THE 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. XXXVII, COLOMBO, SEPTEMBER 15th, 1911, No. 3. 



TOBACCO. 



The results of the first year's experi- 

 ment with tobacco at Maha-iluppalama 

 are now out, and show, roughly, that the 

 tobacco sold for cne-quarter of what it 

 cost. 



This does not mean that tobacco must 

 be a failure in the north — we mean of 

 course tobacco-growing for the Euro- 

 pean market — but that there will not be 

 any "run-away" success in it, and 

 that, to make it a permanent success, 

 while it can doubtless be done, will 

 involve the spending of large amounts 

 of money and much time. 



To transform the experiment just 

 concluded into a paying proposition? 

 expenditure would have to be halved, 

 price obtained doubled, and yield 



increased by 50 per cent. There is littl 

 doubt that the yield could fairly easily 

 be increased by 40-75 per cent,, and the 

 price obtained doubled, Mr. Cowan 

 was of opinion that, if cured in large 

 quantity, the tobacco would have been 

 equal to average Sumatra, which obtains 

 about 75-80 pfennigs a kilo against the 

 35 we obtained. 



There remains then the question " can 

 the expenditure be halved, or price and 

 yield still further increased ? " Though 

 the coolies were inefficient, it would not 

 seem likely that their wages, which 

 make the bulk of the cost, could be 

 reduced by a half, and we must there- 

 fore look to still better yields and prices. 

 This is a mattter for long, detailed, and 

 careful work by an expert who shall 

 give his whole time, and that is how the 

 matter rests at present. 



