Colonial Exhibition, 1886. 15 
troduftion of home-made liqueurs would not only be 
beneficial to those who are now prevented by the high 
price of the imported article from consuming them, but 
would also create a new industry. Difficulties arising 
from our system of excise might be obviated without 
doing away with the precaution necessary for the pro- 
teftion of the revenue. 
The report on TOBACCO has been contributed by Dr. 
WATT, C.M.G., whose knowledge of East Indian pro- 
du6ls and manufa6lures is most extensive, and by Mr. 
McCarthy of Trinidad, to whom, not only that island, 
but the West Indies generally, were indebted for valua- 
ble services at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. This 
paper is interesting, giving as it does a history of 
tobacco, with an account of the various modes in which 
it is used by different nations and races. 
Of the fifty species of Nicotiana known, only two, or 
at most four, are cultivated for the leaf. The most 
extensively cultivated is Nicotiana Tabacum, recognized 
by its long, pinkish flowers, and tapering oval-lanceolate 
leaves, a native of America, extending from Mexico to 
Bolivia. This is the species which grows in this colony. 
It is hardy and self-sown, which is rarely the case with 
the other kind, N. rustica, the leaves of which are 
coarser and more crumpled than those of A^. tabacum. 
There are three other varieties, one said to yield the 
finer qualities of Cuban tobacco, and the others yielding 
Persian, and the strong tobacco of Chili. 
Tobacco requires a rich or freely manured soil, the ash 
containing 16 to 17 per cent, of inorganic constituents. 
It is pra6lically immaterial what seed is used, it is the 
chemistry of the soil that can alone ensure good tobacco. 
