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TOBACCO , the name (see below) for the leaves of several See also:species of Nicotiana (nat. ord. See also:Solanaceae), variously prepared for use as a narcotic. While it is principally manufactured for smoking, a large amount is also prepared for chewing, and, to a more limited extent, it is taken in the See also:form of See also:snuff. Under one or other of these forms the use of tobacco is more widely spread than is that of any other narcotic or stimulant.
See also:History.—Although the fact has been controverted, there cannot be a doubt that the knowledge of tobacco and its uses came to the See also:rest of the See also:world from See also:America. In See also:November 1492 a party sent out by See also:Columbus from the vessels of his first expedition to explore the See also:island of See also:Cuba brought back See also:information that they had seen See also:people who carried a lighted firebrand to kindle See also:fire, and perfumed themselves with certain herbs which they carried along with them. The See also:habit of snuff-taking was observed and described by Ramon See also:Pane, a Franciscan who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage (1494-1496), and the practice of tobacco-chewing was first seen by the Spaniards on the See also:coast of See also:South America in 1502. As the See also:continent of America was opened up and explored, it became evident that the See also:consumption of tobacco, especially by smoking, was a universal and immemorial usage, in many cases See also:bound up with the most significant and See also:solemn tribal ceremonies.
The See also:term tobacco appears not to have been a commonly used See also:original name for the plant, and it has come to us from a See also:peculiar See also:instrument used, for inhaling its See also:smoke by the inhabitants of
Hispaniola (See also:San Domingo). The instrument, described by See also:Oviedo (Historia de See also:las Indias Occidentales, See also:Salamanca, 1535), consisted of a small hollow wooden See also:tube, shaped like a If, the two points of which being inserted in the See also:nose of the smoker, the other end was held into the smoke of burning tobacco, and thus the fumes were inhaled. This apparatus the natives called " See also:tabaco "; but it must be said that the smoking See also:pipe of the See also:continental tribes was entirely different from the imperfect tabaco of the Caribees. Benzoni, on the other See also:hand, whose Travels in America (1542–1556) were published in 1565, says that the Mexican, name of the See also:herb was " tabacco."
The tobacco plant itself was first brought to See also:Europe in 1558 by Francisco Fernandes, a physician who had been sent by See also: By the See also:French See also:ambassador to See also:Portugal, See also:Jean Nicot, seeds were sent from the See also:Peninsula to the See also:queen, See also:Catherine de' See also:Medici. The services rendered by Nicot in spreading a knowledge of the plant have been commemorated in the scientific name of the genus Nicotiana. At first the plant was supposed to possess almost miraculous healing See also:powers, and was designated " herba See also:panacea," " herba See also:santa," " sang sancta Indorum "; " divine tobacco " it is called by See also:Spenser, and " our See also:holy herb nicotian " by See also: The plant has alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate leaves, those at the See also:lower part of the stem being slightly stalked, and of large See also:size, reaching to 2 ft.
in length, while the upper are semi-amplexicaul and of variable outline. The seeds are See also: Very slight See also:differences in See also:climate appear to cause very great differences in the quality of the tobacco, and See also:ordinary meteorological records are of little use in determining the suitability or not of a region for a particular See also:kind of See also:leaf ; this essential point must be determined by experiment. In See also:general, tropical and semi-tropical conditions as to temperature, with a comparatively dry climate, give the best results. Given suitable climatic conditions, the type of tobacco produced is determined mainly by the soil, and particularly by its See also:mechanical or See also:physical See also:condition. Speaking generally, See also:clay soils retentive of moisture produce heavy-cropping tobaccos which cure to a dark brown or red colour. Sandy soils produce tobaccos with a thin leaf, curing to a yellow or See also:bright red colour. In the same locality, i.e. under the same climatic conditions, quite different kinds of tobacco may be produced in See also:direct relation to the See also:character of the soil. Thus the bright yellow tobacco used for cigarettes, &c., is largely produced in Virginia and N. Carolina on a loose porous See also:sand, which must he at least a See also:foot deep, and contains usually about 8% of clay; this sand is underlaid by a clay subsoil, and, as Mr See also:Milton See also:Whitney points out in Tobacco Soils (U.S.A. Dept. of See also:Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin, No. 83), this clay is the same as that on which the heavy manufacturing and export tobacco is grown. Where the clay is exposed on the surface the heavy type of tobacco is produced, and bright tobacco where the clay is covered by from 12 to 20 in. of sand. Tobacco soils should be well drained and contain a large percentage of humus. Tobacco being cultivated over such a large See also:area of the world, under very varying climatic conditions, and by many different races of mankind, the methods employed in its See also:production naturally differ very considerably. As the United States of America produce more tobacco than any other See also:country it will be best to See also:deal generally with conditions there and to refer to marked differences in dealing with production in other countries.
