Chapter IV: Production and Commerce (3)

“Such information may possibly also be of some value to Congress in its present consideration of our tariff when the article of ‘leaf-tobacco’ is reached.

“Thus I would report that up to the present the production of the article has increased from year to year without any intermission from the beginning of its cultivation in Sumatra in 1865, when it amounted to only 189 bales.

“In this connection I would respectfully refer and call attention to my report on ‘The tobacco trade of the Netherlands in 1881,’ dated March 7, 1882, and printed in the volume of monthly consular commercial reports No. 18, of April last, as it contains a statement showing the crops of Sumatra tobacco each year from 1865 to 1880, inclusive, and the average prices realized from its sale.

“The crop of 1881 is represented to have footed up 82,356 bales, valued (approximately) at 5,791,880 dol., being an increase over the crop of the previous year (1880) of 17,433 bales as to quantity, and of 1,260,000 dol. as to the approximate value thereof.

“From the foregoing it will be seen that about one-ninth of the whole crop of 1881 has been exported to the United States.

“The entire crop, excepting about 1700 bales remaining in the hands of the original importers or consignees here, on December 31, 1882, was disposed of at an advance of about 1 cent, United States currency, in the average price as compared with that realized in 1881 for the crop of 1880; or, in other words, the total crop of 1880 brought on the average about 45¾ cents, whereas the crop of 1881 averaged about 46¾ cents, United States currency, per half-kilogram.

“This refers to the prices originally obtained at the various sales throughout the year by the importers or consignees, first hands.

“As regards the prices for the particular sorts which during the year found their way to the United States, and which are usually purchased from quite a number of firms in the wholesale tobacco trade through the mediation of brokers, they differed all the way from about 45 cents to 95 cents, United States currency, for the half-kilogram.

“Thinking it might prove interesting, if not important, to parties in the United States in any way concerned in this matter, to be informed as to the extent and quality of the crop of 1882, I made inquiries relating to it, and ascertained as follows, viz.:—‘That whilst it is impossible to state, at this early day, with accuracy the yield of the crop, it is generally considered and expected to have been again in excess over the previous one, and that it amounts to about 90,000 bales.’

“Its quality is represented by the planters to be very good, as far as they are able to judge; but this can, of course, only be determined later on, after the tobacco has gone through the process of fermentation.

“The first parcels of this new crop will arrive here about the month of March next, and will be offered for sale about a month or six months thereafter.

“In concluding this report, I would remark that the year 1882 has been a most favourable one for tobacco planters in Sumatra and for those interested in tobacco plantations there, and so have those connected with the trade here realized handsomely by the year’s operations.

“I am, therefore, induced to state that so long as the present general demand for the article continues there will be neither lack of capital nor labour, so long as either can contribute to an increase in its production, and it would seem to be more a question as to the extent of acreage in Sumatra adapted for its cultivation, as only once in four or five years a crop can be raised on the same soil without danger of producing a very inferior quality of tobacco.”

_Turkey._—The Turkish empire has long been known as producing some of the finest tobaccos in the world. In the sanjac of Drama, which forms the vice-consular district of Cavalla, tobacco is the staple article of production and industry, and some 75,000 acres were devoted to its culture in 1873. The whole crop of 1871 was reckoned at 11,200,000 lb., the exports having been 7,600,000 lb., value 37,825_l._ The tobacco of this district, though derived entirely from one species, is divided into two classes, known as _Drama_ and _Yenidji_. The former leaf is larger, stouter, and more potent, and generally of deep reddish-brown colour; the latter is smaller, slighter, less narcotic, with a peculiarly delicate aroma, and the best is of a rich yellow colour, whence its name “golden-leaf.” The _Drama_ kind is principally grown in the western portion of the district, and is the class supplied to European markets. The differences in the two kinds seem to be due solely to the soil.

The plantations in the Drama district proper occupy both plain and hill-side. The produce of the former is much the more considerable, and superior. The best leaves, distinguished by a stronger and more substantial texture, and a dark-red hue, go to Constantinople; the inferior and lighter-coloured find a sale in Russia. The mountain product is much inferior in quality and is sent chiefly to Europe. When the leaves are petiolate, or furnished with stems, they are made up in _manoks_ (“hands”) of 10–15, and termed _bashi-baghli_ (“head-tied”); when the leaves are sessile, or devoid of stems, they are simply pressed together in small numbers, and called _bassma_. The whole produce of this locality varies from 2,100,000 to 2,450,000 lb. yearly. The growth obtained in the Vale of Pravista is known as _Demirli_. It is inferior, unsubstantial, and dark-coloured, and usually made up as _bashi-baghli_. The annual production is about 2 million lb.; the exports to England were 1,600,000 lb. in 1871. Cavalla affords yearly about 300,000 lb. of inferior quality, chiefly as _bashi-baghli_, and mostly consumed locally. The shipping port for all these places is Cavalla.

