THE OMAHA DAILY BEKr WEDNESDAY , AUGUST 10 , 1892 :
PAXTON & GALLAGHER
LARGEST IMPORTERS OF
1(1C
WEST OF H W YORK CITY
H GUP DP TEH ,
The Preparation of Japan Tea ,
Showing the Natives Pick-
ins : , Steaming and Firing.
A description of Jnpan To.i cnnnot bo
complete without n ratal once to the ori
gin of the plnnt which wo nil know by
imnio , soinu of us by bight , and nil of us
l > y Iho nuans of the refreshing beverage
H supplies to our wants. A stimulant to
r-onio , a sedative to others , and to all a
household drink. A beverage , too.with
fill-oils' medicinal qualities and of active
ppuntor-irritnnt power to food , which by
Itself might bo injurious to lifo. For
"
"docs not Kacmpfor quote , upon the an-
.Ihorlty of Chinese physicians , the c.iso
of a woman who , being weary of a pas-
plonnto and scolding husband , took ad-
\-ico at ) to the bnst way of getting rid of
pirn and wns instructed to allow for his
time to cool. Who with tea amused tha
evening , with ton solaced the midnight
and with tea welcomed the morning. "
For ourselves it is amusing to record the
imagined aangor felt by our forefathers
for the beverage which cheers us nil , for
the innoront drink which gives occasion
for an afternoon gossip , for the refresh
ing cup which renews the energies of a
midnight student. All writers agree
that the Tea Plant was introduced into
Jnptin from China mid most of them fix
the ninth conturv as the date of Us 1m-
poi tntion. For a long time , Tea was too
expensive a luxury , oven to the Japan
ese themselves , to bo indulged In by any
but the nobluH , and Kaoimifor , writing
in 1092 , describes how the To-v used at
the imperial court was then giown and
prepared under the euro of the Chief
Purveyor of Tea. How , for at least two
or three woolfs before the gathering of
the leaves , the persons who wore to pick
.them wore prohibited from outing fish or
any unclean food , lost their breath
I should contaminate the loaves. How ,
during the gathering season , they had
to wash themselves two or three times a
day , nor wore they allowed to touch the
PICKING.
daily food only "swino's llcah" and all
manner of fut things , which would un
doubtedly kill him in a year's time. But
this good woman , not content with wait-1
fng the prescribed time , took other ad
vice , and was bid give her husband ,
Who wim then almost reduced to u-tikcle-
ton , constant drinks of a strong infusion
of tea loaves , which should without fail
do her business quickly ; butalas ! toiler
/groat / grief she found that by the joint
use of tncbo two contraries , her husband
instead of declining , soon got better , recovered -
covered his strength and was at last ro-
Btored to perfect health. Kvon Dr.
Johnson wrote nj apologetically of his
Jove for tea a over an opium smoker
could pen his penitent confession. The
lonrnod doctor draw his own portrait as
* 'A hardened and shameless tea-drinker
who for twenty years diluted his meals
with only the infusion of this fascinat
ing plant , whoso kettle hud scarcely
loaves excepting with gloved hands.
When finally prepared , the tea was sent
up to court under a good guard , sometimes -
times a simple Dot of this tea , contain
ing no more than 3 or 4 Catties , being
attended by npurly two hundred people.
The imperial tea costs thirty or forty
taels for oi.o Catty.
PLANTING ) TlioTeaPlnntroquiros
a well drained soil. It grows well on
level ground with well Kept drains , but
s more often soon on gentle hill slopes [ ,
and uguin on stoop inclines where terra
ces uro cut to maintain sumll level patch
es and to prevent the rush of water dur-1 |
ing heavy rains. Those terraces on the
hill side when covered with plants , look
very plcturosquo , but they are only so- J
looted as being the cheapest ground procurable -
curable and not because the tea requires j (
any such elevation. A now plantation '
is started from seed planted in circles of
about two foot diameter , each circle re- '
* . iK- , .
STEAMING.
colvos about thirty
seeds nnd its center
is placed at a distance
of about five foot from
its neighbor.
GROWING. The
circle of ceod dovol-
epos into u compact
bush , some shoots of
which will bo found to
bear leaves of darker
color and harder tex
ture than the others
and nlbo much smaller.