The See also:seed is sown in nursery beds, and the See also:plants set out in the See also: They must be well hardened off before being set out in the open. The See also:land for their reception must be thoroughly well tilled and manured. If moist, ridges are formed about 3 to 4 ft. apart; the distance apart in the rows varies greatly with various types of tobacco: 3 ft. is the normal for ordinary manufacturing and smoking tobaccos, t to 11 ft. for Cuba and See also:Sumatra types. See also:Cigar tobaccos become coarse if planted too widely. An See also:acre of tobacco planted 3 ft. by 15 in. will contain 11,600 plants and 3 ft. 6 in. by 15 in., so,000 plants. During the transplanting, preferably done on cloudy days or during light rains, the plants must be handled very carefully; See also:machines are now available which can set out and See also:water plants over from two to six acres in a working See also:day. After transplanting the See also:crop takes about another sixty days to mature, i.e. about 120 days in all from the date the seed was sown. During this See also:period, until the plants begin to ripen, the tilth is maintained and weeds checked first by See also:horse cultivators or horse-hoes, and, as the plants increase in size, by hand labour. When the plants show signs of flowering they are ' topped " to prevent seed formation, the terminal buds being removed, and only a certain number of leaves See also:left on each plant to ripen. This operation requires experienced See also:judgment to decide when it should be done; the number of leaves to be left varies with the variety and vigour of the plant, the nature of the soil, climate, seasons and particular use for which the crop is intended. The product from plants which have not been topped is of little value. In the U.S.A., in the cigar tobacco See also:district, fifteen to twenty leaves are often left on each plant, and of manufacturing tobaccos only ten to twelve leaves. As one result of the topping, suckers are usually formed; these also must be removed, although, e.g. in See also:Florida, vigorous stickers are sometimes allowed to remain when the plant is cut, and produce a " sucker crop " inferior in character to the first or See also:principal crop, but still serviceable. The leaves now ripen, indicated by a See also:change from a dark to lighter green, and by the appearance of yellow spots. Ripening is See also:complete in about 35 days after topping or about 155 days of cer sowing. A ripe leaf easily cracks or shows a crease when folded between the fingers. The leaves on a plant decrease in See also:age from below upwards, and all are not ripe at exactly the same See also:time. In high quality tobaccos the leaves are primed " or picked singly as they ripen, but in the great bulk of American tobaccos the whole plant is cut See also:close to the ground when the See also:middle leaves are about ripe. In either See also:case leaves should not be gathered when wet with See also:dew or See also:rain, or in very hot See also:sunshine; the afternoon is usually the best time. The next step is to remove the harvested crop to the drying-See also:shed ; primed leaves are placed at once in shallow baskets or boxes, and when under See also:cover are strung on See also:string or on See also:wire and hung up on laths in the See also:barn. Cut plants are allowed to wilt, or become flaccid, before removal from the field, to prevent injury to the turgid leaves. These cut plants may be laid in rows on the ground to wilt, or spitted on long rods or laths supported on trestles, or placed on See also:special drying racks. When sufficiently wilted they are hauled to the barn and hung up there on the same laths on which they were placed in the field. A very interesting development of quite See also:recent years is that of growing some valuable cigar tobaccos under artificial shade. Sumatra Cultivatlon produced the best cigar wrappers of the world, and under efforts to cultivate Sumatra tobacco in Florida under Shade, apparently suitable conditions of climate and soil were not successful. It was noticed, however, that if the tobacco was grown under the shade of trees the character of the leaf was improved. Artificial shading, first by laths, and later by See also:cheese-cloth, both supported on posts, was then resorted to with eminently satisfactory results. The U.S.A. See also:Department of Agriculture, in co-operation with See also:local growers, devoted a great deal of See also:attention and See also:money to the problem, and Sumatra tobacco of very high quality is now produced in Florida and See also:Connecticut. The yield of leaf is often much increased, the plants are protected from the See also:weather, and the enhanced value of the crop much more than repays the very considerable expense involved in artificially shading whole See also:fields. So successful have the results been that American-grown tobacco of the Sumatra type is now exported even to Cuba. Important changes take place in the tobacco leaf from the timeit is cut until the finished product is ready for consumption. These may be all placed under curing, but it is usual to recognize three stages: (I) curing proper; (2) fer- Curing. mentation; and (3) ageing. See also:Sun curing, now but little practised in the United States, is the simplest method. The wilted tobacco is suspended on racks in the sun. Great care is necessary to protect it from rain, and it must if necessary be placed in a barn in which fires may be required during wet weather. This method is employed in a portion of Virginia and results in a very sweet chewing tobacco.
