III.] TOBACCO CULTIVATION. 63 



There is one crop deserving of special mention for which Sulu 

 seems particularly suited. The tobacco used by the natives is 

 almost entirely of Chinese manufacture, as they are apparently 

 ignorant of the method of preparation of the leaf, but in the few 

 places in which we found it growing, it appeared to be of remark- 

 ably good quality. It is a fact not generally known that the 

 outside leaves — or " wrappers," as they are technically termed — of 

 the better qualities of Havana cigars are grown at Deli, in 

 Sumatra, and that there are but few soils capable of producing 

 them. In October, 1884, the managers of the German Borneo ■ 

 Company landed in Sulu, and, struck with the appearance of the 

 island, determined on planting tobacco. The result of the first 

 year's work was 200 pimls, valued at £10 per jjtc?^/. This year 

 (1886) 100 "fields" are under cultivation, which are expected 

 to yield 800 ^j-icii/s — in other words, about 100,000 lbs. The 

 labourers are Chinese from Singapore, where they are engaged 

 before the Government Agency, and receive their passage and an 

 advance, together equivalent to 860, the half of which only is 

 charged to them. The method of cultivation is as follows. In 

 December the felling of the forest and clearing of the land 

 commences. In April the nurseries are prepared, and the seed, 

 mixed with ashes, sown on the raised beds. The young plants 

 gi'ow rapidly, and in early May — the beginning of the rainy 

 season — they are pricked out in " fields " of 300 by 20 yards, each 

 of which is looked after by its own coolie. The soil is banked up 

 around the stalk of the plant, and the leaves are carefully searched 

 for insects. At the beginning of August the tobacco is fit for 

 cutting. This is done an inch or two below the first leaf, and the 

 plants are hung up head downwards in the drying-sheds until the 

 stalks become dry, when the leaves are cut off, packed in bundles, 

 and caiTied to the fermenting-shed. Here they are formed into 

 " staples " — pyramidal heaps in which fermentation takes place 

 — the heat being carefully noted by thermometers. Wlien the 

 desired temperature is reached the " staple " is rebuilt, the outer 



