"Here's a 'Flamer'—we name no names—everybody seems to make flamers; and this one deserves his title. We want to light a peaceful pipe, and he bursts out in a fury like unto nothing on earth so much as Etna in convulsion, or the Tuilleries in petroleum blaze. But, if you have any respect for your tobacco, your lips, your nostrils, or your lungs, you will let him get rid of his flames before you apply him to your cigar; and, when you do venture so far, he drops off the stick and burns a hole in the carpet. Or, if you be daring enough to take a light from the flamer while he flames, you spoil your tobacco, foul your mouth, and get a taste of sulphur-suffocation such as Asmodeus might have were he to take a whiff of a smoke-and-fire belching chimney in the Black Country as he flies across that district by night. Haven't got a light? Glad of it. Try a Vesuvian-round, black and tipped with blue. There's a pyrotechnic display for you! Now, in with it, after the approved style illustrated by the two human hands engaged in lighting a cigar on the illuminated cover of the box. 'Ugh!' you say. Just so; you've got a mouthful of choice abominations, which will cost you much waste of saliva, several shivers, and the whole piece of tobacco you were about to enjoy. Here, put that away; take another, light it quietly with this wax-vesta, or this wooden 'spill,' or this screw of paper; smoke gently, don't let the fire out, and you'll be all right. In future, you may be wise enough to avoid cheap cigar-lights and pipe-lights, even for use in the streets. Our word upon it—they are far dearer than those which cost more."

The following description of "Home Made Cigars" is from All the Year Round, and will doubtless be read with interest by many growers of the weed who may recall similar scenes:

"'Apropos of cigars,' said Wilkins, lighting a second fragrant Havana with the stump of the first, 'let's go and see the farmer's establishment for making them. You see that field of tobacco over yonder? Old Standish raises his own weed, dries it in the big open sheds behind the barn, cures it—I don't quite know the whole process—and then has it made into sixes and short fives, Conchas and Cabanas, like a Cuban senor. I went over the establishment about a year ago, and it is worth seeing.'

"We strolled first over to the tobacco field. The weed was then just at its full ripeness, and the long, flappy, delicately-furred green leaves bent gracefully over toward the ground, growing smaller and smaller the higher they were on the stout stalk. Few foreigners know that even as far north as New England, in the sunny valleys of Connecticut, sheltered as they are from the bleak east winds of the Atlantic and accustomed to a long and steady summer heat, tobacco is grown in large quantities, flourishes exuberantly, and is one of the chief sources of profit to the farmers. It needs a rich warm soil and careful tending; but it gives in its growth, a sentimental reward to the cultivator; for it comes up gracefully, rapidly, and beautifully, and is with some care, one of the most satisfactory crops to 'handle.' Having gazed at and tasted the thick leaves, we sauntered behind the barn, and there saw the long open shed, with beams running parallel from end to end, where the gathered tobacco leaves were hung to be thoroughly dried by the sun.



"Then Wilkins conducted us for some distance along the river bank; we jumped into a boat and rowed perhaps half a mile, landing by the side of a little shop-like building, where we heard the hum of voices and the commotion of many busy persons. We entered and found ourselves in a long, low room, having wide tables ranged along the walls; here, working rapidly, were rows of chatty country girls, who, as they worked, laughed and talked, and now and then hummed a verse of some familiar ballad. Neatly packed piles of the dried and cured leaf lay upon the table before them.

"Each was armed with knives and cutters, and we watched the quick transformation of the flat leaves into the smooth and compact cigars. The tobacco grown upon the farm was, we discovered, only used as wrappers for the cigars. The good farmer imported, for the interior filling, a fine tobacco from Havana. Strips and little pieces of this the girls placed in the centre of the cigar, wrapping the Connecticut tobacco in wide strips tightly about it, then pasting each of the last with some paste in a pot by their side. It seemed to be done almost in an instant; the Havana slips were laid down, cut and trimmed, and pressed into shape in a twinkling; the wrappers were cut as quickly; and, more rapidly than I can describe it, the cigar was made. These girls were mostly daughters of neighboring farmers, who received so much per hundred cigars made; intelligent, bright-eyed and witty; many of them comely, with rosy cheeks and ruddy health; educated at the common schools, and able, their day's work over, to sit down at the piano and rattle away ad infinitum.

"His stock of cigars thus made up, from the first sowing to the last finishing touch, the good squire (being Yankee-like, a sort of Jack-of-all-trades,) would have them put up in gorgeously labeled boxes, carry them to town, and sell them to retail dealers; not disdaining himself, twice or thrice a year, to go through the neighboring States with samples, and acting as his own commercial traveler."

This description, however, may not convey a correct idea of the exact mode of manufacture to many growers of tobacco in the Connecticut Valley inasmuch as many planters of the "weed" make the entire cigar (more particularly for their own use) wrapper, binder and filler wholly of seed-leaf tobacco, such cigars do not readily sell to the trade except at inferior prices which admit of but a small profit to the manufacturer. The following spicy article from the "London Figaro" may be interesting to all smokers as well as guide them in the selection of a good cigar.

"I am an imaginative person, and 'society' has treated me shamefully of late—its tangible delights are absent from me. Allow me, then, to console myself by the 'creations of smoke,' as Lord Lytton puts it. I am scouted by society because I am in love. I am told I look:

"As hyenas in love are supposed to look, or A something between Abelard and old Bluecher."

And, moreover, I am an ugly man, but there was only a fortnight's difference in gaining a woman's love between John Wilkes and the handsomest man in England, courage, Jehu! I like idleness, because it shows that one can afford it; so I am puffing idly—ah! the balmy fragrance of this mild Havana! 'Oh! the effect of that first note from the woman one loves!' says one; 'Oh! the kiss on the dimpled cheek, the sound of the silver voice!' says another; but what can compare to the dreamy exquisite luxury of a good cigar? But, heavens, what am I saying? I am in love, and Julia reads the "Figaro!" The paleness of Flaxman's illustrations spreads over me—please, reader, look upon the sentiment as sarcastic. I am in a fog of smoke, and am quaffing claret from the silvered pewter. There's plenty of it; and no soul can say:

"That in drinking from that beaker I am sipping like a fly.'

How changed from the long, long days ago, when I was a connoisseur in Parparillo cigars, brown-paper cigarettes, and cane cheroots! Then I fondly adored Sir Walter Raleigh as my earthly idol, for giving me tobacco—when I had the halfpence to buy it—and delighted in the story, told by queer Oldys, of Sir Walter's servant extinguishing the Virginny smoke that issued from his master's lips, by drenching him with ale. Alas! my idol is shattered by Hawkins. The Spaniards say, 'The lie that lasts for half an hour is worth telling.' History has lied for longer, by a considerable period. Fond even as I was of my brown-papered cigarettes when baccy failed, I must confess I never reached the stage attained by Sir Christopher Haydon's chaplain, William Breedon, parson of Thornton, in Bucks, who was so given to

"October store and best Virginia,"

that when he had no tobacco (and too much drink) he used to cut the bell-ropes and smoke them!

"The Polyglot—three parts—my text; Howbeit—likewise—now to my next."

"On Smoke.—It is a vulgar, ludicrous, and foolish custom to bite off the nose of a cigar. Don't be a Vandal—you are not a Sandwich Islander, about to chew your Kava. A cigar should be handled daintily; it is a fragile, graceful creature—don't mar its beauty. Tear off the twist, and the pleasure of smoking is at an end! The outer leaf becomes untwirled. Ere it is half finished, you have a ragged end between your lips—nasty, foul, and unsightly—through which the smoke comes in huge clouds to your mouth, instead of slender streams on the palate. 'How, then,' say you; 'prick it, or cut it, or what? Tear it not, cut it not; nor yet puncture it. Don't be frightened of the cigar—thrusting a half-inch alone into the mouth; but, when you begin, take a good half of it in the mouth; pull at it lustily for a few seconds, to open its pores; then draw it out, allowing but an inch to be held within the lips—believe me, you will enjoy it a hundred-fold more; and there are but few cigars that will not allow of their virtue being drawn though their leaves. Never bite the end off, and never use your cigar cruelly, by squeezing it, biting it, or re-lighting it. Cigar-holders, tubes, quills, and such like inventions, we despise. If you cannot bear the cigar in your mouth—aye, and enjoy it—you have no business with it: go back to your brown paper and cane!

"What is the best beverage to imbibe whilst inhaling the precious weed? Momentous question! Coffee, or claret, says Jehu. I do not believe in bitter, as an accompanying liquid to a cigar. The Corporation of Christ-church, years ago, smoked cigars, and drank with them that then famous concoction known as 'Ringwood Beer.' What was the result? The first toast at every civic banquet held for years in that borough was gravely given out, and bumpered with due solemnity, as follows:—

'Prosperation to this Corporation.'

Brandy is a perfect antidote to inebriation from beer, so we are told. The Corporation should have known this, and been awakened from their long and pleasant dream of prosperation. Brandy I should hardly reckon amongst the drinks that ought to be with cigars, notwithstanding that Tennyson has asked:—

'For what delights can equal those Which stir, with spirits, inner depths? &c.'

Brandy-and-water, gin, whisky, and the likes are only fit for those who nocturnally lay the foundation for matutinal 'hot coppers,' with the vilest shag in the most odorous of yards of clay. 'Smoking leads to drinking,' has been a favorite old woman's saying for time out of mind. How I hate old women's sayings! A grain—requiring to be picked out with a pin and microscope—of truth, with a bushel of bunkum or cant. How is it, that ever since the days of James I, of 'hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain' memory, there have always been carpers on the injurious effects of smoking? 'Nicotine!' they say, with a would-be-taken-for-know-all-about-it-air. Quite so; but, as recent investigations have proved that, so far as the actual 'poisoning' is concerned, it would take upwards of a thousand years to kill the most inveterate of healthy smokers, we have still time to breathe—and 'it please the pigs.' Mem. for pipers—French tobacco contains the greatest, Turkish the least, per-centage of nicotine. Havana, two and one-half per cent.