See also:Air curing is essentially similar to sun curing. The tobacco is hung in a barn in which there is a See also:free circulation of air during dry weather. Artificial See also:heat may be resorted to in See also:bad weather; in the States, cigar tobaccos and " See also: By whichever way treated; the tobacco-leaf after curing is brittle and cannot be handled without crumbling to See also:powder. The contents of the barn are therefore left till moist weather occurs, and then by the See also:admission of atmospheric air the leaf See also:blades absorb moisture and become soft and pliant. In this condition the leaves are stripped from the stems and Forted into qualities, such as " lugs, " or lower leaves, " firsts " and " seconds. These are made up into " hands, " or small bundles of from six to twelve leaves. Each bundle is tied See also:round with a See also:separate leaf, and in this condition the tobacco is ready for bulking for See also:fermentation. The tobacco, whether in bundles, hands or separate leaves, is piled up or bulked on the floor in a barn into a solid stack to the height of 5 or 6 ft. Within this stack a process of Fermentafermentation is quickly set up, and the temperature of the See also:mass rises steadily till it reaches about 13o° F. See also:Con. Great care is now taken to prevent overheating and to secure the See also:uniform fermentation of all the tobacco. The See also:pile is from time to time taken down and rebuilt, the tobacco from the See also:top going to the bottom and that exposed at the edges being turned in to the centre. In from three to five weeks the fermentation should be sufficiently carried out, and the leaves then have a See also:nice uniform brown colour. Dark-coloured leaves are produced when the temperature is allowed to See also:mount higher than when light leaves are required. Fermentation is essentially a chemical process due apparently to the presence of enzymes, See also:developed in the leaf during the earlier curing stages. The view has been put forward that fermentation is due to the activity of bacteria, distinct types occurring in various tobaccos, but the See also:balance of See also:evidence is against it. On the bacterial theory it was thought possible to inoculate a poor tobacco with, say, the special bacteria See also:present in Cuban tobacco, and so give the product the aroma and other good qualities of the more valuable tobacco. When fermentation is completed the tobacco is graded, an operation carried out very carefully in the case of the better cigar tobaccos, and packed for export, cigar tobaccos in See also:bales, and other kinds in hogsheads. It is then kept at a moderate and fairly uniform temperature in a warehouse, when, although there is no marked outward change, the tobacco becomes more mellow. Two years are usually required for ageing, but some tobaccos are kept for four or five years before being manufactured. An artificial aroma is sometimes given to tobaccos, especially for the " fillers " of cigars, by saucing or treating the leaves with a See also:solution containing an infusion of fine quality tobacco stems, See also:rum, sour See also:wine and various flavouring materials such as oil of aniseed, See also:tincture of See also:valerian, powdered See also:cloves, See also:cinnamon and See also:liquorice. Pests and Diseases.—Tobacco, like other cultivated plants, is subject to attack by various pests and diseases, but fortunately these are less destructive than with many crops. On the other hand, comparatively trivial incidents do more harm to a relatively delicate plant like the tobacco than to more robust plants. The "tobacco See also:flea-See also:beetle " (Epitrix parvula, Fabr.) isa small active beetle, the larvae of which attack the roots, while the adult beetles eat holes in the leaves. The latter is the more serious, as in addition to the actual damage done by the beetle the holes afford entrance to fungus spores, &c. Under the name " See also:horn See also:worms " are included the larvae or caterpillars of species of Protoparce. These comparatively large and voracious animals, when abundant, do great damage by eating the leaves. Other caterpillars,"budworms" (Heliothis, spp.), attack the buds or burrow into the seed-pods. Seedling plants of tobacco, like many other crops, are liable to attack by " cut worms," the caterpillars of species of Peridromia and Agrotis. " Plant bugs," which suck the juice of the leaves, have been recorded as serious enemies in some parts of the world. Recently, shade-grown tobacco in some localities has suffered considerably from the attacks of small sucking See also:insects known as thrips, which produce " white See also:veins " in the leaf. White vein may also be induced by other causes besides the attacks of thrips. Stored tobacco is liable to be attacked and ruined by the " cigarette beetle," a See also:cosmopolitan insect of very varied tastes, feeding not only on dried tobacco of all kinds, including snuff, but also on See also:rhubarb. See also:cayenne See also:pepper, tumeric, See also:ginger, See also:figs and See also:herbarium specimens. Other beetles, such as the See also:rice See also:weevil (Calandra oryza), also attack dried tobacco. The fungoid diseases of tobacco are comparatively unimportant; there are, however, some diseases of obscure origin which at times cause considerable damage. " See also:Mosaic disease " is the name given to a condition in which the leaves are more or less sharply differentiated into light and dark green patches. The See also:matter has been fully investigated by Mr A. F. See also:Woods (Bulletin No. 18, See also:Bureau of Plant See also:Industry, U.S. Department of Agriculture), who attributes