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.