58 ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



XIV. Notes as to Locality and Culture of Tobacco*. 

 Communicated by the Hon. G. J. Goschen. 



General Contour of the Ambalema District. — A valley varying 

 from ten to twelve miles wide near Honda to a w T idth of about 

 thirty or forty miles at Ibague, bounded on the west by the central 

 Cordillera of the Andes and on the east by the eastern range, the 

 river Magdalena flowing along the foot of the latter. Thus it 

 happens that the extent of land adapted to the cultivation of to- 

 bacco on the eastern bank of the river is limited, and consists 

 of the alluvium deposited by the river between the spurs of the 

 mountains. This soil, of course, being derived from innumerable 

 .streams which flow into the Magdalena from the primary forma- 

 tion of the western Cordillera and from the secondary rocks of 

 the eastern range, contains all the ingredients of both. Towards 

 the river's bank the soil is more sandy than nearer the foot of the 

 hills, where it becomes somewhat clayey ; but the general character 

 of the soil on either bank of the river is a rich alluvium, derived 

 from the primary and secondary Cordilleras of the Andes. The 

 description given holds good, especially from Honda to Guata- 

 que ; from Guataque upwards to the mouth of the river Bogota 

 the geological character of the mountains bordering the river 

 changes, and lime becomes an abundant constituent of the soil 

 near the foot of the hills and in the valleys between them, although 

 the alluvial soil along the banks of the rivers is very little modi- 

 fied by the geological character of the neighbouring hills, the 

 drainage from these being conveyed away by quebradas (mountain- 

 streams), which are only supplied with water when it rains, and 

 never overflow the land, so that any lime washed down from 

 the hills is carried into the river *Magdalena, adding of course 

 to its fertilizing powers, of which its deposits generally parti- 

 cipate. 



The whole of the soil of the true Ambalema Tobacco district 

 (where the best leaf is grown, and to which the cultivation of the 

 plant was limited under the government monopoly), which in- 

 cludes the valley of Lagunilla, is derived from the primary rocks 

 of the central Cordillera, mixed in some parts with the debris of 

 volcanic rocks. A large extent of this district is occupied by a 

 barren surface of grit and sandstone rocks with clay and pebble 



* See Proceedings, p. cviii. 



