VISITING A TEA PLANTATION.—PREPARATION OF TEA.
We will continue to make extracts from the journal kept by Frank and Fred concerning their journey in Java.
"We have already told about the coffee that is grown in Java, and how it is sold on government account. Some of the finest coffee estates on the island are in the Bandong district, and nearly all of them are at an elevation of two thousand feet and more above the sea. Coffee will not grow to any advantage in the lowlands near the coast, and very little of it is cultivated there. It needs a high altitude, and some of the plantations are four thousand feet up in the air. Above the last-named elevation tea takes the place of coffee; and it has been found in the last few years that tea will grow in Java on the tops of the highest mountains, provided there is sufficient soil for the roots of the plant to find a holding-place.
"We have been to a coffee estate about ten miles from Bandong, and spent a day there very pleasantly. As before stated, the coffee-trees are cultivated, and the berries gathered, by native laborers under foreign supervision; the process of separating the bean from its husk has been described, and so has the system by which the government buys the coffee from the native producer, and makes a handsome profit on the investment.
TRAIN OF COFFEE-CARTS.
"Our ride to the plantation was a slow one, as we had an uphill road most of the way, and our horses were assisted by oxen. We met several trains of coffee-carts coming down to the plain on their way to the railway terminus; it is fortunate that the coffee is carried down rather than up hill, as its cost in the latter case would be enormously increased. A cart carrying from one thousand to one thousand five hundred pounds of coffee can be easily drawn by a pair of oxen coming down the road, while the same beasts have all they can do to take the empty cart home again. As the carts wound through the tropical forest, they presented a very picturesque appearance with their barefooted drivers, and occasionally we could see the black eyes of a Javanese woman peering out from under the matting that sheltered the bags from sun and rain.
"The gentleman who had charge of the plantation we visited wished us to stay a few days and indulge in a deer-hunt, but we could not spare the time. Deer are numerous in this part of the island, and those who are fond of sport can have an abundance of it if they are in Java in the right time of the year. If you want larger game than deer, you can hunt the rhinoceros and wild bull; and if you want savage brutes, that die hard and fight to the last breath, you can chase the wild-boar. They have tigers in Java, but not so many as in Malacca, and they do not do so much damage to the people, for the reason that they have plenty of game to live upon.
"We had an opportunity to visit a tea plantation, and gladly embraced it, as we wished to see something of the process of raising tea and preparing it for market.
"Most of the tea plantations in Java are on government lands, which are leased to contractors for terms of years—rarely less than ten, and not over twenty. At the beginning of the enterprise the government made cash advances to the contractors, so that they could have the necessary capital for clearing the land and starting their crops; these advances were to be repaid in tea at prices that would give large profits to the contractors, and on this plan a good many plantations were started about forty years ago.
"The government imported skilled workmen from the tea districts of China to instruct the natives in the business, and it also imported a large supply of tea-plants and tea-seed. For the first few years the enterprise was a doubtful one, but after a time it began to pay handsomely. The cost of making the tea was about fifty cents a pound; and as the processes improved, and the character of the tea grew better, the selling price rose till it reached eighty or ninety cents. At these rates it does not take a great deal of study to show that money can be made by raising tea in Java, and the applications for leases of land have increased every year.
SEED-PODS OF THE TEA-PLANT.
"The first thing the tea-planter has to do after getting possession of his lease is to clear the land and get ready for planting. This is no small matter, as the forest must be removed, and the soil thoroughly broken up. The outlay for this is considerable, and not much unlike clearing up a farm in New England, or in the backwoods of Canada. Then the young plants are set out; after this has been done, the ground must be kept clear of weeds, just as in raising corn or potatoes. It must be frequently stirred, so that the plant can get as much nourishment as possible from the earth, and when this is done the planter has the satisfaction of seeing the bushes grow with considerable rapidity.
"We walked through the fields where the plants were growing, and found them of different ages and sizes. If we had not known where we were, we might have thought we were in a field of English myrtle-bushes, as the tea-plant is much like the myrtle in general appearance. It grows from two to six feet high, and has white blossoms that resemble small dog-roses.
"One of us asked which were the plants that produced green tea, and which the black. The owner of the plantation smiled, and said there was no difference.
