October 2, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
245 
THE PROSPECTS OF TOBACCO IN 
CEYLON. 
The accounts we get are of rather a mixed 
description : for instance, we learn that an attempt 
to cultivate tobacco on a 50-acre young tea clearing 
of Mariawatte near Gampola, has been a comparative 
failure. We suspect that neither the climate nor soil 
is suitable. On the other hand the past or present 
season has been a most favourable one for the tobacco 
drier Matale and Kurunegala districts. From the latter 
especially, we learn that Mr. Ingleton's Syndicate 
patrons are delighted with their Delgolla fields of 
tobacco this year and expect a handsome return. 
Nevertheless, it is very evident that tobacco can 
never to any great extent be a European planting 
industry in Ceylon. Save at a few points, tobacco 
culture here should be a pursuit for natives each 
cultivating a small garden and doing full justice 
to an aore or half-an-acre and selling the crop. 
And in this connection it ia of interest to know 
that the practical tobacco curer sent out by Mr. 
T. Dickson's Tobacco Company has arrived in 
Colombo, and is at once to go to work. From an 
interview reported by a contemporary with him, 
Mr. Boyd, we quote as follows : — 
The Cigar Manufacturing Company some time 
ago, made Messrs. Cumberbatch and Company 
their Colombo Agents, and entered into an ar- 
rangement with them by which Messrs. Cumber- 
batcti & Co. consented to give up a portion 
of their (Ambewatta) Mills to allow the Com- 
pany to carry out its operations. This done, the Com- 
pany despatched a gentleman well acquainted with the 
art of cigar-making, and he arrived here in the " Par- 
ramatta " on the 20th instant, in the person of Mr. 
J.T.Boyd, who, although a young man, is well ac- 
quainted wilh the work and likely to make the affair a 
success. Mr. Boyd say that at present all they are 
doing is getting the mills ready, a work which ought 
not to take a long time, as not much is required. To 
make cigars, he pointed out, it was necessary to soak 
the leaves in water in a zinc sink, and then take them 
out and leave them for a day, by which time they are 
in a damp condition suitable for cigar making. Then 
the inside part of the cigar, technically called the 
" fillings," is rolled up, after which the second parts, 
known as the " bunch wrappers," are added, and 
then they are passed through moulds which render 
them of the proper shape, after which the outside leaf 
which is generally a finer leaf, is added, and then the 
cigars are placed in a drying room and brought into 
condition. It will thus be seen that whatever machi- 
nery is required is very simple, while the structural 
alterations necessary at the mills to secure an air-tight 
compartment will not be extensive. The work of pre- 
paring the mills for the purpose, however, is just about 
to be commenced, and working will be begun shortly. 
The Managing Director is Mr. Thomas Dickson of 
Fenchurch Street, London, while other Directors are 
Mr. Brown and Mr. Shaw. .There are two other 
Directors, too, whose names he does not know. The 
Secretary is Mr. E. G. Reeves, who Mr. Boyd says he 
beheTes is ajrelative of Mr. Gordon Reeves, of Hoolan- 
kaude Estate. The London offices of the Company are 
in Tokenhoase Buildings. The Company intends 
manufacturing on a large scale ©ventua'.ly, he says, but 
they propose to start with a staff of obout 20 men, and 
then engage women to help in the work. On this point, 
however, Mr. Boyd has met with his first difficulty, for 
most of those here who know anything about cigar 
making, he says, are employed bv the petty manufac- 
turers hero, aud he has a job to secure workmen. Our 
reporter accordingly asked if it would be possible for 
the raw native to be taken and instructed in the art, 
and Mr. Boyd said that was what lie should have to do 
it ho could not get the labor he sought ; but he added 
that tins would not be satisfactory, for it would take a 
long time to teach them to make cigars properly. 
Questioned as to his own experience, he said that he 
had never manufactured out of England, but that his 
father, Mr. J. F. Boyd, had been a cigar-manufacturer 
in Leicester, ' (in'ifact he had one of the large places 
there of any of the 25 cigar-makers which Liecester 
boasts of) and that he had worked under himjandjbeen 
through every branch of the business. With regard to 
the tobacco to be used, Mr. Boyd said that it was in- 
tended to buy Ceylon tobacco partly for the purpose, 
and also tobacco grown in Sumatra. He believed that 
one of the Directors was a Sumatra tobacco-grower, 
though he did not know his name. He would buy what 
Ceylon tobacco was required. It was not inteuded to 
have agencies throughout the Colony. With regard to 
the sale of the cigars which the Company prepared, 
Mr. Boyd said that they expected to find a market for 
them both here and at home. The "West Iudian smoke, 
he knew, was popular at home, but with properly-cured 
tobacco the East Indian cigar in his belief would com- 
pare very favourably with its West Indian rival. All 
he wanted was to get the labor, and then, with the mills 
ready, he said a start could soon be made. We hope 
that he will be successful, and that the new enterprise 
will prove a paying concern. 
Since the above was written we have seen the fol- 
lowing reference to the Mariawatte experiment. 
Writes an upcountry correspondent to a contem- 
porary : — 
I do not think that the area over which tobacco 
can be successfully grown upcountry is very large, 
that is, if the experiment made at Mariawatte is any 
criterion. It has been carried out most carefully under 
Mr. Jamieson's supervision, and under the guidance of 
Mr. Vollar, but the plants are uneven in growth, and 
show little of that luxuriance which one expects in 
tobacco. 
PROSPECTS OF COTTON CULTIVATION. 
In contrast with the report of a tobacco failure, 
it is stated that the clearing of cotton (among 
tea) on Mariawatte is doing very well and promises to 
be as good a success as was Mr. Blackett's on Jack- 
tree Hill. In the North Matale district we learn that 
Mr. Borron is clearing some 130 acres for cotton 
on behalf of the Ootton Spinning and Weaving 
Company, and we trust this, we suppose the biggest, 
cotton plantation yet systematically attempted in 
the island, will be a success. 
♦ 
TEA CULTURE AND PREPARATION. 
Answebs to Questions. 
(Continued from page 176.) 
VII. 
Agrapatana District : Elevation 4,600 to 5,900 ft. 
1. F> •lining. — At this elevation I find that pruning 
early in the year, say March to May, gives the 
best results. I have tried pruning in June and July 
and August, and it was 5 months before I got any 
returns. This year, teal pruned in February, March aud 
April, I was plucking in May and June. In future I in- 
tend to prune all the year round avoiding the months 
of December, January, June and July. As to " how 
to prune," I have no " hard and fast " rule : it all 
depends on jat, elevation and aspect. 
2. Plucking.— After pruning, I leave 4 leaves above 
the first leaf, then 2 or 1 leaf (depends on jat) 
secondary growth, and one leaf or \ leaf tertiary 
growth, and so on to end of season. As a rule I pluck 
round every 8 days, takiug;the bud and 2 leaves aud the 
§ leaf, and when I see that the bushes require it I 
drop the J leaf plucking, only taking the bud and 
2 leaves. Taking the § leaf "gives a large per cent- 
age of pekoe souchong, but as long' as my average 
remains over the Is I think it pays. 
3. Withering. — I, as a rule, wither down to 65 per cent. 
4. Firing. — I think tea should be fired as nearly 
crisp as possible without being " too much " so. I have 
never sifted whilo firing, it is not necessary with a 
Victoria drier which I use. L 
