Tea, its history and mystery

by Joseph M. Walsh

Meanwhile the progress of tea-culture in India was watched with interest. The successful results of modern methods of cultivation and the introduction of various labor-saving machines for preparation which were being made from time to time by the planters of that country, suggesting the probability that the production of tea could eventually be made a profitable industry in many sections of this country, where labor-saving appliances usually follow closely upon the knowledge of their necessity. Basing their hopes on these results, fresh supplies of tea-seed were subsequently imported from Japan, which enabled the Department to again distribute many thousand of plants throughout the country. These renewed efforts being materially enhanced, when about 1867 it was found that an abundance of tea-seeds could be procured in many of the Southern States from the plants which had previously been disseminated from the importation of 1858. Encouraged by the reports of successful culture which were in many cases supplemented by samples of manufactured tea, of undoubted good quality, in a number of instances, more decided and energetic efforts were made toward establishing the industry. More than 100,000 tea-plants were distributed during the past ten years, the Department having under propagation, at the present time, over 20,000 plants which are ready for dissemination in localities where they are most likely to succeed. By this means it is expected to popularize the cultivation of tea as a domestic product in this country, with the hope that public interest will in time be directed to its cultivation as an article of commercial value also.

The cultivation of the tea-plant is as simple as that of the currant or gooseberry, and tea-gardens may be established in a similar manner to those of other economic plants. They are usually divided into five and ten-acre sections, and in laying out must be kept as much as possible together, being easier to supervise and cheaper to work in this manner. The usual custom is to begin at one end and dig through to the other, as different parts of the garden may require different treatment owing to a variation in the soil or other causes. The lines of plants must run as far as practicable in geometrical regularity, particularly in sloping ground, never up and down or directly across the slope. If planted in the former manner, gutters or watercourses will form between the lines and the soil will be washed away, and if in the latter, the same injury will result between the shrubs. The lower side of each plant having its roots laid bare, the sun will act upon them, thereby causing the plants to shrivel up, languish and die. But if the lines are laid diagonally across the hill so that the slopes along the lines shall be moderate ones, this drawback is reduced as far as can be under the circumstances. The closer the lines to each other and the closer the plants in the lines the less will be the wash. While on flat lands it does not signify in which direction the lines run, the gardens so situated always looks best when the lines run at right angles.

That the successful cultivation of the Tea plant is entirely practicable in the United States has been abundantly proven, and that we may by a more extensive and intelligent effort in this direction, save the large amount of money which we now annually pay to foreign countries for this staple is at least worth a trial. So far as its practicability is concerned there can be no question, as we have within the various latitudes of our borders the soil and climate to produce any plant that is or may be grown in any other country. The doubts expressed as to the suitability of our soil and climate to produce as good an article of tea as is now grown in India, Java and Ceylon are untenable, all practical farmers being aware that soils and climates exert certain influences upon all vegetation, these same influences being potent everywhere, and that natural causes are not spasmodic in their operations anywhere. The latitudes in which teas are grown in China, Japan and India correspond exactly with those of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida in the south, and with that of Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama in the southwest.

But while the question of making its production a commercial success is conceded by many authorities, some contend that while we can undoubtedly cultivate tea of fair quality in many sections of the country, we cannot supply the cheap and skilled labor necessary to prepare it for market, advancing the argument that from the time the leaves are picked until they are packed for export they are subjected to a continued series of manipulations, demanding an immense amount of such labor without which it is next to impossible to produce a merchantable article. But while it is admitted that the greater part of the cost of tea in the producing countries is that of labor, it must be taken into account that much of the manipulation and packing of tea in these countries is for the purpose of fitting it for the ocean voyages, and to protect it during transportation the leaves must be repeatedly fired and sorted before shipping, in order to better protect them from damp and moisture in transit. But even with all these extra firings and precautions the original aroma developed by these processes is largely dissipated before the tea reaches its destination in the importing countries. It is a well-established fact that the best teas are only to be had in their highest excellence in the countries of growth, and then only before they have been submitted to the severity of all the home processes which they have to undergo previous to being packed in the lead-lined chests for the long voyages, in the holds of vessels. This superior article is entirely unknown in the consuming countries, and is one of the luxuries in store for us when tea-culture becomes one of our industries. Thus, seeing that much of the care bestowed upon the manufacture of tea is merely for the purpose of meeting these commercial exactions, both in regard to protecting its flavor as well as to its appearance on arrival, it may be that by ignoring mere appearance and style, as equally good a beverage may be produced by an entirely different system of preparation of the leaf for the home market. What has already been accomplished by modern tea-manufacturers in the way of improvements in India and Ceylon for instance, upon the older pessimistic Chinese methods only too aptly suggests that still further innovations are yet possible. We secure the essential virtues of other herbs and leaves without subjecting them to such complicated and intricate processes, which, after all, are mainly for the purpose of preventing the leaves from moulding and decomposition in transit, and there is no valid reason why tea should differ from the leaves of other plants in this respect.

