1908.] Cultivation of Tobacco in Ireland. 515 



- Grading. — The process of grading the cured tobacco varies 

 greatly with the class of tobacco grown. Grading depends on 

 quality, size and colour, and the number of grades may vary 

 from two to seventy. Unskilled labour makes this operation 

 very expensive with the finer kinds of leaf. 



Packing. — The customs duties in this country have given 

 rise to the practice of importing tobacco in an exceedingly 

 dry condition. In America tobacco destined for this market 

 is usually packed with the aid of expensive machinery. As 

 the Irish experimenters could not afford very heavy outlay for 

 this purpose, simpler methods have been devised for doing the 

 work. In America and warmer countries the tobacco may 

 undergo a natural sweating and ageing, which in this climate 

 must be produced artificially. In the case of cigar tobacco, 

 the fermentation is more difficult in Ireland. 



All of these disadvantages have been practically overcome. 



Marketing.- — The crop of 1904 and 1905 was marketed 

 through a Dublin tobacco broker in a manner usual with 

 imported tobacco. In 1906 the growers, through their 

 Association, sold direct to a Belfast manufacturer. One 

 grower outside of the Association sold direct to a Dublin manu- 

 facturer. The 1907 crop was sold in the same way, with the 

 exception that one grower bought several crops to supply 

 his private factory. 



The prices obtained in 1904 and 1905 were influenced 

 somewhat by the novelty of the article. The quantity of 

 tobacco was small, and all the Irish manufacturers considered 

 it advisable to have some of it in stock. In 1906, however, 

 the tobacco sold by the Irish Tobacco Growers' Association 

 was valued by an independent broker strictly upon an American 

 basis, that is to say, the tobacco brought prices which American 

 tobaccos of the same kind and quality were selling at in the 

 Liverpool market. The prices for the 1906 crop varied from 

 to S^d. per lb. 



The yield of dry tobacco per statute acre for the 1906 crop 

 varied from 505 to 1,661 lb. There does not appear to be 

 any difficulty in obtaining 1,000 lb. per acre, which may 

 be considered an average crop. Most of the yields were about 

 this amount. In an exceptional case in 1907 a yield of 1 ton per 

 acre has been obtained. 



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