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KOYAL HOBTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



a vast quantity of valuable tobacco ; for the soil, with water, may 

 be said to be of inexhaustible fertility ; but without ploughing and 

 without irrigation dry weather is, like winter in Europe, the sus- 

 pender of vegetation. 



Temperature. — I recollect that once during my stay in Amba- 

 lema the thermometer was down to 79°, and once it was as high 

 as 110° (in the shade). Early in the morning during winter it is 

 sometimes at 81° or 82°, but gets up during the day to 88° or 90° 

 or even higher. In summer it averages during the day 90° to 95°. 

 The rain falls generally in the morning and evening, but not often 

 during the day. In summer, but more especially during some 

 months, say July and August, hot scorching winds prevail, which 

 dry up the vegetation very much. To these winds the colour of 

 the summer tobacco may be in a very great measure attri- 

 buted, as when hung up it is dried by these winds in two or 

 three days, no time therefore being left for the colour to develop 

 itself. 



Sowing. — Before sowing, the brushwood is fired (by which means 

 of course the weeds and grass are consumed), and then the roots 

 are partially grubbed up and the ground dug. This is considered 

 a fair preparation. The seed is first sown in beds which can easily 

 be watered ; and as soon as rain commences (or there is a proba- 

 bility of its doing so) the small plants (almaciga) are transplanted 

 to the field at a distance of four square feet between each plant. 

 The time it generally takes for a plant to thrive is from a month 

 upwards. Very often the rain is insufficient and the plant dies 

 or the worms eat it up. While the plant is growing, great care 

 is necessary, and the withered leaves and worms should be picked 

 off nearly daily, and the plant kept free from weeds. It depends 

 on the quantity of rain that falls as to when the tobacco is fit for 

 picking ; but about two or three months is the average. It is 

 picked when about 3 feet high. Guano has been tried on a very 

 small scale, but without any visible result as far as I remember. 

 The roots of the trees, brushwood, &c. decay and form all the 

 manure the plants ever get. 



