Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 204 



[March, 1910. 



enumerated. The conditions were very- 

 different both with regard to the sup- 

 ply of the natural product, the culti- 

 vation of which had been freshly stimu- 

 lated, and with regard to the funda- 

 mental substance used in producing 

 artificial camphor, namely, the essence 

 of turpentine, the supply of which was 

 limited and the price fluctuating. For 

 these and other reasons the future of 

 the camphor industry was uncertain. 



INDIAN TOBACCO TRADE. 

 By the American Consul at Bombay. 



(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 



XXXIV., No. 11, November 1, 1909.) 



That excellent tobacco can be grown 

 in India is not denied by those who 

 have given close attention to this parti- 

 cular subject, says the Indian Trade 

 Journal. There is scarcely a village 

 throughout the length and breadth of 

 the country that has not its tobacco 

 patch for local consumption or export. 

 But the reason why really good Indian 

 tobacco leaf is not more in evidence on a 

 commercial scale probably i9 that there 

 are few crops which demand more care, 

 skill and sound judgment on the part of 

 the producer, if marketable leaf of good 

 quality is the object in view. It is to be 

 feared, however, that the average culti- 

 vator is not enamoured of troublesome 

 crops, even though they may ultimately 

 prove to be paying ones. He likes some- 

 thing easy, and he is hardly to be 

 blamed for that. But tobacco is not 

 only a difficult crop to grow ; it is also a 

 risky one, unless every possible pre- 

 caution is taken. Elaborate experiments 

 have proved that the tobacco plant is 

 very sensitive to the surroundings under 

 which it is forced to grow. Its physical 

 character, as well as its composition, are 

 greatly influenced by soil, climate, 

 manures and the care or neglect which 

 it receives at the hands of the grower. 



But tobacco is claiming a good deal 

 more attention in India just now than 

 was the case only a short time ago. The 

 internal demand for it is enormous and 

 tends to keep pace with the increase in 

 population, as practically all the people 

 smoke from a very early age. To meet 

 this demand there are over a million 

 acres under tobacco in British India and 

 Native States, which produce an annual 

 crop of an estimated value of £5,000,000. 

 But, unfortunately, Indian tobacco is 

 chiefly grown from inferior plants and is 

 cured in a very primitive style. Gener- 

 ally speaking, it is very crude tobacco, 

 which; however, seems to be good 

 enough for the manufacture of the 



native cigarette or biri, which is sold at 

 the surprisingly low price of ten annas, 

 or less, per thousand ; and for export to 

 Burma to be mixed with other tobacco 

 and made into what are known as 

 Burma cheroots — a rank sort of cigar 

 which, nevertheless, finds a ready 

 market even among Europeans who 

 have acquired the necessary taste. But 

 the bulk of the Indian tobacco crop is 

 not nearly up to the standard required 

 for export to European countries, in 

 most of which, however, a keen demand 

 exists for first-class leaf ; nor is it ade- 

 quate to meet all requirements, for our 

 imports of tobacco in various forms in 

 the official year 1908-09 amounted in 

 value to Rs. 79-41 lakhs. These imports 

 largely represent cigarettes which are 

 used by the fairly well-to-do classes, but 

 for the manufacture of which suitable 

 tobacco is not available in sufficient 

 quantities. A start has been made in 

 Bengal to meet this cigarette want by 

 manufacturing this article on a large 

 scale by modern machinery, the com- 

 pany, which is a European one, guard- 

 ing itself to a large extent by growing 

 its own tobacco. Now that a commence- 

 ment on a large scale has been made, 

 this industry is fairly certain to expand, 

 particularly so as it is believed to be a 

 reasonably profitable one ; and all that 

 is required to give it an immediate 

 impetus is the cultivation of a better 

 class of tobacco plant, associated with 

 the introduction of up-to-date methods 

 of curing. 



As to the first of these requisites, the 

 experiment now being carried out at 

 Pusa with various varieties of tobacco 

 plants should indicate the best kiud for 

 exploitation in this country ; and, as to 

 the second, what would seem to be re- 

 quired is a sort of central curing factory 

 in certain tobacco tracts, such factories 

 to be controlled by experts who know 

 their business thoroughly and who have 

 had long experience in such factories in 

 America— the home of the tobacco plant 

 and the country in which the growth 

 and manufacture of tobacco have been 

 brought to the highest pitch. For the 

 climate of India is decidedly hostile to 

 first-class tobacco curing, and is prob- 

 ably the greatest stumbling-block to 

 the onward march of the Indian tobacco 

 trade. In most countries where tobacco 

 is largely grown the climate seems to be 

 exactly tempered to the requirements 

 necessary for good curing. That is to 

 say, there is a warm, humid atmosphere 

 giving the correct amouut of heat and 

 moisture by night and day, and the 

 result is that the tobacco is cured in the 

 best possible manner under what are 



