The Tea-Plant. (From Hogg's Instructor.)

Hid behind the monster wall that screens in the land of the Celestials from the prying eye of the “barbarian,” the Tea-plant, in common with many things peculiar to those regions, remained long unknown to Europeans, and the snatches of information brought home by early travelers concerning it, were, in too many cases, of that questionable and contradictory kind, so characteristic, even in the present day, of the writings of those who travel in Eastern lands. Tea has now become a general article of domestic consumption in every household of our country having any pretension to social comfort, as well as in that of every other civilized nation, and, indeed, the tea-table has no mean influence in refining the manners and promoting the social intercourse of a people. Important, however, as this universal beverage has become as an essential requisite to the social and physical comfort of all classes and conditions of civilized society, yet our knowledge of the plant from which it is produced is still very imperfect; and this, notwithstanding the fact that we have had tea-plants growing in our hothouses since the year 1768. Speaking of the introduction of the plant to this country, Hooker says—“It was not till after tea had been used as a beverage for upwards of a century in England, that the shrub which produces it was brought alive to this country. More than one botanist had embarked for the voyage to China—till lately a protracted and formidable undertaking—mainly in the hope of introducing a growing tea-tree to our greenhouses. No passage across the desert, no Waghorn-facilities, no steam-ship assisted the traveler in those days. The distance to and from China, with the necessary time spent in that country, generally consumed nearly three years! Once had the tea-tree been procured by Osbeck, a pupil of Linnæus, in spite of the jealous care with which the Chinese forbade its exportation; and when near the coast of England, a storm ensued, which destroyed the precious shrubs. Then the plan of obtaining berries was adopted, and frustrated by the heat of the tropics, which spoiled the oily seeds, and prevented their germination. The captain of a Swedish vessel hit upon a good scheme: having secured fresh berries, he sowed these on board ship, and often stinted himself of his daily allowance of water for the sake of the young plants; but, just as the ship entered the English Channel, an unlucky rat attacked his cherished charge and devoured them all!” So much, then, for the early attempts to introduce the tea-shrub to Europe: often, indeed, is the truth exemplified that

“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft a-gee.”

The Chinese tea-plants are neat-growing shrubs, with bright glossy green leaves, not unlike those of the bay; or a more exact similitude will be found in the garden camellia, with the leaves of which, however, many of our readers may not have acquaintance, although the flowers are well known, being extensively used in decorating the female dress for the ball-room in the winter season. The tea-plants are nearly allied to the camellia, and belong to the same natural order: indeed, one species of the latter—the Camellia sasanqua of botanists—is cultivated in the tea-grounds of China, on account of its beautiful flowers, which are said to impart fragrance and flavor to other teas.

Comparatively few scientific naturalists have had sufficient opportunities of studying the tea-producing plants in their native habitats, or even in the cultivated grounds of China, and consequently a great difference of opinion has all along existed, as to whether tea is obtained from one, two, or more distinct species of Thea. This question is getting day by day more involved [pg 694] as new facts come to light; and, indeed, cultivation seems to have altered the original character of some forms of the plant so much, that the subject bids fair to remain an open question among European botanists for ages to come. The two tea-plants which have been long grown in British gardens, and universally supposed, until within the last few years, to be the only kinds in existence, are the Thea bohea and the Thea viridis. The former was, until recently, very generally believed to produce the black tea of commerce, and the latter the green tea; but recent travelers have clearly shown that both black and green tea may be, and are, obtained from the same plant. The difference is caused by the mode of preparation; but it will be afterward seen that very important discrepancies occur between the accounts of this operation given by different observers. Certain it is, that the extreme caution with which the Chinese attempt to conceal a knowledge of their peculiar arts and manufactures from European visitors—and in none is their anxiety to do so more strikingly evinced than in the case of the culture and preparation of tea—tends greatly to frustrate the endeavors of the scientific traveler to acquire accurate information on this point.

