CHAPTER IV.CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION.
The Chinese, from time immemorial, have been accustomed to raising their tea on every available space of ground; on barren hill-side, marshy plain and other patches of land unsuited for other purposes. Most of the gardens are, however, situated in hilly districts, but in almost all of them the soil is poor and sandy, varying considerably, even in districts alike famous for the perfect growth of the plant.
The soil of the gardens situated on the hills is composed chiefly of a brownish clay, containing large proportions of vegetable matter intermixed with fragments of slate, quartz and sand-stone, held together by a calcareous basis of granite. A soil, in fact, very similar to that which produces pine and scrub-oak, while on the plains it is darker, but containing a still greater proportion of vegetable matter, enriched by sewerage but invariably well underdrained by natural declivities. Yet while many of the gardens are situated on the tops of mountains, among pine trees in some districts, and along river banks on others, the Chinese, as a rule, prefer ground that is only moderately elevated, in sunny sites, everything else being favorable. Many of the latter yield more abundantly, but the product of the former is invariably the finest in quality.
With regard to climatic essentials the plant endures a tropical temperature well, at the same time accommodating itself to the cold of winter without injury. But when cultivated for commercial uses in such latitudes the seasons are found too short for its profitable production there, and while it is successfully grown at zero cold in some districts, it is nevertheless most lucratively cultivated in climates where the thermometer rarely falls more than six degrees below the freezing point. The climate varies to a considerable extent in the different districts of China where tea is grown, being excessively warm in the southern, and intensely cold in the northern provinces, snow being on the ground for days together in the latter or green tea producing districts. And though it has been proved by experiment that this variety will bear a greater degree of cold than the black, considerable snow falls annually in the province of Fo-kien, where Black teas are grown. The most important climatic consideration, however, is the amount of rain-fall, a dry climate being altogether unfit for tea cultivation; a hot, moist or damp one being proved the best. The rain-fall in the most profitable tea districts ranges from 80 to 100 inches per annum, the more falling in the spring months the better, and that too must be equally diffused. But where irrigation can be systematically introduced, this is of less importance.
Tea is invariably raised from seed, in China, collected in the fall after the last crop has been gathered and placed in sand to keep them fresh during the winter months, and sown the following spring in nurseries. In sowing the seed from six to eight are put in pots about an inch below the surface, usually four feet apart, and covered withrice-husks or parched earth. In growing, many of the seeds prove abortive, scarcely one in five germinating. When the nurslings have attained a height of from four to six inches they are transplanted to the beds of the gardens in which they are to grow four to five feet apart. The plants are never manured in China, nor does it appear to be customary to prepare the ground for their reception, it being claimed by many authorities that manure, while it increases the yield, invariably spoils the flavor of the tea. Chinese growers in general asserting that teas produced without the aid of manure are always the most fragrant and aromatic.
The plantations are laid out in the early spring, and being well watered by the copious rains which fall during this season, the young plants establish themselves, requiring very little care thereafter. Until they have attained a height of about 18 inches, the weeds are pulled regularly, not raked, and the leading shoots pinched to induce them to become numerous and bushy. When the season is dry they are saturated with rice-water and the roots covered, and if severely cold they are protected by a wrapping of straw, rising up in a cluster when the rains come and become firmly established, after which they require very little more attention except occasional weeding, until they are three years old. In some districts the branches are periodically pruned, the constant abstraction of the foliage having a tendency to reduce the height and expand laterally making them resemble a collection of plants rather than single shrubs, the size of the leaves in such cases being smaller than when the plants are suffered to grow at will, but covering the branches so thickly as to prevent the hand being thrust through. An eastern exposure is avoided when near the sea, and care is also taken not to overshadow them by huge treesor noxious plants, certain notions prevailing concerning the injurious influence of such trees when growing too near the tea plants. When the soil is good and the season favorable the leaves can be picked when the plants are two years old, but if poor and dry, three years are usually required for them to mature. On the larger plantations three years are generally allowed before beginning to gather the first crop or picking. A tea plantation at this age when seen at a distance resembles a shrubbery of evergreens, the view being very picturesque, the gardens representing a series of terraces descending to the plain, and the rich dark-green leaves affording a pleasing contrast to the strange and oft-times barren scenery with which they are so frequently surrounded. There is a close analogy between the tea plantations of China and the vineyards of France, the quality of the tea varying according to the situation of the sites, the nature of the soil and their exposure to climatic changes. Thus, there are in China plantations of tea enjoying reputations equal to those of the best vineyards of Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux.
