Caper is made in large quantity in China. It forrns a link between the black and green descriptions. The colour of the leaf is a very dark green ; in form, it is similar to a Gunpowder, Imperial, or round-leaf Congou ; the liquor is pale, and the out-turn green ; flavour, perhaps nearer to that of green than black tea.
Packing.—The best tea-boxes are of teak, made at Rangoon. The wood is sawn by maehinery into pieces which will make each chest measure inside 23 x 18 x 18i in.; the contents are 7659 cub. in., sufficing for above 1 maund (80 lb.) of fine, and under 1 maund of coarse tea. Each box is conaposed of fourteen pieces, nailed together with "French pins," 11 in. long. It is extremely important that the tare of all the boxes shall not vary rnore than lb., or the whole will be turned out and reweighed in London. All tbe boxes are lined inside with a thin leaden shell.
Tea naay be packed only on fine hot days. It is first " bulked," i. e. turned out on a cloth and rnixed most intimately. It is also finally dried to remove the moisture imbibed during st,orage, even though kept in zinc-lined bins. Sun-drying is far best. The tea is put into the box while hot, first taking enough to fill the box. This is rocked till it is thoroughly settled, and then trodden down by a rnan standing on a piece of carpet ; this is repeated with decreasing instalments, dispensing with the rocking tor the last 2 or 3 additions. When full, a sheet of " silver " paper is laid on tbe tea to catch drops caused while soldeling the top, which, with the nailing on the cover, is the final operation. To take the taro of the boxes, they are weighed with the leaden lining and leaden top ; when filled and soldered, but before putting on tlae wooden top, they are again weighed for the gross. The tares must be equalized by adding nails, solder, or hoop-iron bands. The boxes are finally marked.
If more than 2 maunds are made per diem, some of the items will be a little less. In large quantity, about 12-13 Rs. (24-26s.) would cover everything.
Brick-tea.—The article known as brick-tea is of three kinds. The first, or largest kind, is a cake of coarse green tea, which weighs, when thoroughly dried, about 31 lb., and is about 1 ft. long by 7 in. wide. These cakes are made in a wooden mould while wet, compressed by a lever press, and afterward dried, all by hand-labour. When dried, each cake is wrapped in paper and packed in strong baskets, each containing 36 cakes. The cost of this tea per basket is about 28s.,
and the annual exportation from Kiukiang amounts to 15,000-20,000 baskets. The tea is sent from Kiukiang to Tientsin, whence it goes overland through Mongolia for consumption among the inhabitants of W. and N.-W. Siberia, in the province of Kazan, on the Volga, and hy the Kirghis and other tribes. A cake of tea of the same form, but of a much commoner quality, costing about 22s., made by the Chinese at Yang-lout'ung, in Hupeh, is largely consumed in Mongolia.
The seeend kind of brick-tea is of a finer quality, each cake weighing lb., and heing 81 in. long by 5f in. wide. It is packed in baskets, each containing 80-90, and costs about 34s. per basket. This kind is consumed in W. and S.-W. Siberia, at Kazan, and on the Amoor.
The third kind of brick-tea is made of black-tea dust, each cake weighing 21 lb., and being 8i in. long by 6 in. wide. lt is packed in baskets containing 64 cakes each, and costs about 33s. per basket. It is consumed throughout Siberia and in E. European Russia by the peasantry. It is made into cakes at Foochow, Kiukiang, and Hankow. The yearly exportation from the three places is about 100,000 baskets. The brick-tea trade of Hankow is rapidly increasing, and the demand becoming greater than the supply. The employment of steam machinery for pressing the bricks has proved a great success, the steam-pressed brick being much better finished than by hand, and more compact and firm, standing transit better, and arriving at its destination little the worse for its journey. With the old method, the bricks, from insufficient pressing power, were liable t,o chip and crumble at the edges, while great stress is laid on the perfect appearance of the briok by the Siberians. Both methods of manufacturing brick-tea have a serious drawback in the damping of the duet by steam, which robs it of all its fragrance. To remedy this defect, hydraulic presses have been introduced, which turn out small corrugated cakes, weighing I lb. each, retaining the original aroma in all its freshness. It is yet uncertain whether the c,ornpressed tea will prove a success, but samples sent to Siberia have been favourably reported on ; and though probably the brick will keop ifs position among the masses, the compressed tea will become popular with the better classes, and if really fine dust be employed in its manufacture, it may, from its portability and cheapness, generally take the place of the leaf-tea at present annually sent overland from Shansi.