"But an unique old woman of Jehu's acquaintance goes further still; boldly asserting that 'smoking is well for making good soldiers, well for making good sailors, well for making sometimes good lawyers; not so well for making good Christians.' Oh! ashes of Hawkins and Raleigh, shudder for the results of 'baccy on degraded human nature.' There must be a rarity of good Christians, then amongst the parsons; they are all fond of it. Dean Aldrich was, perhaps, tho greatest smoker of his day. His excessive attachment to this habit was the cause of many wagers. Here's one:—At breakfast, one morning, at the 'Varsity, an undergraduate laid his companion long odds that the Dean was smoking at that instant. Away they hastened; and, being admitted to the Dean's study, stated the occasion of their visit. The Dean replied, in perfect good humor, to the layer of the bet, 'You see, sir, you have lost your wager; for I am not smoking, but filling my pipe.' But—my cigar has reached its last dying speech, and there is but a drop left in the beaker.

'I'll not leave thee, thou lone drop! 'Twould be mighty unkind, Since the rest I have swallow'd, To leave thee behind.'

"Final exhortation. Choose the small, sound, tolerably firm, and elastic cigar: the dwarf contains stuff within which the giant hath not. Don't flatter yourself you're smoking cabbage, if not tobacco—its any odds on rhubarb!

'For me there's nothing new or rare, Till wine deceives my brain; And that, I think, 's a reason fair To fill my pipe again.'"

Charles Lamb, "the gentle Elia" was during a portion of his lifetime a famous smoker. In a letter to Hazlitt he writes, "I am so smoky with last night's ten pipes, that I must leave off." It is said that he smoked only the coarsest and strongest he could procure. Dr. Parr inquired of him how he acquired his "prodigious smoking powers." "I toiled after it, sir," was the reply, "as some men toil after virtue!" Lamb was constant in his use of tobacco, and among all the great luminaries of English literature we know of none more addicted to the use of the pipe. Lamb might often be seen in his chambers in Mitre Court Building, puffing the coarsest weed from a long clay pipe, in company with Parr who used the finest kind of tobacco in a pipe half filled with salt. It was no easy task to relinquish the use of tobacco and it cost him many a struggle and much determined effort. In writing to Wordsworth he says:—"I wish you may think this a handsome farewell to my 'Friendly Traitress.' Tobacco has been my evening comfort and my morning curse for these five years. I have had it in my head to do it (Farewell to Tobacco) these two years; but tobacco stood in its own light when it gave me headaches that prevented my singing its praises."

Lamb's poem is without doubt one of the finest pieces of verse ever written on tobacco, and seemingly contains both words of praise and dispraise—the latter however in some sense are insincere.

"May the Babylonish curse Straight confound my stammering verse If I can a passage see In this word-perplexity, Or a fit expression find, Or a language to my mind, (Still the phrase is wide or scant,) To take leave of thee, GREAT PLANT! Or in my terms relate Half my love, or half my hate; For I hate, yet love thee so, That whichever thing I show, The plain truth will seem to be A constrain'd hyperbole, And the passion to proceed More from a mistress than a weed. Sooty retainer to the vine, Bacchus' black servant, negro fine; Sorcerer, thou mak'st us dote upon Thy begrimed complexion, And for thy pernicious sake, More and greater oaths to break Than reclaimed lovers take 'Gainst women: thou thy siege do'st lay Much too in the female way, While thou suck'st the lab'ring breath Faster than kisses or than death. Thou in such a cloud do'st bind us, That our worst foes cannot find us. And ill fortune that would thwart us, Shoots at rovers shooting at us; While each man through thy height'ning steam Does like a smoking AEtna seem, And all about us does express (Fancy and wit in richest dress) A Sicilian fruitfulness. Thou though such a mist dost show us That our best friends do not know us, And for those allowed features Due to reasonable creatures, Liken'st us to feel Chimeras Monsters that, who see us, fear us; Worse than Cerberus or Geryon, Or, who first loved a cloud, Ixion. Bacchus we know, and we allow, His tipsy rites, but what art thou, That but by reflex canst show What his deity can do, As the false Egyptian spell Aped the true Hebrew miracle? Some few vapors thou may'st raise, The weak brain may serve to amaze, But to the reins and nobler heart Canst nor life nor heat impart. Brother of Bacchus, later born, The old world was sure forlorn, Wanting thee, that aidest more, The gods' victories than before All his panthers, and the brawls, Of his piping Bacchanals. These, as stole, we disallow Or judge of thee meant: only thou His true Indian conquest art; And, for ivy round his dart, The reformed god now weaves A finer thyrsus of thy leaves. Scent to match thy rich perfume— Chemic art did ne'er presume, Through her quaint alembic strain, None so sov'reign to the brain. Nature, that did in thee excel, Framed again no second smell. Roses, Violets but toys For the smaller sort of boys; Or for greener damsels meant; Thou art the only manly scent. Stinking'st of the stinking kind, Filth of the mouth and fog of the mind, Africa, that brags her fois on Breeds no such prodigious poison, Henbane, nightshade, both together, Hemlock, aconite—— Nay, rather, Plant divine of rarest virtue: Blisters on the tongue would hurt you. 'Twas but in a sort I blamed thee; None e'er prospered who defamed thee; Irony all, and feigned abuse, Such as perplex'd lovers use, At a need, when in despair, To paint forth their fairest fair, Or in part but to express That exceeding comeliness Which their fancies doth so strike, They borrow language of dislike; And instead of Dearest Miss, Jewel, Honey, Sweetheart, Bliss, And those forms of old admiring, Call her Cockatrice and Siren, Basilisk, and all that's evil, Witch, Hyena, Mermaid, devil, Ethiop, Wench, and Blackamoor, Monkey, Ape, and twenty more; Friendly traitress, loving foe, Not that she is truly so, But no other may they know, A contentment to express, Borders so upon excess, That they do not rightly wot, Whether it be pain or not; Or, as men constrained to part With what's nearest to their heart, While their sorrow's at the height Lose discrimination quite, And their hasty wrath let fall, To oppose their frantic gall, On the darling thing whatever Whence they feel it death to sever, Though it be, as they, perforce, Guiltless of the sad divorce. For I must (nor let it grieve thee, Friendliest of plants, That I must) leave thee. For thy sake, TOBACCO, I Would do anything but die, And but seek to extend my days Long enough to sing thy praise. But as she who once hath been, A king's consort, is a queen Ever after, nor will bate Any title of her state, Though a widow, or divorced, So I, from thy converse forced, The old name and style retain, A right Katherine of Spain, And a seat, too, 'mongst the joys Of the blest Tobacco Boys; Where, though I, by sour physician, Am debarred the full fruition Of thy favors, I may catch, Some collateral sweets, and snatch, Sidelong odors, that give life Like glances from a neighbor's wife; And still live in the by-places, And the suburbs of thy graces; And in thy borders take delight, An unconquered Canaanite."

Thomas Jones, in the following neat little tribute to tobacco, pays a deserved compliment, not only to the plant, but to the great English smoker, "ye renowned Sir Walter Raleigh."

"Let poets rhyme of what they will, Youth, Beauty, Love or Glory, still My theme shall be Tobacco! Hail, weed, eclipsing every flow'r, Of thee I fain would make my bow'r When fortune frowns, or tempests low'r, Mild comforter of woe!

"They say in truth an angel's foot First brought to life thy precious root, The source of every pleasure! Descending from the skies he press'd With hallow'd touch Earth's yielding breast, Forth sprang the plant, and then was bless'd, As man's chief treasure!

"Throughout the world who knows thee not? Of palace and of lowly cot The universal guest; The friend of Gentile, Turk and Jew, To all a stay—to none untrue, The balm that can our ills subdue, And soothe us into rest.

"With thee the poor man can abide Oppression, want, the scorn of pride, The curse of penury, Companion of his lonely state, He is no longer desolate, And still can brave an adverse fate, With honest worth and thee!

"All honor to the patriot bold, Who brought instead of promised gold, Thy leaf to Britain's shore; It cost him life; but thou shall raise A cloud of fragrance to his praise, And bards shall hail in deathless lays The valiant knight of yore.

"Ay, Raleigh! thou wilt live till Time Shall ring his last oblivious chime, The fruitful theme of story; And man in ages hence shall tell, How greatness, virtue, wisdom fell, When England sounded out thy knell, And dimmed her ancient glory.

"And thou, O Plant! shall keep his name Unwither'd in the scroll of fame, And teach us to remember; He gave with thee content and peace, Bestow'd on life a longer lease, And bidding ev'ry trouble cease, Made Summer of December!"

The smoker of cigarettes is passionately attached to his "little roll" and regards this mode of obtaining the flavor of tobacco the best. The finest are made in Havana and, vast quantities are used by the Cubans and Spaniards. A writer in "The Tobacco Plant" gives this pleasing effusion in regard to them:—

"Your cigarette is a sort of hybrid—half-pipe and half-cigar; neither the one nor the other; neither the delight of the epicure nor the solace of the true tobacco-lover. Far be it from us to deny, or even to question, its value, its utility, or its charm. We have smoked too many to dream of treating them with scorn—cigarettes of Virginia shag, strong, pungent, luscious; of light and fragrant Persian, innocuous and soothing; cigarettes rolled by ladies' dainty fingers, compressed by elegant French machines of silk and silver, cut, stamped, and gummed by prosy, matter-of-fact, and even vulgar Titanic engines in great tobacco-factories. But the thorough-paced smoker renders to his cigarette only a secondary and diluted adoration: it is nice, it is delicate, it is pretty—a thing to be toyed with, to be fondled, even to burn one's fingers (or, perchance, one's lips) withal; but by no means an object to call forth a passion.

