The Cultivation and Manufacture of TeaMoney, Edward
Science
The Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea
Money, Edward
Tea
As in the North-west Provinces Green Teas form the bulk of the
produce, it will be well to give a short description of them, though
the tenor of my remarks below will show the general opinion as to the
desirability of making them.[54]
Gunpowder is the most valuable description, its price ranging from
2_s._ 8_d._ to 3_s._ 8_d._ per lb. Instead of possessing the long and
thin finished leaf, which is the desideratum of Black Teas, it is
rolled into little balls more or less round, varying from one-eighth
to one-quarter of an inch in diameter. Sometimes it is not altogether
composed of round leaf, but has some long leaf mixed.
When the Tea is of the shape of Gunpowder, but is larger than the
size above quoted, it is called Imperial. Prices of Imperial are from
10_d._ to 2_s._ 6_d._
Amongst Green Teas Hyson may be taken as the parallel of Souchong
of the black leaf descriptions. Undoubtedly there is often much
young Pekoe leaf in it, but all chance of _discriminating_ it in the
finished leaf is done away with by the change in colour. Hysons sell
from 1_s._ 2_d._ to 3_s._ 6_d._
Young Hyson is smaller than Hyson, occasionally slightly broken. It
fetches from 7_d._ to 2_s._ 6_d._
Hyson skin consists of the bold broken leaf of Hyson and Young
Hyson. A small broken Green Tea is seldom sent on the home market.
The reason of this is obvious. When we consider that Hyson skin only
fetches from 7_d._ to 1_s._, it is apparent that anything approaching
a dust would give very little chance of a profit. I have seen one or
two parcels, too much broken to come under the title of Hyson skin,
sell at 3_d._ to 6_d._ per lb. in London. It would be well if some
of the Indian planters would take a lesson from the Chinese, and
not send home their very low Teas, black or green, as they are very
difficult of sale in London, and in many cases cannot pay the cost
of packing and shipping. The Chinese make a great quantity of their
broken Teas into Brick Tea, and send it into the Central Provinces of
Asia, where it meets with a ready sale. I do not see why this should
not be done by the Indian growers. There is a large consumption of
Tea on the other side of the Himalayas, not very far from Darjeeling
and Assam. I hear also that in the neighbourhood of the growing
districts, especially in the North-west Provinces, the natives are
beginning to consume largely, and will pay 8 as. to 1 rupee for a
Tea that could not possibly fetch more than 1_s._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ per
lb. in England. Whether the natives of India, as a whole, do or do
not take to drinking Tea will have a material effect on the future
prospects of the article.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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