THE TOBACCO PLANT 



Areas. 



Seasons. 



Rajputana. 



NICOTIANA 



Panjab and 

 Kashmir 



was 12,194 acres in the Central Provinces, and 14,220 acres in Oudh. The 

 districts with largest areas are usually Kaipur 1,105 acres, Bilaspur 

 995, and Chanda 1,023 acres, in the Central Provinces ; Amraoti 5,331 

 acres, Buldana 3,602, Wun 2,374, and Ellichpur 1,178 acres in Berar. 

 The plant is cultivated in patches near the villages, and the whole produce 

 is consumed locally. The seasons of sowing and reaping vary. In Narsing- 

 pur the crop is harvested in October ; in other districts the stems are cut 

 usually in February and March. 



Rajputana and Central India. In these provinces cultivation is almost 

 confined to the Native States of Gwalior, Jaipur, Bharatpur and Tonk, 

 which in 1905-6 grew respectively 3,590 acres, 2,563 acres, 1,072 acres, 

 and 147 acres. A description by Dr. R. H. Irvine of the famous Bhilsa 

 tobacco, grown in Gwalior, is quoted in the Dictionary. According to 

 O'Conor, tobacco in Central India is raised on high, well-ploughed 

 lands. A second crop is frequently taken from the stems left after the 

 first crop has been gathered. 



Panjab and North- West Frontier. The area in 1905-6 was 67,594 

 acres in the Panjab and 9,666 acres in the North-West Frontier. In the 

 Panjab the districts with largest areas are usually Jalandhar, 3,756 acres, 

 Sialkot 4,400 acres, Lahore 4,524 acres, Gujrat 3,137 acres, Amritsar 

 2,890 acres, Gujranwala 3,465 acres, Jhang 2,708 acres ; in the North-West 

 Frontier, Peshawar 8,513 acres. The soils generally preferred are garden 

 and manured lands near the villages. Alluvial lands are not considered 

 suitable ; in three cases only namely, parts of the Sialkot, Ludhiana 

 and Rawalpindi districts are alluvial tracts selected. Irrigation is 

 practised, the plots being watered about once in every four days, and 

 extensive manuring is necessary. Night-soil, sheep- and goat-dung, stable 

 litter and cow-dung, are used, and an admixture of saltpetre is found 

 beneficial. The sowing season in most districts is October and November, 

 but may in some places continue till December and January (Shahpur, 

 Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan) and February (Peshawar, Amritsar, Rawal- 

 pindi). Transplanting takes place from January to March, and cutting 

 during May, June and July. The plant is cut to the roots and no second 

 crop taken. [Cf. Purser, Settl. Rept. Jalandhar, 1892, 127-8 ; Dist. Gaz. 

 Pb. ; Exper. Farm Rept. Lyallpur, 1901-2, 20 ; Renouf, Tobacco in Pb., in 

 Proc. Board Agri., Pusa, Jan. 1906, 115-6.] 



Kashmir. According to Sir W. Lawrence (Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 

 345-6) tobacco is cultivated in many parts of Kashmir, but chiefly in and 

 around Srinagar and the smaller towns. Cultivation is almost entirely 

 in the hands of the gardener class. The plant yielding the best produce 

 grows in Srinagar, and is known as brewari (N. Tabaciuii, var. lancifolia). 

 Another species, chilasi (N. rustica), has been introduced from the 

 Panjab. It is sown in April and picked about the end of August. It 

 requires very rich soil and is irrigated by the dip -wells of the country. 

 The consumption of tobacco in Kashmir is almost entirely in the form of 

 snuff. 



Bombay and Sind. The area in 1905-6 was 64,539 acres in Bombay 

 and 9,048 acres in Sind. The districts with the largest areas are Belgaum 

 22,856 acres, Kaira 21,276 acres, Satara 4,215 acres, Ahmadabad 3,187 acres, 

 Khandesh 4,364 acres, Broach 2,685 acres, and Hyderabad 4,847 acres. 

 Mollison gives a very full account of the methods pursued. The best kind 

 is grown on deep alluvial lands near the Krishna. Throughout the Kaira 



800 



Second Crop. 



Panjab. 



Soils. 



Irrigation. 



Manures. 



Season?. 



Crop. 



Kashmir. 



Seasons. 

 Snuff. 



Bombay. 



Areas. 



Cultivation. 



