Tea Leaves

"Pray thee, let it serve for table-talk."棴Merchant of Venice.

"Acup of tea!" Is there a phrase in our language more eloquentlysignificant of physical and mental refreshment, more expressive ofremission of toil and restful relaxation, or so rich in associationswith the comforts and serenity of home life, and also withunpretentious, informal, social intercourse?

If rank in thescale of importance of any material thing is to be determined by itsextensive and continued influence for good, to tea must be conceded avery elevated position among those agencies which have contributed toman's happiness and well-being.

Most remarkable changes haveoccurred in the production of tea during the past century.Aboutsixty years ago all the tea consumed on the globe was grown in Chinaand Japan.Our knowledge of the growth and manufacture of tea wasthen of an uncertain and confused character, and no European had evertaken an active part in the production of a pound of tea.To-day,about one-half of the tea consumed in the world is grown andmanufactured upon English territory, on plantations owned andsuperintended by Englishmen, who have thoroughly mastered every detailof the art, while nearly all the tea drank in Great Britain is Englishgrown.Twenty years ago, the suggestion that tea might yet begrown upon a commercial scale in the United States was received withderision by the Press and its readers; but one tea estate in SouthCarolina has during the past year grown, manufactured, and sold at aprofit, several thousand of the tea of good quality, which brought aprice equal to that of foreign fine teas.

A natural taste forhot liquid foods and drinks is common to all races of men, and they maybe traced in the soups of meat and fish, and in their decoctions orinfusions of vegetable leaves, seeds, barks, etc.