and the upper
| mart of her body as bare as the venus
| de Medici. Each was stirring and
kneading and rolling the drying tea
! The fires were hot and the steam rose
| Pearl drops of perspiration stood out
/ upon the backs and busts of the work
| ess. and it seemed to me as though the
| tea might be brewed by. the sweat
| took those women almost an hour TO
| finish each lot and after that the teas
were put up by hand
Here in India the tea is all rolled by
machinery Every plantation has its
| factories, where the leaves are with
| cred and rolled between steel plates
| so carefully graduated that they do
| not injure the tea. The drying IS done
by hot blasts and revolving fans, and
| 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 Hinalaya mountains On
| the other side of these hills the natives
| soak themselves in tea, and in Tibet
| and the other Asiatic highlands the
people make tea soup, mixing the brew
| with milk butter and other fats Down
I here in Hindustan the Hindoos drink
| almost no tea, and the Mohammedans
| but little The custom is increasing
/ somewhat among the townspeople, but
| there are millions in India who have
never seen a tea leaf or slipped tea
| cup. Over in Burma they have a way
! of picking the leaves of the tea plant
| and eating them for dessert, as we eat
| cheese The leaves are thrown into
boiling water and left there until soft.
! They are then rolled on mats by hand
| and rammed into a tube of bamboo
| cane, which is then stopped up and
| buried in the ground until the tea has
{ become picked. when it is ready for
sale The leaves are also prepared with
| a mixture of oil and salt, and some
/ times with asSafoetida. 1t smells like
| limberger cheese, but it is said TO be
| food for digestion, and is considered
| dainty. 1t is used upon ceremonial Oc-
casions Another method of preparing
it is to throw the leaves, after they have
| been steamed and favored, into pits of
masonry or wells lined with planks or
bamboos, and then to press the tea down
with heavy weight The Burmese are
now making a half million pounds Of
| picked tea every year.
Z am told that some of the Himilayan'
| tribes churn tea as we churn butter
] The tea is mixed with soda and put on
| TO boil. When it is quite hot butter and
milk are added, and the whole is put
| into a tea churn. After it has been
well shaken about it is taken out with
| the foam on ii, when it is ready for
| drinking. The Tibetans and MongOls
| serve their tea in somewhat similar
| manner, using the brick tea prepared
| by the Russians
In a Russian Tea Factory.