in the North- West of Europe. 
755 
2100 kilos, 1st quality, at"l 
1 fr. 50 c. per kilo . . / 
900 kilos, 2nd and 3rd] 
qualities, at 1 fr. the) 
kilo 
' Agricultiiro,' Ainil Utl], 1SS6. 
Official Itcport, 1ST8. 
fr. 
£ 
3150 = 
126 
900* = 
30 
4050 = 
102 
28,000 kilos. 
£ s. d. 
2632 = 105 5 6 
M. Letixerant, Chief Inspector and Engineer of the French 
Tobacco Department, gives the following account f of the 
expenses of a hectare of land planted with tobacco at Nijkerk 
in the Netherlands : — 
florin?. francs. £ .<;. d. 
Manures 400 = 840 = 33 12 0 
Labour 250 = 52.5 = 21 0 0 
Seed and plants .. .. 30 = 63 = 2 10 5 
680 = 1428 = £57 2 5 
These items are irrespective of any charge for rent of land, 
or of buildings, or for Excise or interest upon capital employed. 
The same authority gives the gross proceeds as 900 florins, giving 
a nominal balance of 220 florins, or about 18/. 10*. per hectare, 
or 11. 8s. per acre to cover all the other outgoings. As M. Letixe- 
rant observes, considering the rent value of the land and the 
necessary buildings, and the fair interest upon the capital 
employed, and the Excise, the only way in which profit can be 
obtained by the cultivation of tobacco is by the grower and his 
family doing the work themselves. 
Many other statements of account might be given, but with- 
out definite information as to the district and the rate of wages 
which prevail there, such calculations are misleading instead of 
being instructive. For instance, in a Belgian standard work 
on tobacco % a- calculation for the French department " du Nord " 
is given showing a profit of only 103 fr. 55 c, per hectare, or 
about 32a-. per acre, and another calculation from an unmen- 
tioned department of France showing a net profit of 1299 fr. GO c. 
per hectare, or nearly 21Z. per acre. These calculations are 
mere theories, and 1 can only repeat that the single exception 
* lu the original this amount fisjures as 1350 francs, or 900 kilos at 1 fr. 50 c., 
being the same price as for the first quality, although it is stated to be at 1 fr. 
the kilo. Tliis mistake vitiates the couclusions drawn from the calculation in 
the newspaper referred to. 
t ' Memorial des Manufactures de I'Etat.' Tabacs. Tome premier, Dcusibme 
livraison, p. 132. 
J V. Demoor : ' Du Tabac' Paris : Auguste Goin. 
