4'7 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 



TOBACCO. 



CW/ and climate. A light soil or sandy loam, well drained, 

 containing an average amount of organic matter and rich 

 in mineral matters, is considered to be best suited for tobacco 

 cultivation. Grown on clay soils, the leaf becomes too coarse 

 and inferior in quality, but clay soils usually give heavier yields. 

 Sandy loams, rich in organic matter, produce a better sort of 

 tobacco of the kind fit for making cigars. The principal 

 tobacco-growing districts of Bengal, in their order of import- 

 ance, are, Rangpur, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Purnea, Dar- 

 bhanga, Mymensingh, Nadia, Muzaffarpur, Jessore, Manbhum, 

 Murshidabad, Dinajpur, Chittagong, Dacca, Tippera, Bhagal- 

 pur, Pabna, Monghyr, and Cuttack. The Chittagong Hill 

 Tracts produce the best tobacco in Bengal. This is generally 

 used for making cigars by the Burmese. There are three 

 varieties : (i) Khao Doung, (2) Mri Kheoung, and (3) Rigre 

 Kheoung. The excellence of these varieties of tobacco, is 

 said to be due to the speciality of the soil rather than to any 

 peculiar mode of cultivation or of curing. The leaves are 

 cured in the way in vogue in Rangpur and Jalpaiguri. The 

 Chittagong tobacco sells for Rs. 20 or more per maund, while 

 the Rangpur tobacco sells from Rs. 6 to Rs. 12 per maund. 

 The tobacco of other districts enumerated above is sold at 

 Rs. 3 to Rs. 7 per maund. Ignorance of the method of culti- 

 vation and of curing causes in many places inferiority in the 

 quality of leaves, but the difference in flavour is no doubt also 

 due to difference in the kind of tobacco grown, to influences 

 of the soils, and to climate. 



634. Chemical Composition. Tobacco requires particu- 

 larly good soil and heavy manuring, as it is richer in nitrogen 

 and in mineral constituents than almost any other crop. The 

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