December, 1909.] 



495 



Fibres. 



1| tons of fibre was obtained per annum 

 from 3,000 plants, but in the well-kept 

 plantations 2k tons per 3,000 plants was 

 often realised. 



Labour.— There is apparently a fairly- 

 plentiful supply of labour, most of 

 which is Wanyamwezi, but the wages 

 the plantation labourer receives are 

 very high ; for some time past the 

 standard rate of pay has been Rs. 12 or 

 Rs. 13 per mouth and no posho, but I 

 understand from several of the planters 

 that the present Government are now 

 forcing the wage up to Rs, 15 per month. 

 In addition to this, the planter must pay 

 his boys for Sundays whether they work 

 on that or not, and must also pay them 

 full wages for any time they are absent 

 through sickness. 



Also a planter wanting a large gang 

 of labourers has generally to send up- 

 country for them, and is not allowed to 

 take them on for longer than a six 

 months' contract, and by the time he has 

 brought the gang to his plantation they 

 have cost him several rupees per head. 

 By forcing the rate ol pay up to such 

 a high figure the Government is doing 

 a great deal of harm, as the planters will 



now have to "sweat" their labour, a 

 thing which has not hitherto been done. 



But so pleased are the Germans with 

 the results and prospects of their sisal 

 plantations that, notwithstanding all 

 these troubles they are now putting in 

 many more sisal fields and are confident 

 of their success. 



They have found that the total cost 

 of production and delivery f.o.b. Ham- 

 burg of one ton of sisal is a maximum 

 of £15. 



In conclusion I would say that theie is 

 no reason at all why parts of the High- 

 lands of British East Africa should not 

 become great sisal producing districts. 

 We have, when it is properly organized, 

 a plentiful and cheap labour supply, 

 excellent soil and a very important 

 factor, viz., oxen for ploughing purposes, 

 we undoubtedly obtaiu a small percent- 

 age of fibre, but we obtain a bigger plant, 

 and this only means we have to carry 

 more leaves from our plantations to our 

 factories, and the extra expense of this 

 with cheap labour is not great, although 

 there are more leaves to decorticate, 

 they are more pulpy and easier to clean, 

 and, finally, we have a delightful and 

 healthy climate to live in. 



DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PRODUCTS. 



TRANSVAAL TOBACCO SEED BEDS, 



By J. Van Leenhoff, 

 Government Tobacco Expert. 



(Prom the Transvaal Agricultural 

 Journal, Vol. VII., July, 1909, No. 28.) 



Our tobacco planters in South Africa 

 experience a number of difficulties in the 

 attempt to produce first-class tobacco 

 seedlings at a minimum outlay. During 

 the past year or two some improvements 

 have been made in this direction, but 

 from observation it would appear that 

 the majority of planters still stick to 

 the old methods. 



The following description of old and 

 modern methods of preparing and treat- 

 ing tobacco seed beds may therefore be 

 of some interest to planters, not only in 

 the Transvaal, but also in the rest of 

 South Africa. 



The following recommendations are 

 based upon a combined knowledge of : 



(a) Applied methods in vogue in other 

 tobacco-producing countries ; 



(b) The local conditions in South Africa 

 in so far as climate, soil, labour, etc., 



are concerned, of which a careful 

 study has been made during the past 

 three years ; 



(c) The results of experiments carried 

 out at Pretoria, Rustenburg, Bar- 

 bertou, and Zoutpansberg Tobacco 

 Experiment Stations. 



Old Methods. 

 As I stated in a previous article, in the 

 Transvaal seed beds are usually made 

 too early in the season. Beds made in 

 April and May have to resist the cold 

 months of June and July, and the seed- 

 lings are unable to make good growth if 

 they are not well protected, and if 

 germination and growth take place in 

 the winder months the young plants are 

 exposed to the night frosts, from which, 

 however, they could be protected by the 

 so-called hotbeds. Then again, it one 

 succeeds in raising seedlings under these 

 conditions, they should be ready for 

 transplanting, say, two months after 

 sowing, and this means that the seed- 

 lings are transplanted at an unsuitable 

 time, first on account of having no rains 

 during July, August, and September; 

 and secondly, on account of night frosts 

 during these months. Flooding tobacco 