This difference in the
leaf on the same tea
bush is ono of the dif
ficulties of the ten
farmers nnd tea pick-
era. In the third year
of the growth the tea
plant boars leaves rea
dy for piXiking , and it
is considered at Its
best from the fifth to
the tenth year. But
ago does not deterior
ate the plant , the only
dlfioronco bninir that
Ssfe -
" * eSi
PAXTON & GALLAGHERS TEA FIRING ESTABLISHMENT. HIOGO.
with venrs it requires moro innnuro
The shrub isnotnllowcd to grow beyond
a height of three to four feet , neces
sary both for the convenience of pick
ing" and for the strength of the now
shoots. , ,
PICKING. As the season is early or
late , the lirst picking commences the
latter end of April or beginning of May
and lasts about twenty days or a month.
The second crop is gathered in Juno
and July and sometime ? ; * third ono later
on. This work is performed almost en
tirely by girls , who deftly pick olT the
now leaves but vorv often also the whole
of a now Bhoot , so that long stems are
frequently mot with in their baskets
whefo leaves obly should bo seen.
The shrub being ovcrgicon has still
many of its last years loaves , BO that
some skill is necessary to 1111 a basket
quickly without also including some of
tne old growth. As a rule the tea belongs -
longs to very small proprietors , who lire
their few catties u day , generally in the
entrance of their only apartment , and
then sell the lired leaf to the larger
dealers as principals or go-betweens ,
who mix their various purchases togeth
er and then send twenty or moro boxes
of ssmilar tea for sale at the treaty
posts. But the processor preparing the
green loaf is the same , whether done in
n small shanty or in the godowns of a
well-to-do merchant. It is as follows :
STEAMING. As soon ns possible af
ter the leaves linvo boon picked , they
nro steamed by being placed in u round
wooden tray with a brass wire bottom
over boiling water , the tray filling up
the mouth of an iron cauldron sot in
plaster over a wood lire. The tray is
about eighteen inches in diameter and
receives about a couple pf handfuls
of green leaf. The loaf is put on to con
fine the steam , and the process is com
plete in about halt a minute , the attend
ant taking ono IOOK at the loaves and stirring
before removing them. The water in the caul-
'dron ' should show 210 ° Fahrenheit and the bot-
' !
torn of the tray 185 ° . The moist loaves with
their natural oil now brought to the surface are
( | tumbled on a wooden table for a few minutes
and then taken into the firing room , where the
principal manipulation has now to bo performed.
| "PIKING" A box shaped wooden frame , four
feet long by two and a hulf broad , coated with
1 plaster forms the oven. Charcoal ( well eov
ored with charcoal ashes ) is alight in the bottom
of the oven and about a foot and a half above the
charcoal rests the wooden frame with tough Jap-
nno3o paper stretched across it. This paper gets
darkly tanned by the oil from the loaves , but be
low , it shows no sign of getting burned and ono
such tray will often do more than a whole sea
son's work without being removed. The boat of
the paper at the time of firing is about 120 ° .
'About six and -i quarter pounds of green loaves
are thrown on to ono of theeo paper trays and a
'man ( for the work can only bo done by a man )
now proceeds to fire this quantity , which by
the time it is finished becomes reduced to
about tuonnd n half pounds. At first ho
throws up the soft , moist leaves In quick suc
cession and kcops the whole mass moving
without any attempt at rolling or twibting.
Gradually Iho loaves assume n darker color ,
ana gradually ho makes them up into balls ,
rolling the balls betwcon his hands , separat
ing the leaves again , rolling them on the hot
surface of the paper , nguin collecting them
into balls which ho will roll backward and
forward on the paper and finally do so with
considerable strength and pressure , oc
casionally icsting ono elbow on the edge
of the tray and rolling the tea cotweon
/ho palms of both hands with all his
might. After some hours work ( depend
ing on the quality of the tea ) , the loaves
Uavo all become separately twisted and
liave changed color to a dark olive pur
ple. They are now crisp , long.thin , wiry
tnd in the case of the boat leaf look moro
like slender toothpicks than the leaves
of a shrub. When finished the loaves
are strewn on iv similar firing tray , but
at a lower temperature ( about 110 ° ) and
there allowed to dry until they beeomo
quito brittle , the heat is then reduced to
about 95 ° and the tea loft there for four
to six hours'oven longer if it is intended
io keep it iri stock for many months.
