Culture.—The tea plant is multiplied by seed like the hawthorn, and therefore the produce cannot be identical in every respect with the parent. Instead, therefore, of having one or two botanical varieties of tea plant in China, there are in fact many kinds, although the difference between them may be slight. The seeds of this plant are gathered year after year in different climates, and in the course of time the plants in one district slightly differ from those of another, although they may have been originally produced from the same stock. But the plants of Canton, Hwuy-chow, and Wu-i are the same species, and the slight differences observed are the results of reproduc tion and difference of climate.
These differences, however, do not alter the commercial value of the plants found cultivated in the great tea countries of Foli-kien andiy chow, where the finest teas are produced. While the tea shrub may have improved in the course of reproduction in these districts, it may have become deteriorated in others. For this reason, seeds and plants for forming fresh plantations ought always to bo procured from the districts famed for the excellence of its produce.
Sir John Davis, Mr. Fortune, and Archdeacon Gray have given detailed accounts of the Chinese modes of its cultivation and manufacture.
The last-named author mentions that in China the seed is gathered in October, and perfectly dried in the sun. In February or beginning of March, the seeds are soaked for 24 hours in cold water, and are then deposit,ed in cloth bags in a moderately warm chamber, usually the cook room. When partially dried, they are moistened with water, after which they are again Fartially dried, and then once more moistened ; and this process is continued until they begin to sprout, when they are placed half an inch apart in thin layers of earth, spread over basket - work or matting. During tile first four days, every morning they are well watered and exposed to the sun, and in the evening are sheltered in-doors. On the fifth day they are strong enough to be exposed at night, and when 4 inches high they are planted in the ground, cach 2 feet apart. Hilly ground, as affording good drainage, which is of vast import ance, is better adapted for the growth of the plant than flat ground.
The tea plant yields its first crop at the end of the third year. If stripped before this, it may be spoiled or seriously injured. After this age, if the annual stripping be omitted, the following year would be marked by a. very poor and comparat ively useless crop. There are three gatherings yearly. The first crop of leaves is gathered in the latter part of April, the second towards the end of May or in the early part of June, and the third about 30 days afterwards. Great pains are
taken not to exhaust the plants by plucking them too bare. Despite every care, when 8 or 10 years old, they become unproductive, yielding only a few coarse leaves ; and farmers cut the shrubs down to the stems to obtain new shoots and leaves in succeeding summers.
Before commencing their labours, the gatherers have to wash their hands, and they deposit the leaves which they pluck in clean wicker-work baskets. An expert labourer can, with con]parat ive ease, gather from 10 tb 13 lbs. of leaves in a day. The leaves are plucked with great nicety, not more than one being plucked from the stalk at a time.
Manufacture. —In making Congon, the leaves are spread out in the open air to dry. They are then for 2 or 3 hours trodden by labourers to press out any moisture remaining in thern, and are again heaped together and covered with cloths, and allowed to remain for one night, during which they generate a heat which changes their green to black or brown become more fragrant, and undergo a decided change in flavour. The labourera now rub the leaves between the palms of their hands, so as to twist or crumple them, and in this state they are dried in the sun, or, if rainy, baked over a slow charcoal fire. In this state they are sold to the proprietors of the tea hongs, who again give them a two hour& firing, and the bad leaves and stems are then picked out, the ivhole win nowed, and packed in boxes lined with paper. The colour of the leaves gives their special names of black leaf, red or brown leaf congou, Oonan congou, Ning-chow congou, and Ilo-chow congou. Oo-pak congou comprises the numerous kinds of congou produced in the province of Ilu-peli, and largely exported from tho port of Hankow. Oonau congou is produced in the province of llo nan ; the leaves have a greyish-blackish colour, and in some instances a tinge of red.
Ning-chow congou is produced in the NW. of the province of Kiang-si, and its finest varieties at Wu-ning, a place S.W. of the city of Kiu-kiang, where, as also at Canton and Hankow, it is chiefly sold. Its leaves are of a brownish-black colour. Ho-how congou is produced in the N.E. parts of the province of Kiang-si, and on the north of the Bohea Hills. The Ho-how teas are almost all sent to Kiu-kiang for sale, small quantities to Shanghai, Canton, and Fu-chu. The Ho-how teas rank lowest of all; the finest Oo-pak teas consist of the best black-leaf teas. Fine Oonan teas are superior to those of Ning-chow.