In planting the shrubs it is to be observed that the tea plant seems averse to the collection of water about its roots, yet it needs a ready access to that universal solvent of the productive principles of nature. The soil, if level, should generally be rich. If on a sloping hill-side, a porous composition of soil will secure a sufficient access of productive and fertilizing elements washed down from higher levels by the rains. From six to ten seeds are generally put in one hole, about an inch below the surface. When the plant begins to germinate it is not judicious to rake up the weeds. If the season be dry it is common to moisten the plants thoroughly with water in which rice has been washed, or to treat them either with liquid fertilizers or the manure from silk-worms. Water, lodging about the roots of the plants, will inevitably destroy them. The leaves will be fit for gathering in three years. The plants should be set out in rows about three feet apart.

The above applies to the thea viridis; a somewhat different process being used for the thea bohea. The latter is never manured, as this process is thought to injure or destroy its fragrance. The plants are bound together when about 14 inches above ground. The weeds are taken up once in each of the four seasons of the year, the ground turned up and new mold added. In many parts, especially in the province of Fo-kien, very little attention is given to elaborate methods of culture. No effort is made by the selection of superior and accidental varieties by cuttings, grafts, &c., to improve the qualities of the plants, though these methods are practiced by the Chinese in different branches of agriculture and horticulture. The Congou or Souchong trees are generally propagated by cutting the stems and branches of the wild trees and transplanting their roots. This method is quicker and more desirable so long as the stock of wild trees holds out.

The growth of tea is general among the small farmers, many of whom devote the hedge rows and detached corners of ground out of the way of tillage to the growth of tea trees. This renders tea accessible even to the poorer classes. The tea farms of Fo-kien are generally small, consisting of from one to five acres. A nursery is often attached to a plantation, where plants, not over five inches high, are set as closely as possible. In the "Inner range" of the Bohea Mountains are many well-kept plantations, as also on the plains and on hill slopes, capable of being formed into beds, but terracing is too expensive a process, considering the prices obtained by the native grower.

The cultivation of green tea, especially of its finest variety, the Hyson, requires a fertile and well fertilized soil, such as can be found only in the plains. Its higher price in the market will warrant the investment of a greater capital in procuring more fertile land.

The Souchong black tea is confined to a limited range of soil, whereas the Hyson may be grown in almost any tea soil. It is thought that the high-flavored teas will ultimately pass out of the market.

The Hyson shrubs are generally transplanted from their native hills, where they grow wild, into fields, gardens, and hedge rows, a light garden loam being generally considered the most eligible.

Decayed plants are also renewed by seedlings or by transplantations from the hills. The whole seed bed is carefully manured twice a year, in spring and autumn, the ground weeded and turned up four times a year. In about seven years the plants are cut off close to the ground, in order to produce an exuberant growth of succulent leaves. In about 30 years they become entirely worthless, and are then rooted up.

The inferior Hyson tea, called "hill tea," and the common Singlo and Twankay shrubs, are weeded only twice a year.

The seedling plants are transplanted in time to receive the benefit of the warm showers in their new soil in the spring change of monsoons. They are planted in rows about four feet apart. Their thick growth gives them a hedge-like appearance. The premature plucking of the leaves having been found very prejudicial to the health and vigor of the plants, they are allowed at least three years of exemption after transplanting. This enables the shoots and foliage to grow up very strong and thrifty. Even in full bearing the weaker plants are spared a full denudation of their leaves.

The tea plant begins to flower in the south generally about October, the period of efflorescence continuing till March. The early leaf buds in the spring, being covered with white silky down, are gathered to make the tea called Pekoe, a corruption of the Canton word Pa-ko, white down. This first gathering of Pekoe tea commences 15 days after the vernal equinox.

There is no fixed rule, however, regulating this matter. It should be timed so that the flow of sap, caused by the genial rain and sunshine, will best enable the depleted plant to bear the drain upon its vital functions caused by the gathering. This will be just when the vegetative process exhibits its greatest energy. A few days later growth produces what is termed the black-leaved Pekoe. The more fleshy matured leaves, subsequently gathered, furnish the Souchong; the larger and coarser ones, still later, supply the Congou. The last picking is called the Bohea. The period of gathering embraces intervals of ten days each, commencing a fortnight after the vernal equinox, and continuing up to the summer solstice. There is also an autumnal gathering, but of inferior value.

The first gathering is thick, consisting of the convoluted leaf bud, fragrant and of delicious flavor. It lasts from the 5th to the 20th of April. The first gathering of the expanded leaf commences about the last week of April. The subsequent gatherings take place early in June, and just after the summer solstice. The younger leaves are selected. If permittted to attain their full growth they become harsh, fibrous, and brittle. The finest teas are made exclusively from the first gathering. The process of gathering is one of great nicety and importance. Each leaf is plucked separate, the hands of the gatherer being kept scrupulously clean. In collecting some of the finer sorts, it is stated on good authority, that the gatherer is required to abstain for some weeks previously from gross food lest his breath or perspiration should, in some way, injure the flavor of the leaves. He is required to wear fine gloves while at work, and to bathe regularly two or three times a day.