The district of Sarishaban produces on the average about 2,000,000 lb. annually, but the crop of 1871 reached 2,800,000 lb. About ⅞ is as _bashi-baghli_. That grown on the plain and hills is termed _ghynbek_, and forms the bulk; that from the slopes, about 500,000 lb. a year, is the best, and is known as _ghubek_. All is packed up in small _boghchas_ (parcels), of 30–50 lb., which are distinguished as _béyaz_, from the white cotton wrappers used for the best sort, and _kenavir_, from the canvas coverings of the inferior kinds. The best goes to Constantinople, secondary to Smyrna and other home markets, and the worst to Europe. The district of Yenidji, near the Gulf of Lagos, affords some 3,500,000 lb. per annum, chiefly as _bassma_, and bearing a very general resemblance to the produce of Sarishaban. The best goes to Constantinople and Russia. Ghiumirgina (Ghumurdjina, or Komuldsina) grows about 300,000 lb. yearly of dark-coloured _bassma_, of the _Drama_ class, which is used locally; and Sultan-Yeri gives 400,000 lb. of still darker _bashi-baghli_. The produce of these districts is shipped at Lagos (Karagatch) or Cavalla.

The most delicate and valued of all the tobaccos raised in this portion of European Turkey is the celebrated “golden leaf” from the caza of Yenidji, on the Yardar (Nestus) river. After it, in declining order, come the products of Drama, Persoccian, Sarishaban, Cavalla, and Pravista. Of the whole Drama and Yenidji produce, it is estimated that Austro-Hungary takes 40 per cent. Italy buys annually about 150,000–200,000 _kilo._ France, Germany, and Switzerland receive very little. Russia is a large customer. Before the war, considerable quantities were sent to the countries on the Lower Danube. England imports every year some 10,000 bales, or 400,000 _okes_ (of 2·83 lb.) of Pravista tobacco. The _refusa_, or waste leaves, &c., is sent everywhere for making into cigarettes, most largely perhaps to Egypt. A kind of tobacco known as _ayiasoulouk_ is grown in considerable quantities in the opium districts, almost exclusively for export to Europe, the natives having a strong prejudice against it.

The necessity for manuring is well understood by the Turks. They dress the seed-beds with goat- and sheep-dung, and manure the fields during winter with horse- and cattle-dung. In the spring, sheep and goats are folded on the land. The soil of tobacco lands will be found quite impregnated with, ammonia and nitrate of potash, both absorbed by the plant; the former is thought to influence the aroma, and the latter may be seen in crystals on the surface of the dried leaf. In order to keep the leaves small and delicate, the planting is performed very close, the usual distances being 5 inches apart, and 9 inches between the rows.

The district of Latakia, in the northern part of Syria, has long been celebrated for its tobacco, which is the chief product of the mountainous part. There are several kinds:—(1) _Abu Riha_ or _Dgebeli_, found in its best state among the mountains of the Nesseries (Ansaries), which possesses a peculiar and much-admired aroma, derived from its being exposed, from November to April, to the smoke of fires of _ozer_ (_Quercus Ilex_, or _Q. Cerris_); (2) _Dgidar_, including a number of kinds, of medium strength, and in great favour locally on account of its low price; (3) _Scheik-el-Bent_, almost equal to _Abu-Riha_, and often substituted for it.

The plain of Koura is remarkable for its tobaccos, which are rather strong, but much admired. The villages of Lebail and Serai produce better tobacco than Koura. The district of Gebail (Gebel) in Kesrasan (Castravan) affords the best and dearest tobacco in Syria; it is very brittle, and its ash is quite white. The country south of Lebanon yields very ordinary qualities, known as _Salili_, _Tanoné_, and _Takibé_, or generically as _Berraoni_; these are mixed with stronger kinds for use. The best of the _Abu-Riha_ is yielded by the plant called _Karn-el-Gazel_; the second quality is termed _Bonati_.

