Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



110 



[February, 1912. 



common tobacco, and valued it at 5c2. 

 per lb. if in dry condition." 



A firm of merchants valued the sample 

 at 4|d. per lb., and suggested that it 

 might be graded with the preceding 

 sample "Java No. 3." (See previous 

 page.) 



Imperial Institute No. 38752-K. 



Description. — K. "Java topped." Weight, 

 2 lbs. 3 oz. 



Twelve hands consisting of leaves 

 varying in size from 12 by 5| inches to 

 19 by 8| inches, but mostly of the larger 

 sizes. The colour was a fairly uniform 

 dull greyish-brown. The leaves were 

 thin and fairly elastic and the veins and 

 midribs were not too prominent. The 

 tobacco burnt moderately well, leaving 

 a dark grey ash. 



Commercial Valuation and Remarks. — 

 A firm of manufacturers described this 

 sample as "medium length tobacco, 

 good class, light brown with some white 

 veins, good white burning, suitable for 

 cigars." A second firm classed it with 

 the samples described on pages 3, 5, and 

 7, as having " a fair indication of Java," 

 and valued it at 9d. to lOd. per lb. if in 

 dry condition. 



A firm of merchants valued this to- 

 bacco at 6ci. per lb. and suggested that 

 it should be graded with the samples 

 described on pages 1 and 4. 



General Remarks. 

 The commercial value of cigar tobacco 

 depends mainly on two factors :— (1) Its 

 composition and (2) its appearance and 

 texture. The former determines its 

 burning quality and the aroma and 

 flavour produced on combustion ; and 

 the second the particular purpose to 

 which the tobacco can be applied in 

 cigar manufacture. It is convenient 

 therefore to discuss the present samples 

 of Ceylon tobacco under these two 

 heads. 



Composition. 



Of the nine samples forwarded to the 

 Imperial Institute by the Secretary of 

 the Ceylon Agricultural Society in 

 March, 1911, four were selected for chemi- 

 cal examination as being typical of the 

 whole set. The results are summarised 

 in the following table, together with 

 the corresponding figures for two sam- 

 ples of cigar tobacco grown at Trin- 

 comalee which were dealt with in the 

 Imperial Institute Report on Tobacco 

 and Cigars from Ceylon 4th January, 

 1911 :- 



Analyses op Ceylon Tobaccos, 





Samples from Maha-Iluppal. 



ima. 



Samples from 

 Trincomalee. 





B. 



D. 



E. 



G. 



December. 





" Sumatra 



"Sumatra 



" Java 



"Java 



Crop, 



1909-10 





No. 1." 



No. 2." 



No. 2." 



No. 3." 



1909. 



crop. 



Moisture 



17-5 



15-1 



125 



13-2 



9-8 



151 



Nicotine 



1-8 



1-7 



11 



1-8 



3-0 



T4 



Nitrogen 



1-5 



3-1 



2-0 



2-7 



3-2 



3 3 



Ash 



16-6 



12-6 



16-0 



15-3 



15-6 



12-5 



Composition of ash:— 















Lime 



30-7 



35-2 



30-4 



341 



27'7 



33-2 



Potash 



21-7 



192 



20-3 



11-5 



16-0 



201 



Soda 



0-2 



C-4 



0'3 



11 



2-4 



2-5 



Sulphates (expressed as 



2-4 



4-0 





8-4 





4-7 



sulphuric acid) 



4-1 



1-8 



Chlorides (expressed as 











7-3 





chlorine) 



161 



8-9 



10-9 



91 



6*5 



Burning quality 



Poor. 



Poor. 



Moderate. Bad. 



Moderate. 



Poor. 



Nature of Ash 



White, 



White, 



Grey, 



Almost 



Dry with 



Black. 



flaky. 



flaky. 



flaky. 



black. 



grey 

 patches. 





Moisture.— Two of the samples unler 

 report, and one of those from Trinco- 

 malee contained more moisture than is 

 permissible in tobacco intended for the 

 English market. It should be remem- 

 bered that in the United Kingdom the 

 duty on tobacco is high and is charged 



by weight, so that no more moisture 

 should be present in tobacco intended 

 for export to this country than is suffi- 

 cient to keep the leaf in unbroken condi- 

 tion. The maximum amount of mois- 

 ture permissible by trade conditions is 

 about 14 per cent, on arrival. The quan- 