As before stated, the distinction between black and green teas does not depend upon the organic constitution of the plant, but upon the process of drying. In the case of green teas, this is substantially as follows: When the leaves are gathered they are spread out thinly on flat bamboo trays in order to dry off any superfluous moisture; after remaining an hour or two thus exposed they are thrown by handfuls into roasting pans over a brisk wood fire, and rapidly moved about and shaken up with both hands. They are immediately affected by the heat, giving out a crackling sound and become quite moist and flaccid, discharging a considerable watery vapor.

After being subjected to this process four or five times they are drawn out quickly and placed on the rolling table.

Several men at the table divide the leaves among them, each gathering as many as he can hold together in a ball. This is pressed together and rolled or a rattan table in such a manner as to expel a portion of

the sap and moisture, and at the same time to give the leaves a peculiar twist.

They are then shaken out upon flat trays for a short time, and then replaced in roasting pans over a slow coal fire, being all the time kept in rapid motion with the hand.

Sometimes they are rolled a second time upon the rattan table. In about an hour and a half they are well dried and their green color so fixed that they are in no danger of turning black. Their dull green now becomes brighter. The leaves are then winnowed and separated, according to quality, into different sorts, viz., Twankay, Hyson Skin, Hyson, Young Hyson, Gunpowder, &c. During this selection the leaves are re-fired, the coarser ones once and the finer ones oftener.

By this time the color has come out quite strongly, the finer kind exhibiting a dull bluish-green.

Teas intended for exportation are then subjected to a process of coloring, the account of which will certainly not heighten the relish of European and American consumers for high-colored green teas. The coloring matter consists of three parts of Prussian blue, finely pulverized, and thoroughly mixed with four parts of calcined gypsum. This delectable condiment is applied to the teas during the final process of roasting, and the whole mass rapidly manipulated. The Chinese never use this high-colored tea, and apply the pigment only to meet the whimsical demand of the foreign markets, growing out of singular ignorance of the facts of tea production. The coloring amounts to about half a pound in every hundred.

In the preparation of black tea the leaves, after gathering, are not immediately subjected to the drying operation, but are allowed to lie for a considerable time on the bamboo trays, sometimes till the morning after the gathering. They are then gathered into balls, pressed together, and then separated and thrown up into the air. This is continued until the leaves become soft and flaccid; they are then thrown into heaps, and allowed to lie for about an hour.

By this time the leaves are found to have slightly changed color, and to have become moist and flaccid, emitting an agreeable fragrance. They are then roasted, as in the case of green tea, for five minutes, and rolled upon the rattan table, after which they are spread out thinly upon sieves and exposed to the air upon an elevated bamboo framework. In this condition they remain for about three hours, being frequently stirred and turned. A fine, bright day is especially desirable for this part of the process, after which they are again roasted for a few minutes, and again rolled. The final desiccating process is as follows: A tubular basket, open at both ends and contracted in the middle, is placed over a small charcoal stove. Its narrowed section is intersected by wires, upon which a sieve is placed, covered with tea leaves to the depth of an inch. After five minutes' drying in this position, the sieve is removed and resupplied with leaves. After this drying process they are again rolled, and this alternate drying and rolling is sometimes repeated as often as four times.

The black color is now finely brought out and continues to improve. The final operations, sifting, picking, refining, and sorting, then follow. In comparing the respective processes of preparing the leaves for green or black tea, it will appear, first, that, in making green tea, the leaves are roasted as soon as possible after gathering; whereas, in the preparation of black tea, they are allowed to remain for some time in heaps in their moist state. During this time they undergo a fermentation, which is assisted by being tossed and manipulated prior to roast

ing. This roasting is then interrupted, and the leaves exposed to another period of fermentation. By this fermentation some of the organic principles of the tea plant are decomposed by the presence of atmospheric oxygen and changed into an oxidized extractive matter, which sinks to the bottom of the tea-cup upon infusion. The presence of these vegetable principles, unchanged in the green tea, is alleged as a cause of its different effects upon the nervous system, and of the greater amount of nervous excitability in green-tea drinkers. After a careful assortment of the different grades of teas by sifting, each one is packed in chests or boxes, and carried to market, in quantities varying according to the size and productiveness of the plantation. These markets are held at regular periods, as, for example, at Ly Yuen there is a tea market every tenth day of the season, to wit, on the 2d, 12th, and 22d days of one month, and on the 7th, 17th, and 27th days of the month following. The teas collected at these country markets are sent to the village of Sing-Csun, where the hong merchants and tea factors of Canton have large establishments for packing teas for foreign exportation. Here also the Shan-Se merchants and factors procure their teas for the overland trade with Russia. The statements that the better class of teas, either green or black, can be obtained in any local market except the above-mentioned one of Sing-Csun or in the hyson market of Moo-yen and Yun-ning, are emphatically denied by Ball, in his account of the culture and manufacture of tea. A small amount of tea may be obtained in the remote districts, but the chests in which it is packed are of darker color and lack the peculiar style of the markets.

