Miscellaneous. 



170 



[Feb. 1908. 



Tobacco-— Messrs. Freudenberg & Co. 

 have submitted the following report 

 from a German firm on a sample of to- 

 bacco received from Ti iucomalee :— 

 "There is a chauce of doing business in 

 Ceylon leaf, which seems suitable for 

 the German, Dutch, Swedish, and Nor- 

 wegian markets. However, quality 

 should be improved. If shipped to Ger- 

 many the stalks should be taken off the 

 leaves, as manufacturers would not 

 otherwise buy the leaf owing to the high 

 import duty on manufactured tobacco, 

 as duty would have to be paid also on 

 the weight of the stalks. Duty here 

 amounts to 85 marks per 100 kilos on raw 

 tobacco. Packing may be done in the 

 following manner -.—Pack and press in 

 bales, the leaves laid out together, but 

 not each individual leaf spread out, i.e., 

 the leaves not squeezed together in 

 bunches, but as samples No. 1, 2, 3 you 

 sent us, To be packed in bales, and to 

 be sewn up in linen or jute hessiau. 

 Large shipments would have to be 

 graded by experts according to length 

 and quality of the leaves. One of the 

 chief points is that the tobacco when lit 

 must burn, i.e., must continue to burn. 

 Ceylon tobacco when lit gives a bright 

 tiaine, but then goes out. The reasons 

 herefor may be various. The soil or the 

 manure applied may contain too much 

 saltpetre, or the soil may be orginally 

 too rich, or may have been manured too 

 heavily. For the manufacture of pipe 

 tobacco your grade 2 may be suitable, if 

 the rib down the centre of the leaf were 

 thinner and would burn easily. Colour 

 does not matter in this case. All three 

 qualities could be used for the inside of 

 cigars. The leaf would have to be much 

 shorter and burn more readily. For the 

 outer covering the present size of the 

 leaf would do ; the colour should be 

 either brown and free from spots, or a 

 bright yellow. In our opinion the soil 

 used for growing the tobacco, of which 

 you sent us samples, is too rich ; we 

 would advise you to use more sandy soil 

 and plant the tobacco plants closely 

 together." 



Mr. M. Kelway Bamber, commenting 

 on this report, writes : "The recent sale 

 of leaf from Maha Illuppalama was un- 

 satisfactory, although the leaf was well 

 reported upon. I cto not think Ceylon 

 tobacco soils can be described as too rich, 

 but in Jaffna, where it is almost sand, a 

 large proportion of cattle and goat 

 manure is mixed with the soil, and 

 would no doubt cause a rank growth 

 and coarse quality. II a foreign market 

 can be found for the leaf, tobacco would 

 be a most satisfactory crop for the 

 North-Central Province. I will make 

 inquiries about this when at home." 



Cotton and Transplanting in Paddy at 

 Marawila. — Mr. W. S, Goonewardene of 

 Marawila reports that he is making a 

 trial with cotton cultivation and also 

 paddy cultivation by transplanting. 



Rubber Experiment in Puttalam. — The 

 experiment in rubber cultivation under 

 Maha Uswewa has not proved a success, 

 Besides having to fight against the 

 drought, the plants were damaged by 

 deer and monkeys, which could not have 

 been kept out by a barbed wire fence. 

 Dr. Willis, commenting on the report on 

 the experiment, says : " Rubber wants 

 particular care when young:, especially 

 in a dry place like Puttalam." 



Co-operative Central Market.- Further 

 trials were made in selling produce at 

 the Edinburgh market in connection 

 with the proposed Central Agency. The 

 prices obtained at the stall compare 

 favourably with the rates obtainable in 

 outstations, but what hinders ready 

 participation in the scheme is the cost of 

 rail freight, which prevents many from 

 sending goods to Colombo, and makes 

 the grower satisfied with the lower local 

 prices obtained without risk. If only 

 Branch Societies will arrange to send 

 down goods in quantity on the same day, 

 the incidental expenses on the handling 

 of consignments will be much reduced 

 on each consignment, while the Railway 

 Department will probably be inclined 

 to provide special vans for carrying the 

 produce at reduced rates. The Secretary 

 of the Dumbara Branch reporting on a 

 recent sale remarks : " The railway rates, 

 which are considered too high, act as a 

 deterrent to those who may otherwise 

 send their produce to the metropolis. If 

 with the assistance of other Branch 

 Societies sales are held regularly, the 

 local Society can contribute not only 

 vegetables and fruits, but also kapok, 

 Dumbara mats, lacquer work, &c." 



In the sale held in the third week 

 in December the produce included 

 vegetables and limes from Dumbara, 

 and poultry, eggs, and oranges from 

 "Vavuniya. 



Xericidttire. — Following is a report by 

 a Manchester firm on samples of eri 

 cocoons submitted to them : — " We have 

 made iuquiries with reference to the 

 demand in this cauntry for cocoons like 

 the samples that you sent to us, and 

 find that at the present time these are 

 being regularly purchased by a firm in 

 Manchester, and re-sold by them at such 

 a price that they cannot pay much more 

 than Is. per pound for them. As your 

 Society is buying at 2s. per pound weight, 

 there seems a great disparity between 

 the prices. We regret, therefore, that 

 we are unable to obtain more favourable 

 terms for the cocoons, but if you should 



