"The first transplanting was made out into a field in an open piece of land, where they commenced growing vigorously, but the rains being then over, swarms of small locusts made their appearance, and ate up the young plants before they had thoroughly established themselves in the ground. The second lot was transplanted into a more sheltered patch, where the progress was all that could be desired, both the varieties growing rapidly, the Havana especially producing some leaves of enormous size. The first cutting was entrusted to a potel, who managed it according to the native process of curing. The tobacco was so strong, however, that only old confirmed smokers could manage it. The most formidable difficulty which presented itself was the management of the midrib, which in the large leaves was extremely coarse and juicy. When the leaves were made up into hands for the purpose of fermentation before the midrib was thoroughly dry, the result was invariably mould and discoloration. On the other hand, when dried sufficiently to insure freedom from mould, the lamina of the leaf became so brittle that it was crushed to powder at the slightest touch, and so wrinkled and dry that the heaps did not ferment at all. Of the varieties supplied, the Shiraz, Havana, and Maryland attracted most attention and promised the best results. The great drawback was the curing part of the process. So far as the cultivation was concerned, there was every prospect of success; but not so with regard to the curing." Robertson says of the curing of the leaf:-- "In my opinion, all efforts to produce good tobacco will be useless until the services of a competent curer are obtained." He considers the fault of all Indian tobacco to lie in the curing. The leaf itself is good, and it is simply the art of curing that should be studied.