adius).

The quantity grown before the occupation appears to have been very
fluctuating and to have averaged about 56,000 lb. annually, and the
Government revenue, according to British Consular reports, would not
have been more than L300 to L400 per annum. The Regie was introduced in
1874, but owing to the hampering restrictions the industry had been
pretty well crushed out by the time of British occupation in 1878.
Meanwhile the revenue from tobacco, imported mainly from Volo and
Salonica, increased greatly.

The monopoly ceased at the British occupation, but the regulations and
imposts remained. Those responsible for controlling the industry,
collecting dues, and checking illicit consumption had a troublesome
task, while on the other hand the cultivator became averse to engaging
in a cultivation which was hedged round with so many restrictions and
formalities.

These exist at the present time and may here be quoted:

The grower has to notify the Customs authorities of his intention to
sow, giving the locality and area. Before picking he must again notify
the Customs, so that a Customs officer may be present at the picking and
weigh the freshly picked leaves. After storing, but before delivering
the tobacco to the factory, the Customs officer must again weigh the now
dry leaves.

The excise duties leviable are: Tobacco leaf, 4-1/2_cp._ per oke,
payable on transfer of leaf from grower to wholesale dealer. Tobacco
manufactured in Cyprus, whether made into cigarettes or otherwise, in
addition to the import duty or transport duty, pays a banderolle duty of
3_s._ 6-1/2_cp._ per oke.

These regulations are a relic of the Turkish times, as in those days the
State received a definite due called "City Toll" by charging the tobacco
cutters and tobacco sellers with a trade tax. They appear to have been
administered with more laxity in Turkish than in post-occupation times,
and it is said that the abandonment of tobacco cultivation was mainly
due to the severity with which these rather vexatious and irritating
regulations were enforced.

For many years the tobacco imported by local cigarette manufacturers
came almost entirely from Macedonia. This tobacco was of very superior
quality and cheap, and locally grown tobacco could not compete with it.
Of late years the price of Macedonian tobacco has risen considerably and
the manufacturers have therefore been induced to import Thessalian
tobacco instead, which is not of so fin