502 



The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist 



In addition to a very favourable climate aiad 

 soil, one of the advantages of growing tobacco 

 here is that no manuring is required, the aro- 

 matic principles, on the preseuce of which the 

 value of the tobacco chiefly depends, can only 

 be properly developed in the plant by the agency 

 of high temperature and moisture. The soil is 

 of a light friable sandy nature, rich in vegetable 

 mould, and is supplied with the other necessary 

 chemical constituents, viz : potash and lime, by 

 the burning of the jungle and the blending of 

 the wood ash. 



The nest operation is the changkoling (turn- 

 ing over) of the 6oil, digging up the roots and 

 piling them together ; these in their turn have 

 to be burnt ; during this time the coolies are 

 also preparing seedlings, which are planted in 

 beds 3 feet by 18 feet, carefully shaded, and 

 watered twice daily ; at the expiration of 45 

 to 50 days these young plants (called bibits) 

 are ready for planting out ; they are placed 

 18 inches apart in rows running parallel to 

 each other at a distance of 36 inches, when 

 this has been done they are shaded from the 

 slanting rays of the sun by shade planks (small 

 square slips of wood) which, after ten days, 

 are taken away and the ground on either side of 

 the plants earthed up in the form of ridges, about 

 6 inches high ; at this stage the weaklings are 

 plucked out and stronger fresh bibite substituted. 



Much now depends on the weather, as the 

 burning is delayed and hindered by heavy rains, 

 so the growth of the young plants is fostered, 

 or rotarded, by frequent light rains, or the 

 absence of them. 



Tho principal growth of tobacco is accom- 

 plished in the hottest weather, and in a period 

 of about 8 to 9 weeks during which time the 

 cooly has to watch his plants carefully and 

 see that no grubs are feeding on them : 

 these are the scourge of the plant, and 

 eat large holes in the leaf thereby greatly 

 depreciating its market value ; suckers, small 

 shoots growing from the stem of the plant 

 just above the leaf, also commence to appear, 

 these have to be taken ofl", as they retard the 

 development of the leaf. 



A good average tree consists of about 30 leaves 

 but trees have been known to yield over double 

 that number. When they have arrived at matu- 

 rity and attained a height of about 6 feet "pick- 

 ing' begins, the lower leaves being taken off 

 first ; about this time the tree is also 'topped' i.e. 

 the flower— which is small and of a pale pink 

 colour — is plucked off, allowing the top leavos 

 to develop and ripen, and in about 15 days the 

 tree can be cut, then it is hung up in the drying 

 shed and after 25 days the leaves are picked 

 from the stem and bundled, the stem is then 

 thrown away. Meanwhile the lower loaves have 

 been taken into the shed, where they are sewn 

 in strings of 50, and then hung up to dry in re- 

 gular rows on a frame work of sticks, these again 

 after 20 to 25 days drying are bundled in fifties, 

 put in baskets, and carried to fermenting shed, 

 where they are placed in small 'banks' that is 

 heaps of say 6 feet by 10 feet and 3 feet high 

 and containing about 1,000 lb. Fermentation 

 then commences, and later these banks are 

 paired, that is two or more joined together, 



and made into a larger heap, and so on. 

 The turning over and blending is for 

 the purpose of setting a uniform heat and tem- 

 perature, the fermentation continues until a 

 temperature of 50 = Centigrade or 122o Fahren- 

 heit is reached by which time the stable (bank) 

 will have reached a weight of about 40,000 lb 

 and eventually attains a temperature of 60o to 

 64 Cent. = 140°— 147° Fah. 



Then sorting the leaf commences, a most im- 

 portant and intricate work, always entrusted to 

 to the best and most experienced coolies, over- 

 looked by the manager and senior assistant. 

 First of all the coolies sort the leaves by quality, 

 viz: light and dark shades, and broken leaf, 

 these again are divided up into about 20 

 different shades of colour such as dark, brown, 

 green, and yellow leaves, not spotted, and the 

 same colours but spotted, these are best quality, 

 and roughly speaking are sorted into 8 to 12 

 shades, then there are the rough, coarse, and 

 much spotted leaves, besides broken leaves; the 

 latter are sorted separately as "much broken" 

 and " little broken," all colours, after this they 

 are again sorted into lengths, a full sized 

 leaf being over 2 feet in length. 12 inch 

 and over are known as first length, 9 to 

 12 inch as second, 6 to 9 inch as third, and 

 under 6 inch as fourth length ; these are then 

 bundled 25 leaves together and brought to the 

 receiving room, where they are carefully in- 

 spected by 10 of the most expert coolies specially 

 paid for this work, and overlooked by an ex- 

 perienced European, badly sorted bundles being 

 opened and rejected arid the leaves returned 

 to the cooly to be again sorted and remade. 

 All the accepted bundles are then placed in 

 heaps preparatory to being " baled," that is 

 packed under pressure in matting, each bale 

 averaging 80 kilos or 177 lb. English, which 

 are carefully marked and numbered, and are 

 then ready for shipment. I will endeavour to 

 send for your next issue some details of the 

 life of the workers on these estates. 



W. H. P. 



— British North Borneo Herald, Oct. 16. 



TAPIOCA CULTIVATION. 



"Tapioca, Manioca or Cassava" is the sub- 

 ject of the Royal Botanic Gardens Circular for 

 October, No. 13 —a copy of which has reached 

 us today— being valuable notes by Mr Kelway 

 Bamber on the cultivation and preparation of 

 the above-named tuber. We quote two para- 

 graphs of interests as follows : — 



"In Java, the cost of harvesting and drying 

 is only 22 cents per picul, and the dried product 

 sells at from $1 '40 to Si "72 per picul, leaving a 

 profit of at least Si "20 per picul. The yield in 

 Java is 28 piculs per acre, so that the profit 

 amounts to about $39 '20, or £4. 6s. sterling 

 per acre. 



"The dry climate prevailing in the Jaffna Dis- 

 trict, and the difficulty of getting an ample sup- 

 ply of pure soft water, except from tanks at 

 certain seasons, makes the latter process more 

 promising, and a few easily conducted experi- 

 ments would soon indicate how far the Jaffna 

 Tamil could grow the product at a profit." 



