Pluckers are shown at work here at the Dambatenne division of the Lipton Bandara Eliya tea estate 6,000 feet up in the hills of Ceylon. Best quality tea is the result of what is known as fine plucking. This means that only the young leaves, consisting of two leaves and a bud are snipped off. The average plucker picks about 70 to 80 pounds during an eight hour day. Tea is plucked every 7 to 14 days since the tea bushes are always flushing. When the leaf appears a pale green, it is ready to be plucked. The approximate yearly yield per acre is 600 pounds.
Four pounds of green leaf equals one pound of finished tea. One tea bush in an entire year yields only 2 1/2 ounces of finished tea; therefore one chest of tea represents a year’s work on a whole acre of tea. The length of life of a tea bush is indefinite but under favorable conditions, produces for more than a quarter of a century.