241 / 374
DRINKS.
24t
for
a
decoction
of
It
does
not
appear
to
have
been
drank
until
the
time
of
the
Suy
dynasty,
when
the
Emperor
Wass-te,
suffering
from
headache,
was
cured
by
drinking
an
infusion
of
tea
leaves,
by
the
advice
of a
Buddhist
priest.
In
the
early
seventh
century
this
manner
of
using
the
shrub
was
general,
and
it
has
maintained
its
popularity
unto
the
present
time,
making
itself
friends
wherever
it
is
introduced.
The
tea-plant
somewhat
resembles
the
Camellia
Japonica,
and
Linnaeus,
imagining
that
the
black
and
green
teas
came
from
different
shrubs,
named
them
Tkea
bohea
and Thea
viridiss
Fortune
has
definitely
settled
that
both
green
and
black
tea
are
made
off
the
same
plants,
and
it
is
now
taken
that
there
is
but
one
tea-plant,
the
Thea
Sinensis,
of
which,
however,
there
are
several
varieties,
induced
by
climate,
soil,
etc.
Tea-plants
are
grown
from
seeds,
and
are
made
bushy
by
pinching
off
the
leading
shoots.
They
are
planted
in
rows,
each
plant
being
three
or
four
feet
distant
from
the
other,
and
the
leaves
are
stripped
in
the
fourth
of
fifth
year
of
its
growth,
and
are
plucked
until
the
tenth
or
tw^elfth,
when
the
plant
is
grubbed
up.
May
and
June
are the
general
months
of
picking,
which
is
done
mostly
by
women
;
but
the
time
varies
according
to
the
district.
The
young
and
early
leaves
give
the
finest
and
most
delicate
teas,
but
the
flavour
very
much
depends
upon
the
drying
and
roasting
;
but
still
some
soils
and
climates
have
a
great
deal
to
do
with
the
taste,
the
finest
tea
in
China
growing
between
the
27th
and
31st
parallels
of
latitude.
Q