usually presents a dense mass of foliage on an infinite number of small twigs, a result of the practice of cutting it down. In Assam, where it has been found wild, it reaches the height of thirty feet. The leaf is a dark green color, of an oblong oval shape, and the flowers are white, inodorous, and single; the seeds are like hazelnuts in size and color, three of them being inclosed in a hard husk, and so oily as to corrupt soon after ripening; this oil is rather acrid and bitter, but is useful for various purposes. The soil most favorable for the growth of tea is a rich sandy earth, with a large proportion of vegetable mould in it, and situations on the sides of hills, where there is a good exposure and supply of water, produce the best flavored leaves. The patches above the rice grounds are favorite situations, but the plant is seldom cultivated on the plains or lowlands. A loamy subsoil, with a sandy loose covering, produces a good crop of leaves, and in the plantations visited in the Ankoi hills in Fuhkien, much of it is colored with iron. The greater part of the tea exported is grown in the provinces of Fuhkien, Chehkiang, and Kiangsu, but all the eighteen produce it, except in the northern regions lying along the base of the table-land in Chihli and Shansí, though the eastern parts, between the parallels of 25° and 35° north, afford it in the greatest perfection and abundance. With the increased demand its cultivation has extended, and perhaps that of cotton has diminished in a corresponding degree; the southern hills of Fuhkien, the western parts of Kwangtung, and districts in Kwangsí, also afford it for foreign markets. Russia is supplied from Sz'chuen and the adjoining region, while Birmah gets a part from Yunnan.

Tea is usually raised by individuals, who cultivate a few dozen or scores of shrubs upon their own lands, and either cure the leaves themselves, or sell them to their neighbors after assorting them according to their quality. There are very few large plantations under the care of rich landlords, but each little farmer raises tea as he does cotton, silk, or rice upon his own premises. The seeds are thickly planted in nursery beds, because many of them fail from their oily nature, and when the nurslings are a foot or more high they are transplanted into rows about four feet apart; sometimes they are put in the spot designed for them, and if more than one seed in a hole succeeds, it is removed. No preparation of the ground is necessary, nor is much care taken to keep the shrubs in a healthy state; those near Canton are

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usually covered with lichens, and when thus neglected worms attack the wood. The leaves are picked from the plant when three years old, but it does not attain full size before six or seven, and thrives according to circumstances and care from fifteen to twenty years, being in fact gradually killed by constantly depriving it of its foliage. Pruning the twigs to increase the quantity of leaves develops the branches laterally, so that large, healthy shrubs resemble a collection of plants rather than a single bush. The interspaces are frequently sown with vegetables, and the practice is to spread them as much as possible in order to prevent their being shaded. In the Bohea hills, where the best tea is produced, there is, according to the Chinese, considerable difference in the quality of the leaves from gardens not very far apart, and connoisseurs are as particular to inquire the name of the place whence their tea comes as western wine drinkers are to learn the names of the vineyards producing the best brands. The produce of old and celebrated nurseries is carefully collected and cured by itself, and one native authority states that the prices of these particular lots vary from $15 to $100 per pound.

The annual produce of a single plant of large size is said to be from 16 or 18 to 24 ounces; but an English visitor to the Ankoi hills ascertained that the common average yield was not far from six ounces, and that a thousand square yards contained between 300 and 400 plants. Three crops of leaves are gathered during the season. The first picking is about the middle of April, or whenever the tender leaf buds begin to open, and while the leaves are still covered with a whitish down; these, though not very numerous, produce the finest tea, and the notion that some of the delicate sorts of tea are made from the flowers has originated from the whitish appearance this down imparts to them; for no tea can be made from the thin, scentless petals of the tea blossom. The second gathering is about the first of May, when the shrubs are covered with full-sized leaves. Chinese writers say that the weather has great influence upon the condition of the leaves, and that an excess or want of rain mildews or withers them, so as materially to affect the quality and quantity of the crop. When the proper time has arrived, a large number of hands should be employed to gather the leaves rapidly, and at this period the whole population, men, women, and children, find employment.