There are three regular pickings in the course of a year. The first known as theShon-cheunor “Early spring,” occurring about the middle of April or beginning of May, according to the district, the product of which is termedTaou-chaor “head tea,” a very superior kind, consisting of the youngest, tenderest, and most delicate leaves and leaf-buds just expanding. The quantity obtained from this picking is limited in quantity but simply superb in quality, the very finest teas known to commerce, being prepared from them. The leaves are selected with the greatest care and picked with the utmost caution, such pains being taken to insure its excellence that for weeks before the harvest commences,the packers, who have been previously trained are prohibited from eating fish or other food considered unclean, lest by their breath they should contaminate the leaves, being also compelled to bathe two or three times daily in the picking season, as well as wear gloves during the operation.
The second picking, calledEr-chuenor “Second spring,” takes place between the end of May and beginning of June, when the branches are literally covered with leaves, and yielding what is known in China asTzu-chaor “filial tea,” from the fact of its producing the largest quantity, constituting the most important crop of the season and forming the principal one exported, but being greatly inferior to the first in point of quality.
TheSan-chuen, or “third crop,” is gathered in July when the shrubs are searched for leaves, and the product converted into what is termedWu-kua-chaor “tea without aroma,” and though still more inferior to the preceding ones in quality and quantity, is nevertheless an important one commercially, forming the bulk of that exported as well as for blending with and reducing the cost of the preceding crop. A few leaves of the first picking will support five successive immersions, yielding five cups of moderately strong tea; the second supplying only two and the third but one of the same strength to a like quantity.
A fourth picking or rather “gleaning,” termed theChiu-luor “Autumn dew,” is made in the more prolific districts in September and October, the product of which is known asTa-chaor “old tea,” but of little value commercially. The leaves being large, coarse and almost sapless, are generally retained for home consumption by the poorer Chinese or for dyeing purposes, and still another grade is sometimes made by choppingup the stems and twigs of the foregoing with a shears, a practice, however, much to be condemned. The operation of picking is one of the greatest nicety, only women and children being employed in its performance. A small basket is strung by a cord around the neck of each picker, in such a manner as to leave the hands free, a larger basket being placed near for general use. The branch is held by one hand while the leaves are carefully plucked with the other, for, except in the latter gatherings, no portion of the stem or stalk must be broken off with the leaves.
The quality of the tea largely depends on the exact time of picking, as the choicest leaves may be changed into an inferior grade of tea on a single night if the exact proper time to pick them be neglected. The practice of picking the young leaf-buds just as they are beginning to unfold would also prove greatly injurious to the plants, were it not for the copious rains that fall during the season of picking, causing fresh leaves to sprout out and elaborate the sap necessary to constitute the further growth of the shrub. The weather also exerts a great influence upon the character of the tea, as, for instance, when the rains fall equably and a bright sun appears after heavy showers, the plants become thick and flourishing, the leaves bright green in color, elastic in texture and much richer in flavor. Whereas, when too much falls at one time, they become mildewed, broken and less flexible and limited, stunted and sapless when too little falls during the season of growth.
The product of single plants vary so much that it is difficult to estimate the average quantity. A plant of three years’ growth yielding only about 8 ounces of green leaves to a picking, equivalent to about 80 pounds per acre, while at five years’ growth the same plantwillproduce five times that quantity, but the quality of the tea will not be near so good. One Chinese authority states that 2 catties, about 2 pounds, of green leaves are obtained from the more celebrated trees, but that the average quantity was between 10 taels and 1 cattie, or from 1 pound to 22 ounces annually, adding that a singlemou(acre) of land contained from 300 to 400 plants. From these varying statements it is evident that no definite amount can be fixed on as an average product per plant, per acre or per annum. The average collection for each picker is from 14 to 16 pounds of raw leaves per diem, the average wages varying from four to eight cents per day, according to the skill of the picker.
As a general rule in China the small growers do not prepare the tea for market, simply curing them up to a certain point in which condition they dispose of it to the merchant or commission man, locally known as “tea-men,” who send agents into the country and who buy it in small quantities from the growers and carry it tohongsor warehouses established at different points in the tea districts. In this preliminary preparation the leaves when first collected by the grower are spread out in light layers on straw mats and exposed to the sun until they are thoroughly withered, when they are gathered up and placed on bamboo trays and triturated until a large portion of the sap or juice is pressed out. After this operation they are again exposed to the sun and then dried in rattan cylinders, separated in the middle by a partition, covered on top, and underneath of which is a chafing vessel of ignited charcoal. The leaves when thrown intothis concavity are constantly agitated until the process is completed, finishing the cultivator’s work, the leaves being delivered to the merchant or factor in this state. The quantity for a “chop” or shipment being selected according to the quality of the leaf and the district producing it. The merchant or factor has them picked over by women and children to remove the stems and fibre which still remain attached to the young sprouts before completing its final preparation for the foreign market. The drying, buying and transporting of the leaves from the gardens to the hongs occupies considerable time, during most of which the but partially prepared tea is very much at the mercy of the elements.