"We laughed at our ignorance, as he explained that the difference of the teas was entirely owing to the manipulation. We asked why it was that some districts in China produced only green teas, while others were reputed to make none but black; and he told us it was because the workmen in those districts had been accustomed to follow only one form of manipulation.
"It takes three years, he said, to get a plantation in condition to produce tea. The seeds are sown in a nursery-bed, and the young plants are not ready to be set out till they are a year old. They are then about nine inches high, and covered with leaves; and the first crop is taken when they have been growing two years in the field. The leaves are the lungs of the plant, and it would die if all of them were stripped off. Consequently only a part of them are removed at a picking; and if a plant is sickly, it is not disturbed at all. The plants will last from ten to twelve years, and are then renewed; and on all the large plantations it is the custom to make nursery-beds every year, so that there will be a constant succession of new plants for setting out in place of the old ones.
"At the first gathering the half-opened buds are taken, and from them the finest teas are made. Then they have another gathering when the leaves are fully opened, and then another and another, till they have five or six gatherings in the course of the year. Each time the leaves are coarser than those of the previous gathering, and consequently the tea is not of so fine a quality. A well-managed plantation produces all kinds of tea; and it was a wise requirement of the Dutch government, when they started the tea-culture in Java, that the planters should produce proportionate quantities of both black and green, and not less than four qualities of each.
GATHERING TEA-LEAVES.
"The gathering takes place only in clear weather; and for the best teas the picking is confined to the afternoon, when the leaves are thoroughly dry, and have been warmed by the sun. Only the thumb and forefinger are used in plucking the leaves from the bush; the pickers are generally women and children, who can gather on the average about forty pounds of leaves in a day. It takes nearly four pounds of leaves to make one pound of dry tea; and the usual estimate is that a plantation of one hundred thousand plants can send ten thousand pounds of tea to market in the course of a year.
DRYING TEA IN THE SUN.
"Different kinds of tea require different treatment, as we have already seen. For green tea the leaves are roasted as soon as they have been gathered, and are then rolled and dried; but the leaves intended for black teas are spread on bamboo trays five or six inches deep, and placed on frames where they can have plenty of sun and air. They remain here from noon till sunset; and if the weather is damp they are further dried by artificial heat. For this purpose they are placed on frames over shallow pans containing burning charcoal, and are tossed and stirred with the hand until they emit a certain fragrance. The heat should be very slight; and the frames are made so high that it is necessary for a man to mount a small ladder in order to reach the trays.
"The sense of smell in the skilful workers of tea is very acute, and they can tell, to almost a minute, the exact time when the drying should cease, and the next process begin. The Chinese workmen are better than any others for this branch of the business, and on many plantations the most of the manipulation is performed by Chinese, though their labor is more expensive than that of the Malays. Our host showed us through his factory, where the men were busy in the various processes; and as he told us about each step of the business, he took us to the department where that particular work was going on.
DRYING OVER CHARCOAL.
"After showing the leaves spread out on the frames, he led the way to a sort of stove, where a man was manipulating some tea in a pan over a charcoal fire.
ROASTING TEA.
"'This is what we call roasting,' he said, 'and the great object of the roaster is to dry the leaves without burning them. You see he does not allow them to be quiet a single instant, but tosses and turns them in all directions, so that none may stick to the bottom of the pan, which they might easily do, owing to the moisture they contain.'
"We watched the roasting till we thought we understood it well, and as the place was hot we did not care to stay there a great while. The leaves lose their fragrance when first thrown into the roasting-pan, and give out a rank smell, but they gradually recover their perfume, and are ready for the next process, which is called rolling.
"The tea from the roasting pan was given to a couple of men, who stood in front of a table or bench, with bamboo mats before them. One had a large mustache, the largest we had ever seen on a Chinese face, and the other consoled himself for the absence of that hairy ornament by smoking a pipe.
"The roller takes as much tea as he can cover with both his hands, and places it on the mat in a sort of ball. He keeps them closely together, and rolls them from right to left; this motion gives each leaf a twist on itself, and rolls it so firmly that it retains the shape when dry. This part of the work requires peculiar dexterity, and can only be performed successfully after long practice. When a man becomes skilful in it, he can roll the tea with wonderful rapidity; and when his work is done, every leaf will be found separate from all the others, and twisted as though it had been passed through a machine.