"But just as the world would be a tame and an insipid institution were all men's tastes alike, so the world of smokers would lose much of its romance were all the lovers of the weed of temperament too robust to love a cigarette. Brevity and sweetness are proverbially held to constitute claims upon the respect and admiration of the voluptuous, and to the cigarette these cannot be denied. There is something touching in the self-abnegation of a tobaccoite who will devote five mortal minutes and the sweat of his refined intelligence, with the skill of his delicate fingers, to the preparation of a tiny capsule of the weed, which burns itself to ashes in five minutes more. There is a butterfly-beauty about the cigarette to which the cigar and the pipe can lay no claim—a summer charm to stir the dreamy rapture of a poet, and to excite the Lotus-eating philosopher even to analogy. Just as the suns, and flowers, and balmy zephyrs of a century have gone to form the gauzy, multi-colored insect that flits across your path throughout a single summer's day, and then returns to dust and vapor, so the harvest of West-Indian and East-Asian fields, the long voyage of the mariner, the merchant's hours of soil, the steam-power and manual labor of the factory, the thoughtful calculations of the trader, the skill of the tissue-paper maker, all have gone, and more than these, to the creation of a fairy-cylinder of Tobacco, which glows, delights, expires, and meets its end in ten or fifteen fleeting minutes."

Although the cigarette is not a favorite with us, still we admire its use as a sort of appendage to a good dinner, and as preparatory work for a "good smoke." The Spaniards have always been great lovers of their minute rolls, and with them, no other method of burning tobacco appears so delicate or refined. Especially is this true among the ladies, who prefer "Seville cigarettes" to all others. Many smokers make their own cigarettes, sometimes using Havana tobacco, and sometimes making them of two or more kinds. An excellent cigar is made by using equal parts of Virginia and Perique tobacco, or equal parts of Havana and Perique. A fine flavored cigarette is also made from Yara and Havana tobacco, equal parts of each being used. Thos. Hood has signalized his attachment to cigar in the following pleasing little poem:—

THE CIGAR.

"Some sigh for this and that, My wishes don't go far; The world may wag at will, So I have my cigar.

"Some fret themselves to death With Whig and Tory jar; I don't care which is in, So I have my cigar.

"Sir John requests my vote, And so does Mr. Marr; I don't care how it does, So I have my cigar.

"Some want a German row, Some wish a Russian war; I care not. I'm at peace, So I have my cigar.

"I never see the Post, I seldom read the Star; The Globe I scarcely heed, So I have my cigar.

"Honors have come to men My juniors at the Bar; No matter—I can wait, So I have my cigar.

"Ambition frets me not; A cab or glory's car Are just the same to me, So I have my cigar.

"I worship no vain gods, But serve the household Lar; I'm sure to be at home, So I have my cigar.

"I do not seek for fame, A General with a scar; A private let me be, So I have my cigar.

"To have my choice among The toys of life's bazar, The deuce may take them all, So I have my cigar.

"Some minds are often tost By tempests like a tar; I always seem in port, So I have my cigar.

"The ardent flame of love My bosom cannot char, I smoke but do not burn, So I have my cigar.

"They tell me Nancy Low Has married Mr. R.; The jilt! but I can live, So I have my cigar."

Lord Byron, a "good smoker" as well as a great poet, has immortalized his love of the cigar in the following graceful lines:—

"Sublime Tobacco! which from east to west, Cheers the tars labors, and the Turkman's rest— Which on the Moslem's ottoman divides His hours, and rivals opium and his brides; Magnificent in Stamboul, but less grand, Though not less loved in Wapping or the Strand; Divine in hookhas, glorious in a pipe, When tipped with amber, mellow, rich, and ripe, Like other charms, wooing the caress More dazzingly when dawning in full dress. Yet thy true lovers more admire by far Thy naked beauties—Give me a Cigar!"

Having given a general description of the cigar and its mode of manufacture, we come now to a more particular account of the various kinds known as the best and of world-wide reputation. Standing at the head of the various kinds of cigars, either of the Old or New World, are those known to all smokers as:

HAVANA CIGARS.



These are, by common consent, the finest in the world. They possess every quality desirable in a cigar, and seemingly to its greatest extent. Grown in the richest portion of the tropical world, the leaf has a rich, oily appearance, and, when made into cigars, possesses a flavor as rich as it is rare. Unlike most tobaccos suitable for cigars, every taste can be met in the Havana cigars, its many varieties of flavor and strength suiting it alike to both sexes, and to the making of the delicate cigarette or the largest Cabanas. These cigars are made up of all the various colors and parts of the leaf, and also of all sizes common to the trade. In shape they are usually round, though sometimes pressed (flat), and in color are (according to our description) light and dark brown, light and dark red, straw colored and dark straw colored, and some other shades or strengths. It is necessary to have all the various shades of color in order to meet the demand for the various flavors desired. Without doubt a greater variety of flavors can be found among Havana cigars than in any other kind, owing to the many shades of color, which determines the strength and flavor of the cigar. The Havana cigar is made of a leaf tobacco well known for its good burning qualities, when properly cured and sweated,—burning with a clear, steady light, leaving a fine white or pearl-colored ash, according to the color chosen. These cigars rarely "char" in burning; certainly not, if made of good quality of tobacco and thoroughly sweat. If a full-flavored cigar is desired, choose the dark colors, and the lighter if a mild cigar is preferable. The lighter the color of the tobacco the lighter the ash and the milder the flavor of the cigar. Light-colored cigars usually burn freer and more evenly than dark ones. In selecting a cigar for its good burning qualities, choose those (if such are to be had) covered with white specks, or white rust; such cigars burn well, as white rust is found only on well-ripened leaves. Select a firm, well-made cigar—one that contains a good quantity of fillers—avoiding, however, in Havana cigars, one made too nicely, as it is sometimes the case that superior external appearance is made to cover defects in the more important qualities.

Such a selection will insure a cigar of good quality; one that will hold fire and last the length of time appropriate to its size. A cigar should not be chosen simply because it is made well, and neither because its outside appearance (wrapper) is fine, both in color and quality of leaf; rather depend upon the manufacture of the brand. Havana cigars have as many distinct flavors as there are colors of the leaf, ranging from very mild to very strong.

The first great requisite of a cigar is its burning quality, and the second its flavor; without the first the latter is of little value. A cigar made from leaf that does not burn freely will not possess any desirable flavor, but will char and emit rank-smelling smoke, without any desirable feature whatever. When both of these qualities are in a measure perfect the cigar will prove to be good. There are two varieties, at least, known as non-burning tobacco, of which we shall speak hereafter. The flavor and burning quality of a cigar always determine its character, and are found in perfection in those made of fine even-colored leaf. Dark cigars have a thicker leaf or more body, and consequently are stronger than light-colored cigars. When the cigar is made of fine, well-sweat tobacco, and contains the full quantity of fillers, the pellet of ashes will be firm and strong, and should possess the same color all through, if the filler, binder and wrapper are of the same shade of color. The finest-flavored cigars are those of a medium shade, between a light and a dark brown,—not so dark as to be of strong, rank taste, or so mild as to be deficient in a decided tobacco flavor, but simply possessing sufficient strength to give character to the cigar.

YARA CIGARS.



This variety of cigars is made from tobacco grown on the Island of Cuba, bearing the same name as the cigars. They are highly esteemed by those who smoke only this kind, but are not liked by most smokers of Havana cigars. Most of them are exported to Europe, very few of them finding their way to this country. It is somewhat difficult to compare them with Havana cigars, as the flavor is essentially different. In comparison with other brands made upon the Island, the Yara holds an unimportant place, yet, in some parts of Cuba, it is preferred to any other kind. In London the Yara is a favorite with many old smokers, who use no others. Old smokers describe the Yara cigar as having a "sweet" flavor, but one unaccustomed to them, like Hazard and others, pronounce them bitter, and having a "peculiar saline taste." It can, doubtless, be said with truth concerning the Yara cigar, that unlike other varieties, such as Havana, Manilla, Paraguayan, Swiss and Brazil, the taste for them is not natural, but, when once formed, becomes very decided. As a general rule smokers of Yara cigars think other kinds are deficient in flavor, and are wanting in quality, because they lack the peculiar flavor belonging only to Yara cigars. Be this as it may, we hardly think the Yara cigar suited to the cigarist's taste at the present time. Its aromatic flavor is not adapted to the general taste, and some little time is required to develop a decided love for it. We prefer the "Cubas," made from a good quality of leaf grown near Trinidad, Puerto-Principe, and other cities east of Havana. The peculiar flavor of Yara cigars is owing to the character of the soil, rather than to any artificial process employed in manufacturing. In moistening Havana leaf Catalan wine is used, and other flavoring extracts. This may (and does) change the condition and quality of the tobacco, but even with this treatment, the flavor of Yara tobacco would be unlike that of Havana leaf.

MANILLA CIGARS.



This well-known variety of cigars is manufactured from Manilla tobacco grown in Luzerne, one of the Philippine Islands, which is known as superior leaf for cigar purposes. Manilla cigars have an extensive reputation, but principally in the East and in Europe. These cigars are made in various forms and shapes, some of them are called cheroots (the term used in the East for cigars) and are principally known for their aromatic flavor, entirely distinct from that of Havana cigars. Some smokers think that they have the same effect as varieties of tobacco that have been moistened with the juice of the poppy, giving the cigar a flavor like that of opium, and as a natural result, securing a light-colored ash. There are not as many colors of Manilla cigars as there are of Havana, and they are not as closely assorted. Some of them are a high-cinnamon color, and are far from being a strong cigar. Their flavor is not always uniform, and is not denoted by the color as in other varieties. The flavor is not unpleasant, but is better suited to those who prefer a mild rather than a full flavored cigar. The aroma is pleasant and mild, and to those but little acquainted with them, agreeable. Manilla tobacco usually burns well, if the leaf is of good quality and well sweated, still it is known as a non-burning tobacco. As the tobacco is of good body, the cigars do not usually burn as well as other kinds. Select a light-colored rather than a dark cigar if one of good quality is desired. Both the cigars and cheroots are made of the same quality of leaf, and are of about the same size—differing, however, in shape. There are but few grades of Manilla cigars, and most of them are solid and well wrapped. They are flat rather than round, and draw well but do not hold fire like some other cigars. The leaf makes a very good wrapper for a tobacco of its thickness and strength.