Tea leaves, when first picked, possess none of the color, odor or flavor of the tea of commerce, these properties being developed by the numerous processes to which they are subjected in the operation of curing and firing, and for which the Chinese have a long vocabulary of technical terms. The definition of which, as vouchsafed to the “outside barbarians,” are intended more to mystify rather than elucidate the art. The operations of Tea manufacture may, however, be classified in the following sequence: Evaporating—Fermenting—Sunning—Firing—Rolling; each process having to be carried to a certain specific point, or if under or overdone, the leaf is spoiled and the tea correspondingly injured.
The partially withered leaves are packed in small cotton bags, loosely tied at mouth, and placed in open wooden troughs or boxes perforated at the sides with numerous holes, in which they are pressed and kneaded by the feet, to expel all superfluous moisture, the object being to extract all excess of tannin the principle to which tea owes its bitterness and astringency. Iftheleaves be fermented without previously going through this process, the tea will be too pungent and bitter. The fluid driven out through the holes is of a greenish, semi-viscid nature, the quantity expelled from the leaves being considerable. Properly evaporated, the leaves when pressed in the hand return to their regular shape, the stem bending double without breaking.
The process of fermentation is accomplished by next emptying the leaves into bamboo baskets and covering them with cotton or felt mats, to cause a retention of heat and hasten the fermentive changes. Having been allowed to stand in this condition, the time requisite for this process, being learned only by experience, being more rapid in dry, warm weather than in cool and damp. If the leaves be allowed to remain in a heap after evaporating, so that heating by natural fermentation should occur, the tea will be greatly injured. The process is stopped by emptying the leaves and spreading them out on large mats, exposed to the sun’s rays. The effect of proper fermentation is to make the tea richer, smoother and more pleasing in flavor. Tea in this respect being like tobacco, which if dried over a fire when first cut, becomes so sharp and bitter as to sting the tongue.
During the process of “sunning” the leaves are tossed up and turned over repeatedly, so that the whole may be diffused and thoroughly permeated by the sun. With bright sunshine one hour’s exposure is sufficient, after which they are ready for the final processes of firing and curling. One of the results of the sunning process is to evaporate in a greater degree the properties that produce nervousness or wakefulness in the tea.
As in the case of its botanical classification, much error and confusion for a long time existed with regard to the production of the varieties known to commerce as Greenand Black teas. It was claimed at one time that the former were prepared exclusively from the species botanically termedThea Viridis, and the latter came fromThea Bohea. It was also stated that the difference in color was due to a variation in the soil, climate and methods of cultivation, and again that Black teas were prepared only from plants grown on hilly sites, and Green teas solely from those cultivated on the plains in a soil enriched by manure. These botanical names and groundless conjectures have for a long time misled the public, later and more careful investigation fully disproving such erroneous impressions. But while it is now admitted that the greater portion of the respective commercial varieties known as Green and Black teas are prepared from the corresponding botanical species in their respective districts, it is more from custom, convenience or demand than from any other cause. The manufacturers cater to the latter, the workmen also preferring to make that kind best with which they have the most experience. Chinese tea men now admitting that both kinds are prepared at the will or pleasure of the manufacturers in the Black and Green tea districts. At Canton and other treaty ports in China it is an open secret that both varieties are prepared from either species according to the demand, the difference in color being entirely due to the different methods of preparation from the first stage. In the
When the leaves are brought in from the gardens, they are spread out thinly on flat bamboo trays, where they are allowed to remain exposed from one to two hours, in order to evaporate any superfluous moistures,the time depending much on the state of the weather, after which they are removed to terraces or verandahs built expressly for the purpose of firing and curling, and containing from ten to twenty small furnaces about three feet high, each having at the top a series of shallow pans, termedKuo, built into brick-work, low in front, but rising gradually at the sides and back, having a flue beneath and a fireplace at one end. The pans are heated to a certain degree by a charcoal fire made in the furnaces underneath. Charcoal being used exclusively for the purpose, as smoke of any kind would injure the flavor of the tea. A limited quantity of raw leaves are thrown into theKuoat a time, rapidly moved about and shaken up with both hands until they become affected by the heat, making a cracking noise and give out considerable vapor, the freshest andjuiciest cracking first.