it not to any specific See also:parasite but to a disturbance of the normal physiological activity of the cells. " See also:Frog's See also:eye," or " leaf spot," denotes the occurrence of small white specks on the leaf. This disease is probably bacterial in origin. See also:Wind and See also:hail may break plants or damage leaves, especially if required for wrapper purposes. The See also:provision of wind breaks is the only effective remedy. Diseases which occur in curing are important. Excessive humidity causes small dark spots to appear; these become confluent and the whole leaf may become dark and decay. Various names are given, such as " See also:pole See also:burn," " pole sweat," " See also:house burn." The disease is checked by raising the temperature above x 1o° F., and reducing the humidity of the barn. Stem rot, due to a See also:mould (See also:Botrytis sp.), occurs in wet weather. Too rapid drying of the See also:outer See also:tissue of the leaf leads to the formation of " white veins," which injure leaves required for wrapper purposes, otherwise it is not important. Another defect arising during curing and fermentation is the efflorescence of salts on the surface, a phenomenon known as " See also:saltpetre "; light brushing and spraying with a weak solution of acetic See also:acid are effective remedies. Improvement by Selection.—Careful examination of a large number of individuals of one variety growing under similar conditions reveals differences in such characters as number of leaves per plant, the size and shape of the leaves, tendency to form suckers, time of maturing and resistance to disease. Other tests show variability in burning quality, See also:elasticity of leaf, texture, See also:taste, &c. The United States Department of Agriculture has closely investigated this important questicn and the results attained are brought together by Messrs H. D. Shamel and W. W. Cobey in Tobacco Breeding (Bulletin 96, Bureau of Plant Industry, 1907). No crop, it is pointed out, responds so readily to breeding as tobacco, or deteriorates more rapidly, as regards both yield and quality, if neglected.. The variations are classified as: (x) Variation in type due to See also:crossing, change of soil and climate, especially, for example, when seed from the tropics is introduced to temperate regions. (2) Variations within the type, due to natural tendency to vary, local conditions and maturity of seed. When Cuban tobaccos were first introduced into Florida, the type See also:broke up, but by carefully selecting the best plants and using them only as See also:sources of seed for later crops, a good type was obtained. The tobacco See also:flower is fortunately perfectly self-fertile, and by enclosing the flowers of selected plants in See also:paper bags, so as to exclude all possibility of hybridization, progeny true to the type of the See also:mother plant can be obtained. No See also:attempt should ever be made to raise large crops of tobacco from imported seed, but only a small crop, and the seed of the selected plants should be used for future See also:propagation. In selection See also:work the grower must keep definitely in view the special See also:market requirements for the kinds of tobacco he is producing. Thus for wrapper tobaccos, amongst other points a broad, rounded leaf, which will yield perhaps eight wrappers, is much more valuable than a narrow pointed leaf which yields perhaps only four. Plants may be found growing See also:side by side, the one with broad leaves, the other with narrow, but by selection the broad type can be perpetuated and gradually improved. Hybridization can also be readily controlled in the case of tobaccos, and in this connexion it is useful to See also:note that, if See also:pollen is desired of some variety growing at a distance, it will retain its vitality for several weeks if kept perfectly dry, and so can readily be sent by See also:post from one place to another. Another favourable feature is the fact that a single See also:capsule contains from 4000 to 8000 seeds, and one tobacco plant may easily produce from 500,000 to 1,000,000 seeds. Production. United States.—Tobacco cultivation See also:dates in the States from the very See also:early years of the 17th century, when it was taken up in Virginia. A general description has already been given of the methods of cultivation and preparation. In 1906 the See also:total area 4ader tobacco in twenty-five states was 796,099 acres, and theproduction 682,428,530 lb, valued at about £13,500,000. The principal tobacco-producing states, with the approximate value of their crops, were: Kentucky, £3,885,400; See also:Ohio, £1,706,600; North Carolina, £1,396,153; See also:Wisconsin, £x,342,600; Virginia, £i,2o6,309, See also:Pennsylvania, £979,550; Connecticut, £883,184; See also:Tennessee, £511,035; Florida, £330,750; New See also:York, £244,053, and Maryland, £241,046. The See also:average yield per acre in the States as a whole in 1906 was 857.2 lb. New See also:Hampshire had the highest average, 1785 lb per acre, and See also:Mississippi the lowest, 440 lb. The successful production of cigar tobaccos from Cuban and Sumatran seed was a development of the See also:late 19th century. Perique tobacco is worthy of special See also:notice. This famous tobacco is produced only at See also:Grand Points in See also:Louisiana. Great care is given to the cultivation, and See also:damp atmospheric conditions are desirable during the ripening stages. The leaves, when stripped from the stalks, are made into rolls and subjected to great pressure, which is released daily to allow the leaves to absorb their expressed juice. To the chemical changes, mainly oxidation, which go on in this juice while it is exposed to the air, the characteristic aroma and flavour of Perique tobacco are mainly due. Cuba.