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can most easily be distinguished from Tembakau Lerek by the fact 

 of the latter having two small lobes or stipules (?) (or " ears," as the 

 Malays call them) close to the stem at the base of the leaf. The leaf 

 of Tembakau Lerek is said to run to a full hasta (about 18 inches) 

 in length by about 8 inches in breadth, whereas the leaf of 

 Tembakau Chenak runs only to about 12 inches in length, with 

 a breadth of 6 inches. The former would appear to be but little 

 inferior to the tobacco grown by the Bataks in the neighbour- 

 hood of Deli, in Sumatra, where I am informed that a good 

 average leaf to look for in native gardens would be, say, 18 inches 

 by 12 inches (or a little less). In Sumatra, however, the natives 

 have had the advantage of being able to pick up ideas for the 

 improvement of their tobacco from the well-known tobacco 

 plantations of the Europeans at Deli, whereas the Peninsular 

 Malays have had nothing but the light of Nature to assist them. 

 On the whole, the Malays of Perils prefer the Tembakau Chenak 

 or smaller-leaved variety, as they say it " turns red " (f.e., ferments) 

 more quickly than the other. 



The seeds are sown in small cylindrical pots, which are made 

 of rolled-up screw-palm leaves, and which are deposited upon a care 

 fully prepared bed or nursery. These rudimentary pots measure 

 about 3 inches across, and have no bottom. Their main use is 

 no doubt to keep the earth from being too much shaken away 

 from the roots at planting out. 



The young plants, as soon as they are big enough for trans- 

 planting (usually when about 20 days old), when the leaf is a 

 palm's-breadth across, are put out in a small and carefully fenced 

 clearing and allowed to grow for three months, at the end of 

 which time the first leaves should be ready for picking. Both 

 kinds are topped just before they fruit, but a single shoot is often 

 allowed to grow again when necessary in order to provide seed 

 for the next year's crop. The bigger sort (Tembakau Lerek) 

 requires to be thoroughly manured twice (with bullock and fowl 

 dung), but the Tembakau Chenak only requires a single manuring, 

 which is given it when it is planted out. 



Only one crop a year is planted, and the yield is reckoned as 

 follows : — 



10 plants of T. Chenak will only yield 1 chupak ; 

 16 trees of T. Lerek will yield 6 katis (or a gantang less 

 4 tahils, as it is usually reckoned). 



The sale for the leaf is only local, and both varieties fetch the 

 same price as per weight, i.e., 50 cents per gantang; whereas 

 1 kati of Deli or Langkat tobacco is sold here by the Chinese for 

 75 cents. 



The leaves are picked in the early morning, and are then 

 washed, dried, and put aside in a dry shady place until the 

 evening, when they are piled and pressed for the sweating process. 

 Care must, however, be taken to see that they are fairly dry before 

 sweating, as otherwise they will go bad (jadi bohuk) and become 

 unfit for use. 



The leaves of both varieties are allowed to ferment as 

 follows :— 



One hundred leaves of tobacco are carefully piled upon each 

 other, and are then deposited between a couple of stout leaf- 

 wrappers. Each leaf -wrap consists of a banana leaf and an areca 