SWISS CIGARS.



These well-known cigars have but little reputation in this country, owing to the fact of their being but little known. In Europe the cigars of Luzerne have no insignificant reputation, and are generally liked by smokers who prefer a mild and agreeable cigar. These cigars are usually dark-colored, but not strong, and have but little variety of flavor. Travelers and tourists through Switzerland speak of Swiss cigars as being of agreeable flavor, and unlike any other found in Europe. With American tobacco, those of a dark color are usually strong, but with European tobaccos this is not always the case—they possess much less strength, and can be used more freely than the tobacco of America. These cigars are usually pressed, and burn well, leaving a dark-colored ash, and emitting a fragrant odor. Most of those used in this country may be more properly termed cheroots, both ends being cut, allowing a free passage of air, which is usually the case with all kinds of cheroots, or Eastern and European cigars. There is not that freshness of flavor to Swiss cigars peculiar to Havana's, and they lack that essential quality which renders the latter so delicious and enjoyable. The Swiss cigar is in perfection when just made or rolled, and such should be chosen instead of those that have been made for some time and closely packed and dried.

PARAGUAY CIGARS.



These cigars are made of one of the finest varieties of leaf tobacco known to commerce. Although unknown to this country—both the cigars and the leaf tobacco have a deserved reputation in Europe, and it is beyond all question one of the finest tobaccos in the world for cigars. These cigars have a delicacy of flavor unapproachable in any other variety, and may justly be termed the finest at least of all South American cigars. It is one of the finest burning tobaccos in the world, and does not fail to suit the taste of the most fastidious of smokers. The finest are of dark color and wholly free from any rank or unpleasant taste. These cigars are uniformly mild and have but little variety of flavor, the ash is dark-colored, firm and strong, clinging with tenacity to the cigar, which is the best evidence of the quality of the leaf. In Paraguay they are considered superior to all other kinds and are smoked continuously without any seemingly ill effect. Page alludes to the custom of smoking as being universal, "Men, women, and children—delicate, refined girls, and youngsters who would not with us be promoted to the dignity of pantaloons—smoke with a gravity and gusto that is irresistibly ludicrous to a foreigner." The Paraguayans consider excessive smoking of other tobacco as injurious but not of the delicate flavored leaf of Paraguay. These cigars are rolled firm and strong usually small and hold fire until the entire cigar has been consumed.

GUATEMALA CIGARS.

This variety of cigars, although of excellent flavor, is hardly known outside of Central America. They are made from Guatemala tobacco—one of the few varieties of tobacco bearing white blossoms, and possessed of a similar flavor to Mexican tobacco. Although Guatemala tobacco has not been thoroughly tested by the great manufacturers of cigars either in Europe or America, it doubtless is well suited for cigars. It is a distinct variety from those kinds bearing pink and yellow blossoms, and its growth and quality would seem to suggest some doubt as to its quality and adaptability for cigars. Stephens and other travelers seem to regard it as tobacco of excellent quality, and allude to its constant use by the ladies who smoke puros, a cigar made of a single leaf, or formed entirely of tobacco. They also use the papelotes wrapped in paper and sometimes in the dried leaf of maize. It would seem probable from the climate of Central America, that Guatemala tobacco would be exactly suited for the manufacture of cigars, but so little is known concerning it, and its cultivation is so limited, that at present it is simply a matter of conjecture.

BRAZILIAN CIGARS.

The cigars of Brazil, like those made of South American tobacco, are noted for their superior flavor. They are made of "Brazilian Aromatic" one of the finest tobaccos of Brazil. Although but little known in this country, both the tobacco and the cigars are highly esteemed in Europe, where most of the leaf is sent. Both Brazilian cigars and the celebrated "Tauri Cigarettes" possess a delicacy of flavor, described by travelers as unapproachable by any other variety of cigars and cigarettes. A late traveler says concerning them:—"Accustomed to smoke only Havana cigars, I was unprepared to recognize any others as being worthy even of the name of cigars. I was presented with a box of Brazilian cigars of commendable size and finish, of a dark color and of a good flavor, before trying them, I ignited one, merely to test their quality and not from any impression that they were worth even the value of the cheapest Havanas. Great was my surprise to find them of an agreeable flavor and very pleasant to the taste."

The leaf is very thin, and without doubt, well suited for a cigar wrapper. The flavor of all cigars made from South American tobacco is similar, especially those made from tobacco grown east of the Andes. A writer, alluding to their mode of manufacturing cigars for their own use says:

"They take the leaf after it is cured and ready for manufacture into cigars, and dampen it, not with pure water but with water containing the juice of the poppy so as to produce the effect of opium. When prepared in this manner they are much esteemed by the Brazilians and especially by the herders."

AMERICAN CIGARS.

This was the name given to cigars made some forty or fifty years ago composed of Connecticut seed-leaf, or as it was then called, American tobacco. The fillers were selected from various kinds of tobacco, including Virginia, Kentucky, and Spanish, using for a wrapper Spanish, American or Maryland leaf. At this time the tobacco was not sorted as now, and was made up into cigars after being stripped, but the cigars after being manufactured were kept for some time before they were sold. At this time but little pains comparatively was taken in their manufacture: they were not assorted or shaded according to the present standard, and were packed in chestnut instead of cedar boxes containing from one to five hundred cigars each. A manufacturer of cigars nearly fifty years ago gives the following account of his method: "We selected for wrappers those leaves having white specks (white rust) upon them, which greatly increased the sale of the cigars, and which were considered by smokers to be much better than those not wound with fancy wrappers. After the cigars were packed in the boxes a little Spanish bean was grated upon the cigars, or a single bean was placed between the cigars in the box." At this time some little taste was evinced for colors, and cigars of a "bright cinnamon red," and afterwards, of a dark brown, were considered the finest, while leaf that was black was considered worthless for wrappers. A kind of cigar which is distinctly American and which is made to a considerable extent, is called a seed cigar, and is made from tobacco grown in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio. These cigars have but little reputation, and are of inferior quality and manufacture. A very good cigar, call a "sprig cigar," is made from Havana and Connecticut seed-leaf filler wound with a seed wrapper which gives a good flavor similar to clear Havana.

A full flavored cigar like a sip of rare old wine is inspiring to a lover of the "royal plant" and amid the sublime and companionable thoughts that its fragrance engenders, one is led oftentimes to reflect on its rare virtues and the benign effects it produces wherever known. Thus it lightens the toil of the weary laborer plodding along the highway of life. The student poring over musty tomes sees with a clearer perception as its fragrance accompanies him along the pathway of science and of history. The poet "as those wreathes up go" sees Helicon's fresh founts flowing clearer and purer. The musician "lord of sounds," evokes tones from his instrument never before heard by mortal ear. The warrior, "fresh from glory's field" is charmed by its fragrance as he dreams of shattered battalions and sleeping hosts. The farmer nurtured amid the odors of the "balmy plant" honors the "useless weed" as a promoter of happiness and an increaser of gains. While:

"Kings smoke when they ruminate Over grave affairs of state."

The exile too, far from home and kindred smokes on as he muses of happier hours gone never to return. And thus amid all the varied ranks and walks of life this solace of the mind and comfort of life exhales its fragrance and breathes its benedictions over all.



CHAPTER X.

TOBACCO PLANTERS AND PLANTATIONS.

The grounds selected for the cultivation of tobacco are called by various names even in the same countries. Thus in the Connecticut Valley, such lands are called tobacco fields, at the South they are known as tobacco plantations, while in Cuba they are called Vegas or tobacco farms. In Cuba almost the entire tobacco farm is planted to tobacco while at the South and in New England this is rarely the case unless the plantations or tobacco farms are small and contain but a few acres. In the Connecticut Valley and more especially along the banks of the Connecticut River, where the farms are frequently small, this is sometimes the case but farther removed from the river, where the farms are much larger but a few acres of the best land is used for this purpose.

In the Connecticut Valley the tobacco fields average from one to forty acres, rarely exceeding the latter and indeed seldom including as large an area. The average size of tobacco fields is about five acres—sometimes all in one lot but oftener divided into several small pieces on various parts of the farm.

The Connecticut planter is deeply interested in the plant and gives it his undivided attention from seed-sowing until it is sold to the speculator or manufacturer. All other crops in his opinion are of but little importance compared with the great New England product, one crop is frequently not off his hands before he is preparing for another. The Connecticut planter stands first in the rank of tobacco growers; he is thoroughly acquainted with the nature of the plant and knows just what land to select and what kind of fertilizers to apply. He has reduced the cultivation to almost an exact science and can obtain (the season being favorable) the color most desirable. He has thoroughly tested all kinds of fertilizers, and knows just what kinds will produce the various shades of color as well as the desired texture and size of leaf. No other tobacco planter so thoroughly understands the methods of curing, sweating and doing up the crop, and he takes no little pride in showing his crop to the buyer.



It is his aim to obtain not only the best leaf for a cigar-wrapper but also a tobacco of the finest possible flavor; hence he tries the principal varieties grown in Cuba, Brazil and other countries in order to judge of their quality and whether they can be cultivated with profit on his lands. He has the best constructed sheds for hanging and curing and the latest and most improved agricultural implements for the cultivation of the plants. The greatest pains are taken in securing the crop and harvesting and handling the plants without injuring the leaves. The tobacco fields are kept in the best possible condition, no weeds or grass is allowed to grow and the entire surface is as free from stones as a lawn. He usually, if his farm is small, plants the same field year after year, securing a much finer leaf and by yearly manuring keeping the ground fertile and in good condition. When the tobacco is stripped the utmost care is taken to assort the leaves and he frequently shades or assorts the colors, obtaining fancy prices for such "selections."

