and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



171 



agricultural science and spend a year in 

 getting up his subject, visiting other countries 

 where tobacco is grown and on returning take 

 charge of experiments at Maha-Illupallama. 

 There were one or two reasons in favour of that 

 proposal as against getting an outside expert. 

 If the proposal was to commence a large tobacco 

 estate such as in Sumatra, then it would be 

 necessary to get an expert, but Ceylon was not 

 Sumatra, and the object would be too ambitious 

 as a good cigar leaf binder tobacco was probably 

 beyond them. That was what the proposals 

 amounted to. What the result would be it was 

 impossible to say, but there were good prospects 

 in tobacco planting on a large scale and in 

 their dreams they saw a flourishing industry. 

 There was one amendment he had to make, 

 viz., the substitution of the words "Super- 

 intendent of the Tobacco Experiment " in 

 place of the word " Expert," If His Excel- 

 lency (the Chairman) as President put the 

 case in a favourable light to the Officer Admin- 

 istering the Government, there was no doubt 

 that Government would agree to the proposals. 

 The rest of the resolutions explained them- 

 selves. With those few remarks he would pro- 

 pose the resolutions standing in his name. 



Seconders Speech. 

 Mr. J. D. Vanderstraaten — said he begged 

 to second the resolutions, the more so as it 

 was not inteuded in the-first instance to cope 

 with Sumatra. From his own slight experience 

 in the growing of tobacco he could say there 

 was great need for improvement in the tobacco 

 leaves of the cigars smoked locally apart from to- 

 bacco exported. He had himself experimented 

 and could speak of the unevenness of the curing 

 and fermentation. If they were successful in 

 learning how to cure properly for local con- 

 sumption, then they would be able to export 

 successfully. There was vast room for im- 

 provement in the local manufacture, He was 

 told by Rev. Father Massier of Trinco- 

 rnalee that the tobacco from a garden in 

 Trincomalee was purchased by one grower who 

 exported it to Madras as a cover for cigars. 

 If that was — and he had no reason to doubt 

 that what Rev. Fr. Massier told him was— the 

 truth, there was room in Coylon for growing 

 tobacco. He was told that tobacco could be 

 very successfully grown in the North-Central 

 Province. He believed there was a great 

 future before tobacco in Ceylon and he had 

 great pleasure in seconding the resolutions. 



Mr. Gibbon's Horror op Experts. 

 Mr W D Gibbon :— I had great pleasure in 

 listening to what the proposer of the resolutions 

 said, but I regret I did not hear one word of 

 what passed from Mr Vanderstraaten— (laugh- 

 ter); so if he said anything to contradict what I 

 have to say he must remember it is not with any 

 desire to contradict him, but I do not know 

 what he said. But what is this expert ? I think 

 we are really tired of experts. We are full up 

 with them ; and the name of "expert " is a 

 misnomer. We always meet with "expert 

 opinion " ; and sometimes, we lind the expert 

 a fraud — that is, his opinions are not worth any- 

 thing. (Laughter,) Then as regards Sumatra 

 tobacco. Your own oxpononco ottho place, Sir, 



will tell you that we can never grow Sumatra 

 tobacco here. The Sumatra and North Borneo 

 tobacco is a covering leaf quite different from 

 the leaf we have in Ceylon. Ours is a tiller for 

 cheroots. You can never get a good covering 

 leaf out of Ceylon. We all know what Sumatra 

 tobacco is. For its production large forests, 200 

 and 300 acres in extent, are felled at a time and 

 planted and after the harvest the land is aban- 

 doned and a fresh lot of jungle opened out and 

 planted again, and so on. Another question 1 

 should wish to ask is : are we going to confine 

 ourselves altogether to tobacco cultivation ? 

 We are going to spend R27,000 we have in the 

 Agricultural Society. Is that 



TO BE EAR-MARKED SOLELY POR TOBACCO 



cultivation ? Are we going to be anything else 

 but a Tobacco Committee or Sub-Committee 

 because it is said here that "arrangements" 

 be made for allowing the sum of R27,500 ap- 

 propriated for the purpose of carryiug out to- 

 bacco experiments to be drawn upon during 

 the period October 1st, 1909, to Sept. 30th, 

 1912, or such iongor period as may be deter- 

 mined Y That is to say, of the balance we heard 

 of the other day only about R6,000 are at the 

 disposal of this Committee. I think that is a 

 question that should be answered. We should 

 be very clear about the matter before we could 

 consent to such a large sum of money which at 

 present lies in our treasury being laid aside for 

 tobacco— and tobacco only. What if we find this 

 Superintendent, after he has been a year here at 

 work, telling us that it is not much good trying 

 to produce the required tobacco ? We will 

 have R27,000 of our money locked up for this 

 tobacco experiment while there are other things 

 requiring money — other agricultural matters of 

 similar importance. (Hear, hear.) 



Mr. R H Lock :— I might explain to Mr. 

 Gibbon that the money has already been voted 

 for this purpose— voted at the previous meeting 

 of the Society that the money should be used 

 in this way. 



H.E. Sir Hugh Clifford ;— I think Mr. 

 Gibbon was out of the island at the time. 



Mr. W D Gibbon:— I only know that out of 

 our balance of R33,000 we are setting apart 

 R27,000 for this work. 



H.E. Sir Hugh Clifford :— R27.500. 



Mr. W D Gibbon : — Therefore we have only 

 R5.500 to play with. 



"None but Experienced Men Need Apply, 

 value of rubber, 

 Dr. H M Fernando— remarked that para. 6 

 of the resolutions foreshadowed the employment 

 of a gentleman with no experience of tobacco 

 growing. They had in the island men with ex- 

 pert experience in the matter of tobacoo cultiva- 

 tion and men with large experience in managing 

 labour and yetting work done in a short time, 

 Such a one should be selected and sent out to 

 study modern methods of tobacco cultivation 

 and curing. To send the men selected to 

 Sumatra, or the Philippines might not be quite 

 successful as the tohacco growers there were 

 men jealous of outsiders. Ho was vory anxious, 

 that mi oarly start should bo made, 



