PLANTING AND PICKING.
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 with rice-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 trees or 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 the Shon-cheun or “Early spring,” occurring about the middle of April or beginning of May, according to the district, the product of which is termed Taou-cha or “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, called Er-chuen or “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 as Tzu-cha or “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.
The San-chuen, or “third crop,” is gathered in July when the shrubs are searched for leaves, and the product converted into what is termed Wu-kua-cha or “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 the Chiu-lu or “Autumn dew,” is made in the more prolific districts in September and October, the product of which is known as Ta-cha or “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 chopping up 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 plant will produce 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 single mou (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.