TEA MANUFACTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1842, 9 December 1869, Page 4

TEA MANUFACTURE.

A private letter from a gentleman in India, who was formerly resident in Adelaide, to a friend there, gives the following interesting account of a tea plantation and manufactory in the Punjaub, of which he is manager : — "It is a beautiful plain, two miles long by one broad, and surrounded by beautiful picturesque hills. Around on the higher hills wo have snow all the year, or nearly so ; and the lower ones are covered, at this time, with beautiful green pasture, where tho cattlc and sheep may be seen feeding daily. The tea-tree in its wild state will grow about 25 feet in height, but for tea seldom let it grow over 8 feet, as if it were liigher it would be inconvenient for picking the leaf. A good tree measures across the top from 4 to 5 feet. Shall I give you a description of how tea is made ? Perhaps it would not be uninteresting to you. Black tea is made thus : —The young shoots are picked off the tree, brought into the factory, spread out on large flat baskets (ehungeers), are allowed to stay all day in these, once or twice turning them over so that they may wither equally. The next morning about 20 lbs is given to each, man ; he takes these in one of the ehungeers, puts it on the ground, kneels down and rolls it with the whole weight of his body for about two and a-half or three hours, until tho leaves have become half the sizo in bulk and become a (reddish brown colour, when the whole of the mew, say thirty, arc put into one or two large baskets, where it lies for about an hour. Then two or threo tea-makers take and put it into a pan nearly red-hot as much as ten or twelve men can well take in their hands and roll it on a table. After they have rolled for about a minute they spread it out, and take it v try quickly, and roll again for another minute or so. This they do until another pan is ready for them, then it is taken out and opened and spread in the sun to dry. I should havo said when the men have done rolling it on the table it is in small balls about the size of your fist. It is left out in this way until it is nearly dry, when it is brought in aud thoroughly dried over a charcoal fire in baskets mado for the purpose. When it is quite dry it is put into large bins lined with zinc. At any leisure time it is taken out, sifted, aud sorted into different sorts, known as Pekoe, Pekoe-Souchong, Souchong, Congou, Bohea, and dust. Green tea is made differently. It is put into a hot pan as soon as tho leaves come in from the gardan, rolled on the table, and then put out in the sun to dry a little ; it is rolled again and again as it dries ; it is then put in bags and pressed as tightly as possible and left all night. In the morning it is taken out of the bags, all the little rolls picked out, then put into a pan, not very warm, until it is dry and hard. Then, to get the colour out, it is again put in a pan aud moved about for some hours, until the required colour is obtained."