The Connecticut grower is well acquainted with the different soils, and is able to judge with considerable accuracy in regard to selecting the right fields for tobacco. The warmest land is chosen—mellow and free from stones or shaded by trees and prepared as if for a garden. All of the improved methods of obtaining early plants as well as transplanting, he adopts, and in spite of early freezing, is generally able to outwit Jack Frost, and secure the plants before this great foe of the weed ravages the fields. It may safely be said of the Connecticut planter that he secures more even crops than any other grower of the plant, and obtains the finest colored leaf for cigar wrappers.

The growers are thoroughly informed as regards the prices, and although the buyers may steal suddenly upon them, are generally prepared to "set" a price upon their crops. Some refuse to sell on the poles, or even after it is stripped, preferring to pack their tobacco until it has passed through the sweat, when larger prices are obtained. Many growers not only pack their own crop, but buy up that of others, thus acting as both producer and buyer. During the growing of the crop, and particularly after it has been cured and stripped, the growers congregate together, and talk over the condition of the crop and the prices likely to be realized. Sometimes they form an association or club, agreeing to "hold" the tobacco for satisfactory prices, and frequently employing an agent to sell the crop. Many of the tobacco fields or farms in the Connecticut valley are very valuable, especially those near large cities and means of transportation; such lands often selling for one thousand dollars per acre.

The finest tobacco lands in the Connecticut valley are located in the vicinity of Hartford about fifty miles from Long Island Sound. These lands are near enough to the sound to get the salts in the atmosphere from the south winds that blow up the valley in the precise amount which the plant needs. Not much farther north does the atmosphere possess this peculiar quality, while lower down the river the salt air is too strong for the plant, and the leaves in consequence are thick and harsh. Fine tobacco leaves can be manufactured as well as fine broadcloth or costly silks. These results depend in a great manner upon the proper soil and the fertilizers, applied together with the most thorough cultivation of the plants. The soil of our best Connecticut tobacco fields is alluvial, varying in composition from a heavy sandy loam to a light one containing very little clay.

For the past few years light soil has been preferred for the tobacco field, on account of the demand for light colored leaf. The soil can hardly be too light when leaf of a light cinnamon color is desired; as the color of all kinds of tobacco depends upon the soil and the fertilizers used.

A quarter of a century since Havana tobacco commanded very high prices, both in this country and in Europe. It burnt freely and purely. The Cuban planters, although getting rich on the ordinary crops, were not satisfied with their gains, and attempted to increase their crops by the use of guano and artificial fertilizers. They secured heavier crops, but the quality became poorer. The prices fell off and the planters did not realize as much for their crops as formerly, although the growth was larger. About this time Connecticut seed leaf became known as a cigar wrapper, and in a short time took the lead for this purpose, as it still continues to. It cured finely, burnt white and free, and in a short time brought high prices. The profit realized from its growth led some Connecticut growers into the same mistake as it did the Cuban planters, when they, by misguided culture, nearly ruined their crops and injured the reputation of Cuban tobacco.

Artificial fertilizers and strong manure produce a leaf larger and heavier, but their effect on the character of the leaf is injurious, the salts destroying its fine qualities, so that it sweats and cures poorly, and compared with the finest leaf burns dark and emits a rank and unpleasant odor.

The Connecticut tobacco grower requires considerable capital when engaged extensively in the business, as ordinarily he buys large quantities of fertilizers and requires many hands to cultivate the crop. On the largest tobacco farms the sheds or "hanging houses" are built near or in the field, and are sometimes very large, say two or three hundred feet in length, and capable of holding the crop of from five to ten acres.



His broad fields of the weed can usually be seen from his house and he loves to show to visitors the plants growing in all their luxuriance, or to sit on his piazza and call attention to their waving leaves and graceful showy tops. Few tobacco-growers can discuss the relative merits of the numerous varieties like the Connecticut planter, and he is well acquainted not only with the various kinds grown in his own country but also with those of others. Indeed you may often see growing in his garden specimens of Cuban, Brazil or Latakia tobacco; such is his love for all that pertains to this great tropical plant. He considers it one of the greatest of all the vegetable products and never tires of lauding the plant and its use. He sincerely hates all anti-tobaccoites and has a supreme disgust for the memory of King James I. and all royal foes of the plant. He is, however, a man of large and liberal views and bestows his favors with a princely hand. If fortune frowns he may lessen his crop but never his attachment for the plant. Amid all the cares and perplexities incident to life, he puffs away and as the ashes drop from his cigar meditates upon the probable future of tobacco growers and all users of the weed.

The Connecticut tobacco grower is in all respects a man of genuine refinement and nobility of soul. He is always ready to give information on his particular system of culture, and how he obtains such large and fine crops. He is a good judge of leaf tobacco, and can tell in a moment the quality of his famous variety. He is thoroughly awake to modern improvements, and always willing to try new implements, such as tobacco hangers or transplanters in his sheds or fields. He is just the person one likes to meet, jovial and good-natured; he naturally loves the plant he cultivates and uses it freely; lighting his after-dinner cigar or evening pipe with a gusto that is peculiar to the grower of tobacco everywhere. Indeed he is hardly in a proper frame of mind to converse about tobacco until he lights a cigar.

No other cultivator of the soil gains as many friends as the tobacco-grower. His table is well supplied from the choicest his larder affords and he cheerfully welcomes all to its side. He is the friend of the poor and the companion of the rich. No meanness or low chicanery is his. His attachment for home, friends, and country is as firm and strong as for the plant he cultivates.

Olmsted in his work "The Seaboard Slave States" gives the following description of a Virginia plantation:



"Half an hour after this I arrived at the negro quarters—a little hamlet of ten or twelve small and dilapidated cabins. Just beyond them was a plain farm gate at which several negroes were standing; one of them, a well-made man, with an intelligent countenance and prompt manner, directed me how to find my way to his owner's house. It was still nearly a mile distant; and yet, until I arrived in its immediate vicinity, I saw no cultivated field, and but one clearing.

"In the edge of this clearing, a number of negroes, male and female, lay stretched out upon the ground near a small smoking charcoal pit. Their master afterwards informed me that they were burning charcoal for the plantation blacksmith, using the time allowed them for holidays—from Christmas to New Years—to earn a little money for themselves in this way. He paid them by the bushel for it. When I said that I supposed he allowed them to take what wood they chose for this purpose, he replied that he had five hundred acres covered with wood, which he would be very glad to have any one burn, or clear off in any way. Cannot some Yankee contrive a method of concentrating some of the valuable properties of this old field pine, so that they may be profitably brought into use in more cultivated regions? Charcoal is now brought from Virginia; but when made from pine it is not very valuable, and will only bear transportation from the banks of the navigable rivers whence it can be shipped, at one movement to New York. Turpentine does not flow in sufficient quantity from this variety of the pine to be profitably collected, and for lumber it is of very small value.



"Mr. W.'s house was an old family mansion, which he had himself remodeled in the Grecian style, and furnished with a large wooden portico. An oak forest had originally occupied the ground where it stood; but this having been cleared and the soil worn out in cultivation by the previous proprietors, pine woods now surrounded it in every direction; a square of a few acres only being kept clear immediately about it. A number of the old oaks still stood in the rear of the house, and, until Mr. W. commenced his improvements, there had been some in its front. These, however, he had cut away, as interfering with the symmetry of his grounds, and in place of them had ailanthus trees in parallel rows.

"On three sides of the outer part of the cleared square there was a row of large and comfortable-looking negro quarters, stables, tobacco-houses, and other offices, built of logs. Mr. W. was one of the few large planters, of his vicinity, who still made the culture of tobacco their principal business. He said there was a general prejudice against tobacco, in all the tide water regions of the State, because it was through the culture of tobacco that the once fertile soil had been impoverished; but he did not believe that, at the present value of negroes, their labor could be applied to the culture of grain with any profit, except under peculiarly favorable circumstances. Possibly the use of guano might make wheat a paying crop, but he still doubted. He had not used it, himself. Tobacco required fresh land, and was rapidly exhausting, but it returned more money, for the labor used upon it, than anything else; enough more, in his opinion to pay for the wearing out of the land. If he was well paid for it, he did not know why he should not wear out his land. His tobacco-fields were nearly all in a distant and lower part of his plantation; land which had been neglected before his time, in a great measure, because it had been sometimes flooded, and was, much of the year, too wet for cultivation. He was draining and clearing it, and it now brought good crops. He had had an Irish gang draining for him, by contract. He thought a negro could do twice as much work in a day as an Irishman. He had not stood over them and seen them at work, but judged entirely from the amount they accomplished: he thought a good gang of negroes would have got on twice as fast. He was sure they must have 'trifled' a great deal, or they would have accomplished more than they had. He complained much of their sprees and quarrels. I asked why he should employ Irishmen, in preference to doing the work with his own hands. It's dangerous work, (unhealthy!) and a negro's life is too valuable to be risked at it. If a negro dies it's a considerable loss, you know.' He afterwards said that his negroes never worked so hard as to tire themselves—always were lively, and ready to go off on a frolic at night. He did not think they ever did half a fair day's work. They could not be made to work hard: they never would lay out their strength freely, and it was impossible to make them do it. This is just what I have thought when I have seen slaves at work—they seem to go through the motions of labor without putting strength into them. They keep their powers in reserve for their own use at night, perhaps.

"Mr. W. also said that he cultivated only the coarser and lower-priced sorts of tobacco, because the finer sorts required more pains-taking and discretion than it was possible to make a large gang of negroes use. 'You can make a nigger work,' be said, 'but you cannot make him think.'"