In the present state of our knowledge, it is quite impossible to say how many species or varieties of the tea-plant are grown in China. They are now believed to be numerous, although the two kinds to which we have referred are those most extensively cultivated. They have long been allowed to rank as distinct species in botanical books, and grown as such in our greenhouses; but some acute botanists have, at various times, suggested that they might be merely varieties of one plant. Such was the opinion of the editor of the “Botanical Magazine,” when he figured and described the Bohea variety (t. 998). Professor Balfour (“Manual of Botany,” § 793) enumerates three species—the two already mentioned, and one called Thea Assamica, being the one chiefly cultivated at the tea-grounds of Assam. Most of our readers may be aware that the cultivation and manufacture of tea has been successfully introduced to Northern India. A “Report on the Government Tea Plantations in Kumaon and Gurwahl, by W. Jameson, Esq., the superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in the North-Western Provinces,”[5] has just reached us. In that report—to which we will have occasion afterward to refer—there are “two species, and two well marked varieties” described. Some of these do not appear to have been at all noticed by other writers, although, from specimens of the plants, which we have examined, from the tea-grounds, they appear sufficiently distinct to warrant their being ranked as separate species; and there are, indeed, some botanists who would at once set them down as such.

Having disposed of the question of species in such manner as the unsatisfactory state of botanical knowledge on this point will admit, we shall now proceed to communicate some information respecting the culture of the tea-plant, and the manner in which its leaves are made available for the production of the beverage of which the female portion of the community, and more particularly old wives (of both sexes), are believed to be so remarkably fond.

The tea-plants are grown in beds conveniently formed for the purpose of irrigating in dry weather, and for plucking the leaves when required. The Chinese sow the seed thus: “Several seeds are dropped into holes four or five inches deep, and three or four feet apart, shortly after they ripen, or in November and December; the plants rise up in a cluster when the rains come on. They are seldom transplanted, but, sometimes, four to six are put quite close, to form a fine bush.” In the government plantations of Kumaon and Gurwahl, more care seems to be bestowed in the raising of the plants, whereby the needless expenditure of seeds in the above method is saved. The seeds ripen in September or October, and in elevated districts, sometimes so late as November. In his report, Mr. Jameson mentions that, when ripe, the seeds are sown in drills, eight to ten inches apart from each other, the ground having been previously prepared by trenching and manuring. If the plants germinate in November, they are protected from the cold by a “chupper,” made of bamboo and grass—a small kind of bamboo, called the ringal, being found in great abundance on the hills, at an elevation of 6000 to 7000 feet, and well adapted for the purpose; these chuppers are removed throughout the day, and replaced at night. In April and May, they are used for protecting the young plants from the heat of the sun, until the rains commence. When the plants have attained a sufficient size they are transplanted with great care, a ball of earth being attached to their roots. They require frequent waterings, if the weather be dry. During the rains grass springs up around them with great rapidity, so as to render it impossible, with the usual number of hands, to keep the grounds clean. The practice, therefore, is merely to make a “golah” or clear space round each plant, these being connected with small water channels, in order to render irrigation easy in times of drought. The plants do not require to be pruned until the fifth year, the plucking of leaves generally tending to make them assume the basket shape, the form most to be desired to procure the greatest quantity of leaves. Irrigation seems absolutely essential for the profitable cultivation of the tea-plant, although, on the other hand, land liable to be flooded during the rains, and upon which water lies for any length of time, is quite unsuitable for its growth. The plant seems to thrive in a great variety of soils, but requires the situation to be at a considerable altitude above the sea level.

According to Mr. Jameson, the season for [pg 695] picking the leaves commences in April and continues until October, the number of gatherings varying, according to the nature of the season, from four to seven. So soon as the new and young leaves have appeared in April, the first plucking takes place. “A certain division of the plantation is marked off, and to each man a small basket is given, with instructions to proceed to a certain point, so that no plant may be passed over. On the small basket being filled, the leaves are emptied into another large one, which is put in some shady place, and in which, when filled, they are conveyed to the manufactory. The leaves are generally plucked with the thumb and forefinger. Sometimes the terminal part, of a branch having four or five young leaves attached, is plucked off.” The old leaves, being too hard to curl, are rejected as of no use; but all new and fresh leaves are indiscriminately collected.

