Under the old system, then, each chest of a break, after having been subjected to certain preliminary formalities, is opened, and the Tea turned out in a heap on the floor of the warehouse. When this is done the Tea is bulked by means of wooden spades, each spadeful being thrown to the top of the central heap, so that it falls over and on all sides. Here the Tea lies until it is placed back again in the chests after they are tared, there being a considerable interval at some of the London warehouses between the bulking and refilling. The refilling is thus accomplished. The Tea is first put into bags and weighed on a machine at the side of the bulk. The bag and chest are then taken off the weighing machine and the contents of the bag are emptied into the chest. The Tea, however, requires some pressure to force it into the chest, and this pressure is obtained by an expedient of a very primitive kind. When the chest is partly filled a man gets in and presses down the Tea by treading on it. So soon as the Tea is all in the chest the package is properly secured, and the operation is completed. Now the serious faults of this plan are at once apparent. In the first place the Tea, being in heaps on the floor of the warehouse with a large surface exposed to the atmosphere, runs the risk of losing a great deal of its freshness and aroma, this risk being largely increased by the doors of the warehouse being kept open in order to discharge or to receive merchandise in all weathers. No atmospheric influences are calculated to benefit Tea. Then, again, the shovelling of the Tea by means of wooden spades, and the treading into the chests, can hardly do otherwise than injure the Tea--the filling in a minor degree and the treading to a more serious extent, the result being, of course, that the Tea is depreciated.