The Story Of India Tea AKA The Story Of Indian Tea (1931)

Assam, India. Men work to clear land with shovels and picks. Elephants are used to clear away debris. Tea seeds are tested in water. Seeds are planted. Fencing is erected to prevent animals damaging the crop. Straw is spread on the ground. Seedlings are taken and transplanted after a year’s growth. The soil around the plants is hoed. The trees are pruned. Young trees are tipped. A group of child workers pose for the camera. A family of workers pose. Women pick tea. One woman plucks tea with a baby on her hip. Intertitle reads: “These happy dusky maidens always seem ready with a smile, don’t they?“ C/U of woman smiling as she picks. Women carry baskets of leaves on their heads. The leaves are weighed. Leaves are loaded into carts pulled by water buffalo to the factory. The tea is “withered“. The tea is then put into a rolling machine. C/U of the tea being rolled. Fine and coarse leaves are separated by machine. C/U of man inspecting quality of the tea by rolling it between his fing