PRODUCTION AND COMMEECE. 197 



"It is estimated that at least 2,000, OOOZ. sterling is 

 now invested in the tobacco industry in the Deli 

 districts. 



" The tobacco when ready for shipment is all sent to 

 Clambia on the Langkat river, to the Deli river, or the 

 Sirdang river (as the case may be), and is despatched 

 thence via Penang or Singapore to Amsterdam, which 

 is the tobacco mart for the continent of Europe. The 

 United States have also bought the Deli tobacco in 

 the Amsterdam market in late years. Very little of the 

 tobacco goes to England. The leaf remains so moist thai 

 the English import duty would press it heavily ia 

 comparison with other tobaccos, and this circumstance 

 operates as a check on the import of tobacco from Sumatra 

 into England as compared with tobacco from Java. The 

 principal purchasers are German manufacturers and 

 Dutch middlemen. The latter retail the tobacco over the 

 continent, and supply the several Eegies, amongst others 

 the Austrian, Italian, and French. The Americans confine 

 their purchases to dark-leaved, heavy tobacco, requiring 

 100 leaves or less to the lb. 



" It is worth remarking that the whole of the carrying 

 trade in connection with the Deli tobaccos is in the hands 

 of Messrs. Holt's line, the rate of freight from Deli 

 to Amsterdam being about 3Z. 2s. 6d. per ton. The 

 shipping season may be said to last from January to 

 June. 



" The tobacco crop of 1884 is estimated to yield about 

 20,000 bales in excess of that of 1883, but the crop in 

 1883 was a short one owing to unfavourable weather. 

 The 1884 crop is the best one ever obtained, both as 



