Report of the Department of Agriculture. 



503 



raisins, so long- as uniformity of quality is observed to enable buyers 

 to know what they purchase. The regulations will be reviewed before 

 the next export season begins. 



The value of all fruit (fresh and dried) and of fj'uit products- 

 exported in 1920 and 1921 was respectively: — 



1920. 

 Fruit, fresh — 



Citrus £93,251 



Deciduous 72,159 



Other kinds 4,225 



Xuts 2,309 



Fruit, dried 153,104 



Fruit juice and cordials 6,596 



Fruit, bottled and tinned 23,126 



Jams and jellies (including- 



marmalade) 124,994 



T<.tal ... -. £479,764 



1921. 



£210,008 



186,271 



12,008 



3,144 



191,763 



6,215 



46,812 



23,276 

 £679,497 



37. Tohacco.—The 1920-21 crop was 16,620,640 lb., as against 

 11,644,300 lb. in the previous year. The Chief of the Tobacco and 

 Cotton Division reports that the prices for the best grades remain 

 fairh^ steady, but that the lower grades suffered a decline, attributable 

 partly to the wet season during the collecting periods causing a large 

 percentage of low-grade leaf, combined with the general financial 

 depression and the temporary unsettlement of the market by the 

 excise tax. 



The technical staff was strengthened by the appointment of three 

 officers, two of whom, however, filled vacancies caused by resignation. 



A great deal of attention was given to the production of tobacco 

 suitable for manufacture of nicotine. A large number of analyses 

 made of Soutli African-grown tobacco show that tobacco of high 

 nicotine-content is procurable in South Africa, but to what extent 

 cannot at present be stated. The officers in charge of the Tobacco 

 Experiment Station at Rustenburg and at Elseuburg gave con- 

 siderable attention to the cultivation of a wild tobacco known as 

 Nicotiana nisfica. This variety has an exceptionally high nicotine- 

 content. They are continuing experiments and have induced a 

 number of farmers to try this kind, as it is very probable that its 

 cultivation will niak-e the manufacture of nicotine in this country a 

 profitable undertaking for export as well as for the local market. 



38. Cotton. — The crop of lint for each of the years up to 1921 



was : — 



Lb. LI). 



1909-10 31,169 1916 227,562 



1911 13,623 1917 243,885 



1912 32,025 . 1918 283,128 



1913 34,471 1919 764,584 .. . 



1914 71,654 1920 1,094,763 . 



1915 215,990 ' 1921 1,169,298 



