63 



law of 1887, and placed the duty on getting a license at 5s. 

 per 10,000 cigars ; at 5s. for any number of cigarettes ; added a 

 duty of 5s, for the preparation of any amount of pipe tobacco ; 

 changed the excise duty for cigars to is. per 100 for all kinds, 

 for cigarettes to Id per 100, and added 6d. per lb. for pipe tobacco, 

 made provision for keeping a stock book and a record of tobacco 

 used, for making monthly returns and for checking same by the 

 collector ; removed duty on exports of tobacco, cigars and 

 cigarettes. 



The Tobacco Duty Law of 1902, while still providing for 

 licenses for manufacture and sale, abolished the duty on licenses ; 

 placed the excise duty for cigars at 3d. per 100 when retailed at a 

 price not exceeding 5s. per 100, at is. per 100 for cigars selling 

 at more than 5s. per 100, for cigarettes at Id. per 100, for pipe 

 tobacco at 6d. per lb. 



COST OF CULTIVATION FOR LARGE GROWERS. 



A planter in Upper Clarendon who has cultivated 6 acres 

 in the season 1905-6, states that the actual money spent on culti- 

 vation, curing and erecting a tobacco curing house was £238s. 2s. 

 He estimates that £40 should be added to this for fencing, use of 

 stock and implements, the timber for the house, and cases for 

 shipping the crop, not charged in above, making the total expen- 

 diture for the first crop of £278 2s. Od. 



But part of this expenditure should be spread over, say, six 

 years — clearing the land, preparing and fencing the field, felling 

 timbers, erecting and roofing tobacco house, etc., — say, £90. 



For this reason, deduct £75 from £278, making the cost of cul- 

 tivation and curing of six acres £203, or nearly £34 per acre. 



It is admitted that in keeping the field in first rate garden 

 cultivation all the time, more money was spent than was necessary. 

 On the other hand, no charge is entered for supervision ; and the 

 wages of a man sufficiently qualified to grow, cut, and cure 

 tobacco would amount to 30s. a week at least, while the work 

 lasted from November to June. 



At Hope Gardens insect pests are not troublesome, but in the 

 cultivation under discussion a constant gang of labour had to be 

 employed — picking worms and caterpillars from planting to cut- 

 ting. This expense would probably not be so heavy in succeed- 

 ing years, as the ground would be free from weeds, decaying 

 roots, etc. No rent or taxes are included in the above statement. 



The same planter writes : ' In my previous experience, taking 

 good average years, and with all the economy that can be prac- 

 tised, cigar tobacco — carpa and tripa unclassified — cannot be 

 grown under 6d. per lb., and I am under-, rather than overstating 

 the cost. In unfavourable circumstances, and a light crop, it will 

 cost double that." 



Another planter with considerable experience of tobacco grown 

 at Colbecks in St. Catherine and elsewhere says ; 'It is impossible 

 to grow and cure tobacco of the Cuban variety in Jamaica and to 

 put it f. o. b. at less than 9d. per lb.' 