—Tobacco is the second industry of the country, the value of the crop being surpassed only by that of See also:sugar. The cultivation was formerly a See also:monopoly of the See also:Spanish crown, but from 1817 See also:payment of a tax, usually heavy, has been the only restriction. The superiority of Cuban tobaccos in flavour and aroma, especially for cigar fillers, has long been recognized, but exactly to what conditions these qualities are due is not fully known. The leaf known as " Vuelta Abajo," produced in the See also:province of Pinar del Rio, is perhaps the best cigar leaf of the world. The other tobacco-producing provinces in See also:order of importance are See also:Havana, Santa See also:Clara and See also:Santiago de Cuba. The crop is mostly grown in the open, air-cured and carefully fermented. Cuban tobacco is grown as a " See also:winter " crop, the summer months being those of high rainfall. Cultivation under shade was recently tried with satisfactory results; " 166.65 acres cultivated under cheesecloth produced in 1903 10 bales of wrappers and 1.5 bales of fillers of tobacco per acre, the output under the old See also:system having been 4.5 bales of tobacco per acre of which only lo % represented wrappers of good colour " (See also:Diplomatic and Consular See also:Report on Cuba, 1904, No. 3522). Mexico is an important tobacco-producing country, and Mexican leaf is largely used in Europe for cigar wrappers and other purposes. Mexican tobacco approximates more or less closely to that of Cuba, and is cultivated and prepared in very similar ways. See also:France.—Tobacco cultivation is an important industry, and the See also:home production is carried out under See also:government supervision. In 1905, 53,750 planters cultivated 39,439 acres, and the total crop amounted to 61,614,900 lb, of the approximate value of £2,000,000. The variety grown is usually of the Virginia type, and the leaf is coarse, dark and heavy, and suited to the manufacture of plug and snuff. Germany.—The See also:chief tobacco-producing divisions are See also:Baden and See also:Alsace. The leaf is of See also:medium size, heavy, and is mainly used in the manufacture of cigars. Hungary produces tobacco of a rich, dark brown colour, useful for cigars, and also a small, bright yellow leaf, of value as a cigarette and pipe tobacco. See also:Russia.—In See also:northern Russia the produce is mainly a large, coarse, heavy, dark leaf, of use only for the manufacture of plug and snuff. In southern and See also:Asiatic Russia good tobacco of the See also:Turkish type is produced. See also:Italy produces two principal types, a dark, heavy Virginian tobacco on the heavy soils of northern Italy, and a Turkish type tobacco on the sandy soils of the southern part of the country. See also:Syria.—The distinctive Latakia tobacco is produced in the province of Saida in northern Syria. The leaf is subjected to the smoke produced by burning in the green condition leafy branches of species of See also:evergreen oaks (Quercus spp.). The process. of See also:fumigation lasts from seven to nine months, and during it the tobacco acquires its See also:black colour and peculiar flavour. See also:Greece.—Grecian tobacco is grown from Turkish seed and closely resembles Turkish tobacco in character and uses. See also:Egyptian cigarettes are to a great extent made from Grecian tobacco. Paper is a monopoly in Greece, and Grecian cigarette manufacturers, to See also:escape the monopoly, have transferred their business to See also:Egypt, where they make cigarettes from Grecian tobaccos by the aid of See also:Greek workmen. Turkey.—Tobacco is an important crop in Turkey, where its cultivation and manufacture are monopolies. The ordinary tobacco and cigarette See also:trade is controlled by the Regie Compagnie interessee See also:des tabacs de 1'See also:empire See also:Ottoman, and Narquileh tobacco (called " tumbeki " and used in " hubble-bubbles ") is in the hands of a similar organization. The small Turkish leaf is famous through-out the world. Some of the finest flavoured tobaccos are produced in the regions around Cavalla in See also:Macedonia and See also:ancient See also:Ephesus in See also:Asia See also:Minor. The cultivation of Turkish tobaccos has been taken up in various parts of the world, e.g. South Africa, and to maintain the See also:standard of the produce fresh supplies of seed were obtained annually from Turkey. To guard against this competition, the export of tobacco seed from Turkey was prohibited in 1907. The method of cultivation in Turkey is simple, and the plants are set out close together. For the best qualities the leaves are primed, air-cured, and then subjected to a lengthy treatment corresponding to mild fermentation. High prices are obtained for the best Turkish tobaccos. Thus in 1906 from Cavalla and See also:Xanthi 11,000 tons were exported of a value of about £I,ioi,000, the range of the various qualities per kilo (2y lb) being: Ghienbek. .. 10s. 5d. to 16s. od. Kir . . .4s. iod. ,, 6s. od. Pursuccian . 2S. 1 Id. „ 3s. 9d. See also:Drama as. od. „ 2S. Iod. Inferior brands . . . . os. 7d. „ 2S. od. The exports go mainly to See also:Austria-Hungary, See also:Rumania, Italy, Egypt, the United See also:Kingdom and the United States. See also:Japan.—Tobacco cultivation is a government monopoly, and in 1905 the crop amounted to about 106,572,000 lb, yielding a profit to the government of some £3,500,000. The produce is usually leaf of considerable size, of medium colour and suited only for cigarette and pipe smoking. See also:China.