The manufacture of the different varieties of tea has been the subject of much difference of opinion. It has been supposed by some writers, as we have already mentioned, that green tea was solely obtained from the Thea viridis, and black tea from the Thea bohea, while others have asserted, that the different kinds of the manufactured article are equally produced by both plants. Facts seem now to be quite in favor of the latter opinion, and, indeed, Mr. Fortune, while on his first botanical mission on account of the Horticultural Society of London, ascertained, by visiting the different parts of the coast of China, that the Bohea plant was converted into both black and green tea in the south of China, but that in all the northern provinces he found only Thea viridis grown, and equally converted into both kinds of tea. Mr. Ball (the late inspector of teas to the East India Company in China), in a work entitled “An Account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea in China,” fully confirms the fact that both the green and black teas are prepared from the same plant, and that the differences depend entirely on the processes of manufacture. It is, of course, possible that particular varieties of the same plant, grown in certain soils and situations, may be preferred by the Chinese manufacturers for the preparation of the black and green teas, and the various kinds of both known in commerce. It has been stated by some that the young leaves are taken for green tea, and the older ones for the black varieties; this is the popular notion on the subject, but probably it has no foundation.

Although it now seems somewhat generally agreed that both green and black teas are made from the leaves of the same plant, yet the various writers on the subject are at considerable variance as to the mode in which the difference of appearance is brought about. Some assert that the black being the natural colored tea, the beautiful green tinge is given to the green tea by means of substances used for the purpose of dyeing it; while others hold that the green hue depends entirely on the method of roasting.

Among the formers Mr. Fortune, whose account of the “Chinese Method of Coloring Green Tea,” as observed by him, is published in a former number of the Instructor (No. 240, page 91). From that account, it would appear that the coloring substances used are gypsum, indigo, and Prussian blue, and “for every hundred pounds of green tea which are consumed in England or America, the consumer really eats more than half a pound” of these substances. We hope now to present our tea-drinking readers with a more pleasing picture than this; to show that indeed there is not “death in the cup,” nor aught else to be feared. We therefore proceed to explain the modes of manufacture, as detailed by Mr. Ball. And, firstly, the manufacture of black tea. The leaves, on being gathered, are exposed to the air, until they wither and “become soft and flaccid.” In this state they soon begin to emit a slight degree of fragrance, when they are sifted, and then tossed about with the hands in large trays. They are then collected into a heap, and covered with a cloth, being now “watched with the utmost care, until they become spotted and tinged with red, when they also increase in fragrance, and must be instantly roasted, or the tea would be injured.” In the first roasting, the fire, which is prepared with dry wood, is kept exceedingly brisk; but “any heat may suffice which produces the crackling of the leaves described by Kæmpfer.” The roasting is continued till the leaves give out a fragrant smell, and become quite flaccid, when they are in a fit state to be rolled. The roasting and rolling are often a third, and sometimes even a fourth time repeated, and, indeed, the process of rolling is continued until the juices can no longer be freely expressed. The leaves are then finally dried in sieves placed in drying-tubs, over a charcoal fire in a common chafing-dish. The heat dissipates much of the moisture, and the leaves begin to assume their black appearance. Smoke is prevented, and the heat moderated, by the ash of charcoal or burnt “paddy-husk” being thrown on the fire. “The leaves are then twisted, and again undergo the process of drying, twisting, and turning as before; which is repeated once or twice more, until they become quite black, well-twisted, and perfectly dry and crisp.”