In speaking of the early tobacco culture of Virginia, he says:—

The light, rich mould resting on the sandy soil of Eastern Virginia was exactly suited to the cultivation of tobacco, and no better climate for this plant was to be found on the globe. This had just been sufficiently proved, and a suitable method of culture learned experimentally, when the land was offered to individual proprietors by the king, (James I.) Very little else was to be obtained from the soil which would be of value to send to Europe, without an application to it of a higher degree of art than the slaves, or stupid, careless servants of the proprietors could readily be forced to use. Although tobacco had been introduced into England but a few years, an enormous number of persons had initiated themselves in the appreciation of its mysterious value.

"The king, having taken a violent prejudice against it, though he saw no harm in the distillation of grain, had forbidden that it should be cultivated in England. Virginia, therefore, had every advantage to supply the demand. Merchants and the super-cargoes of ships, arriving with slaves from Africa, or manufactured goods, spirits, or other luxuries from England, very gladly bartered them with the planters for tobacco, but for nothing else. Tobacco, therefore, stood for money, and the passion for raising it, to the exclusion of everything else, became a mania, like the 'California fever' of 1849.

"The culture being once established, there were many reasons growing out of the social structure of the colony, which, for more than a century, kept the industry of the Virginians confined to this one staple. These reasons were chiefly the difficulty of breaking the slaves, or training the bond-servants to new methods of labor, the want of enterprise or ingenuity of the proprietors to contrive other profitable occupations for them, and the difficulty or expense of distributing the guard or oversight, without which it was impossible to get any work done at all, if the laborers were separated, or worked in any other way than side by side, in gangs, as in the tobacco-fields.

"Owing to these causes the planters kept on raising tobacco with hardly sufficient intermission to provide sustenance, though often, by reason of the excessive quantity raised, scarcely anything could be got for it. Tobacco is not now considered peculiarly and excessively exhaustive; in a judicious rotation, especially as a preparation for wheat, it is an admirable fallow crop, and, under a scientific system of agriculture, it is grown with no continued detriment to the soil. But in Virginia it was grown without interruption or alternation, and the plantations rapidly deteriorated in fertility. As they did so, the crops grew smaller in proportion to the labor expended upon them; yet, from the continued importation of laborers, the total crops of the colony increased annually, and the market value fell proportionately to the better supply.

"With smaller return for labor and lower prices, the planters soon found themselves bankrupt, instead of nabobs. How could they help themselves? Only by forcing the merchants to pay them higher prices. But how to do that, when every planter had his crop pledged in advance, and was obliged to hurry it off at any price he could get for it, in order to pay for his food, and drink, and clothing, and to keep his head above water at credit for the following year. The crop supplied more tobacco than was needed, but no one man would cease to plant it, or lessen his crop for the general good. Then it was agreed all men must be made to do so, and the colonial legislature was called upon to make them.

"Acts were accordingly passed to prevent any planter from cultivating more than a certain number of plants to each hand he employed in labor, and prescribing the number of leaves which might be permitted to ripen upon each plant permitted to be grown. An inspection of all tobacco, after it had been prepared for market, was decreed, and the inspectors were bound by oath, after having rejected all of inferior quality, to divide the good into two equal parts, and then to burn and destroy one of them. Thus, it was expected the quantity of tobacco offered for sale would be so small that merchants would be glad to pay better prices for it, and the planters would be relieved of their embarrassment."

Mrs. M. P. Handy gives the following interesting sketch, entitled "On the Tobacco Plantation":—



"Riding through Southside, Virginia, any warm, bright winter's day after Christmas, the stranger may be startled to see a dense column of smoke rising from the forest beyond. He anxiously inquires of the first person he meets—probably a negro—if the woods are on fire. Cuffee shows his white teeth in a grin that is half amusement, half contempt, as he answers: 'No, sar, deys jis burnin' a plant-patch.' For this is the first step in tobacco-culture.

"A sunny, sheltered spot on the southern slope of a hill is selected, one protected from northern winds by the surrounding forest, but open to the sun in front, and here the hot-bed for the reception of the seed is prepared. All growth is felled within the area needed, large dead logs are dragged and heaped on the ground as for a holocaust, the whole ignited, and the fire kept up until nothing is left of the immense wood-heap but circles of the smoldering ashes. These are afterward carefully plowed in; the soil, fertilized still further, if need be, is harrowed and prepared as though for a garden-bed, and the small brown seed sown, from which is to spring the most widely-used of man's useless luxuries. Later, when the spring fairly opens, and the young plants in this primitive hot-bed are large and strong enough to bear transplanting, the Virginian draws them, as the New Englander does his cabbages, and plants them in like manner, in hills from two to four feet apart each way. Lucky is he whose plant-bed has escaped the fly, the first enemy of the precious weed. Its attacks are made upon it in the first stage of its existence, and are more fatal, because less easily prevented, than those of the tobacco-worm, that scourge, par excellence, of the tobacco crop. Farmers often lose their entire stock of plants, and are forced to send miles to beg or buy of a more fortunate planter. Freshly-cleared land—'new ground,' as the negroes call it—makes the best tobacco-field, and on this and the rich lowlands throughout Southside is raised the staple known through the world as James River tobacco.

"On this crop the planter lavishes his choicest fertilizers; for the ranker the growth, the longer and larger the leaf, the greater is the value thereof, though the manufacturers complain bitterly of the free use of guano, which, they say, destroys the resinous gum on which the value of the leaf depends. Once set, the young plant must contend, not only with the ordinary risk of transplanting, but the cut-worm is now to be dreaded. Working underground, it severs the stem just above the root, and the first intimation of its presence is the prone and drooping plant. For this there is no remedy, except to plant and replant, until the tobacco itself kills the worm. In one instance, which came under our observation, a single field was replanted six times before the planter succeeded in getting 'a good stand,' as they call it on the plantations; but this was an extreme case.



"When the plants are fairly started in their growth, the planter tops and primes them, processes performed, the first by pinching off the top bud, which would else run to seed, and the second by removing the lower leaves of each plant, leaving bare a space of some inches near the ground, and retaining from six to a dozen stout, well-formed leaves on each stem, according to the promise of the soil and season, and these leaves form the crop. The rejected lower leaves or primings, in the days of slavery, formed one of the mistress' perquisites and were carefully collected by the 'house-gang,' as the force was styled, strung on small sharp sticks like exaggerated meat-skewers, and cured, first in the sun, afterwards in the barn, often placing a pretty penny in her private purse. Now when all labor must be paid for in money, they are not worth collecting, and, except when some thrifty freedman has a large family which he wishes to turn to account, are left to wither where they fall.

"There is absolutely no rest on a large tobacco plantation, one step following another in the cultivation of the troublesome weed—the last year's crop is rarely shipped to market before the seed must be sown for the next—and planting and replanting, topping and priming, suckering and worming, crowd on each other through all the summer months. Withal the ground must be rigidly kept free from grass and weeds, and after the plants have attained any size this must be done by hoe; horse and plow would break and bruise the brittle leaves.

"'Suckering' is performed by removing every leaf-bud which the plant throws out after the priming (and topping), thus retaining all its sap and strength for the development of the leaves already formed, and this must be done again and again through the whole season. Worming is still more tedious and unremitting. In the animal kingdom there are three creatures, and three only, to whom tobacco is not poisonous—man, a goat found among the Andes, and the tobacco-worm. This last is a long, smooth-skinned worm, its body formed of successive knobs or rings, furnished each with a pair of legs, large prominent eyes, and is in color as green as the leaf upon which it feeds. It is found only on the under side of the leaves, every one of which must be carefully lifted and examined for its presence. Women make better wormers than men, probably because they are more patient and painstaking. When caught the worm is pulled apart between the thumb and finger, for crushing it in the soft mold of the carefully cultivated fields is impossible. Carelessness in worming was an unpardonable offence in the days of slavery, and was frequently punished with great severity. An occasional penalty on some plantations—very few, in justice to Virginia planters be it said—was to compel the delinquent wormer to bite in two the disgusting worm discovered in his or her row by the lynx-eyed overseer. Valuable coadjutors in this work are the housewife's flock of turkeys, which are allowed the range of the tobacco lots near the house, and which destroy the worms by scores. The moth, whose egg produces these larvae, is a large white miller of unusual size and prolificness. Liberal and kind masters would frequently offer the negro children a reward for every miller captured, and many were the pennies won in this way. One of these insects, placed one evening under an inverted tumbler, was found next morning to have deposited over two hundred eggs on the glass.



"As the plant matures the leaves grow heavy, and, thick with gum, droop gracefully over from the plant. Then as they ripen, one by one the plants are cut, some inches below the first leaves, with short stout knives,—scythe or reaper is useless here,—and hung, heads down, on scaffolds, in the open air, till ready to be taken to the barn. A Virginia tobacco-barn is totally unlike any other building under the sun. Square as to the ground plan, its height is usually twice its width and length. In the center of the bare earthen floor is the trench for firing; around the sides runs a raised platform for placing the leaves in bulk; and, commencing at a safe distance from the fire, up to the top of the tall building, reach beams stretching across for the reception of the tobacco-sticks, thick pine laths, from which are suspended the heavy plants. Safely housed and beyond all danger of the frost, whose slightest touch is sufficient to blacken and destroy it, the crop is now ready for firing, and through the late autumn days blue clouds of smoke hover over and around the steep roofs of the tall tobacco-barns. A stranger might suppose the buildings on fire, but not a blaze is within, the object here, as in bacon-curing, being smoke, not fire.

