626 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1884. 



Europe, manufactured into cigars there, and sent back 

 as Hivana cigai'S to the countries wliere the leaf was 

 grown. 



Th'i Cuban manufacturers arc allowed to use what 

 eauces they like; to this is to be attributed the superioi" 

 colour or gloss, and the delij^hiful fragrance which 

 characterise Havana cigars when hrst brought over 

 hiie. In skill the Brilish cigar-maker can match the 

 world. 



The cigar-maker when at work is seati d at a bench 

 of table, and his toclsare a sharp knife, a gum bottle 

 and l>ru9li, and a flat square pitce of wood called a 

 cutting-board. He spreads on the cutting-board a per- 

 fect half-loaf of tobacco, trims it with his knife into 

 tlie shape moat convenient for the wrapper, or envel- 

 ope, of a cigar; he then takes in his right hand a 

 bunch if less perfect leaf, or " tiller," and rolls it 

 into a 1 ing oval form with his fingers, then encloses 

 it tightly m the wrapper, rolling the cigar under his 

 left hand till the taper end is formed, gums the leaf 

 lirnily at the tip, and cuts the blurred end square 

 with the knifa to complete the operation. 



Expert workers are able to gauge the requisite 

 quantity of leaf for each cigar so accurately that the 

 weight given out for 1 lb. of medmm size is seldom 

 fonnd to exceed or fall short of the required hundred, 

 strict uniformity of appearance being preserved. 



Many machines have been devised for performing 

 this work, but none altogether supersede hand labour. 

 Tl'.o cigars when made are examined and sorted accord- 

 ing ti the shade of colour of the wr.xpper. " Full- 

 Havoured," "medium," and "mild" may thus come 

 out of the same batch of material, the distinction lying 

 in the greater or less pungency of the outer leaf. 

 Havmg been sorted, the cigars .are tied in bundles of 

 titty with slips of ribbon, placed in cedar box?s, labelled, 

 closed up, and sent to the drying room, where they 

 ren^ain until sufficiently seasoned for smoking. The 

 tinic required for drying varies from a lew days to 

 several months. 



SNUFF, 



wlien pure, is merely ground tobacco scented with 

 <i to of roses, oil of geranium, oil of bergamot, Tonquin 

 b an, and oil of pimento. It is largely adulterated 

 with starch, rice, oxide of iron, powdered logwood, 

 mahogany ; black, white, and cayenne pepper. Refuse 

 rojts, such as rhubarb and geutijn, and senna, oak, 

 and ash leaves are frequently used to adulterate suuif. 

 Pearl ashes and ammonia are sometimes added to give 

 pungency to snuff. 



COMMERCE. 



of all the varied products of the earth tobacco is 

 the substance most universally used by mankind. 



The weight imported into Great Britain and Ireland 

 ■with the knowledge of the Customs authorities in the 

 ye.irs 1880, ISSl, and 1882 is given below :— ^ 



In England we consume about 1 lb. 8J oz. per head 

 of the population. In Briti-h Burma, where men, 

 women, and childien smoke, the consumption is 7 lb. 

 er head, as compared with 1 lb. per head in India. 



The revenue derived from tobacco and snuff constitutes 

 oue-tenth of the entire revenue of this country. Revenue 

 for the year 1881-82 from all sources, 85,822,281/.. Of 

 this amount tobacco and enuffyielded 8,808,176/. 



ADPLTEKATlOJf. 



Notwithstanding the stringent laws of the Legislature 

 the adulteration of tobacco is very common. 



The enormous duties added by the State to the cost 

 of tobacco are a strong lemptation to the use of cheaper 

 materials when they can be easily disguised, or with 

 difficulty detected When what is called cheap shag 

 can be brought at 26'. Srf. per lb. in the market, it is 

 evident that it cannot be all tobacco which has paid 

 the duty of 3s. 6(/. per lb., especially as a sound to- 

 bacco from which good shag can be made can scarcely 

 be got for less than 5rf. or Id. per lb. Water is moat 

 largely used for adulteration. All the adulterations 

 employed, however, are not so harmless as water ; 

 otliere use liquorice, gum, logwood, calomel, and salts 

 of iron, stramonium, coltsfoot, beech, &c. These are 

 best detected by the niisoroscope. The use of otto of 

 roses, orris root, ods of neroli and bergamot, Tonquin 

 beans, &c., to perfume cigars is illegal — Chemist aiul 

 Drugrjist. 



>- 



Import of Jute into Germaky. — According to the C'ent- 

 rtd-Matt fiir Textil Industrie, six full cargoes of jute were 

 discharged at Bremen during the first nine months of 1883. 

 Four of these were imported from Calcutta by one large 

 German manufacturing est.al)lishment. The total quantity 

 of jute thus received was about 60,000 bales, worth .£175,001). 

 — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



How TO MAKE Oows GIVE MiLK. — A Writer in the Southern 

 Farmer says that his cow gives all the milk that is wanted 

 in a family of eight, au<l that from it, after taking all 

 that is required for other purposes, 260 ijouuds of butter 

 were made this year. This is in part his treatment of the 

 cow : " If you desire to get a large jield of rich milk give 

 yom- cows every day water slightly warmed and slightly 

 salted, in which bran has been stirred at the rate of one 

 quart to two gallons of water. You will find, if you have 

 not tried this daily p)-actice, that your cow will give twenty- 

 five per cent more milk immediately under the effects 

 of it, and she will become attached to the diet as to refuse 

 to drink clear water unless very thirsty. But this mess 

 she will drink almost any time aud ask for more. The 

 amount of this drink necessary is an ordinary water pail 

 at a time, morning, noon, aud night." 



A TALIPOT PALM FLOWEKING IN ITS TWENTIETH 



YEAR ia thus noticed in the Proceedings of the Madras 

 Agri Horticultural Society :— Read letter from W. S. 

 Whiteside, Esq., dateo 7i.h October 1883, stating with 

 reference to the account of the Talipot palm in the 

 Proceedings of the Society of 25th March 1882,* that 

 in January 1862, when he was Under-Secretary to 

 Government, he occupied the house in Tcynampett, 

 where Mr. Arundel now resides, and planted in the 

 garden two Talipot palms, one of which has disappeared, 

 while the other is no.v a thriving young tree; and 

 that when put iu the ground they were small plants 

 with only two or three leaves. Recorded with many 

 thanks for the information. .The tree which lias dis- 

 appeared, was the tree referred to as bearing fruit in 

 1881, "in a compnuml by the side of the Mount Road, " 

 and was probably ordy 20 years from the seed, instead 

 of about thirty years as .-iupposed, a fact which renders 

 its precocious fruiting tlie more surprising. It is also 

 remarkable that the twin teeo is still growing vigor- 

 ously without sign of flowering. 



DON'T DIE IN THE HOUSE. 

 " Rough on Hats " clears out rats, mice, beetles, roaches, 

 bed-bugs. Hies, ant«, insects, moles, chipmunks, gophei'S. 

 B. .S. JlADON & Co., Bombay, General Agents. 



« Vide p. 26, ante. 



