INTRODUCTION. 



This short paper on tobacco was originally written by Mr. 

 Majumdar for the tenth Session of the Indian Industrial Con- 

 ference, held at Madras in the last week of December, 1914 ; and 

 was published without any illustrations by the Conference together 

 with their other papers. Photos selected from out of a hundred 

 taken by the writer and myself, together with a few others have 

 been inserted. 



Tobacco is a principal crop of Cooch Behar ; and with a view 

 to introduce in the State scientific methods of curing as followed 

 in other countries, under the instructions of my father His late 

 Highness Maharaja Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, 

 I went to Cornell University, New York, where I specialised 

 in agriculture for some time ; and to Cuba, West Indies, where 

 I observed the methods of the culture, curing, and manufacture 

 of the famous Havana tobacco. Mr. Majumdar was deputed by 

 my father to accompany me in my tours, and to specialise in 

 tobacco ; and later visited the different tobacco-growing centres 

 in Macedonia and Asia Minor, where the best Turkish tobacco 

 comes from. 



There are great possibilities for the improvement of Indian 

 tobacco. The subject is a vast one, and cannot possibly be fully 

 discussed in a small pamphlet. However, some of the fundamental 

 principles of tobacco growing and curing have been concisely put 

 down by the writer ; and I trust these few pages will be of some 

 help to persons interested in the crop. 



India is essentially a farming country, but her agriculture 

 is left entirely in the hands of the poor and the ignorant ; and there 

 being no proper combination of capital, labour and skill, the 

 rural masses, who form by far the largest part of the population, 