—The cultivation is widespread throughout Southern China. The picked leaves are usually either prepared for market by simple exposure to the sun for a few days, or in addition are sprinkled with groundnut oil and sometimes other materials also, which result in an increase of strength. Sumatra.—The tobaccos of Sumatra are especially valued for outside wrappers of cigars, being very uniform, of fine texture, light brown colour, thin and elastic. They do not, however, possess the aroma essential to cigar-fillers. The industry is of quite recent growth, dating only from 1862. The famous tobacco region, about 15,000 sq. m. in area, is on the east coast of the island, almost directly on the See also:equator, and has a very uniform and high temperature and a very high rainfall. The soil is mainly of volcanic origin. Deli is the principal district. and produces the best tobaccos. The estates are usually very large, and are divided up into fields which are cultivated in rotation, each field being given several years' rest after producing one crop. The tobacco is air-cured, fires being only employed during continuous wet weather, and the process of curing occupies four or five weeks. The fermentation is very carefully controlled, and to obtain the desired light colour the temperature is kept comparatively See also:low. The leaves are graded with the most scrupulous care and finally packed in bales of about 176 lb each. The high quality of Sumatra tobacco is due in part to the local conditions of soil and climate, and perhaps to an even greater degree to the care taken at every See also:stage in its cultivation and preparation. The work is done by See also:Chinese coolies under See also:European—chiefly Dutch—supervision. The commercial success of some of the companies has been very striking, dividends as high as t 1i % having been paid. See also:Java and See also:Borneo tobacco is very similar to that of Sumatra. The Philippines.—Tobacco is extensively cultivated in the plains and on the rich alluvial deposits along the sides of See also:rivers. During recent years the average value of the product has fallen, due apparently to deterioration in quality. The exports of manufactured tobacco, such as See also:Manila cheroots, find their principal market in China, See also:British India, See also:Australasia and the United Kingdom, whilst of the leaf tobacco fully three-quarters goes to Spain. British Empire.—Tobacco is grown for local use in many parts of India, but the principal centres of its cultivation on a commercial See also:scale are Bombay, See also:Madras and the See also:Punjab. American experts are frequently employed to superintend the estates and factories. In See also:Ceylon tobacco is grown in the northern portion of the island; the produce is but little suited to the European market and is mainly exported to southern India and See also:Cochin China. British North Borneo competes with Sumatra as the source of the best cigar wrappers. The cultivation was begun in the island in 1883 by planters seeking new lands free from the heavy See also:taxation to which they were subjected in Sumatra. The industry is now in the hands of three large companies, the survivors of some twenty or more which have started at various times. The greater portion of the most suitable land appears to be already under cultivation and there is little immediate prospect for much expansion of the industry. The annual value of tobacco exported is over £300,000. In See also:Australia tobacco is produced on a small scale in See also:Queensland, New South See also:Wales and Victoria. Efforts are being made to develop the industry. New See also:Zealand has attempted to produce tobacco as a commercial crop, but the effort was abandoned several years ago. In the \Vest Indies tobacco is grown on a small scale in many of the British colonies, but only in See also:Jamaica is there a definite industry. An See also:expert, Mr F. V. See also:Chambers, recently reported on Jamaica tobacco as of good quality and flavour but often of a heavy nature. The shade-grown tobacco was, however, hardly likely for making wrappers to be excelled by any tobacco in the world. In the British See also:African possessions the outlook for tobacco cultivation is in several instances favourable. Rhodesian-grown Turkish tobacco is already on the English market, as also various brands of tobacco from the See also:Transvaal. See also:Natal and Cape See also:Colony have also See also:industries of considerable local importance. Tobacco cultivation has made considerable progress in Nyasaland (British Central Africa). In 1900 there were 69 acres under this crop, the yield being1039 4480 lb of the value of £113. In 1907 the acreage had increased to 2330, the yield to 413,316 lb, and the value to £6889. Flue-cured bright tobacco is principally produced, but sun-cured is also exported; and in 1906–1907 experiments with Turkish tobacco gave encouraging results. See also:Canada produces in See also:Ontario and Quebec coarse Virginian type tobacco. See also:Chemistry. The constituents of tobacco, as of all other See also:vegetable matter, can be grouped under three heads: water, See also:mineral acids and bases (which pass into the ash on See also:combustion) and organic substances. The following analyses of upper leaves made at the Connecticut See also:state station, and recorded in Report No. 63, See also:Office of Experiment Stations, U.S. Department of Agriculture, indicate the more important constituents and also the changes which take place during fermentation. Unfermented. Fermented. Water 23.50 23.40 Ash 14.89 15.27 See also:Nicotine 2.50 1.79 Nitric acid (N2O1) 1.89 1'97 See also:Ammonia (NH3) . . 