Oct, i, iSm 



fUE rnOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST, 



m 



while allowing the plants to hang free of each other 

 These sheds are 300 feet long, (iO feet high iu the 

 niicUlle, by (50 feet broad, and would coiitaiu 30,000 

 lbs. of leaf hanging up. In this part of the district 

 the planter grows his tobacco ou much the plan as 

 that pursued by the tobacco farm at Poosa, Tirhoot. 

 namely, the cultivator receives so much advance on 

 his land which he cultivates himself receiving the 

 seed from the planter. The seed beds are 30 feet 

 X 3 feet in size. The e.xact proportions for sewing 

 the seeds are as follows ; — 



With 1 ounce of seed mix 4 ounces of ashes 

 (wood) and 1 ounce of dry sand, then scatter over 

 the beds and rake over. When the plants are ripe, 

 they are bought by the planters at rates of 9 to 10 

 guilders, and sometimes when very fine plants, as 

 much as 20 guilders are given for 1,000 plants. 

 These rates vary according to the weight, size, and 

 texture of the leaf. 



riantiny. — The seedlings are planted out at a dis- 

 tance of 2§ X 24 feet apart from each other, they 

 are topped when 8 to 10 feet high. The plants 

 grow tall with long narrow leaves, and about 20 

 leaves are allowed to remain on each plant. 



In the Kedirie districts the planters iu most cases 

 possess the land, and then can make their own ar- 

 rangements about growing their crops. 4 to SOOlbs. 

 is the average turn-out per beegha. 



Cunnff. — When the plants are ripe they are cut 

 off close to the ground, and then hung up in the 

 sheds with twine or some fibrous roots. No splitting 

 of the stalk is permitted, as the object of the 

 planters is to cure slowly. 



The curing of the leaves usually takes about 24 

 days if the weather is moist and favourable. The 

 colour turns out a light brown which becomes a darker 

 shade through fermentation. If the weather is 

 hot and dry, the leaves cure quickly and become 

 more or less yellow which is a bad colour, and un- 

 suited for the manufacture of cigars. Otherwise 

 the curing process is the same as pursued in 

 shade-curing in India. 



Fermenting. — When ready cured, and when the 

 leaves come in order, i. e., become moist and limp, 

 the tobacco should be taken down and bulked, the 

 leaves having been first of all stripped from the 

 stalk. The leaves are bulked in three bulks of some 

 4,000 lbs. each, ends outwards. Some planters fasten 

 a thermometer on to a thin stick, which they insert into 

 a hollow bamboo previously placed, so that the 

 thermometer reaches and remains in the centre 

 of the bulk. When you require to test the 

 temperature, the stick is drawn out, the hollow 

 bamboo remaining fixed. There can be no fixed rule 

 as to the number of degrees you should allow the 

 tobacco to ferment, as some leaves are of finer 

 texture than others and should not be allowed to 

 heat so much as leaves of a coarser kind. However, 

 leaves of the finest sort should not be permitted to 

 exceed 105°, and those of a coarser texture might 

 rise up to 107'' or 108°. The object of the thermometer 

 is to let you know the degree of heat, so that the 

 bulk may be opened in time to prevent the leaves 

 from over-fermenting and rotting. 



After the tobacco has been bulked a few days, it 

 will have to be cooled. The bulk is then opened, and 

 the hands of tobacco well shaken and cooled. After 

 the cooling process is finished, two of the 

 bulks are made up again into one, taking 

 care, however, that the hands of tobacco forming 

 the outward sides of the first bulks should now be 

 placed more in the centre, and those previously in- 

 side now form the outsides. In a few days the bulks 

 will heat again, and must be opened and treated 

 nearly the fa-ne way, except that the light color:^ 

 should be placed in the centre, and darker ones bulked 

 all around them. Three bulks of as near as possible 

 the same degree of temperature should now be 

 made up into one large bulk of 10,000 lb. or so. 8ome 

 of the bulks I saw contained as much as 40 to 50,000 lb. 

 of tobacco. Each bulk receives as it were three 

 beatiugs, The bulks arc raised three feet otf the 



ground on platforms; this is to keep off the damp 

 as much as possible. 



