November, 1911.] 



Miscellaneous. 



term of years with a view to ascertain- 

 ing the best kind of tobacco for Ceylon 

 to produce, and the various kinds of 

 tobacco which can be grown profitably 

 in the Island, and the districts in which 

 such can be grown. Also that the 

 tobacco expert should train a few officers 

 in scientific tobacco cultivation, so that, 

 on the completion of his agreement with 

 the Government, these officers may be 

 in a position to carry on the cultivation 

 upon a commercial basis, and also to act 

 as instructors in the future." 



Dr. Willis undertook to embody this 

 resolution in the form of a report, going 

 more fully into the circumstances under 

 which the experiment was carried out, 

 the lessons to be learned from it, and 

 the reasons which led up to this 

 resolution. 



The Committee further resolved, in 

 view of the decision to abandon the 

 experiment, that Mr. Cowan be given 

 notice at once that his services as 

 Superintendent will not be needed after 

 the end of September, and that the 

 thanks of the Committee be conveyed 

 to him for his supervision of the 

 experiment. 



C. DRIEBERG, 



Secretary. 



Colombo, August 16, 1911. 



REPORT By THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 

 TOBACCO COMMITTEE. 

 Tobacco is, and has long been, grown 

 for the peculiar local market of Tra van- 

 core in the Jaffna peninsula and in other 

 districts, but this is a coarse tobacco 

 entirely unsuited to the European 

 palate, and it is desirable that we 

 should establish a local industry in the 

 production of a tobacco fit for use by 

 the white man, and saleable at a 

 remunerative price on the European 

 market. 



But few experiments have been made 

 in this direction, and though one made 

 in Dumbara some years ago proved 

 profitable for one crop, the success could 

 not be followed up by further successes, 

 and proved to be merely a flash in 

 the pan. 



An attempt to turn out of the Jaffna 

 leaf a cigar suited to European consump- 

 tion, made a few years ago, by buying 

 in the leaf and curing it by a better 

 method, also proved a failure. 



Soon after my arrival in Ceylon in 

 1896 I cultivated at Peradeniya all the 

 various kinds oi tropical tobaccos — 

 Sumatra, Java, Cuba, &c. — and satisfied 

 myself that, as far as growth was con- 

 cerned, there was little or nothing to 

 58 



choose amoug them. With the enthu- 

 siasm of a new comer I persuaded a 

 number of people in the Jaffna country 

 to try the Cuba leaf. They sowed it in 

 good time, but as soon as the leaves 

 grew they pulled it all up, saying that 

 such leaves were useless (being too small 

 and delicate), and made haste to try to 

 re-plant the land with Jaffna tobacco in 

 time to save the season. 



In this condition the question remained 

 for many years, and the next step 

 obviously was to try a " commercial " 

 experiment with one of the kinds that 

 grew so well, to see what sort of a 

 prospect of financial success lay before 

 the tobacco grower. People are now, 

 after the event, talking as if we should 

 at once have started on a "scientific" 

 course of improving local tobacco and 

 local culture, but this is not the correct 

 way to proceed. First, one must satisfy 

 oneself that the growth on a large scale 

 and the atmospheric and other con- 

 ditions of curiug are satisfactory. 



This is what we have done by means 

 of the experiment just concluded, and we 

 now have a grasp of the situation that 

 was entirely lacking previously. We now 

 know that Ceylon is suitable for culti- 

 vation and curiug on a large scale, and 

 that, given proper expert supervision 

 for a number of years and careful 

 scientific experimenting, there is every 

 prospect that a profitable tobacco in- 

 dustry may be built up locally. 



Two possibilities lay before the Com- 

 mittee, either to grow at Jaffna or in 

 Dumbara, or to try new land. The 

 ill-success of the recent experiment in 

 curing the Jaffna leaf by European 

 methods, and the difficulty of getting 

 control of a sufficient area close to a 

 factory, and ensuring that the same 

 kind of tobacco was grown in the same 

 way on all the little plots, decided 

 the Committee in favour of Maha 

 Iluppalama, where analysis showed 

 the soil to be good (cf. tables attached * 

 and report by chemist), and preliminary 

 experiment with an acre of land had 

 shown that tobacco grew excellently 

 well. 



Mr. Cowan, the expert engaged, 

 having a thorough knowledge of Sumatra 

 methods, Sumatra and Java tobaccos 

 were decided upon, and the experiment 

 was carried out in 1910. 



The growth of the tobacco was admir- 

 able, and those who saw the fields dur- 

 ing the growing season will be the first 

 to admit that nothing could have been 

 finer. Unfortunately the area (20 acres) 

 was not sufficient to give enough 

 material for a good cure, and the tobacco 



* Not printed, 