According to Dr. Royle, there are only two gatherings of the leaves of green tea in the year; the first beginning about the 20th of April, and the second at the summer solstice. “The green tea factors universally agree that the sooner the leaves of green tea are roasted after gathering the better; and that exposure to the air is unnecessary, and to the sun injurious.” The iron vessel in which the green tea is roasted is called a kuo. It is thin, about sixteen inches in diameter, and set horizontally (that for Twankey obliquely) in a stove of brickwork, so as to have a depth of about fifteen inches. The fire is prepared with dry wood, and kept very brisk; the heat becomes intolerable, and the bottom of the [pg 696] kuo even red-hot, though this is not essential. About half a pound of leaves are put in at one time, a crackling noise is produced, much steam is evolved from the leaves, which are quickly stirred about; at the end of every turn they are raised about six inches above the surface of the stove, and shaken on the palm of the hand, so as to separate them, or to disperse the steam. They are then suddenly collected into a heap, and passed to another man, who stands in readiness with a basket to receive them. The process of rolling is much the same as that employed in the rolling of black tea, the leaves taking the form of a ball. After the balls are shaken to pieces, the leaves are also rolled between the palms of the hands, so that they may be twisted regularly, and in the same direction. They are then spread out in sieves, and placed on stands in a cool room.

For the second roasting the fire is considerably diminished, and charcoal used instead of wood, and the leaves constantly fanned by a boy who stands near. When the leaves have lost so much of their aqueous and viscous qualities as to produce no sensible steam, they no longer adhere together, but, by the simple action of the fire, separate and curl of themselves. When taken from the kuo, they appear of a dark olive color, almost black; and after being sifted, they are placed on stands as before.

For the third roasting, which is in fact the final drying, the heat is not greater than what the hand can bear for some seconds without much inconvenience. “The fanning and the mode of roasting were the same as in the final part of the second roasting. It was now curious to observe the change of color which gradually took place in the leaves, for it was in this roasting that they began to assume that bluish tint, resembling the bloom on fruit, which distinguishes this tea, and renders its appearance so agreeable.”

The foregoing being the general mode of manufacturing green or Hyson tea, it is then separated into different varieties, as Hyson, Hyson-skin, young Hyson, and gunpowder, by sifting, winnowing, and fanning, and some varieties by further roasting.

This account of the preparation of green tea is directly opposed to that given by Mr. Fortune, before referred to, wherein it is mentioned that the coloring of green tea is effected by the admixture of indigo, gypsum, &c. It would appear that both modes are practiced in China; and, with the editor of the “Botanical Gazette,” we may ask, Is it not possible that genuine green tea is free from artificial coloring matter, and that the Chinese, with their usual imitative propensity (exercised, as travelers tell us, in the manufacture of wooden hams, &c, for exportation), may prepare an artificial green tea, since this fetches a higher price than the black? If this be not the case, then we have a difficulty in accounting for the origin of the green teas; “there must have been green teas for the foreigners to become acquainted with and acquire a preference for, or there could not have been a demand for it.” We think Mr. Jameson throws some additional light on the subject when he remarks, in the course of his observations on the manufacture of green tea, “To make the bad or light-colored leaves marketable, they undergo an artificial process of coloring; but this I have prohibited, in compliance with the orders of the Court of Directors, and therefore do not consider this tea at present fit for the market.” In a foot-note he adds, “In China, this process, according to the statement of the tea-manufacturers, is carried on to a great extent.” Whether the process of coloring is confined solely to the light-colored leaves of green tea, or extended to other inferior sorts, we have no means of judging, amid such a variety of discordant statements.

After the tea is thoroughly dried, in the manner above detailed, it is carefully hand-picked, all the old or badly curled, and also light-colored leaves being removed, as well as any leaves of different varieties that may have got intermixed with it. Being now quite dry, it is ready to be packed, which is done in a very careful manner. The woods used for making the boxes in Northern India (according to Mr. Jameson) are toon, walnut, and saul (Shorea robusta), all coniferous (pine) woods being unfit for the purpose, on account of their pitchy odor. The tea is firmly packed in a leaden box, and soldered down, being covered with paper, to prevent the action of air through any unobserved holes that might exist in the lead; this leaden box is contained in the wooden one, which it is made exactly to fit. The tea being now ready to go into the hands of the merchant, we need carry our observations no farther, as every housewife will know better than we can tell her how to manage her own tea-pot. We will, therefore, conclude our remarks by submitting the following statistical note of the imports of tea into the United Kingdom in the year 1846, with the view of showing its commercial importance—

Black tea, about43,000,000 lbs.
Green tea, about13,000,000 lbs.
Total56,000,000 lbs.