"For this the old field-pine is eschewed, and the planter draws on his stock of oak and hickory-trees. Many use sassafras and sweet gum in preference to all other woods for this purpose, under the impression that they improve the flavor of the tobacco-leaf. When the leaves, fully cured, have taken the rich brown hue of the tobacco of commerce, so unlike the deep green of the growing plant that a person familiar with the one would never recognize the other as the same plant, the planter must fold his hands and wait until they are in condition for what is technically known as striking, i. e., taking down from the rafters on which they are suspended. Touch the tobacco when too dry and it crumbles, disturb it when too high or damp, and its value for shipping is materially lessened, while if handled in too cold weather it becomes harsh. But there comes a mild damp spell, and the watchful planter seizing the right moment, since tobacco, like time and tide, waits for no man, musters all the force he can command for the work of stripping and stemming. This done, the leaves are sorted and tied in bundles, several being held in one hand, while around the stalk-end of the cluster is wrapped another leaf, the loose end of which is tucked through the center of the bundle. Great care is taken in this operation not to break the leaf, and oil or lard is freely used in the work. During this process the crop is divided into the various grades of commerce from 'long bright' leaf to 'lugs' the lowest grade known to manufacturers. These last are not packed into hogsheads, but are sent loose, and sold without the trouble of prizing, in the nearest market-town.

"Shades imperceptible to a novice, serve to determine the value of the leaf. As it varies in color, texture, and length, so fluctuates its market price, and at least half the battle lies in the manner in which the crop has been handled in curing. From the mountainous counties of South-western Virginia, Franklin, Henry, and Patrick, comes all the rarest and the most valuable tobacco, 'fancy wrappers' but these crops are smaller in proportion to those raised along the lowlands of the rivers. This tobacco is much lighter in color, much softer in texture, than the ordinary staple, and is frequently as soft and fine as silk. Some years ago a bonnet made of this tobacco was exhibited at the Border Agricultural Fair, and had somewhat the appearance of brown silk. Only one such plant have I ever seen grown in Southside, and that, a bright golden brown, and nearly two feet in length, was carefully preserved for show on the parlor-mantel of the planter who raised it.

"After tying, the bundles are placed in bulk, and when again 'in order,' are 'prized' or packed into the hogsheads,—no smoothly-planed and iron-hooped cask, by the way, but huge pine structures very roughly made. The old machine for prizing was a primitive affair, the upright beam through which ran another at right angles, turning slightly on a pivot, heavily weighted at one end, and used as a lever for compressing the brown mass into the hogsheads. Now, most well-to-do planters own a tobacco straightener and screw-press, inventions which materially lessen the manual labor of preparing the crop for market. Each hogshead is branded with the name of the owner, and thus shipped to his commission-merchant, when the hogshead is 'broken' by tearing off a stave, thus exposing the strata of the bulk to view. Of late years some planters have been guilty of 'nesting,' or placing prime leaf around the outer part and an inferior article in the center of the hogshead.

"At a tobacco mart in Southside, occurred perhaps the only instance of negro-selling since the establishment of the Freedman's Bureau. At every town is a huge platform scale for weighing wagon and load, deducting the weight of the former from the united weight of both to find the quantity of tobacco offered for sale. A small planter has brought a lot of loose tobacco to market, which, being sold, was weighed in this manner, and for which the purchaser was about to pay, when a bystander quietly remarked, 'You forgot to weigh the nigger.' An explanation followed, and the tobacco, re-weighed, was found short 158 lbs., or the exact weight of the colored driver, who had, unobserved, been standing on the scales behind the cart while the first weighing took place.

"Thirty years or more ago—before the Danville and Southside Railroads were built—the tobacco was principally carried to market on flat-boats, and the refrain to a favorite negro song was:—

"'Oh, I'm gwine down to Town! An' I'm gwine down to Town! I'm gwine down to Richmond Town To cayr my 'bacca down!'

"Then all along the rivers, at every landing, was a tobacco warehouse, the ruins of some of which may still be seen. With no crop has the Emancipation Act interfered so much as with this, and the old tobacco planters will tell you with a sigh that tobacco no longer yields them the profits it once did: the manufacturers are the only people who make fortunes on it now-a-days; $12 per hundred is the lowest price which pays for the raising, and few crops average that now. Still every farmer essays its culture, every freedman has his email tobacco patch by his cabin door, and the Indian weed is still the great staple of Eastern Virginia."

The first planters of tobacco at the West were the Ohioans, who began its culture about fifty years ago. From the first they have taken much interest in the plant, and as the result of many experiments not only produce seed leaf, but the finest cutting leaf grown in this country. The Ohio tobacco growers have shown a spirit of enterprise in this direction that is as commendable as it is rare. While they have not tested the great tropical varieties like their brother tobacco growers of Connecticut, they have succeeded in producing a leaf for cutting that is the admiration of the world. At first their experiments were unsuccessful, and the early growers were ridiculed for entertaining the belief that tobacco could be grown at the West. Yet despite all objections and seeming failures, the growers continued its cultivation until it has become one of the great products of the State. Of late the Ohio growers have demonstrated that their soil is better adapted for the finer grades of cutting leaf, than for seed leaf or even the more common "cinnamon blotch."

The soil is rich, and an experience of half a century has at length given them a thorough knowledge of the plant and the most successful modes of cultivation. In appearance an Ohio tobacco field resembles those of the Connecticut valley—the leaf is large, and though coarser, cures down a dark rich brown, like "cinnamon blotch," or a light yellow, the color of the famous "white tobacco." The Ohio growers have taken much pains with the Ohio broad leaf, and have produced a seed leaf tobacco that in many respects is a superior wrapper for cigars. While it does not possess the fine texture of Connecticut seed leaf it still has many good qualities, and with the careful culture given it will doubtless become still finer as a leaf tobacco, for wrapping cigars. But it is in the production of cutting leaf that the Ohio growers take rank, and ere long will supply the vast demand made upon them for their great cutting variety.



With a degree of pride peculiar to all tobacco growers, (when any new variety has originated,) they point with no little egotism to their fields of "white tobacco," and ask their fellow-growers of New England to rival this "great plant." So successful have they been of late with cutting leaf, that their fields yield them returns not inferior to many of the choicest tobacco farms on the Connecticut River. The Ohio growers have one advantage over earlier growers of the plant—their land has not been cultivated as long as the famous tobacco lands of the Connecticut valley, and does not require that thorough fertilizing which is so necessary in New England. Still the tobacco field cannot be too thoroughly prepared for the growth of tobacco, whether in the tropics or in the more temperate regions.

In the curing of tobacco, the Ohio growers have but few equals, and no superiors. At first, the complaint made by the buyers of Ohio tobacco was, that "Ohio tobacco has the appearance of being too hard fired, indeed so much so as to have the flavor of being baked." The early culture of tobacco in the State attracted the attention of tobacco buyers, especially those who had dealt largely in Maryland leaf, and so much so, that one large firm issued a circular and sent to all the prominent growers in the tobacco growing section giving instructions in regard to its cultivation and management. We copy from one lying before us, and dated 1842. It reads as follows: "As tobacco is every year becoming a more prominent article in your State, we deem it of so much importance that we have had this circular printed on the subject of its Cultivation and Management, and take the liberty to address it to you. New ground produces the finest and highest priced tobacco. The plants should be set about 2 feet 9 inches or three feet apart, which will give them sufficient air and sun to ripen, and give the leaf a good body. It should be topped as soon as it buttons, kept clear of suckers, and cut as soon as it is ripe—if favorable weather, it will be fit for the house in 15 to twenty days after it is topped.

"When cut, let it remain until sufficiently lank to handle without breaking; but it should be housed before it is sun-killed, or much deadened, to prevent which, put it up in small heaps, say as much as a man can carry, with the heads to the sun, as soon as cut, and even then the top plants may be too much deadened, unless soon removed to the house. If sun-killed, it will not cure fine. The Maryland system is to fire without flues, and when the precaution is taken to lay planks or boards directly over the fire, accidents seldom occur.

"Slow fires are kept up for the first four or five days after the house is filled, so as to give it a moderate heat throughout, until the Tobacco is generally yellow, then the fires are raised or increased so as to kill the leaf and stem in forty-eight hours or less. When cured on the stock, as is done in Maryland, it can be better assorted, or the different qualities more readily separated than when stripped in the field and cured in the leaf. When stripping and tying up in bundles, it should be assorted according to the following classifications: 1st, Fine Yellow; 2d, Yellow; 3d, Spangled; 4th, Fine Red; 5th, Good Red; 6th, Brown and Common. It is often put up as if there were but two or three qualities, hence there is a great mixture of the several sorts, which is a very serious disadvantage in selling, as the purchaser generally values it at the price of the most inferior in the sample.

"The process of curing unfired, or air-dried tobacco, is similar to the above, except the firing; when so cured, it is more difficult to condition, so as to make it keep; but it generally sells quite as well. Planters should be very careful to have their Tobacco in good dry condition when they deliver it to the dealer or purchaser, as it is all-important to him to receive it free from dampness or moisture, which bruises it and injures its quality. We think such management as directed above would raise the value of Ohio tobacco as high as similar quality of Maryland."



As when first cultivated, the Ohio growers still select new land as the best adapted for tobacco, though not as easy of cultivation. When the tobacco growers are ready for preparing their "new ground" they invite in their friends and neighbors, and the field is "grubbed" in a short time. "Grubbing Day," with the young people, is an event of no common interest; the farmers gather from the adjoining farms and with mirth and muscle soon render the field fit for the "Indian herb." In the evening, the planter's home is filled with the young people, bent on having a right good time, and with "stripping the willow" and other games, close the day if not the night in the most enjoyable manner. Many of the country merchants take the tobacco of the growers when in condition to handle, paying them (or at least a portion of it,) in goods, or purchasing the tobacco as they do other merchandise. They have large warehouses where they receive and pack the tobacco until shipped to market. In the early Spring the growers take their tobacco to the workhouses, where it is packed by the merchants who frequently have a claim on the crop for advances made on the same.

Having given a description of the Connecticut, Virginia and Ohio tobacco growers, we come now to the most extensive cultivators of tobacco in America—the Kentuckians. With the exception of the Virginians they are the oldest growers of the plant in the United States,[65] and are confessedly among the most thorough cultivators of the plant in the world. The soil of Kentucky is admirably adapted for the great staple, and along the banks of the Green River may be seen the largest tobacco fields in the world. The plant attains a large size, and grows with a luxuriance common to all products grown in the famous "blue grass" region.

