Our Readers May at First, Perhaps, He Surprised at Our Reviewing

Art. VIII. An Account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea in China; derived from Personal Observation during an Official Residence in that Country, from 1804 to 1826, eye. By Samuel Ball, Esq., late Inspector of Teas to the Hon. United East India Company in China. With Three and numerous ? Plates, Wood-Engravings. London, 1848. 8vo, pp. 382. Our readers may at first, perhaps, he surprised at our reviewing a work written expressly on the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea in China; notwithstanding that it forms an article of diet of a large proportion of the as a British population, and is esteemed medicine in many parts of the Continent, as well as in other parts of the world. But there are many points connected with the manufacture of tea, in which all are in- terested-, and there is no question of the kind which is more frequently asked of medical men, than the cause or causes of the difference in colour and properties between black and green tea. All are familiar with some of the statements made on this subject, as for instance, that the green colour was due to the tea having been manufactured in copper vessels; also, that the colour was due entirely to the employment of colouring ingredients, such as turmeric, indigo, prussian blue, with gypsum, kaolin, &c. Mr. Warington has shown that what is called the fine bloom of many green teas is ascribable to the employment of such it does not follow that the colour of materials; though the best green tea is entirely due to this cause. The most reasonable explanation seemed to be that, which ascribed the difference to green and black teas having been produced by two different plants. This explanation also, has been proved to be incorrect, first by Mr. Fortune, and now by the author of the present work. It must not, however, be inferred from this statement, that the real facts of the case had never previously been made known; but in this, as in many other cases, truth had been so mixed up with fable, or rather the accounts of the manufacture of the adulterated had been so confused with those of the genuine article, that it became extremely difficult to 156 Ball on Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea. [July, ascertain the true state of the case ; especially as no Europeans, for many years, have had access to the tea districts of China, which are distant about 800 miles from Canton. Mr. Ball, from his official duties for a long period at this threshold of China, necessarily became well acquainted with the several varieties of tea, which are, or then were, known in commerce; but he was not satisfied with the single performance of his duty, but employed his leisure in making careful inquiries of the different tea-makers who visited Canton, respecting the processes of manufacture, and the causes of the difference in appearance of their several teas. He also induced them to make their teas in his presence, with the leaves of the tea plants procurable in Honan, and himself went through the several processes. The results he has detailed to us in the present work, which we can confidently state is written with great care, and a cautious spirit of induction. With the details of culture, gathering, and manufacture, f we have an account of the districts where tea is chiefly cultivated ; with their climate, a notice of the botanical characters of the plant, its chemical analysis, and the causes of the change of colour in teas during the process of manufacture ; and he concludes with a notice of the experiments now going on in the Himalayan Mountains for the cultivation of tea. Though Mr. Ball does not treat of the plant or plants with which the different kinds of tea are manufactured, until his twelfth chapter, we think it desirable to have the question regarding the particular plants settled, before we proceed to the processes of manufacture. This, however, is not the best part of the work under notice ; for the author mixes up the question of the identity or difference, as species, of the plants known as tea plants, with that of whether the different kinds of tea are made from one or more species. He is no doubt right in his account of the latter point; but appeal's as much wrong, according to the views of more competent judges, in considering the tea plants known here to be mere varieties, and not distinct species, of the genus Tliea. There are two well-known plants in our botanic gardens and nurseries; the one called Tliea viridis, having been supposed to be the plant employed in making green tea, the other called Tliea bohea, having in like manner been considered the black-tea plant. These two plants are well figured by Dr. Lettsom, in his 'Natural History of the Tea Tree,' 1799 ; Thea viridis forming the frontispiece, and Thea bohea being figured at p. 41. The latter, being a plant of the south of China, is naturally found to be more tender; while the Thea viridis, from the northern districts of China, is sufficiently hardy to live in the open air of this country, with very little pro- tection. As the green teas of commerce are obtained from the northern tea districts, it was naturally inferred that they must be yielded by the green-tea plant, and the black teas of the Fokien district by the black-tea plant; more especially as some persons, well qualified from their position, and from apparently careful inquiries, had stated that the genuine black and green teas of commerce were not, and could not be, prepared from the same plant. Others, however, equally wrcll acquainted with China, have, from the time of the Jesuits until the present day, as positively stated, that both kinds of tea could be and were prepared from the same plant, and that the difference depended entirely on the process of manufacture. Though no competent observer has penetrated to the best tea districts, 1848.] Ball on Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea. 157 and perhaps no genuine specimens of the tea plants from thence have been examined by any qualified botanist, there is now very little doubt of this being the correct state of the case ; though it is quite possible, nay probable, that the Chinese may prefer varieties of the same plant, in particular soils and situations, for the preparation of particular varieties of both black and green teas. Mr. Fortune, who was deputed by the Floricultural Society of London to investigate the flora of the accessible parts of China, for the purpose of introducing as many of its ornamental treasures as were suited to the ' climate of this country, has, in his entertaining Wanderings in China,' given us an account of what he saw of the manufacture of both black and green tea at the different parts of the coast which he visited, that is, " from Canton to Slianghae ; and he concludes that the black and green teas of the northern districts of China (those districts in which the greater part of the teas for the foreign markets are made) are both produced from the same variety, and that that variety is the Thea viridis, or what is commonly called the green-tea plant. On the other hand, those black and green teas which are manufactured in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Canton are obtained from the Thea bohea, or black tea." (p. 198.) We shall now take a glance at the manufacture of black tea, as described by Mr. Ball; though we can' hardly hope to do justice to his detailed descriptions, which, however, will no doubt prove extremely valuable to those engaged in the manufacture of tea, in different parts of the world. The author, after giving an account of the gathering of the leaves, details the processes of manipulation previous to roasting. The leaves are first exposed to the air; sometimes to the sun, though this is a practice not always approved of. During this they "wither and give," or "become soft and flaccid." Leaves gathered after rains, or in cloudy weather, require exposure to the sun, or to be dried before or over a fire, previous to their being roasted. The processes previously to roasting, consist of Leang Clung, To Ching, and Oe Ching. 1. Leang Ching is literally that of cooling the leaves, or keeping the leaves cool to prevent or check fermentation. They are placed either in shady situations exposed to the wind, or in open buildings which admit a draught through them. They are kept in this state until they begin to emit a slight degree of fragrance, when they are sifted, preparatory to the next process (2), To Ching, which signifies the tossing about the leaves with the hands in large trays. 3. Oe Ching. This con- sists in collecting the leaves of each sieve into a heap, and covering them with a cloth. are then watched with the utmost care, until They " they "become spotted and tinged with red," when they also increase in fragrance, and must be instantly roasted, or the tea would be injured." "Thus," Mr. Ball observes, "the manipulation previously to roasting seems to be for the purpose of evaporating as much of the fluids as possible, without injury to the odorous principle or aroma; or rather, perhaps, to induce a slight degree of incipient fermentation, or analogous change, which partakes of the saccharine fermentation of hay, during which the requisite degree of fragrance is evolved." (p." 115.) The roasting and drying of the teas may be divided into the two processes of Cliao or Tsao and Poey.

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