The operators meantime continue to stir them rapidly as possible with their bare hands until they become too hot to be endured, the object being to expose them equally to the action of the heat, and at the same time prevent them from burning or scorching. When the heat becomes too intense they are lifted rapidly above theKuoand allowed to fall gradually to cool them, any burned leaves being instantly removed. After being allowed to remain in this state from four to five minutes, during which they become moist and flaccid, they are quickly removed with a shovel resembling a fan and transferred to a long, low table made of split bamboo and covered with matting and surrounded by severalSaihoos, who divide the leaves among them, each taking as many as he can hold in his hands, rolling them from left to right with a circular motion into the form of a ball, which is compressed and rolled upon the table, to rid them of any excess of sap or moisture, and at the sametime curl or twist the leaves. During this process they are frequently shaken out and passed from hand to hand with a rapid motion, until they reach the head workman, who examines them carefully to see if they have attained the requisite twist, after which they are separated and spread out in bamboo trays until the remainder have undergone the same process. A second set of operatives now collect them and turn them over and over, toss and retoss them in the air to a considerable height, while a third keeps fanning them in order that they may cool more speedily and retain their curl longer, those containing the most sap curling quickest, tightest and retaining it the longer. When the firing and curling operations are completed, the leaves are again exposed to the action of the air, so as to admit the passing away of the expressed moisture and at the same time impart a crisp appearance.
When a sufficient quantity of leaves has been rolled they are again placed in theKuos, under which a slow but steady charcoal fire has been kept burning and stirred with a rapid motion by the hands of theSaihoountil they become thoroughly dried and the green color permanently fixed, that is, until there is no longer any danger of them turning black. At this stage the leaves are of a dull-green color, becoming brighter as they cool, in which state they are termed by the ChineseMao-chaor “Cat tea.” The next and last process consists of winnowing or passing the leaves through sieves of varying sizes to free them from stems, dust and other extraneous matter, and separate them into the different kinds of Green Tea known to commerce. After which they are again refired, the coarser leaves once and the finer grades three to four times in order to bring out the color more fully and make them retain their curl longer. In the
PREPARATION OF BLACK TEAS.
The leaves undergo the same process of evaporation and fermentation as with the green, but for a much longer period. They are spread out thinly on large mats and allowed to lie in this condition for at least twenty-four hours, after which they are gathered up and thrown in the air and allowed to fall back again in order to separate them. They are next turned and returned for a considerable time, being slightly beaten or patted with the hands meantime until they become soft and pliable, when they are again heaped and allowed to lay in this state for about an hour, and when examined, at the end of this time they are found to have undergone a slight change, becoming darker in color, moist and flaccid in texture and emitting a sweet, fragrant odor. At this stage they are placed in theKuosand fired for about five minutes, rolled on bamboo tables and shaken out thinly on sieves placed outside the “hong” and exposed to the oxidizing action of the atmosphere for about three hours, during which the operatives are employed in going over the sieves, turning and separating the leaves from each other.
After the leaves have lost considerable sap and become correspondingly reduced in size they are next removed into the factory and placed a second time in the pans for three or four minutes, rolled as before and put into tubular bamboo baskets, narrow in the middle and wide at both ends, and suspended over charcoal fires for from five to six minutes, during which they are carefully stirred and watched until they begin to assume a dark color, the operations of heating and twisting being repeated from three to four times, the heat being gradually reduced at each operation, and during which the operators make holes with their hands through the centre of the leaves in order to equally diffuse the heat and give vent to anysmoke or vapor from the charcoal. They are then covered up, placed aside until they become perfectly dry and their black color firmly established, improving in appearance as they cool. When there is no longer any danger of their becoming green, the final processes of sifting, sorting and grading is performed at the convenience of the workmen.
With fourKuosand sixSaihoosonly from 400 to 500 pounds of prepared tea can be cured in a single day, it requiring 400 pounds of raw leaves to produce 100 pounds of cured tea. The leaves of the earlier pickings being smaller, more tender and juicy, the yield is correspondingly less, the leaves containing the most sap curling quickest, tightest and retaining it longer.
It may here be observed in regard to the preparation of Green and Black teas that the leaves intended for conversion into the latter variety are allowed to lie exposed to the action of the sun and air for a considerably longer time than those of the former, that they are raked and tossed about until they become more soft and pliant, and that they are allowed to ferment longer before firing. And, again, that after firing and curling they are exposed to the oxydizing influence of the atmosphere in a moist state for hours previous to being fired a second time and finally dried in baskets over a slow fire. While the leaves intended for Green teas are immediately fired and curled after being picked, and dried as quickly as possible after the rolling process has been completed. The differences in the methods of preparation are therefore most marked, and satisfactorily accounts for the difference in their color, flavor and aroma, as well as for the effects—nervousness and wakefulness—produced in some constitutions by Green teas, due to the greater amount of sap contained in the leaves.