[Footnote 65: Kentucky was originally a part of Virginia.]



The system adopted by the Kentucky growers is similar to that adopted by all growers of cut tobacco, and the fine quality of Kentucky "selections" has deservedly gained the leaf a reputation that must place it in the front rank of American tobacco. The vast quantity grown in the state is an evidence not only of the good quality of Kentucky tobacco, but of the adaptation of the soil and of the method of cultivation in use. As a cut tobacco, Kentucky-leaf is held in the highest esteem, the exportation of the leaf to all parts of Europe gaining for it a reputation hardly equaled by any Southern tobacco. The system of cultivation is similar to that pursued by the Virginian, and the same process of curing is also adopted.

The Kentucky growers generally succeed in getting a "good stand" and when once the plants have commenced to grow they come forward with a rapidity that is truly astonishing. The soil of Kentucky is well adapted for the production of the largest varieties of tobacco as well as the finest grades of cutting leaf. Much attention is paid to the selection of soil, that the light standard of Kentucky leaf may be further advanced. On the large plantations a vast amount of tobacco is grown, in some instances equaling the entire product of some of the tobacco-growing towns in the Connecticut Valley. The tobacco is packed in hogsheads, each one containing twelve hundred pounds, the same as in Virginia and Missouri.

The Kentucky planter prides himself on the superior quality of tobacco, as well as his famous blooded stock. If there is anything more remarkable than the high character of the latter, it must certainly be the renowned plant which has given the wealthy planters of Kentucky a national popularity among all cultivators of tobacco. The Kentuckians are thorough in all of their methods of cultivation, and with the first stock and tobacco farms in the country bid fair to achieve still further honors as "tillers of the soil." Possessed of the largest means, they have brought their farms up to a high state of cultivation, and produce in their famous valleys the very finest of Nature's products.

Kentucky planters are men of the largest endowments; Nature, in her gifts to them has been most lavish, and the princely fortunes which they have acquired shows how well they have benefited by her munificence. In manners affable, and in benevolence unsurpassed, the Kentucky planter gains the plaudits of all. He is polite to both friend and foe, and possessed with all of that polished manner which marks the true gentleman, and especially all growers of the "kingly plant." Easy of approach, he has still that reserve that bids all sycophants mark well their conduct and demeanor. On the plantation or at the race, the Kentuckian is ever in his best mood for recreation and enjoyment.



His attachment for the horse has developed qualities of patience and thoroughness that are shown elsewhere than on the "course." Benefiting by years of training and study, the success that follows his efforts shows at once that such talents are not confined to a single field of operations. In many respects like the Virginia planter, they differ somewhat in their taste in all that pertains to the turf and the field. But we would not lose sight, among his many noble traits of character, of that love of his State that pre-eminently characterizes the Kentuckian. He is justly proud of her soil and of her sons, and whether in the halls of Congress or on the field of carnage and blood, fears not to maintain the honor and safety of the one and the other.

It is surprising to one acquainted with the growth of tobacco and the value of the Southern States for its production that so small an area of land is devoted to its culture in Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. When owned by Spain, West Florida was noted for its tobacco, and produced large quantities which were exported to Spain and France. The soil of Florida is well adapted for tobacco, and the rich hummock lands produce an excellent quality for cigars, not unlike Havana leaf. Its cultivation has been tried in various parts of the State, but the result has not warranted its cultivation to any great extent excepting in Gadsden County where the plant flourishes as well as in Cuba.

The seed used in Havana and the plant resembles it so closely that even Cuban planters cannot distinguish it from that grown on the island. The mode of cultivation is nearly the same, and the soil is said to produce a leaf of tobacco similar to that of the celebrated Vuelta de Albajo. Formerly the product was sent to New Orleans, and the leaf was pronounced by some dealers to be bitter, but most of them considered it valuable. The planter selects the high lands or hummocks, the soil of which is light and rich for the tobacco field. The plants are carefully drawn from the bed, and transplanted afterwards. The mode of culture is to plow between the rows and hoe the plants carefully.

A Florida tobacco field in appearance is not unlike a vega, or Cuba tobacco field; the same luxuriant growth of the forest may be seen on every hand, and the "queen of herbs" grows underneath or near the fragrant Orange and the stately Magnolia. The soil of Gadsden County is in some respects unlike that of the rest of the State in that there is an entire absence of limestone, which is found elsewhere all through Florida. The climate of the State is well adapted for the growth of tobacco, and is less changeable on the Gulf side than along the Atlantic coast.

Formerly larger crops were raised than now. Under the old regime when on every plantation were a score or more of idle negro urchins, a large portion of the labor could be performed by them, such as worming, dropping the plants, and picking up the primings, while now the labor has to be paid for in money or its equivalent. At this time, the "wrapper leaf" was considered to be among the best for cigars, and brought high prices. In the days of slavery, tobacco was considered to be as profitable as the cotton crop, and good tobacco plantations were considered to be the most valuable in the State.



This peculiar tobacco region is without doubt capable, with proper management, of producing a superior article for cigars, both wrappers and fillers, and when grown on "new ground" the staple is exceedingly fine. The leaf cures as rapidly, and is of as good color as in Cuba, and in a favorable season and when harvested fully ripe, is destitute of that bitter taste formerly ascribed to it. The plants grow large, and have that smooth, shiny appearance peculiar to Havana tobacco, the leaves growing erect, and frequently covered with "specks" or "white rust," one of the best evidences of a fine flavored and a good-burning tobacco. A Florida tobacco-grower gives the following account of the plant:

"The Gadsden 'wrapper-leaf' was always in high repute, and extensively used in the manufacture of cigars, being in size, firmness, and texture fully equal to the best Cuba, and far superior to the Connecticut seed-leaf. Where the variety known as the Cuba filler has been tried, it has succeeded finely in this county, possessing that delicate and peculiar aroma so highly prized in the Havana cigars. We need but the capital to make the most profitable crop that is grown. It is a fact, that of all the counties of the State, many of them abounding in the very finest soil, Gadsden is the only one that has succeeded in making the Cuba tobacco a staple market-crop. Prior to 1860 it rivaled in net returns the great staple cotton, and from present indications, it is about to resume its former status among the great agricultural products of the country."

"Whether this success is attributable to any peculiarity in the elements of the soil, I am not able to determine, but this fact is worthy of note, that, except immediately on the banks of the Apalachicola River, which forms the Western boundary of the County, there is an entire absence of the rotten limestone which so largely pervades the other sections of the State. For the planter of limited means, there is no crop so well suited to his condition as the Cuba tobacco. To produce a given result there is a less area of land required than is demanded for the production of any other field crop. The cultivation, harvesting, and preparation for market is simple, and the labor so light that it may be participated in by every member of the family, male and female, over six years of age. The growth of the plant is so rapid, and its arrival at maturity so quick, that it never interferes with any of the provision crops, and rarely with a moderate cotton crop."

In Louisiana the tobacco plant flourishes well and grows as well and as luxuriantly as sugar cane. Even along the banks of the Mississippi the plants attain good size, and succeed as finely as in some of the other parishes in the interior of the State. The Perique and Louisiana tobacco are the principal varieties cultivated, and attain nearly the size of Connecticut seed leaf. In St. James parish the soil seems well adapted for Perique tobacco, and here it readily takes on that black hue that is one of the peculiar features of this singular variety. In Coddo parish tobacco is cultivated to some extent, but does not produce a leaf equal to that grown in St. James Parish. The tobacco grown in the Parishes of Bossier and Natchitoches is used chiefly by the growers of the parishes and is fitted for both smoking and snuff.

The Louisiana planters have adopted the method of the French in doing up their tobacco—twisting it in rolls, or as the French call them, "Carrots." The planters of St. James Parish annually put up from ten to fourteen thousand carrots of Perique, each carrot weighing about four pounds.

Mr. Perique, from whom the tobacco takes its name, made many improvements in the manner of preparing the tobacco for market, one of which consisted in taking up the twisted lumps (after remaining in press for six months), spreading them to fifteen or sixteen inches in length and having completed four pounds in weight, rolling it into a lump which retained its shape by means of a rope one-fourth inch in diameter, tightly twisted around it. The labor in pressing and twisting is entirely done by hand, and attended to with the most scrupulous care.



The Creole planters sometimes raise two, and even three crops on the same field, two of them being the growths of suckers or shoots from the parent stock or stump. The growers of Perique tobacco have tested Havana seed, but can see but little difference between the product and that from Virginia or Kentucky tobacco seed, while the growth is much smaller. In color Louisiana tobacco is very dark, entirely different from any other variety grown in the Mississippi valley.

Some few years since tobacco culture was introduced into California, and the belief then entertained by those who planted the consoling weed, that the state would soon become as famous for raising tobacco as she now is for producing wheat and gold seem likely to be realized. The soil and climate of California are admirably adapted for tobacco. In the valleys the land is a deep alluvial loam, easily worked, producing bountiful crops of the finest leaf tobacco. The planters have experimented with several varieties, including Havana, Florida, Latakia, Hungarian, Mexican, Virginia, Connecticut, Standard and White leaf. Large crops are grown, especially of Florida tobacco, which, with careful culture, produces two thousand five hundred pounds of merchantable leaf to the acre. The planters get their Havana seed from Cuba, preferring to do so rather than to risk the seed from their own plants. At first they used home-grown seed and could not see any serious deterioration or change in the quality of the tobacco, but a singular change in the form of the leaf took place. That from home-grown seed grew longer, and the veins or ribs, which in Havana tobacco stand out at right angles from the leaf stalks took an acute angle, and thus became longer and made up a greater part of the leaf. Of Florida tobacco the home-grown seed comes true.