After being packed in chests, the tea is sent to markets in chops or breaks of about 600 chests, each of which contains about 80 pounds of tea. Each chop is divided into two packings of about 300 chests. The teas which are to constitute one uniform quality of 600 chests consist of certain proportions of the three different gatherings of the season, collected from the various farms and localities around, a careful record of each being kept in every farm of each gathering, and these are carefully mixed in one uniform quality. They are packed by men in their bare feet, and must be perfectly dry, or fermentation will take place. In all these stages of tea culture and preparation the Chinese display that careful attention to details and that patient intelligence which have ever characterized the industry of this singular people.

The teas of China, as prepared for exportation, are thus enumerated in Williams's Chinese Commercial Guide. The Congou, a corruption of King-hu, in Amoy dialect, signifying laborer's tea, or tea upon which labor has been bestowed. There are eight varieties of this tea manufactured to supply the foreign demand, each presenting an almost endless diversity of minor differences of quality. The finest kinds are produced in the province of Hupeh, and are divided into three classes, of which the best is the Yang-lin-lung, or Willow Valley; next in quality is the Yang-lin-szi, or Willow Township, and lastly the inferior Hich-kiashi, or Hich family market tea. The Congou from Hupeh is easily distinguished by a large leaf, black, and sometimes purple in color, with a rich deep red infusion and a mellow soft flavor. From its delicate constitution it cannot bear much firing without losing its fragrance, hence it requires careful handling to prevent its becoming musty. The Congou from Honan province has a grayish black color, not strong, and of a flavor somewhat resembling tar, which the Chinese ascribe to the pine wood used for firing. There are three classes of this tea. The Moning Congou

from Moning, in the province of Kiang-si, resembles the foregoing in appearance, but it frequently has an earthy smell and taste, arising from some undetected element in the soil. Its best quality, called Sunghiang, or fir-fragrance, has a leaf small, even and black, with a strong but agreeable infusion. The Honan Congou was originally called Bohea in the early trade of the English East India Company. The leaf is dark red, open, and coarse, with an infusion of pale red, deepening as the quality deteriorates. It is brought from the northern declivity of the Bohea Hills. Since the dissolution of the East India Company the Congou tea has, on the whole, been improved; but during the Tai-ping insurrection it declined both in quality and quantity. The best quality of black tea brought to the export trade of Canton is the Kiai-shan; its quality and mode of curing are such that it may be kept for years without injury, in a dry climate. It comes in limited quantities from Shu-fan-kiai, and is distinguished by its small, red, curly leaf, with Pekoe tips. Its infusion is brisk, strong, and richly aromatic. A variety called Hia-mei is rarely to be procured. What little is raised is bought for mixture with other teas to improve their flavor. Its leaf is black and curled. Another variety, the Tsan-tun-kiai, is grown on the Bohea hills; it has the peculiar Ankoy flavor. The leaf is mixed, becoming greenish after infusion. A variety, or rather imitation, of Congou has been made in Kwantung province, called Tai-shan. It has a strong, highly fired, melting taste, and often looks better than the best Nanking teas. Its production, however, is declining. The Souchong has already as many varieties as the Congou. The leaves usually exhibit a reddish tint, the infusion being of the same color but paler. The best comes from Shu-fang-kiai, where the Kiai-shan Congous are grown. Pekoe, collected from the convoluted leaf bud, is the most delicate of the black teas, is of four varieties, its flavor being destroyed by firing. Dampness turns it musty. Caper is from the district of Nanganki, in the province of Fo-kien; it is rolled into small pellets, the leaves being made to adhere by weak rice water. They are red and mingled with dust. The infusion is thin and weak. It is the coarsest of all black teas. Plain orange Pekoe leaf is small, curled, and yellowish, with whitish tips like the Pekoe. This variety is mostly exported to the United States. The Oolong or Black Dragon resemble the Ankoy Souchong in appearance, but is very fragrant, with a pale delicate infusion. pale delicate infusion. The Hung-muey or red plum blossom is now in disrepute, being made only in small quantities, deficient in strength. The best sorts resemble Souchong, and the leaves show downy tips. The foregoing embrace nearly all the black teas brought to the coast for export. The green teas collectively are called Tuh-cha and Sung-lo-cha, from the range of hills bearing the latter name. They are divided into three classes, called, from the different sections of country producing them, Wa-yuem, Ping-shin, and Twanki. Teas from these localities are all of superior quality, each furnishing six subordinate classifications, viz.: Hyson, Young Hyson, Hyson Skin, Twankay, Imperial, and Gunpowder. These are separated from each other by winnowing, sifting, and garbling, by hand.

Young Hyson, once called Uchain, was formerly the finest kind of green tea, and very little of it was accessible in the market. Its name is derived from Yu-tsien, (before the rains,) because it was picked when the leaves first unfolded. Though deteriorated, it is still the most important of green teas, and extensively imitated in Kwang-tung province, and not unfrequently adulterated with spurious leaves.

Hyson, from Hi-chin, or vigorous spring, is also called Ching-ha, or true tea. It has a well-matured leaf, curled and twisted, of a light-green