Several of the planters in Java dispense with the 

 thermometer altogether, and simply ascertain the 

 heat by thrusting their hand into the bulk. 



Sorting.— The tobacco seldom heats after the third 

 time, if it should, however, still continue to sweat, 

 the bulks must be opened and treated as above ex- 

 plained. As soon as the fermenting is over, the bulks 

 are opened and the leaves arranged for sorting. These 

 leaves are sorted into : 



Brovvu — clear, light, and dark. 

 I Red — light and dark. 



Black — light and dark. 



Fahl— Hght and dark. 



Streaky. 



These are again divided into five different lengths 

 for each colour. Scrubs, which are very small, and 

 poor leaves, are sold locally. 



The tobacco costs abowt 30 cents shipped (5 annas) 

 per lb., and fetches about 50 cents (8 annas) per lb. 

 in Amsterdam. 



The tobacco after sorting is baled into square boxes 

 lined with palm-leaf matting, and when the tobacco 

 is well pressed, the bale is made by sewing up the 

 sides and tops. A ratchet screw with four handles 

 is used for prising. 



Ct'ltivaiion. — In Sumatra tobacco lands are used 

 once in ten years ; after having once had a tobacco 

 crop, they are left alone untouched for nine years. 

 In .Tava owing to all the laud being under some 

 sort of cultivation, the planters grow on the three- 

 year rotation system. 



Seed. — I received two bottles of Manilla Kadow 

 seed from a Dutch planter, which seed I intend 

 sowing this year. 



I left Java on the 15th April and arrived at Singa- 

 pore on the 19th. Left Singapore on the 21st, and 

 reached Penang on the 24th. Seeing that I should 

 not be able to catch the steamer leaving for Port 

 Blair from Rangoon on the "24th, I took advantage 

 of a Government steamer leaving Penang for Taipeng 

 (Perak), at which place I arrived on the 28th. I 

 went up a hill in Taipeng, where there was both 

 coffee and tea. The coffee, planted some 3,500 feet 

 high, seemed very flourishing, good report of its 

 quality having been received from England. There 

 is no tobacco grown here, the soil I saw was not 

 at all suited for it. I believe some tobacco has just 

 been started further inland, but unless they have 

 an experienced curer to look after it, no good result 

 can be expected. 



My travelling expenses being very limited, I could 

 not see Sumatra. However, the seed of Sumatra and 

 Java were originally identically the same, ?. e., Manilla 

 Kadow. It is the virgin soil which gives that tex- 

 ture and gloss which is so much admired in the 

 Sumatra leaf, the color is obtained through judicious 

 fermenting. 



I arrived at Rangoon on the 8th of May, and 

 drove out with a gentleman there who is given to 

 agricultural pursuits, and saw some of his tobacco, 

 about 7 miles out of Rangoon. It was planted much 

 too close, and otherwise badly attended to. None 

 of the tobacco lauds of Burmah can compare with 

 Ja\a for tobacco. This gentleman had grown some 

 wheat, which requires a good deal of watering, and 

 cost him a great deal of trouble. 



I left Rangoon, on the I'Jth May, and arrived at 

 Port Blair on the 2l8t instant. — Indian Agriculturist. 



KiLU Pe.^ch Crop. — The Kulu correspondent of 

 the Jh'hi Gazette writes quite recently : — "There is 

 a simply amazing peach crop, some of my best 

 trees being simply broken down by the weight of 

 the fruit." 



Hoi's, when introduced into England from the 

 Netherlands in 1524, were regarded only as a means 

 of ''spoyling good beer," and in 1529 the city of 

 London petitioned against coal from Newcastle on 

 account of the stench, and against hops "because 

 they did spoil the national drink." It was not until 1771 

 that they became subject to duty,— 'iiwra? Australian, 