0.67 0.71 Other nitrogenous matters 12.19 13.31 Fibre 7.90 8-78 See also:Starch . 3.20 3.36 See also:Nitrogen free See also:extract 29.39 27'99 See also:Ether extract. . . . 3'87 3'42 Nicotine (q.v.) (CioHi4N2) is a volatile See also:alkaloid which appears to be present only in plants of the genus Nicotiana (see NICOTINE). Manufacture. In the manufacture of tobacco for smoking, we have to do with the numerous forms of tobacco used for smoking in pipes, embracing cut smoking mixtures, cake or plug, and See also:roll or spun tobacco. Under this heading come also the cigar and cigarette manufacture. The raw material in the warehouses is of various qualities: some is strong, rough and harsh, and so is unfit for ordinary smoking; other samples are mild and fine, with aromatic and pleasant flavour, but devoid of strength. By a proper mixing and blending the manufacturer is enabled to prepare the smoking mixture which is desirable for his purpose; but certain of the rough, See also:bitter qualities cannot be manufactured without a preliminary treatment by which their intense disagreeable taste is modified. The storing of such tobacco for a lengthened period matures and deprives it of harshness, and the same result may be artificially hastened by macerating the leaves in water acidulated with hydrochloric acid, and washing them out with pure water. The most efficient means, however, of improving strong, See also:ill-tasting tobacco is by renewed fermentation artificially induced by moisture and heat. The manufacturer having prepared his mixture of leaves, proceeds to damp them, pure water alone being used in the United Kingdom, whereas on the Continent and in America certain Smokiag " sauces " are employed, which consist of mixtures of Mixtures. aromatic substances, sugar, liquorice, See also:common See also:salt and saltpetre, &c., dissolved in water. The See also:primary See also:object is to render the leaves soft and pliant; the use of the sauces is to improve the flavour and burning qualities of the leaves used. When uniformly damped, the leaves are separately opened out and smoothed, the midrib, if not already removed, is torn out, except when " See also:bird's-eye " cut is to be made, in which mixture the midrib gives the peculiar " bird's-eye " appearance. The prepared tobacco, while still moist and pliant, is pressed between cylinders into a light cake, and cut into fine uniform shreds by a See also:machine analogous to the See also:chaff-cutter. The cut tobacco is now roasted, partly with the view of See also:driving off moisture and bringing the material into a condition for keeping, but also partly to improve its smoking quality. The roasting is most simply effected by spreading it on heated slabs, on which it is constantly turned, or a roasting machine is used, consisting of a revolving See also:drum in which the tobacco is rotated, gradually passing from one end to the other, and all the time under the influence of a current of heated air. The increase in favour of packet tobaccos has brought about the invention of elaborate packing machines. For roll, twist or pigtail tobacco the raw material is damped or sauced as in the case of cut tobacco. The interior of she roll consists of small and broken leaf of various kinds, called " fillers "; and this is enclosed within an See also:external ToRon bacco. covering of large whole leaf of bright quality, such leaves being called " covers." The material is supplied to the twisting machinery by an attendant, and formed into a See also:cord of uniform thickness, See also:twisted and See also:wound on a drum by mechanism analogous to that used in rope-See also:spinning. From the drum of the twisting machine the spun tobacco is rolled into cylinders of various sizes. These are enclosed in See also:canvas, and around the surface of each stout hempen cord is tightly and closely coiled. In this form a large number, after being cooked or stoved in moist heat for about twenty-four See also:hours, are piled between plates in an See also:hydraulic See also:press, and subjected to great pressure for a See also:month or six weeks, during which time a slow fermentation takes place, and a considerable exudation of juice results from the severe pressure. The juice is collected for use as a See also:sheep-See also:dip. Cake or plug tobacco is made by enveloping the desired amount of fillers within covering leaves of a fine bright colour. The packages Cake, are placed in moulds, and submitted to powerful pressure Tobacco. in an hydraulic press, by which they are moulded into solid cakes. Both cake and roll tobacco are equally used for smoking and chewing; for the latter purpose the cake is frequently sweetened with liquorice, and sold as See also:honey-dew or sweet See also:cavendish. For cigar-making the finest and most delicately flavoured qualities of tobacco are generally selected. A cigar consists of a core or Ctgars. central mass of fillers enveloped in an inner and an outer cover, the former the binder and the latter the wrapper. The fillers or inner contents of the cigar must be of uniform quality, and so packed and distributed in a See also:longitudinal direction that the tobacco may burn uniformly and the smoke can be freely See also:drawn from end to end. For the binder whole leaf of the same quality as the fillers is used, but for the wrapper only selected leaves of the finest quality and colour, free from all injury, are employed. The covers are carefully cut to the proper size and shape with a See also:sharp See also:knife, and, after being damped and smoothed out are placed together in a pile. In making cigars by the hand, the operator rolls together a sufficient quantity of material to form the filling of one cigar, and experience enables him