174 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



THE PRICE OF JAMAICA TOBACCO. 



June 9th. 



Dear Sir, — You are quite wrong in stating 

 that Jamaica tobacco has been sold for 6s or 7s 

 per lb. The- facts are as follows: — 



A quarter-of-an-acre of Sumatra tobacco was 

 grown under shade cloth, and the best leaves 

 were valued by a local exp&rt at 4s to (is per lb. 

 But a sample of the crop was sent to England, 

 and was there valued at 3s for first lengths, 2s 3d 

 for second lengths and Is 3d to Is 6d for third 

 lengths. They could only pick out six good 

 leaves for this sample ! Nothing is said about 

 the bulk of the crop, and it is distinctly stated 

 that there was none for sale. So Jamaica 

 tobacco has not been sold at 6s, and it has not 

 been valued at more than 3s by European 

 valuers : that is, for the best of it, twenty-four 

 leaves per acre. The cost of growing tobacco 

 under shade cloth in Jamaica is 2s 2Jd per lb., 

 provided the cost of the ivoodtoork is spread over 

 five years. Evidently there is no fortune in 

 that, and in the last report on tobacco in 

 Jamaica it is stated that it does not pay large 

 growers to cultivate tobacco at the present 

 prices. It is hoped to establish a market for 

 Jamaica leaf at 7d a lb. — Yours, &c, CIGAR. 



[Our authority for the statement was Sir 

 Henry Blake, who stated at Jaffna on August 

 19th, 19U5 : — " I heard from Jamaica only a 

 month ago of the success of their experiments 

 in that great Island and they tell me that there 

 they have grown Sumatra tobacco which is 

 valued from 6s to 7s a pound, or we may say 

 from R5 to R6 a pound." Our ex-Governor 

 must have been misinformed and we do not doubt 

 the figures of our correspondent, who is well- 

 informed on all matters of tropical agriculture. 

 —Ed., CO.] 



DR, H. M. FERNANDO'S VIEWS. 



In an interview to a representative of our 

 contemporary, Dr. H M Fernando said, on the 

 subject of tobacco cultivation in Ceylon : — 



"We have got the assurance that if tobacco is 

 grown here from Havana, Manila or Sumatra 

 seed and properly cured and then sent to conti- 

 nental markets in sufficiently large quantities 

 to attract the buyers, it will command satisfac- 

 tory prices. Of course, it will not approach the 

 well-known grades such as Havana, but there 

 are a lot of mediocre grades coming from South 

 America and other places. How did they create 

 a market for them ? Sir Henry Blake told us 

 that ten years ago Jamaica was exactly in the 

 same position as Ceylon is today. Small plan- 

 ters grew tobacco for local consumption, but it 

 was absolutely useless for foreign markets. 

 However, experiments were made aud an expert 

 appointed, who told them what seed to use and 

 how to cure the leaf. They grew tobacco from 

 Cuban seed and now they are exporting tobacco 

 which is fetching prices equal to those obtained 

 for Cuban tobacco. A German Syndicate from 

 Sumatra came to Ceylon some years ago and 

 worked in the Kurunegala District successfully 

 for two years with both Sumatra and Ha- 

 vana leaf. They grew tobacco which was said 

 to be equal to that grown in Sumatra. 

 That syndicate gave up the enterprise in 

 Ceylon, because they could not got the large 

 tracts of land they required on terms equal 



to those upon which they could obtain it in 

 Sumatra. As I have said, you cannot grow high- 

 class tobacco on the same land year after year, 

 so you require large areas of land, and for that 

 reason I do not think tobacco will be a conti- 

 nuous cultivation, but will enable a start to be 

 made with the opening up of the Wanni lands. 

 You put down after tobacco, cotton, maize, 

 oil crops, leguminous crops such as gram, etc., 

 which are all paying things, with rice in irri- 

 gable areas. Of course, cotton must be alter- 

 nated with other crops, because it takes too 

 much out of the soil. There is a much smaller 

 return from these products than from such 

 things as tea and rubber, but it is a quick re- 

 turn. Coconuts take a very long time to give 

 any return, and I think Ceylonese capital will 

 be attracted toward products which give a much 

 quicker return, even though it be much smaller, 

 provided, as I say, that experiments conducted 

 on sound lines demonstrate that there is money 

 in these cultivations." 



CASTILLOA ELASTICA FRUITING 

 IN SINGAPOR E. 



A number of trees, raised from seed of 

 Castilloa elastica, were planted in a low swampy 

 bit of ground in the Botanic Gardens in 1898. 

 The plant has not done well here at any time 

 or in any place, and of those planted in this 

 damp spot, some perished and others made 

 little or no growth, after a few years. One 

 however which had a certain amount of shade 

 and had the advantage of having a rubbish 

 pit within easy reach of its roots, has deve- 

 loped into a fine looking tree about 46 feet 

 tall and h^is commenced to fruit plentifully. 

 The seeds seem to be sound ; I believe this 

 is the first record of the tree fruiting here, at 

 least I have no other record. Perhaps some of 

 our readers know of other cases. — Straits Agri- 

 cultural BtiU etin, for July. 



EFFECT OF A GALE ON A PARA 

 RUB BER T REE. 



A correspondent semis in a letter an account 

 of a Para-rubber tree where the taproot seemed 

 to have lost its bark which was growing again, 

 and on which were large lumps of rubber. The 

 tap root itself seemed sound and solid, though 

 small in proportion to the size of the tree. The 

 side roots were very numerous and healthy. 

 Some of the side root3 at a foot from the tree 

 have broken up into a tuft of smaller roots, 

 rather suddenly as if the end had died and the 

 tree was trying to save itself by producing fresh 

 roots from the cut or dead end. The tree itself 

 looked as healthy as any in the block. No signs 

 of disease of any kind were found. It appears 

 that the ground on which this tree stands is 

 liable to an annual gale and, while other trees 

 in the block have been blown down or into a 

 slanting position, this has resisted the violence 

 of the gales. There is no doubt that the tree 

 has had a violent wrench in one of these gales 

 and some of the side roots parted and probably 

 the tap root got cracked as well, so that the latex 

 exuded to repair the damage. The tree however 

 had so strong a hold in the ground by its 

 anchor-roots that though some broke the others 

 held firm and tho troo did not fall.— Straits 

 Agricultural Bulletin, July. 



