JULY, 1911.] 



38 



Edible Products, 



time the plant should be in a flourishing 

 condition, and in three weeks should be 

 3 in. in diameter at the base. 



Third, The forced noxirishment stage, 

 — Bore a hole in the trunk about 6 in. 

 from the ground, 1 in. deep and of a dia- 

 meter slightly larger than that of the red 

 rubber tubing obtainable at your drug 

 store. Fill a quart bottle half full of 

 sugar and dissolve in water. When the 

 sugar is thoroughly dissolved, connect 

 the bottle with the hole in the tree by 

 means of red tubing. In twenty-four 

 hours the tree will have absorbed the 

 contents of the bottle. 



Fourth, The fruit-bearing stage. — If 

 the young fruit appears too numerous, 

 it is well to pluck the least promising. 

 Then, jf the tree is unable to support 

 itself, prop it up- At five months some 

 of the fruit on the lower cluster will 

 show streaks of yellow. Now is the 

 time to hasten the ripening. This is 

 done by wrapping a gunny sack about 

 the lower clusters of fruit and the trunk. 

 Crows are very fond of the ripe fruit, 

 and this expedient serves also to scare 

 them away. When yellow spots about 

 the size of a peso appear, pluck the fruit 

 and place it in a cool dark place for 

 several days. By this time the fruit 

 should be yellow over the greater part 

 of its surface, and will gently yield to 

 thumb pressure. It is now ready for 

 the ice-box. If the fruit is allowed to 

 turn yellow before it is plucked, much 

 of its strength is drawn back into the 

 tree, to be supplied to other fruit in a 

 less advanced stage of development. If 

 these directions are followed, your trees 

 ought to bear fruit 10 in. to 12 in. long, 

 and 6 in. to 8 in. in maximum diameter. 



Once a year sprinkle bone ash over the 

 surface around the base of the tree. 

 This should be sufficient fertilisation. 



The tree (Javan) at maturity varies 

 from 15 ft. to 20ft, in height and is about 

 7 in. in diameter at the base. 



TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN 

 CEYLON : 

 VIEWS OF AN EXPERT, 



A Great Future for the Industry 

 but a Systematic Beginning 

 Necessary. 



(From the Times of Ceylon, May 11, 1911.) 



We have had the views of several 

 authorities from time to time on the 

 tobacco industry of Ceylon— some 

 favourable and others much less opti- 

 mistic. The subject is one that has 



received considerable attention. Govern- 

 ment went so far a few years back as 

 to decide to get out an expert ; but the 

 scheme fell through, Instead a com- 

 mercial trial to produce Sumatra wrap- 

 per tobacco was begun at Maha-illup- 

 palama, with the assistance of Mr. E. 

 Cowan, who was for a few years assist- 

 ant of a Tobacco Company at Sumatra 

 before he came to Ceylon, and whose 

 services the Ceylon Agricultural Society 

 gladly availed itself of. 



At present there is in the island a 

 tobacco expert, Mr. J. van Leenhoff, who 

 has had considerable experience of to- 

 bacco investigation work in various 

 parts of the world. Mr. van Leenhoff 

 was ChieF of the Tobacco Division of the 

 Transvaal and late Government Tobacco 

 Expert of Porto Rico and of the U.S.A. 

 Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D.C. He is a holder of the certi- 

 ficate of the " Ecole d' Application des 

 Tabacs," Paris, and of the Imperial To- 

 bacco Manufactures, Strasburg, Ger- 

 many, and he has reported on the To- 

 bacco Industries of Cuba, Rhodesia, 

 Orange River Colony, and Mauritius. 



Mr van Leenhoff came to Ceylon in 

 January last, having been recommended 

 by Professor Wyndham Dunstan to ad- 

 vise and report on the pioneer culti- 

 vation of tobacco carried on on Moles- 

 worth Brothers' Estate in Trincomaiie. 

 The Ceylon Agricultural Society took 

 the opportunity of Mr van Leenhoff's 

 presence in the colony to ask him to also 

 report on the tobacco experiment at 

 Mahailuppallama, while the Ceylon Go- 

 vernment also appointed him to visit 

 the various districts in the island and 

 report on the whole industry. Having 

 concluded all three commissions, Mr van 

 Leenhoff is sailing today for Europe. 



Future op Tobacco in Ceylon. 



Seen by a representative of this paper 

 yesterday, Mr. van Leenhoff very cour- 

 teously expressed his views. 



" From samples grown in different 

 districts which I have seen, I think there 

 is a great future for the tobacco in- 

 dustry in Ceylon," said Mr. van Leen- 

 hoff. " But you must start systema- 

 tically from the beginning. You cannot 

 create a sound tobacco industry with- 

 out carrying it out on scientific lines. 

 It is a very sensitive crop — sensitive to 

 environment, soil, climate, &c, and last 

 but not least, to treatment in the field, 

 shed, warehouse, and factory ; and it is 

 only a scientifically-trained expert that 

 can appreciate all these points. I have 

 observed that there is a tendency among 

 cultivators in Ceylon, who are keen to 

 try to improve their crops for European 