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The leaves are collected by handfuls, stripping them off the branches as rapidly as possible, and throwing them into open baskets slung around the neck, in which they are taken to the curing houses. Each person can on an average pick 13 lbs. of leaves in a day, for which the wages are about six cents. The third crop is collected about the middle of July, and there is also a fourth gleaning in August, called tsiu lu, i. e. autumn dew, from the name of the season in which it takes place; the three previous ones are called first, second, and third springs. The two last crops afford only inferior kinds, seldom exported.

The quality of the different kinds of tea depends almost as much upon the mode of curing as upon the nature of the soil or the age of the leaf; some sorts are quite changed in their particular flavor by the curing and mixing processes they undergo. The operations of rolling are very simple. After the leaves are gathered and housed, they are carefully assorted, and the yellow and old ones picked out. The remainder are thinly spread upon bamboo trays and placed in the wind upon frames, where they remain until the leaves begin to soften; then, while lying upon the tray, they are gently rolled and rubbed until red spots begin to appear, when they are tested by pouring hot water upon them to see if the edge of the leaf turns yellowish. They must be rolled many times, and from the labor attending this process the tea is called kung fu cha or worked tea, whence the name congo. When the leaves have been rolled, they are ready for firing. The iron pan having been previously heated, the workman takes a handful of leaves and sprinkles them upon it, and waits until each leaf pops, when he brushes them off before they are charred. Such is the Chinese account of the mode practised in the Bohea hills. The pans are the iron boilers used in cooking, set in mason-work in an inclined position and at a convenient height; three or four are put into the same form, and heated by means of a flue passing lengthwise under the whole. The testing and rolling prior to firing is omitted in the common sorts, and the fresh leaves are thrown upon the hot pans, and there turned over and kept in motion by a workman before each pan, while another carefully attends to the fire. The heat soon forces the oil out of the leaves, and they crack and soften, and after four or five minutes are taken out into trays for rolling. This operation is performed upon tables made of split bamboos laid alongside each

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other with their round sides up. The workmen take a handful of the hot leaves in their hands, and roll and knead them upon the table, in order to drive out the oily green juice, which runs through upon the floor.

After the leaves are thus rolled, they are shaken out loosely upon basket trays, and exposed to the air to complete the drying, the object being to dry them in the gentlest manner that they may not lose their brittleness, nor become crisp in the sun. When dried, the leaves are again thrown in larger quantities into the pans, now heated to a less degree than before, and there stirred and thrown about and upon the masonry behind, in order that all may be equably dried and none be scorched. If they were previously well rolled, this operation causes them to shrivel and twist more closely, and as they grow hotter they are stirred by a brush, and thrown up until they are completely dried, which usually requires an hour. Sometimes the leaves are placed in trays over a charcoal fire covered with ashes, after exposure to the air, and there dried for two or three hours, which renders them of a darker color than when rapidly fired in the pans.

The process here described is occasionally varied. After the leaves have been put into the firing pan to be subjected to the heat, rolled upon the table or tray, and exposed to the sun, instead of being returned to the pans, they are scattered upon a fine sieve placed over the same fire, the iron pan having been taken out. This fire is of charcoal and covered with ashes to prevent smoking the leaves, and while over it they are slowly turned over until thoroughly dried. They are then removed to a coarser sieve, and the fine and coarse leaves in this way partially separated before packing. This mode of drying gives the leaves a greenish hue, varying in degree according to the length of time they are exposed to the sun and fire. The common sorts of black tea are left in the sun and air after the first process of firing and rolling a much longer time, even for two days, until a partial decomposition of the leaves has begun from the effects of the heating and squeezing they have undergone; they are, moreover, again thrown into the pans, and rolled and stirred about for a longer time when intended for exportation than when put up for domestic use, almost a partial charring being requisite in the former case to prevent them turning mouldy during their long voyage.

In curing the finest kinds, not more than a handful of leaves is sprinkled on the pans, and only a pound or so dried in the baskets at once. The firing of the common sorts is done in a more expeditious way, and the leaves much more broken by the operation. During the first firing, an acrid, greenish juice exudes, and is partially evaporated, but as it is pressed out upon the table affects and irritates the hands of the workmen; and when they are again put over the fire, the hot dust rising in a cloud from the boilers or baskets fills the air; to avoid this the workmen sometimes cover their mouths.

As soon as the curing is finished, the finer sorts are inclosed in canisters or small paper packages, and packed in boxes lined