The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-15


men.
1t Is the same in Japan. l once visited
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 panfiring. Imagine a long row of
ovens filled with copper pans each 20
inches wide and 80 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-
tents about with the hands There were
at least 80 of these pans, and over
each bent 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
kneading and rolling the drying tea.
The fires were hot and the steam rose.
Pearl drops of perspiration stood out
upon the backs and ousts of the work
ers, 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
were put UP by hand.
Here in India the tea Is all rolled by
machinery. Every plantation has It's
factories, where the leaves are with
cred and rolled between steel plates so
carefully graduated that they do not
injure tho 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 Himalaya 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
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 nave
never seen a tea leaf or slipped tea
cup. over in Burma they have 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 rammet into tube OF bamboo
cane, which is 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 mix
tlre of oil and salt and sometimes with
assafoetida 1t smells like limberger
cheese, but it is said to be good for
digestion, and Is considered a dainty
1t is used upon ceremonial OCCASIONS
Another method of preparing 1t is to
throw the leaves, after they have been
steamed and favored, into pits of
masonry or wells lined with plank or
bamboo and then to press the tea
down with heavy weight. The Bur-
mese are now making a half million
pounds of picked tea every year.
am told that some of the Himalayan
tribes churn tea as we churn butter.
The tea is mixed with soda and put
on to boil When 1t is quite hot butter
and milk are added, and the whoie IS
put into tea churn. After 1t has been
we'll shaken about 1t is taken out with
the foam on 1t. when 1t is ready for
drinking. The Tibetans and Mongols
serve their tea in somewhat similar
manner. using the brick tea prepared
by the Russians. .t.
In a Russian Tea Factory
During my recent stay In China l
went through some of the factories at
Hankow, and there saw how brick tea
lis made. HanlSow is the chief tea mar
lxet of China 1t is 600 miles In the
interior. on the wide Yangtse river.
which is so deep that the biggest ocean
steamers can carry their cargoes from
there to every part OF the world. The
chief tea fields 1ie south OF the Yangtse,
and most or them are some distance
from Hankow. The. tea is brought on
the backs OF men to the river and IL |
shippeds np the numerous tributaries OF
the Yangtse. At 1fankow 1t Is pro-
nared in all sorts of ways for the mar
ket There are exporting firms there |
who manufacture for the United States, |
some who deal chiefly with England, |
and also representatives of the French |
and German importing houses. The |
Russians have the largest houses. and |
they monopolize the brick tea industry. |
annually shipping millions of brick to