HANDY WITH HIS FEET.
"The work of rolling the tea is very tiresome, and so the men sometimes perform it with their feet when they wish to give their hands a rest. We saw one man at his occupation in this way, and he certainly seemed to enjoy it. His bamboo mat was on the floor, and he had his trousers raised so that his legs were bare from the knee down. He rested his arms on a pole, and kept his feet moving over the handful, or rather footful, of leaves he was endeavoring to roll out. Our host picked up some of the tea, and showed us that it was perfectly prepared, and quite acceptable in every way. The man's toes were much more slender than toes usually are, and it is doubtless due to the fact that he has used them a great deal, and never cramped them into tight-fitting boots.
"After they have been properly rolled, the leaves are spread on trays, and exposed to the sun and air for several hours, and then they are once more roasted. The second roasting is milder than the first, and is done over a slower fire; and afterwards the leaves are rolled again, to make sure that none of them have become spread out. For the black tea the roasting is done in a shallow pan, the same as the first; but the green teas are put in a deep pan, and subjected to a very high heat.
ROASTING GREEN TEA.
"While the green tea is being roasted, there must be a great deal of care on the part of everybody concerned. The pan is nearly red-hot when the tea is put into it, about a pound at a time, and the operator in charge keeps it in rapid motion. One boy tends the fire, while another stands by with a fan, to prevent the burning of the tea.
"After their final roasting, the teas are put in a long basket, shaped like an hour-glass, and having a sieve in the centre. This basket is placed over a charcoal fire and submitted to the heat for several minutes, when the tea is poured out and receives another rolling. This operation is repeated several times, till the tea is thoroughly tired of it, and also thoroughly dry. Then it is passed through sieves, to separate the different qualities from each other; and finally it is winnowed, to remove all the dust and dirt. Then it is 'fired,' or dried once more, to drive away the last particle of moisture; and in this condition it is ready to go into the chests in which it is carried to the lands where it is to be used.
"There, we have told you all about the preparation of tea, which we could not do in China for the reason that we did not go into the part of the country where they produce the tea. China is not the only country where tea is made, though it once had the monopoly of the business. A great deal is grown in Japan, as you know, and now you have learned about the tea-growing in Java. They say that ten million pounds are grown in Java every year, and the product will increase to double that amount in less than twenty years. About the time the culture of tea was introduced into Java, the East India Company tried it in India; and now the production of tea in that country is so large that the English hope, before the end of the century, to supply the whole of their home market with Indian teas. We shall see.
"The Java teas have a sharp, acrid taste, and are not suited at all to the American palate. None of them go to America, or, at least, only a few chests every year, and for some time Holland was the only market for them. Gradually their sale extended to Germany, and now it is said there is a demand for them in London.
"We tasted some of the tea, and found that it resembled what is called 'English breakfast,' only it had a stronger flavor. It is said that it is worth much more than Chinese tea, for the reason that a pound of it will give nearly double the amount of the infusion ready for drinking. Whether this is true or not we are unable to say, as we have seen no experiments to prove or disprove it.
"We asked about the reputed adulterations and dyeing of tea by the Chinese and others. Our host told us that no teas in Java were adulterated or dyed, but he said it was quite possible they would be as soon as there was a demand for them. He said the Chinese did not begin to color their tea till they were urged to do so by English and American merchants, who told them the dyed teas sold better than others by reason of presenting a finer appearance.
"'The coloring-matter,' said he, 'consists of gypsum and Prussian blue or indigo, and is used in about equal proportions. This is for green tea, and the quantity to be used for a given amount varies according to the market for which it is intended. American merchants wish their teas dyed more heavily than do the English, and there is usually about half a pound of dye to every hundred pounds of tea.'
"'Can't we raise tea in America?' Fred asked.
TEA REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.
"'Certainly,' replied the planter, who had been in the United States, and spent several years there. 'There is a large area of the United States where tea could be raised, and the government some years ago spent considerable money on an experiment in tea-culture. It was found that there was no difficulty in raising the plants; but when it came to manipulating the product the high price of labor made it unprofitable. When we can furnish labor for the same price that it can be had in China, Japan, Java, and India, we can compete with those countries in growing tea, but until that time we had better let the business alone.'"
ROASTING-BASKET.