io6 



REPORTS OF MEETINGS. 



and Reimann, to be as follows : — 



Water 



Vegetable fibre 

 Extractive matters... 



G^um 



Gluten 



IStlalate of Lime 



Malic Acid ... 



Gum Resin ... 



Albumen 



Nitrate and Malate of Potash .21 



Although the amount of !Nicotine present is so small, only 7 grains in 

 10,000, yet it ^is to this the plant owes its narcotic and poisonous properties.' 

 Nicotin is a colourless oily liquid, so highly poisonous that one drop is said 

 to be sufficient to kill a dog. 



Tobacco is generally considered a very exhaustive crop, requiring a large 

 amount of manure. The seed is usually sown in March or April, and in 

 June the young plants are transplanted in rows, about 3 feet apart, along 

 ridges, somewhat in the manner of potatoes. The plantation requires careful 

 weeding and constant inspection, for a caterpillar, which, although the only 

 insect that feeds upon it, occasionally, if neglected, commits great devasta- 

 tion. Later on the plants are topped, to prevent the development of the 

 flowers and seed, and to limit the number of leaves to from 5 to 9, and all 

 lateral shoots are carefully nipped out as they make their appearance. 



When the crop is ready for cutting, a matter requiring considerable 

 experience, the plants are cut down close to the ground, and hung on poles 

 in the drying house, so constructed as to admit of a free ventilation ; but in 

 some instances the leaves are first submitted to a partial process of fermen- 

 tation, and afterwards hung up to cure. When the leaves are sufficiently 

 dried, which usually takes about a month, they are stripped from the main 

 stem and gathered in small bundles, the base of the stalks being secured 

 with another twisted leaf, the whole having the appearance of a long, 

 defunct cabbage. These bundles are packed in hogsheads and subjected to 

 heavy pressure, so that when filled they hold about 1000-lbs of tobacco. 



When the tobacco is in the hands of the manufacturer it is damped, to 

 enable the leaves to be separated. The midrib of each leaf is carefully 

 stripped out, when this has not already been done by the exporters, except 

 when wanted for the manufacture of bird's-eye, the peculiar appearance of 

 the cut tobacco in this instance by the thin slices of the midrib among the 

 leaves. The tobacco leaf is now thoroughly wetted with water, and after- 