Tea well fired ii this manner and after-
thin loaves to collect
In a heap on the
ground and retaining
the largo and coarser
ones to bo thrown in
a separata heap.
IIA N D-PICKING.
The completing pro
cess of the country
preparation is to dis
tribute the tea toglrls
seated on mats in front
of a picking table , who
sort out all the seed ,
stalks and rubbish
that may still bo mixed
with the toa. The tea ,
thus finished ns far as
the country process is
concerned , is packed
in wooden boxes , nail
ed , corded and marked
and then sent to the
treaty port for sale ,
eacli box containing
about half u piculo.
There nro two sys
tems of finally firing
.Tniinn t.nn bofnrn If. nnii
bo exported to America or Canada , viz. :
Pan Firing and Basket Firing.
PAN FJUING. This is done in rows
of iron pans (21 ( inches in diameter by
13 inches deep ) sot in brick worlc and
heated by charcoal. The tea which has
boon bought probably in small lots of
different qualities , has boon bulked into
largoi enough quantities of the same des
cription and is then carried by the
women in baskets to the firing godown.
At a given signal all the baskets are
emptied into the pans ( about 5 pounds
into each ) and the fires being well lit ,
and afterwards constantly attended to.
The stirring of the loaves continues un
'
til tho'ovoisoer ( generally n Chinaman )
considers the tea sufficiently fired.
When the signal is given to take out
the tea , it Is either carried back to the
IHAIT 70UKJ ? ]
1
PACKED BY
PAXTON&GALLAGHER
JAPAN
wards packed in earthenware jars will
keep for a whole year without spoiling.
SORTING. After leaving the firing
room , the tea passes to the hands of a
man who sorts the leaves by jerking
'
them upnnd down inabamboo'hano tray
by which ho separates a largo proportion
of the licrlit from the heavy loaf.
SIFTING. The tea in then passed tea
a niovo suspended from the roof and
swung backwards and forwards with a
circular motion , allowing all the fine
packing godown or put. through a soo-
ondprocoss of stirring in cold pans ,
according to the quality of the ten
and the idous of the tea tastor. The pan
firing of ono lot of tea rnny last from 40
to ( iS minutes in i hs hot and from twon-
ty-fivo to sixty minutes in the
cold pans. When finished it is
taken into the packing godown ,
where it is sifted to remove the
dust nnd then packed while
still warm into the half chests ,
I
HAND PICKING
lined with lead , which are to convoy it
to the grocers and tea drinkers of Amer
ica.
ica.BASKET
BASKET FIRING. Basket Firing
couslsls of simply ro-lirins the tea with
out any of the stirring process as gone
through in the pans. A bamboo basket
shaped liico a dice box , but open at both
ends , is placed over a largo iron brazier
containing lighted charcoal , ( well cov
ered with ashes ) and the tea is strewn ,
about an inch in thickness on a close
woven bamboo tray which fits the
nock of the dice box. The baskets are
occasionally removed from the bra
zier , and Iho tea turned over by hand
in order that at may all bo equally
fired ; they are then carefully replaced
on the brazier , without allowing any
dust or leaves to fall throuoii tha
tray on to the charcoal , and in the
course of forty to sixty minutes the
leu is icady for packing.
PAN FlIUNG.
The above illustrations are reproductions from photographs taken on the 'ground while our Mr. Weaver was in Japan during the tea picking sea
son of the present year. While in Japan Mr. Weaver established our firing arid house in
own curing Hioga , which will enable us to give our cus-
.tomers a uniform grade of goods from one season to another. Mr. Weaver also spent several weeks in the best tea districts in China and estab
lished a branch at Shanghai. By having our own tea expert on the ground during the season when the finest leaf is procured , and by doing our
own firing and curing , we are able to give our customers better teas and lower prices than any exclusive tea house in AmcrkaSamples ! and prices
cheerfully submitted to dealers upon request. Yours respectfully ,
PAXTON & QALLAaHBJR , OMAHA ,