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Show TEA TREE. TEA TREE. Padre-souchong, called so because the priests drink it, has a finer taste and smell. Theleaves are large and yellowish, not Chinese, consists of leaves of one colour, a brownish green *, 890 rolled up, and packed in papers of half a pound each. A fragrant tea, with a violet smell. Its infusion is pale. 3. Congo-fou, congo or bongo-fo, This has a larger leaf than the following, and the infusion is a little deeper coloured. It resembles the common boheain the colouroftheleaf *. There is a sort called lin-kisam, with narrow rough leaves. It is seldom used alone, but mixed with other kinds: by adding it to congo, the Chinese sometimes make a kind of pekoeteat. 4. Pekao, pecko, or pekoe, by the Chinese called Lack-ho or pack-ho. It is known byhaving the appearance of small white flowers intermixed with it +. the soil is very good: of older, when not so good, congo is made. The leaves of older trees make bohea. The teatrees last many years. When tea trees growold and die, that is, when the bodies of the trees fail, the roots produce newsprouts, which make peko.—Asiatic Researches. * Congo, says Chow-qua, a Chinese, is tatched twice, as is souchong 5 but Youngshawsays, souchong and congo are not tatched, but onlyfired two or three times. The latter is most probable, but yet the former may be true; for as tatching seems to give the green colourte the leaves of the tea trees, so we may observe something of that greenness in the leaves of congo and souchong teas. 5. Commonbohea, or black tea, called moji or mo-ee by the It is generally conveyed by caravans into Russia. Without much care it will be injured at sea. It is rarely to be met with in England. 2. Cam-ho or Soum-lo, called after the name of the place where it is gathered. 291 Youngshawfurther says, that the leaves of sou- chong, congo, hyson, and fine singlo trees, are beat with flat sticks or bamboos, after they have been withered by the sun or air, and have acquired toughness enoughto keep them from breaking, to force out of them a raw or harsh smell.—Asiatic Researches, + Lintsessin seems to be made from very young leaves rolled up, and stalks of the tree: the leaves are gathered before theyare full blown, This tea is nevertatched, but only fired. Were the leaves suffered to remain on the trees until they were blown, they might be cured as peko; if longer, as congo and holiea. This tea isin no esteem with the Chinese; it is only cured to please the sight; the leaves are gathered too young to have any flavour.—Asiatic Researches. ¢‘, Peko, a tea which we import for Sweden and Denmark, is made from the leaves of trees three years old, and fromthe tenderest of them, gathered just after they have been in bloom, when the small leaves that grow beiween the twofirst-that have appeared, and which altogether make a sprig are downy and white, and resemble young hair or down. Trees of four, five, and six years old may still make peko; but after that they degenerate into bohea if they growon theplains, and into congo if they growon the hills.— Asiatic Researches. * Chow-quasays, that bohea may be cured as hyson, and hyson as bohea, andso of all other sorts; but that experience has shown, the teas are best cured as suits the qualities they haye fromthe soils where they grow; so that bohea will make bad hyson, and hyson, though very dear in the country where it grows, bad bohea. However, in the province of Tokyen, which is called the Bohea province, there has lately been some tea made after the hyson manner, which has been sold at Canton as such. The boheacountry, in the province of Tokyen, is very hilly, and since some years greatly enlarged; the length of it is fourorfive days’ journey, or as much again as it formerly was. The extent of the soil that produces the best bohea tea is not more than 40 li, or about 12 miles; in circumference it is from 100 to 120 li. Not only the hills in this country are planted with tea trees, but the valleys also; the hills, however, are reckoned to produce the best tea; on them growcongo, peko, and souchong; in the valleys or flat paris of the country, bohea. As to the true souchong, the whole place does not yield three peculs ; Youngshaw says not more than three catties. The valueofit on the spot is 1} or twotales the catty, about ten or twelveshillings the pound. What is sold to Europeans for souchong is only the first sort of congo, and the congo they buyis onlythe first sort of bohea. Upona hill planted with tea trees, one onlyshall produce leaves good enough to becalled souchong, and ofthose only the best and youngest. are taken; the others make congo of theseveral sorts, and bohea, There are four or five gatherings of boheatea in the year, according to the demandthereis for it ; but three, or at most four gatherings are reckoned proper; the others only hurt the next year’s crop. Of souchong there can be but one gathering, viz. of the first and youngest leaves ; all others make inferior tea, The first gathering is called tow-tchuue, the second eurl, or gee-tchune, the third san-(chuue. If the first leaves are not gathered they growlarge and rank, andare not supplied by the second leaves, which only come in their room or place, and so on. Thefirst gathering is reckoned fat or oily, the second less so, the third hardly at all so, yet the leaves look young. The first gathering is from about the middle of April to the end of May; the second from about the middle of June to the middle of July; the third from about the beginning of August to the latter end of September. Tea is never gathered in winter. The first gathering or leaf, when brought to Canton, commonlystands the merchants in 11} tales (a tale is six shillings and eightpence) the pecul. the 24 11 or less, the 8d 9 |