and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, 



187 



tea are now being investigated ; these include 

 a series of observations on the chemical and 

 other changes which take place inorganic matter 

 buried in the soil, in the form of green manure, 

 prunings, oilcake and cattle manure : the in- 

 formation thus obtained it is hoped will help 

 to elucidate some important points in connec- 

 tion with the practical use of these materials, 

 especially with reference to the depth in the 

 soil and the time at which they may most 

 advantageously be applied. Some data may 

 be obtained in this way which will serve as a 

 guide in applying nitrogenous manures through- 

 out the growing season. Experiments are being 

 carried out, both in the laboratory and in the 

 field, in connection with the use of Nitro- 

 Bacterine, the bacterial culture prepared by 

 Professor Bottomley ; these are at present 

 confined to the inoculation of Mati KaJai, 

 and it is hoped that by the use of this method 

 it may be possible to obtain good crops of this 

 plant in soils which hitherto nave required pre- 

 liminary dressings of manure. The routine 

 work of the laboratory will include investigation 

 of methods for determining the manurial require- 

 ments of tea soils, analyses of leaf with reference 

 to variation of quality, both natural and induced 

 and the analyses of soils and manures. Mycolo- 

 gical work will include the special investigation 

 of the fungus diseases — Thread Blight and Grey 

 Blight, and the so-called "Copper'' Blight, to- 

 gether with any other questions which may arise 

 in connection with this branch of enquiry. It may 

 be pointed out that this part of the work of the 



SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENT IS SERIOUSLY 

 PREJUDICED 



by its necessary relegation to a subordinate posi- 

 tion consequent on the pressure of other work 

 nor is it possible for the Chief Scientific Officer 

 to give the time required for the working out of 

 the problems involved ; the appointment of a 

 Botanist to the Staff of the Department would 

 remove this difficulty and certainly enable ad- 

 vances to be made in our knowledge of the 

 fungus diseases of tea, our very superficial 

 acquaintance with which at present restricts us 

 to merely palliative measures in dealing with 

 them. — C. M. Hutchinson, Chief Scientific 

 Officer, Indian Tea Association. 



THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY OF THE 

 NORTHERN PROVINCE, 



Report of the Committee 



appointed at the meeting held on 6th March, 

 1908, Jaffna Kachcheri, to consider a proposal 

 to conduct experimental cultivation of tobacco 

 and introduce modern methods of curing : — 



The memorandum of the Government Agent, 

 read at the meeting above referred to, re- 

 presents the actual condition of the tobacco 

 industry of the Northern Province at the pre- 

 sent moment. The thanks of the people of 

 this Province are due to him for the bene- 

 volent interest which ho takes in the promo- 

 tion of this industry which is, as Mr. Price 

 rightly remarks, "the backbone of the Northern 

 Province.'' 



(2). The Government Agent estimates the 

 value of the annual production of tobacco 

 here at " well over a million rupees." This 

 estimate, the Committee has reason to be- 

 lieve, errs on the side of caution, as the chew- 

 ing tobacco alone exported to Travancore and 

 Cochin was worth in 1906 R915,000. This to- 

 bacco consumed in this Province and in all the 

 other parts of the island, together with the 

 smoking tobacco converted into cigars represent 

 a value not less than that of the tobacco exported 

 beyond tea. The value of the total tobacco 

 production of the Province can, therefore, be 

 safely estimated at about two millions of rupees. 



(3.) That, owing to over-production here and 

 less demand for this tobacco in the Indian and 

 Ceylon markets which are the only markets for 

 it, there is great depression in the trade and 

 consequent loss and suffering to the traders and 

 cultivators, are admitted facts. Mr R VV levers, 

 late Government Agent of this Province, fore- 

 saw this state of affairs and in his administration 

 reports advocated the necessity of Government 

 appointing a tobacco expert to initiate and 

 instruct the people here in the cultivation of new 

 varieties of tobacco and curing them to suit 

 foreign markets. The improvement of this in- 

 dustry he considered to have been of greater 

 importance to this province than any adminis- 

 trative or legislative measures. Mr F C Fisher 

 and Mr J P Lewis also held similar views. Mr F 

 H Price, the present Government Agent, not 

 ordy referred to the subject in great detail in 

 his last administration report, but has also, 

 seeing the gravity of the situation, made a 

 special representation to the Government and 

 called the meeting in question and laid before 

 it his own views which are embodied in his 

 memorandum. The object of the meeting was 

 to ascertain whether or not the Jaffna public 

 would be able to find the means necessary to 

 conduct in this District experimental cultiva- 

 tion and curing of tobacco to suit new and 

 foreign markets at a cost of R3O,000; and this 

 Committee was appointed to consider and 

 report on this question. 



(4) The Committee, after serious considera- 

 tion of the subject, has arrived at the conclusion 

 that it would be absolutely impossible to raise 

 here that amount for the purpose. The pros- 

 perity of this Province in general and of this 

 District in particular, depending almost entirely 

 on the tobacco industry, and this being a time 

 of great depression in the trade, those that are 

 directly interested in this industry are not in a 

 position to undertake the experiment themselves, 

 The cultivators also, having, for centuries, 

 followed their own methods of growing and 

 curing tobacco are not, generally speaking, en- 

 lightened enough to initiate modern methods, 

 unless the advantages of such methods are prac- 

 tically demonstrated to their satisfaction. 



(5) The Committee is in possession of reli- 

 able information to the effect that, out of the 

 tobacco grown here in 1906 and exported to 

 Travancore, a quantity of the value of about 

 R100.000 yet remains unsold; as also almost 

 the whole quantity of the tobacco of 1907 

 valued at about one million rupees, though by 

 this time there should have been not one bale 

 of the former in stock, and one-third of the 