Yet while admitting that the manufacture of tea as at present conducted is, no doubt, a very particular and tedious one, and that much of its supposed value is dependent upon the uniform accuracy with which the various processes are performed, this is more particularly true of China tea where the difficulty is largely attributable to the primitive nature of the methods employed there, as contrasted with the more modern specific and exact system in use in India and other tea-growing countries. It is yet possible for our inventors to produce machinery for still further simplifying many of the intricate processes now in use even in India and Ceylon. The planters of the latter countries soon discovered that they could not profitably follow the various minute and detailed processes practiced by the Chinese and set themselves to study the philosophy of the whole subject of preparing the leaf for market, eventually mastering it. The result has been that many operations which were previously considered essential have now been either reduced or dispensed with altogether in that country. Instead of following the antiquated Chinese methods, which involved some twelve different operations, occupying three days, the best India teas are now prepared in less than five operations, the entire process being completed inside of two days. It may therefore be found that for home use a less elaborate method of preparation may suffice and that the article might enter into domestic commerce. It could be prepared after the simple but effective manner of Paraguayan tea, or put up in bales as with hops, or it may be pressed into layers of dried leaves, as is done with senna tea, and many other herbs at the present time. The firing, which develops the aroma, might be done immediately before use, as is now the case with coffee, or better still, roasted and ground like that article, the modern cylindrical method of roasting coffee being a great improvement on the old style of hand and pan roasting. Machinery being unknown to the Chinese is probable the strongest reason why they still adhere so closely to the antiquated methods now in use there.

But while it is probable that many years will elapse before tea-culture will engage the general attention of farmers and planters in this country, still there is no good reason why it should be so. True, the profits of tea-culture are as yet not clearly established, the management of the plant and the proper application of the various processes must be for many years, as in India and Ceylon, of a purely experimental character, and even when seemingly fair tests have been made failures will still occur, and although these efforts may be traced to causes, which persistent effort would eventually overcome, yet when there is a large outlay and loss, accompanied with some doubts of ultimate success, the efforts in most cases will be abandoned.

It has been suggested that the United States Government could, at a comparative small cost to it, materially assist in determining and demonstrating the feasibility of tea-culture in this country, finally solving the question of profit. These questions could all be answered satisfactorily and definitely in a very few years if our Government were to secure say twenty acres of land in a suitable locality and plant a portion of it yearly with tea plants, until ten or more acres were planted. Then, when the plants had become sufficiently matured, provide a small laboratory fitted with the necessary modern apparatus, placing it in the charge of a competent manager who could make such experiments in the preparation of the leaf as may be suggested by those interested in the enterprise.

In a special report of the Department of Agriculture issued in 1877, we find the following extracts from letters submitted by cultivators of the tea-plant in the United States:—

Mr. Thomas M. Cox, Greenville, S. C., says:—

I obtained, in 1857, from the Patent Office, a box of tea-plants. I gave the most of them away, and retained a few myself. They have grown well without any protection, in the open air, and have attained a height of from 8 to 10 feet. They have frequently matured the seed, and there are a number of the seed on the ground at this time. They are an evergreen in this climate, and are now in flower, with the seed of last year’s growth fully matured upon the bush. I have never succeeded in making tea from the leaves, not knowing the process of manipulating it.