Plucking is an operation neces sarily done by hand, and requires judgment as to the amount of leafage that may he removed at one picking without halting the normal growth of the plant. The plucking follows the "flush,' that is, the springing into leafage of the ter minal buds after the winter rest. The second flush in the season is the leafing out of the top axillary buds on the stumps of the terminal bud-stems removed at the first picking. The succeeding flushes are not well marked, but there are generally 10 and sometimes 15 in the course of the growing season. In a well-or dered plantation the trees are plucked over about 30 times during the season, with the in tent of getting the leaves while in their very best condition. The bud produces the finest quality of finished tea; the partly opened leaf next below it, being slightly less valuable, and the next leaves below distinctly coarser. The usual practice is to pluck the bud with the two adjacent open leaves. Plantations which pro duce only the highest grade of tea pluck the bud and one leaf. Many growers, however, pluck the bud and the first three leaves. The• first few crops are thus very large, hut the endurance of the plantation is seriously af fected, and the net profits very decidedly re duced. The quality, however, does not depend wholly upon the plucking: much depends upon the soil and the climate. The average yield is about two and one-half ounces of finished tea per plant per season.
The handling of the tea leaves after plucking is determined by the kind of finished tea to be produced. In the case of black tea the leaves are wilted or withered on trays in a draught of dry cool air often pro duced by fans. This is continued until the leaf is soft and flaccid. The average time required for withering is 18 hours: less than that does not allow sufficient development of the peculiar enzyme required for the subsequent fermenta tion upon which the flavor of the finished tea so largely depends. Withering is followed by rolling on tables of granite, the motion of the rollers being to crush the cells of the leaf with out breaking its structure. In this process of rolling the leaves incidentally receive the char acteristic twist noticeable in finished tea. The time occhpied in rolling is from 20 to 40 min utes. The leaves are then run through a sifter which grade's them into sizes, and then are spread upon glass or glazed-tile tables to fer ment During this process they are covered with cloths freshly wrung out of cold water. The time required for proper fermentation de pends upon the previous development of the ferment during withering, and may take from two to six hours. The temperature is kept scrupulously to 85° F., or slightly below, and the time of completion is determined by the odor, which at first resembles chopped cabbage, but becomes fruity, resembling that of fine ripe apples. Lightly fermented tea yields when
finished a pale, pungent infusion, the pun gence due to an excess of unfermented tannin. Fully fermented tea yields A deep-colored, sof t flavored liquor of good body. The best tea is that which receives a medium fermentation and has in consequence a brisk taste, with high flavor and aroma. The final step in the process is drying the leaves rapidly to check further fermentation. The trays go first to a position near the furnace where the temperature is 260° and thence travel away from the source of heat, finishing where the heat is at In many factories a second firing is given after a few days, and this is considered to enhance the ultimate quality of the tea as it comes into the market after overseas trans portation.
Before packing the finished tea is sorted over by hand, and vagrant bits of stalks and red leaves are removed. It is then sifted into grades. In the ordinary factory these are five: Broken Orange Pekoe, Orange Pekoe, Pekoe, Pekoe Souchong and Pekoe Fannings. 'The first is composed almost wholly of terminal buds and broken portions of the ybungest and tenderest first leaves; the second is of the smallest leaves and a few buds; the third and fourth grades are of the coarser leaves, and the Souchong is usually chopped up to show a smaller range of size in the market. The Fannings are the finer fragments and dust, used chiefly in the manu facture of caffeine, or of °brick Green In the manufacture of green tea the freshly plucked leaves are thrown di rectly into a roasting pan at a temperature of 250° and are kept tossing about until flaccid, when they are emptied upon a mat of bamboo and rolled by hand. They are then dried quickly over a charcoal fire. The older leaves are deficient in proper color and are treated with small quantities of Prussian blue, indigo or soapstone. The former teas are called "natural green,) or °unfinished green in con trast with the doctored leaves, which go under the title of °true green?" or "finished green?) Oolong tea is prepared by a combination of the two methods, being slightly withered and lightly fermented and then treated as for green tea Brick Tea is a condensed preparation of the coarser leaves and even the prunings of the plantation. These are panned and steamed, and then placed in piles under cloth covers. A peculiar ferment resembling a black fungus spreads through the mass, which is then sorted, mixed with a glutinous rice paste, lightly steamed and then pressed into molds four feet long, nine and one-fourth inches wide and four and one-fourth inches deep. Three ebricksa are made in this depth, containing when dry four and one-half pounds each. An other form of brick tea is made into tablet form, four and inches square and one and one-fourth inches thick and weighing half a pound each.