164 IN THE LAND OP THE BOKA. 



ments well worth a visit. Such are the various 

 schools, and above all the splendid establishments 

 for the encouragement of viticulture, horticulture, 

 forestry, and stock-breeding. The various schemes 

 for the improvement of the land in these two 

 provinces each form an interesting study to the 

 specialist, but are beyond the scope of a book of 

 this kind. Some, however, are of general interest, 

 and of these I may speak. 



One of these, perhaps more for the benefit of 

 the finances than the people, is the great Tobacco 

 Depot. The visitor is conducted, step by step- 

 one might almost say, from the sowing to the 

 completion of the " weed." 



At two doors stand scales for the weighing of 

 the raw material. The quaintly dressed peasant 

 unloads his pack-ponies at the door. Each bale is 

 then weighed separately, and a sample is examined 

 by an expert, who classifies the lot as of first, 

 second, or third quality. Another official hands 

 the cultivator a receipt, and the bale is carried off 

 to the warehouses at the back. Thence in course 

 of time it finds its way to a room where a score of 

 women, also experts, separate every leaf and throw 

 them into boxes marked "fine," "finest," and so 

 on. These are next taken to the machine destined 

 to cut up only that quality of tobacco, but of 

 course only after they are fully dried. The tobacco 

 is then ready for packing. Much of it is made 



