in the North- West of Europe. 
137 
land planted, the quantity of tobacco demanded and delivered, 
and ol course the sum paid for the crop. It is also very satis- 
factory to find that these larger figures, which are due to an 
extension of cultivation, are accompanied by a higher average 
price, which is of course due to a better quality of the crop, 
and is doubtless the result of greater skill and knowledge 
applied to its management. Two other facts which are made 
manifest by the Tables should not be lost sight of: — Firstly, 
that in neither department does the quantity of tobacco pro- 
duced reach the total allotted to it by the Government ; and 
secondly, that in the " Pas de Calais," the average area of land 
planted with tobacco by each cultivator does not much exceed 
half an acre, while in the '• Nord," the proportion to each cul- 
tivator is nearly three times as much. It therefore appears that 
small plots of tobacco, which can be managed by the small 
farmer's or labourer's wife and children, are deemed the most 
profitable ; and that on a large scale either the price fixed by the 
Government is insufficient, or the difficulties of cultivation and 
management are too great in practice. Speaking from my own 
experience, I may say that 1 have generally found the quantity 
of land devoted to tobacco in each of these Departments to be 
what is locally called a " measure," which is seven-eighths of an 
acre ; but in the " Nord " there are many farms upon which 
a much larger acreage is grown, while in both Departments 
there are others where the cultivation of tobacco is on a smaller 
scale. 
It is not desirable to discuss matters of law or policy in the 
pages of this 'Journal,' therefore it will be sufficient to state that 
the conditions under which tobacco has been allowed to be 
grown in the countries which I have mentioned have varied 
Irom time to time, but in general terms the cultivators have 
been registered, and their proceedings have been subject to the 
supervision and control of the Government officers appointed 
for that purpose. In France, the Government has a monopoly 
of the manufacture of tobacco, nominally for only a period of 
ten years from each enactment, but practically in perpetuity — - 
until at least the state of the Budget allows, if it ever will allow, 
of private enterprise being devoted to this industry. At one 
time, the cultivation of tobacco was allowed only in certain 
departments in the north-east and the south-west of France, and 
these same departments are still the head-quarters of the cul- 
tivation of this plant.* But on the 12th of February, 1791, the 
National Assembly authorised the cultivation of tobacco in any 
* This statement I should varj-, inasmuch as the " Depaitement du Bas 
Ehin" now forms part of tlic German Empire. 
