t 423 ] 



Nadia, and Tirhut which are the principal seats of tobacco 

 culture in Bengal : 



Mode of curing in Rangpur and Jalpaiguri. The methods 

 of curing followed in Rangpur and Jalpaiguri are almost 

 the same. The leaves of mature plants are cut off singly 

 in the morning, and are left in the sun for all day long. 

 In the evening small bundles of four leaves are suspended 

 along the roof of the house generally a cowshed. After 

 two months, i e., about the middle of June, they are taken 

 down. Eight small bundles are then tied up into a larger 

 bundle. Leaves are not sorted according to their quality 

 though the tobacco-growers are aware that the topmost leaves 

 are the best. The bundles of leaves are then put into a large 

 hea>. The bundles are taken out and dusted and the heaps 

 re-made at intervals of eight or ten days, until the tobacco is 

 wanted for sale. It is best to keep on the heap till about the 

 close of the rainy season. Tobacco thus kept is said to 

 bring higher prices. 



645. Mode of curing in Nadia. " When cut, the stems 

 with leaves on them are allowed to remain spread out in the 

 sun for two hours. They are then cut into pieces, each 

 of which contains a pair of leaves and portion of the stem. 

 These pieces are then arranged on the ground in layers of 

 9 to 10 inches thick, and are allowed to remain in the sun 

 for two days. Rain, of course, at such a time is most des- 

 tructive. Tobacco in this half-dried state is taken home by 

 cultivators, who string the sections together, and suspend 

 them on rows of strings in the longest apartment of their pre- 

 mises, usually the cowshed. The leaves after being thus 

 suspended for about a month are thoroughly cured. They are 

 then taken down on a damp or foggy day when they are a 

 little soft, and made into bundles of about \\ maunds weight 

 each, the strips of leaves being cut into lengths of about a 

 yard, and folded over and laid one on another. The above 

 description relates to the Hingli tobacco of Ranaghat ; the 



