FEBRUARY, "1912.] 107 



DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS, 



REPORT ON SAMPLES OP TOBACCO 

 GROWN BY THE CEYLON AGRI- 

 CULTURL SOCIETY 



At the Government Experiment 

 Station at Mahailuppalama. 



Imperial Institute op the United 

 Kingdom, the Colonies and India. 



South Kensington, London, S. W., 



16th November, 1911. 

 The Secretary, Ceylon Agricultural 

 Society, Colombo, Ceylon. 



Sir,— I beg to enclose a report on the 

 nine samples of tobacco from the Experi- 

 mental Station at Mahailuppalama 

 which you forwarded to the Imperial 

 Institute with letter No. 734 dated 27th 

 March, 1911. 



If it is desired to sell the tobacco repre- 

 sented by these samples in this country, 

 it will be r.eces*=ary to forward the con- 

 signment to London before any offers 

 can be obtained for it, as buyers insist 

 on seeing " dock samples " before mak- 

 ing offers. The firm of merchants re- 

 ferrrd to in the report state that the 

 tobacco should be packed in bales of 

 260 lb. each, and that it must arrive here 

 in good dry condition, containing not 

 more than 14 per cent, of moisture. The 

 usual terms for sale in London are :— 



Trade allowances 1 lb. per bale and 4 lb. 

 per 104 lb ; discount one per cent., and 

 brokerage 2s. 6d. per bale of tobacco sold. 



If it is decided to offer the tobacco on 

 the London maiket under these condi- 

 tions, the Imperial Institute should be 

 informed, so that the necessary arrange- 

 ments may be made with the above- 

 mentioned firm of merchants. Inform- 

 ation should also be furnished as to 

 whether the re-grading suggested by the 

 merchants has been adopted, and the 

 weight of each grade shipped to London 

 should be given. 



References are made on pages 1, 2 and 

 7 of the report to the three further 

 samples which you forwarded with 

 letter No. 2334 dated 4th September, 1911. 

 These three samples did not, however, 

 quite correspond in appearance to any 

 of the nine samples previously received, 

 and they were differently labelled. It 

 is assumed in view of your letter No. 

 2504 dated 19th September, 1911, that they 

 represent a rough grading of the whole 

 of the tobacco into three classes judged 



by colour alone. These three samples 

 have not been examined in detail. 



I am, Sir, 

 Your Obedient Servant, 

 WVNDHAM R. DUNSTAN, 



Purged of superfluous repetitions the 

 report is as follows :— 



IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 



Result op the Examination of To- 

 bacco prom Ceylon. 



Date 16th November, 1911. 

 Imperial Institute No. 38752A. 



Reference.— Letter No. 734 dated 27th 

 March, 1911, from the Secretary of the 

 Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



Description-— A. "Sumatra No. 1." 

 Weight. 2 Jb. 8 oz. 



The sample consisted of seventeen 

 hands of leaves mostly varying in size 

 from 18J by 1\ inches to 19 by 9| inches,; a 

 few of the longer leaves, however, were 

 somewhat narrower than 7| inches. The 

 leaves were light brown and fairly uni- 

 form in colour though a few showed green 

 spots. They were thin and fairly elastic, 

 but the midribs and veins were rather 

 too prominent. The tobacco did not 

 burn well, but it left a nearly white 

 though rather flaky ash. 



Commercial Valuation and Remarks. — 

 A firm of manufacturers described the 

 sample as follows: — "Well-grown to- 

 bacco of first length, light in colour, 

 burns white and is suitable for cigar 

 purposes." Another manufacturing firm 

 stated that it was "of mixed colours 

 and texture, and without the bright 

 appearance of Sumatra tobacco," and 

 valued it at 6c2. to Id. per lb- in London 

 in dry and good condition. 



A firm of merchants valued the sample 

 at Qd. per lib., and suggested that for 

 export it might be graded with the 

 samples described as " Sumatra No. 2 " 

 and "Java topped." (See pages 4 and 9.) 



The sample labelled " Ceylon tobacco 

 from imported seed, Light brown "for- 

 warded to the Imperial Institute with 

 letter No 2334 dated 4th September, 1911, 

 corresponded fairly closely with the 

 above grade and would probably be of 

 similar value. 



Imperial Institute No. 38752B. 



Description.— B. "Sumatra No. 1." 

 Weight 3 lb. 



This sample consisted of sixteen hands 

 of leaves varying from 14 by 6 inches to 

 17 by 8| inches. The colour was vari» 



