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.