The men when working the Tea in the pans should have high stools to sit on, for it is a nine hours’ job.
The bags in which “the roll” is placed at night should be made of No. 3 canvas, 2 feet long and 1 foot broad.
I will now detail the manufacture.
To make Green Tea the leaf must be brought in twice in the day. What comes in at one o’clock is partly made the same day. The evening leaf is left till the following morning, laying it thick (say 6 inches), so that it will not wither. But if the one o’clock or the evening leaf comes in wet, they must both be dried, the former before being put into the pans, the latter before being laid out for the night.
The manufacture thus begins twice daily, viz., morning and one o’clock, but “the roll” of both these is treated together up to the time “the roll” is ready to place in the bags.
The leaf having no moisture in it is placed first in hot pans, at a temperature of say 160°, and stirred with sticks for about seven minutes, until it becomes moist and sticky. It is then too hot to hold in the hand.
It is then rolled for two or three minutes on a table until it gets a little twisted.
Then lay it out on dhallas in the sun (say 2 inches thick) for about three hours, and roll it thrice during that time, always in the sun. It is ready to roll each time when “the roll” has become blackish on the surface. It is not rolled more than three minutes each time, and then spread out as before. If you put on a proper number of men to do this they do each dhalla in succession, and when they have done the last, “the roll” in the first dhalla will be blackish on the surface again, and ready to roll again.
When three rollings are done, the roll should have a good twist on it.
It is then placed in the pans, at the same heat as before, and worked with sticks as before for two or three minutes, until it becomes too hot to hold.