or her to select very uniform quantities. This quantity is wrapped in the inner cover, an oblong piece of leaf the length of the cigar to be made, and of width sufficient to enclose the whole material. The cigar is then rolled in the hand to consolidate the tobacco and bring it into proper shape, after which it is wrapped in the outer cover, a shaped piece made to enclose the whole in a See also:spiral manner, beginning at the thick end of the cigar and working down to the pointed end, where it is dexterously finished by twisting to a fine point between the fingers. The finished cigars are either spread out in the sunlight to be dried, or exposed ,o a See also:gentle heat. They are then sorted into qualities according to their colour, packed in boxes, in which they are stored for See also:sale. Machinery is now employed for forming and moulding the fillings of the cheaper grades of cigars. Havana cigars are, as regards form, See also:classification, method of putting up and nomenclature, the See also:models followed by manufacturers of all classes of the goods. Genuine (" legitimas ") Havana cigars are such only as are made in the island; and the cigars made in Europe and elsewhere from genuine Cuban tobacco are classed as " Havanas." Other brands of home manufacture contain some proportion of Cuban tobacco; and very good cigars may be made in which the name only of that highly-prized leaf is employed. When we come to the inferior classes of cigars, it can only be said that they may be made from any kind of leaf, the more ambitious imitations being treated with various sauces designed to give them a Havana flavour. The highest class of Cuban-made cigars, called vegueras," are prepared from the very finest Vuelta Abajo leaf, rolled when it is just See also:half dry, and consequently never damped with water at all. Next come the " regalias," similarly made of the best Vuelta Abajo tobacco; and it is only the lower qualities, " ordinary regalias," which are commonly found in See also:commerce, the finer, and the " vegueras," being exceedingly high-priced. The cigars, when dry, are carefully sorted according to strength, which is estimated by their colour, and classed in a scale of increasing strength as claro, See also:Colorado claro, maduro and oscuro. They are pressed into the cigar boxes for sale, and branded with the name or trade See also:mark of their makers. Cheroots differ from ordinary cigars only in shape, being either in the form of a truncated See also:cone, or of uniform thickness throughout, but always having both ends open and sharply cut across. Cheroots come principally from Manila, but there are now large quantities imported into the United Kingdom from the East Indies and See also:Burma. Cigarettes consist of small rolls of fine cut tobacco wrapped in a covering of thin tough paper specially made for such use. Originally Cigarettes. cigarettes were entirely prepared by the smoker himself ; but now they are very largely made by automatic machinery. The machines cut the paper, See also:gum its edge, measure out the proper quantity of tobacco, wrap it up, make the gummed edge adhere, and cut the ends. In other machines a roll of narrow paper, in width equal to the circumference of the cigarette, is converted into a long tube, filled with tobacco, and automatically cut off into proper lengths. Such machines can make several See also:hundred cigarettes per See also:hour. The best cigarettes, however, are made by hand; the tobacco leaves are selected and hand-cut, and the paper tubes are filled by hand. The manufacture of snuff is the most complex, tedious and difficult undertaking of the tobacco• manufacture, but it is now of but little snuff. importance. The tobacco best suited for snuff-making is thick fleshy leaf of a dark colour, but scraps and See also:waste pieces resulting from the preparation of smoking mixtures and cigars, and the midribs of leaves are largely used. The material is moistened with a solution of common salt and placed in very large heaps to ferment for some weeks. Various flavouring materials,such as liquorice, tonka beans (Dipteryx odorata) and other ingredients are added, the natures of which are often trade secrets. The mass is dried, ground, and allowed to ferment again, the process being repeated if necessary. The peculiar properties of snuff are dependent on the presence of free nicotine, free ammonia and the aromatic principles developed during fermentation. Fiscal Restrictions. In nearly all civilized countries the cultivation of tobacco and its manufacture are conducted under state supervision and form an important source of public See also:revenue. In some, for instance, France, Austria-Hungary and Italy, the cultivation is a state monopoly, and in other countries the crop is subject to heavy See also:excise duties. Since
the time of See also: The literature of tobacco is very extensive. William Bragge of See also:Birmingham published in 188o a revised bibliography of the subject, Bibliotheca nicotiana, extending to 248 See also:quarto pages. From such a mass of authorities it would be vain here to make selections, but mention may be made of See also:Fairholt's capital gossiping work, Tobacco, tits History and Associations (2nd ed., 1876). As See also:modern standard See also:works there may also be quoted See also:Tiedemann's Geschichte des Tabaks (1856) and See also:Wagner's Tabakcultur, Tabak- and Cigarren-Fabrication (1884). In the foregoing See also:account various passages from the See also:article by J. See also:Paton and W. Dittmar, in the 9th ed. of the Ency. Brit., have been utilized. (W. G. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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