The exports of tobacco from Alexandretta in 1879 were:—To Egypt, 91 tons, value 6380_l._; Turkey, 24 tons, 1920_l._; England, 51 tons, 2550_l._; France, 1 ton, 80_l._ The exports from Aleppo in 1878 were 30 tons, value 1200_l._, to Great Britain. The yield of the crop in Thessaly was 1,116,000 _okes_ (of 2·83 lb.) in 1877, 210,000 in 1878, and 890,000 in 1879. The crop of Prevesa in 1878 was 4000 _okes_, value 215_l._ The exports from Dedeagatch were about 260 bales, value 1000_l._, in 1878; and 600 bales, value 2400_l._, in 1879. Considerable quantities are grown around Sinope. Tobacco is one of the principal products of the district of Samsoun, and is of good quality. The average yield is 7,000,000 lb. yearly. It is grown near the sea-shore, and not eastward of Yomurah, at Matchka and Trebizonde, and especially at Akché-Abad. But the aggregate crop in these localities is hardly ⅓ of the quantity produced at Samsoun, and the quality is far inferior. The Samsoun product is usually purchased largely on account of the French Government. The exports from Samsoun in 1878 were:—To Turkey, 2,680,000 _kilo._, value 160,800_l._; France, 583,500 _kilo._, 28,008_l._; Russia, 575,000 _kilo._, 57,500_l._; Germany, 400,000 _kilo._, 7200_l._; Austria, 327,220 _kilo._, 31,266_l._; Great Britain, 87,567 _kilo._, 1576_l._; total, 4,653,287 _kilo._, 286,350_l._ The exports of Turkey-produced tobacco from Trebizonde in 1879 were:—To Turkey, 14,864 cwt., value 44,592_l._; Russia, 866 cwt., 2598_l._; Great Britain, 490 cwt., 1470_l._; Austria and Germany, 204 cwt., 612_l._; total, 16,424 cwt., 49,272_l._

In 1884, Damascus imported 1313 sacks of tumbeki, value 1674_l._, from Bagdad. In the same year Erzeroum imported 9000 _okes_, value 1090_l._, from Persia.

The leaf grown by the Herki Kurds and other cultivators in and around the district of Shemdina is highly prized in Persia. In 1884, the first year of their operations, the employés of the tobacco Régie only succeeded in registering a yield of 25,000 _okes_, but this amount represents less than a fifth of the estimated produce of the vilayet. It is believed, however, that 8000–10,000_l._ Turkish worth of Shemdina tobacco annually crosses the frontier into Persia.

Trebizonde exports in 1884 were 20,167 cwt., value 56,849_l._ Inferior qualities are sent to Europe, good ones remain in Turkey, and the best go to Egypt.

The shipments from Samsoun in 1884 were as follows:—

────────────────┬────────┬────────┬────────
│ │ Price. │
│ cwt. │£. s. d.│ £
To Turkey │ 29,210│4 0 0 │ 116,840
Austria │ 8,540│5 0 0 │ 42,700
France │ 5,756│1 4 2 │ 11,512
Egypt │ 4,176│4 0 0 │ 16,704
Germany │ 3,579│1 8 6 │ 5,096
Russia │ 1,730│6 0 0 │ 10,380
Great Britain│ 832│1 4 2 │ 1,002
Holland │ 712│1 12 0 │ 1,140
Greece │ 416│3 0 0 │ 1,248
│ ———————│ │ ———————
│ 54,951│ │ 206,622
────────────────┴────────┴────────┴────────

_United States._—The United States of America occupy the foremost rank among tobacco-growing countries. The areas and productions have been as follows:—1875, 559,049 acres, 379,347,000 lb.; 1876, 540,457 acres, 381,002,000 lb.; 1877, 720,344 acres, 489,000,000 lb.; 1878, 542,850 acres, 392,546,700 lb. The crop of 1875 (in millions of lb.) was thus contributed:—Kentucky, 130; Virginia, 57; Missouri, 40; Tennessee, 35; Maryland, 22; Pennsylvania, 16; N. Carolina, 14¾; Ohio, 13½; Indiana, 12¾; Connecticut, 10; Massachusetts, 8½; Illinois, 8. The average yields (in lb. per acre) of the various districts in 1875 were:—Connecticut, 1600; Pennsylvania, 1600; New Hampshire, 1600; Massachusetts, 1350; Missouri, 850; Arkansas, 822; New York, 800; Florida, 750; Ohio, 700; W. Virginia, 680; Maryland, 675; Tennessee, 675; Kansas, 670; Texas, 650; Kentucky, 630; Virginia, 630; Illinois, 550; Georgia, 550; N. Carolina, 500; Indiana, 500; Wisconsin, 500; Alabama, 465; Mississippi, 317. The exports from New York in 1878 were:—37,484 hogsheads, 2561 bales, and 2,218,200 lb. manufactured, to Great Britain; 15,570 hh., 207 bales, and 14,800 lb. manufactured, to France; 35,700 hh., 78,331 bales, and 147,400 lb. manufactured, to N. Europe ; 23,150 hh., 6058 bales, and 120,000 lb. manufactured, to other Europe; 4628 hh., 14,360 bales, and 4,780,200 lb. manufactured, to S. America, E. and W. Indies, &c. Baltimore exported 66,039 hh. in 1878. The shipments from New Orleans in 1877–8 were:—1226 hh. to Great Britain, 743 to France, 4552 to N. Europe, 3222 to S. Europe, Mexico, &c., and 4500 coastwise. Philadelphia, in 1879, exported 9,564,171 lb. of leaf tobacco, 52,000 cigars, and 515 lb. of snuff. The total American export of unmanufactured leaf in 1879 was 322,280,000 lb.

