1 The methods of the manufacture of black teas in Japan is essentially as follows:

The leaves are withered by exposure to the sun, fire being used only in cloudy or rainy weather. An hour's sunning is usually sufficient. After withering, the leaves are rolled and twisted. Black teas are usually rolled in an apparatus made especially for this purpose. The rolled leaves are now subjected to a fermentation. This is a very important operation since its influence on the quality of the tea is considerable. During this operation the leaves lose their disagreeable raw odor and acquire a fine flavor and the desired tint. One method of fermenting the leaves is to make them up into small balls, which are placed in shallow bamboo trays, covered with a white cloth, and set aside in a sunny place. A second method is to spread the leaves in a tray, press them together, cover and place them in a sunny place as above. The progress of the fermentation is determined by the appearance of the leaves, the full time required being about an hour. After fermentation the leaves are exposed in a thin layer to the sun. During this sunning the green color of the leaves gradually changes to a black. The next process is termed the "firing." The leaves are placed in a tray over a charcoal fire. The temperature gradually increases as the moisture is driven off. The leaves are constantly turned to insure uniform drying. The leaves are transferred to another tray carefully mixed, and the drying repeated until they are dry. The final operation consists in passing the leaves through sieves of different meshes and packing. The tea is divided into three classes depending upon the size of the leaves, viz, Pekoe (the leaf buds), Souchong, and Bohea.

1 Abstracted from Bulletin No. 7, Imperial College of Agriculture, Tokyo, Komba, Japan. Y. Kozai.

As already stated, these manipulations are very much simplified in India. According to Col. Money1 the operations practiced in the older tea countries have been reduced from twelve to five. Col. Money states that the brokers in India judge of the quality of the teas by the following examination:

They judge from three things, (1) the tea (i. e., the prepared leaf), (2) the liquor, (3) the out-turn.2

The tea. - The color should he black, hut not a dead black, rather a grayish black with a gloss on it. No red leaf should he mixed with it, it should he all one color. The tea should he regular: that is, each leaf should he about the same length, and should have a uniform twist, in all but " broken teas." (These latter are called " broken," because the leaf is more or less open and broken.) The tea should also he regular of its kind, that is, if Pekoe all Pekoe, if Congou all Congou; for any stray leaves in a tea, even if of a better class, will reduce its value. In the high class of teas, viz, Pekoe and broken Pekoes, the more Pekoe tips that are present the higher, in consequence, will its price he.

The liquor. - In taste this should he strong, rasping, and pungent, in case of Pekoes a "Pekoe flavor." There are other words used in the trade to particularize certain tastes, but the words themselves would teach nothing. Tea-tasting can not he learned from hooks. If the liquor is well flavored, as a rule, the darker it is in the cup the better. But to judge of teas by the color of the liquor alone is impossible, for some high-class teas have naturally a very pale liquor.

1 Tea cultivation, Lieut Col. Edward Money. W. B. Whittingham & Co., London.

2The out-turn consists of the tea leaves after infusion.

The out-turn. - A good out-turn is generally indicative of a good tea. It should be all, or nearly all, one color. No black (burned) leaves should appeal in it. A greenish tinge in some of the leaves is not objectionable, and is generally indicative of pungent liquor, but the prevailing color should be that of a bright new penny.