But, for the at one time commonly-received opinion that the distinctive color of Green teas was imparted by curing in copper pans, there is not the slightest foundation in fact, since copper is never used for the purpose, repeated experiments by unerring tests having failed to find a single trace of that metal in any Green teas.
Later investigations proving that the hue of Green teas is due as much to their manipulation as to the degree of heat at which they are fired. It has been found that at equal temperatures the leaves of both will turn black if allowed to lie as long before or during firing, the green color being retained only by the excessive motion, the latter tending to accelerate the power of evaporation of the juices, and which is further augmented by incessant fanning.
The final grading of Green teas also differs from that of Black, there being two distinct styles or “makes” of the tea—rolled and twisted. They are first separated and then sifted, in which operation four sieves are used, two to separate the small from the large round or rolled leaves, and two for the curled or twisted. After being sorted or separated they are again fired into deeper pans at a much higher temperature, and winnowed while hot in large circular bamboo trays, to free them from any remaining chaff or dust, the choicer grades being hand-picked previous to being sent to theTwa-tu-tia(Tea market), which is held in the nearest town or village to the district of production. The inferior grades are generally disposed of in an unassorted condition to the native factors or foreign merchants, who afterwards sort, grade and pack them for export.
The grading or classing of Black teas for their first market is performed differently in the different districts. The most common custom, however, is to sort the dried leaves at thehongs, according to their size, style and quality, by collecting them in heaps or large layers, and rake them down so as to mix them well together and make them uniform in grade and average cost; the leaves being more often the product of different plantations, and even districts. The product of each plantation is brought by coolies in cotton bags or bamboo baskets to the tea market, and when disposed of are removed to the “Go-downs,” or warehouses, situated in the adjacent villages, where the teas of a district are stored until they are disposed of to the native factors or foreign agents, who travel through the country in the interest of commission houses or merchants at the treaty ports, and by whom they are again fired, graded and winnowed to free them from any remaining impurities. When the orders are filled the teas are transported across the country on the shoulders of coolies, or sent down by river or canal in “junks” to the shipping ports, the time occupied in transit varying according to means, being usually from six to eight weeks.
Previous to being packed for export in the lead-lined chests in which they are received in this country, the teas are again subjected to a still further firing, with the object of totally evaporating any moisture they may have absorbed in transit from the interior or by laying exposed in the storehouses, as well as to better fit them for the long sea voyage, after which the tea is weighed in “catties,” and placed in the chests, the packer pressing it down with his hands. When another cattie is put in he steps on top, places his hands behind his back and throwing his head forward goes through a sort of atread-mill dance, until the leaves are tightly compressed into the smallest possible compass. More tea is then put in and pressed down in the same manner until the chest is filled, when the leaden lid is put on and soldered, the chest being nailed, clamped, matted and rattaned later, numerous hands, men and women, being employed in its final packing.
Before matting a Chinese character termed a “Chop-mark” is placed on the side of each chest, ostensibly to denote the packer or picking, but although the same “crop” or brand is received year after year from the same shipper it does not necessarily follow that the grade or quality will be the same or even equal to that of the preceding ones.
The term “chop” in Chinese means contract, and does not, as is claimed, refer to the crop or picking of any particular garden or season. In trade it is applied to a quantity of tea frequently composed of the product of different gardens, or piens (localities) and even districts averaged or made uniform in the piens of the Twa-tu-tia by the factors before forwarding to the shipping ports. When a sufficient quantity of a certain specified grade has been secured from several growers to make up a chop, it is carried to a warehouse in the adjacent village, where it is all mixed together, averaged, refired and packed for the foreign market. The quantity for a chop being selected according to the quality of the leaf and the district producing it, and considering how chops are made up—a few piculs from several gardens, often widely apart, they are wonderfully uniform in grade. Still, although year after year the same “chops” are received from the same shippers, it does not follow that the chops of one year or season will be as fine as those of the preceding or of equal quality. It being by no means anunusual practice for the packers in the interior to leave the chests unmarked until they reach the shipper, who, knowing the chops must be in demand at that particular season in the consuming countries, supplies them to order, or, at least, not to use one of bad repute.
The average cost of medium to fine grades of tea is 40 taels (about $20) per picul (133⅓ pounds) laid down at the port of shipment is as follows at the present time: The refiring, packing, leading, chests, matting and rattaning varying from $3 to $4 per picul more.