The census bulletin on this branch of industry, recently issued, is of a very interesting nature. The tobacco product in the United States is divided into classes, types and grades, the basis of a class being its adaptation to any specific purpose; of a type, to certain qualities or properties in the leaf, such as colour, strength, elasticity, body or flavour. It also applies to the method of curing, such as sun, air or flue curing. Grades represent the different qualities of a type, and vary much in the several types. The classification of American tobacco is threefold, viz. domestic cigar tobacco and “smokers,” chewing-tobacco, export tobacco. The domestic tobacco trade comprises the various kinds of seed-leaf of Connecticut, New England, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Florida and Ohio, as well as the sorts known as White Burley “lugs,” fine-fibred wrappers, Indiana kite foot, and American-grown Havana. In the chewing class are included the fine-cut and the plug fillers, principally of the White Burley type from Kentucky, while under the head of export tobacco are the Virginian bird’s-eye cutting leaf, and the spinning fillers or shag. It is curious to notice how each market for export tobacco differs in its requirements. The “closed” markets, or those in which the tobacco trade is a monopoly of the Government, are France, Italy, Austria and Spain. The French “Régie” is supplied by wrappers, binders and fillers from Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio; the Italian Régie from Kentucky and Virginia; the Austrian Régie by “strips” from the same States, and the Spanish Régie by common “lugs.” The open markets are Germany, to which are sent the tobaccos known as German saucer and spinners; Ohio and Maryland, spangled cigar-wrappers and “smokers” fat lugs; Switzerland, which is supplied with Virginian or Western wrappers and fillers; Holland, with Dutch saucer (a mottled Virginia, Kentucky or Tennessee leaf); Belgium, with Belgian cutter (a light, yellowish-brown leaf, well fired); Norway and Sweden, with heavy types, mainly used for spinning and “saucing.” Kentucky, which stands first of all the States for production, the annual produce being 171,120,784 lb., gains her chief profits from the white burley and yellow wrapper; Illinois, from the production of the seed-leaf; Missouri, from sweet fillers and white burley; Virginia, from yellow wrappers, bright “smokers,” sun, air and flue-cured fillers. Decidedly the most prosperous tobacco States are those that grow types suitable for domestic consumption, while those that grow it mainly for exportation stand low in the scale, the margin of profit under this head being reduced very low. According to the researches of Dr. Gideon Moore, the largest amount of nicotine is contained in the Virginian heavily manured lots (5·81 per cent.), while the Virginian heavy English shipping has 4·72, the New York domestic Havana but 2·53, the Connecticut seed-leaf 1·14, while the smallest amount of all is found in the little Dutch tobacco of the Miami valley, 0·63. Profits in the culture of tobacco have been in direct proportion—first to its suitableness to domestic consumption; and, secondly, to the amount of fertilization practised by the growers in its cultivation. This is true in every case, except the yellow tobacco districts of North Carolina and Virginia, where poverty in the soil is a condition of success in the production of quality.

Professor J. T. Rothrock is of the opinion that the early natives of California smoked the leaves of _Nicotiana clevelandii_—a species only quite recently described by Professor Asa Gray. It is a small plant with small flowers, and it was found by Professor Rothrock only in association with the shell heaps which occur so abundantly on the coasts of Southern and Central California. He states that perhaps of all the remains of extinct races so richly furnished by that region, none were so common as the pipes, usually made of stone resembling serpentine. The tobacco of _N. clevelandii_ Professor Rothrock found by experience to be excessively strong.

