and after another month the leading shoot of each plant is pinched off, so as to leave them not more than a cubit high.  Three times during the next month all side shoots thrown out are removed.  When four months old, the crop is ready for cutting.  To render the leaves sweet the field is watered, and the plants cut down close to the surface, being allowed to remain when cut until next morning.  Their roots are tied to a rope and suspended round the hedges.  In fine weather the leaves are dry in ten days, but if cloudy they require five more days.  They are then heaped up under a roof, which is covered with bushes and pressed with stones for five days.  After this the leaves are removed from the stems, tied in bunches, heaped again, and pressed for four days longer.  They are now tied in bundles, partly of the small leaf and partly of the large leaf bundles, and again put in heaps for ten days—­once during the time the heaps being opened and piled afresh.  This completes the drying.  A thousand bundles, weighing about 570 lbs., is a good produce for an acre.

In 1760, Ceylon produced a considerable quantity of tobacco, principally about Jaffna, a demand having sprung up for it in Travancore, and on the Malay coast.  The cultivation spread to other districts of the island, Negombo, Chilaw, and Matura.  Not long after the possession of the island by the British, a monopoly was created by an import duty of 25 per cent., ad valorem, and in 1811 the growers were compelled to deliver their tobacco into the Government stores at certain fixed rates.  The culture and demand thereupon decreased.  In 1853, the duty on the exports of tobacco from this island amounted to L8,386, and in 1836 to L9,514.

Ceylon now exports a considerable quantity of tobacco.  The value of that exported in 1844 was nearly L18,000:  it went exclusively to British colonies.  The shipments since have been as follows:—­

1848 L17,992 ——­ 1849 22,300 ——­ 1850 20,721 22,184 cwts. 1851 21,422 22,523 " 1852 20,531 21,955 "

About 96,000 piculs of cigars, of five different qualities, are exported annually from Siam.  A good deal of very fine tobacco is grown in the Philippines, and the Manila cheroots are celebrated all over the globe.  The quantity of raw tobacco shipped from Manila in 1847 was 92,106 arrobas (each about a quarter of a cwt.); manufactured tobacco, 12,054 arrobas; and 1,933 cases of cigars. 5,220 boxes of cigars were shipped from Manila in 1844. 73,439 millions of cigars were shipped in 1850, and 42,629 quintals of leaf tobacco.