By far the best Tea boxes are the teak ones made at Rangoon. The wood is impervious to insects of all kinds, even white ants. Sawn by machinery the pieces sent to compose each box are very regular. The plank is half inch, and each chest made up measures inside 23 by 18 by 18½ inches, and necessarily outside 24 by 19 by 19½ inches. The inner cubical contents are 7,659 cubic inches, and this suffices for above one maund of fine, and under a maund of coarse Tea.

Each box is composed of fourteen pieces—viz., for the two long sides three each, for the two short sides two each, two for the bottom, and two for the lid. By the arrangement of three pieces in the long sides, and two only in the short sides, the centre piece of each long side is attached to both the short end pieces, and thus great strength in the box is ensured, there being no place where it can possibly separate at the joints.

These boxes are not made to “dovetail.” Each piece (and they are sawn with mathematical regularity as to length, breadth, and thickness) must be nailed to its neighbour. The best nails for this are the kind called “French Pins,” 1¾ inches long.

The wood is sold at Rangoon in bundles, and could be landed in Calcutta for about Re. 1-8 or 1-12 per box. The boxes need not be made up till shortly before they are wanted, and in this form, of compact bundles of short pieces, are very convenient for transport and stowage.

Of course in many districts these boxes are not procurable, and local ones must be made. If so, use hard wood, and make your boxes about the size given above, for small boxes add much to the cost of freight.

Let the planks be ? inch thick, for ½ inch, that is, 4/8 inch boards are not strong enough, except they are of teak or any other very good wood.

Take care the joints of the several pieces composing the sides and ends do not coincide at the corners, for if they do the box is very apt to come asunder.

The best way to arrange the pieces is as described above in the Rangoon boxes.

“A form” must be made on which the inner leaden case shall be constructed, that is, a well-made smooth box, to fit exactly into the box you pack in. It must be some 3 inches higher than the interior of the original box, and have bars running across inside, for handles to lift it up, and let the lead case slip off it, after it (the lead case) is finished.

Solder your lead case, over your form, in the way to waste least lead. In the Rangoon boxes described, two large, two small sheets,[56] and one piece, 22 by 9 inches (let in between the two large sheets) suffices, and there is little or no waste.

The lead case ready, hold up the form by the inner rods, and let the case slide off. Put it at once into the packing-box, taking care no nails protrude inside, or anything else which will hurt it, and thus prepare all the boxes for the break of Tea you are about to pack.

One great advantage the Rangoon boxes, and in fact all machine-sawn boxes, have is their equal, or nearly equal, weight. Purchasers of Teas, at the public auctions, require “the tare” of boxes to be as near the same weight as possible. If the tares differ, say more than half-a-pound, the Tea will be depreciated in value.[57] It is well there should be about the same weight of Tea in all the boxes that contain any one kind, but this is not essential, which equality in tares is.

Your boxes all ready and lined with lead, choose a fine day for packing. Do this whether you finally dry the Tea in the sun or over the dholes; for even in the latter case it is well to avoid a damp day.

But before you pack you must bulk. That is, you must mix all the Tea, of any one kind, so intimately together that samples taken out of any number of chests shall agree exactly. This can be done by turning out all the Tea on a large cloth placed on the floor, and turning it over and over. No two days’ Teas are exactly alike, and you have perhaps a month’s Teas to pack; it is therefore necessary to mix them well.

Though I know many planters think the fumes of charcoal necessary and beneficial for the last drying, I do not. I have tried both sun and charcoal, and no difference was perceptible. The former costs nothing, is more commodious, and I always apply it when possible. The sun cannot burn the Teas; the charcoal, if the heat is too great, may.

Whether you use sun or charcoal, put the Tea hot into the boxes. The only object of the final drying is to drive off the moisture, which the Tea will certainly, in a more or less degree, have imbibed since its manufacture. Even the large zinc-lined bins which should be fitted up in all Tea stores, and in which the Tea is placed after manufacture, will not entirely prevent damp, so in all cases a final drying is necessary.

Keep it in the sun, or over the charcoal, until it is hot throughout, hot enough to ensure all the moisture having been driven off. Then put into the box enough to about one-quarter fill it. Now let two men rock the box, over a half-inch round iron bar, placed on the ground, until the Tea has well settled. Then place a piece of carpet over the Tea, the exact size of the box, and let a man stand inside and press it down a minute or two with his feet. Now fill up nearly another quarter, and press it again over the carpet as before. Repeat this, putting less and less into the box each time, as you near the top, until it is quite full, but do not rock it at all the last two or three times, only press it with the feet as described. No patent screw press, or anything else, will pack the Tea better or more closely than this plan, and when the men are practised at it, you will find there will not be a difference of more than two or three lbs. in the Teas of any one kind put into the boxes.[58]

The box full, just even with the top, and well pressed down to the last, lay over the Tea a piece of the silver paper, which is found inserted between each sheet in the lead boxes. This prevents any solder or resin getting on the Tea when soldering the top. Now fit on the lead sheet top, solder, and nail on the wooden lid.

Weight of Tea in each box.—The boxes ready lined, with a lead cover loose, must be all weighed before the Tea is packed, and again after they are filled and soldered down, but before the wooden lid is put on. The difference of these weights, minus the weight of the little solder used in fastening down the top lead (for which allow say one pound to give a margin also), will be the net weight of Tea in each box.

Thin iron hooping, put round both ends of the boxes, much increases their strength, and is not expensive.[59]

Stamp each box on its lid and on one end.[60] Use for this zinc plates, with the necessary marks cut out in them. A brush run over these with the colouring matter does the work well and quickly.

Let the stamp comprise the kind of Tea, the plantation or owner’s mark, the number of the box, and the year; for instance—

The invoice you send with the break must give for each box the number, the gross weight, the tare, the net Tea, and the kind of Tea, with a declaration at foot that the Teas of each kind have been respectively well bulked and mixed together before packing.

Remember the larger the quantity of Tea, of any one kind, to be sold at one auction, the higher the price it will probably fetch. Sell, if possible, twenty or thirty chests of one kind of Tea at the same time, for small quantities as a rule sell below large, both in Calcutta and London.

Equality of tares is the most important point to attend to in packing Teas. It may be difficult, but with machine-sawn boxes, nearly the same weight, any difference must be made up with extra hooping, lead, solder, or nails. Anyhow it must be done, so that no tares shall differ more than half-a-pound (see foot-note page 149).