:,]S6 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



This suecess, tlioug-h small in itself, was tlie first fruits of the present 

 expanding' industiy. Convinced of success, Mr. Stella obtained a 

 further quantity of seed from Turkey, and with this lie laid down, 

 in 1904, the first ex])erimeiit with turldsh tobacco — so far as is known 

 — in the Cape Colony. The experiment Avas successful, two acres 

 of sandy loam producing' nearly lOOO lb. of tobacco. Having demon- 

 strated the possil)ilities of the plant, Mr. Stella came in touch with 

 the Cape Department of Agriculture, and as a result of the negotia- 

 tions which followed, his services as an instructor were obtained by 

 the Government (in whose service he still remains), and tlie first 

 supervised experiments were conducted under his supervision in 1906. 

 From then the industry has steadily progressed. In 1908 we produced 

 10,000 lb.; in 1909, 16,000; in 1910, 56,500 lb.: and to-day our 

 output is three-quarters of a million pounds. And throughout the 

 infancy of the industry Mr. Stella's unceasing energy did much to 

 steer it past all obstacles, and, together with the other officers of the 

 Tobacco and Cotton Division as constituted to-day, he is still engaged 

 m fostering the interests of those eng^aged in turkish tobacco growing. 

 Owing to the sensitiveness of the plant, tobacco culture is a 

 highly specialized class of farming, being an operation requiring 

 constant watchfulness from its inception to the time that it finally 

 reaches the consumer, and before the latter is reached many steps, 

 involving as many dangers, have to be taken. The Department has 

 issued a good deal of literature on the subject, and we publish in this 

 number an article on "Curing of Turkish Tobacco" by Mr. Koch, 

 the Manager of the Elsenburg Tobacco Station, who is taking a 

 prominent part in advancing the industry. This step of the process 

 of tobacco culture calls for much experience and judgment, and Mr. 

 Koch sets out very clearly the correct treatment of the leaf from the 

 time of harvesting to the final stage of curing. Turkish tobacco 

 growers are advised to study the article carefully, for while much 

 progress is being made in the development of the industry, much has 

 still to be achieved, and, among other things, the present methods 

 in vogue in curing must be improved if growers wish to hold their 

 own as com])etition becomes keener. And competition has to be 

 expected. 



TTp to the j)resent kx'al production has fallen shoit of the demand, 

 but iuikish tobacco growing has recently been taken up on a large 

 scale in Ehodesia, where it is reported that this season sojuething 

 like 500,000 lb. of this variety of tobacco will be produced. This 

 is a factor to be considered by the local grower. When the nuirket 

 in this country is fully supplied, an outlet will need to be looked for 

 overseas, and this market has not yet been tested to any extent. That 

 the London market can absorb most of our surplus for some years to 

 come is very likely, especially where the better grades of turkish 

 tobacco are concerned, but it is a trade which has still to be developed, 

 and it is with a view to the future that the grower must endeavour 

 to produce an aiticle of such quality that it will command a remune- 

 rative price in competition with the produce of other countries, and 

 ensure that turldsh tobacco growing will continue to be the profitable 

 enterprise it now is. As an aid to this end Mr. Koch's article will 

 be valuable, for improvement, the author says, " cannot be accom- 

 plished intelligently unless the scientific principles underlying the 

 subject are thoroughly understood." 



