NICOTIANA 



Trade 



THE TOBACCO PLANT 



Imports. 



Foreign 

 Cigarettes. 



Influence 

 of Indian 

 Production. 



Supply from 

 United 



Kingdom. 



Percentage 

 Increase. 



Cigar Trade. 



still more evident when it is added that at the same time Madras con- 

 tributed to Burma unmanufactured tobacco to the value of Es. 14,72,433.. 

 Thus Burma is to the Indian grower of unmanufactured tobacco a very 

 much more important market than the rest of the world collectively. 



Imports. Turning now to the IMPORT Traffic, a similar expansion 

 may be said to be observable. In 1876-7 the traffic under all classes was 

 valued at Rs. 9,56,880. Ten years later (1886-7) at Ks. 49,53,486 ; the 

 following decade (1896-7) at Ks. 26,30,258 ; in 1904-5 at Rs. 55,62,850;. 

 in 1905-6 at Rs. 66,08,807 ; and in 1906-7 at Rs. 69,33,377. The most 

 noteworthy feature of this trade is the growth of the demand for foreign 

 cigarettes. The year 1900-1 was that in which the returns of cigarettes 

 were made apart from cigars. They were then returned as 1,165,399 lb., 

 valued at Rs. 17,03,968 ; while in 1904-5 they were 2,518,659 lb., valued 

 at Rs. 35,08,187 ; in 1905-6, 3,119,071 lb., valued at Rs. 44,97,699 ; and 

 in 1906-7, 2,912,841 lb., valued at Rs. 45,97,364. On the other hand, if 

 an opinion can be formed of a traffic for so limited a period as six years,, 

 the imports of cigars would seem to have manifested nothing like the 

 interest taken in the cigarettes. In 1900-1 the imports of cigars were 

 60,157 lb., valued at Rs. 2,34,209 ; in 1904-5 they were 118,020 lb., valued 

 at Rs. 3,75,958 ; in 1905-6, 101,293 lb., valued at Rs. 3,49,136 ; and in 

 1906-7, 111,586 lb., valued at Rs. 4,03,330. This state of affairs may be- 

 a direct consequence of the continuous improvement that for some year* 

 past has been maintained in the Indian-made cigar. 



Of the imports of cigarettes in 1900-1 (1,165,399 lb.), 610,980 lb. came- 

 from the United Kingdom and 362,760 lb. from the United States, while 

 887,882 lb. of these imports were taken by Bengal. Of the supply 

 for 1906-7 (2,912,841 lb.), 1,818,057 lb. came from the United Kingdom 

 and 782,596 lb. from the United States. The supply from the Straits 

 Settlements seems to fluctuate very greatly, but for the past two years 

 has declined seriously. In 1903-4 the imports came to 177,294 lb., but 

 in 1905-6 were 19,228 lb., and in 1906-7, 15,053 lb. China (Treaty) 

 Ports have similarly given indications of a contraction : in 1903-4, 203,134 

 lb. ; in 1905-6, 163,661 lb. ; and in 1906-7, 112,528 lb. Bengal continued 

 to hold the supremacy as the receiving province, since out of the total 

 it took in 1906-7, 1,755,852 lb. ; Burma and Bombay following with 

 respectively 438,723 and 309,385 lb. Robertson (Rev. Trade Ind. t 

 1904-5, 11) remarks : The cigarette imports have thus in five years 

 increased 106 per cent., and the quantity imported last year represents 

 840 million cigarettes. The average value per pound was Rs. 1-4-5' 

 British, Rs. 1-1-2 American, Rs. 6-9-1 Egyptian, and those from the 

 East, 15 annas 9 pies, the value per 1,000 being roughly three times 

 the value per pound. Noel-Paton (Rev. Trade Ind., 1905-6, 15) shows 

 the quantity to have further increased by 23'8 per cent, on that for 

 1904-5 : " The average value per lb. from each of the sources was : 

 British, Rs. 1-8-10 ; American, Rs. 1-1-6 ; Egyptian, Rs. 6-4-3 ; and 

 Eastern 13 annas." 



Speaking of the modern cigarette trade, J. E. O'Conor (Anglo-Ind. Rev., 

 April 1903) observed : " Within the last three or four years, however, 

 a singular modification of popular taste has been witnessed, one which 

 would hardly have been believed possible in such a country and amongst 

 such a people. Some enterprising firms in Europe thought they saw an 

 opening in India for the Native consumption of American tobacco in 



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