A recent report of the Commissioner of Agriculture contains a few pages of sound advice to American planters on the management of this crop, which is worthy of reproduction here.

“The principal points to be attended to if the best results are to be attained may be stated in a few paragraphs—paragraphs which, while referring mainly to shipping, manufacturing, and smoking tobacco as constituting nine-tenths of the tobacco grown in the United States, embody principles and prescribe modes of management nearly identical with those to be considered in the treatment of other tobaccos.

“I. Select good land for the crop; plough and subsoil it _in autumn_ to get the multiplied benefits of winter’s freezes. This cannot be too strongly urged.

“II. Have early and vigorous plants and _plenty of them_. It were better to have 100,000 too many than 10,000 too few. They are the corner-stone of the building. To make sure of them give personal attention to the selection and preparation of the plant-bed and to the care of the young plants in the means necessary to hasten their growth, and to protect them from the dreaded fly.

“III. Collect manure in season and out of season, and from every available source—from the fence corners, the ditch-banks, the urinal, the ash-pile. Distribute it with a liberal hand; nothing short of princely liberality will answer. Plough it under (both the home-made and the commercial) in _February_, that it may become thoroughly incorporated in the soil and be ready to answer to the first and every call of the growing plant. Often (we believe generally) the greater part of manure applied to tobacco—and this is true of the ‘bought’ fertilizer as well as of that made on the farm—is lost to that crop from being applied too late. Don’t wait to apply your dearly-purchased guano in the hill or the drill from fear that, if applied sooner, it will vanish into thin air before the plant needs it. This is an exploded fallacy. Experience, our best teacher, has demonstrated beyond cavil that stable and commercial manure are most efficacious when used in conjunction. In no other way can they be so intimately intermixed as by ploughing them under—the one broadcasted on the other—at an early period of the preparation of the tobacco lot. This second ploughing should not be so deep as the first; an average of three to four inches is about the right depth.

“IV. Early in May (in the main tobacco belt to which this article chiefly refers, that is to say, between the thirty-fifth and fortieth parallels of north latitude), re-plough the land to about the depth of the February ploughing, and drag and cross-drag, and, if need be, drag it again, until the soil is brought to the finest possible tilth. Thus you augment many fold the probabilities of a ‘stand’ on the first planting, and lessen materially the subsequent labour of cultivation. Plant on ‘lists’ (narrow beds made by throwing four furrows together with the mould-board plough) rather than in hills, if for no other reason than that having now, if never before, to pay wages in some shape to labour, whenever and wherever possible horse-power should be substituted for man-power—the plough for the hoe.

“V. Plant as early as possible after a continuance of pleasant spring weather is assured. Seek to have a _forward_ crop, as the benefits claimed for a late one from the fall dews do not compensate for the many advantages resulting from early maturity. Make it an inflexible rule to plant no tobacco after the 10th of July—we mean, of course, in the tobacco belt we have named. Where one good crop is made from later planting ninety-nine prove utter failures. Far better _rub out and start afresh the next year_. Take pains in transplanting, that little or no replanting may be necessary. The cut-worm being a prime cause of most of the trouble in securing a stand, hunt it assiduously and particularly in the early morning when it can most readily be found.

“VI. Keep the grass and weeds down, and the soil loose and mellow by frequent stirring, avoiding as much as possible cutting and tearing the roots of the plant in all stages of its growth, and more especially after _topping_. When at all practicable—and, with the great improvement in cultivators, sweeps, and other farm implements, it is oftener practicable than generally supposed—substitute for hand-work in cultivation that of the horse. The difference in cost will tell in the balance-sheet at the close of the operation.

“VII. Attend closely to ‘worming,’ for on it hinges in no little degree the quality and quantity of tobacco you will have for sale. A worm-eaten crop brings no money. So important is this operation that it may properly claim more than a passing notice. Not only is it the most tedious, the most unremitting, and the most expensive operation connected with the production of tobacco, but the necessity for it determines more than all other causes the limit of the crop which in general it has been found possible for a single hand to manage. Therefore bring to your aid every possible adjunct in diminishing the number of worms. Use poison for killing the moth in the manner so frequently described in treatises on tobacco, to wit, by injecting a solution of cobalt or other deadly drug into the flower of the Jamestown or ‘jimson’ weed (_Datura stramonium_), if necessary planting seeds of the weed for the purpose. Employ at night the flames of lamps, of torches, or of huge bonfires, in which the moth may find a quick and certain death.

“In worming, spare those worms found covered with a white film or net-like substance, this being the cocoon producing the ichneumon-fly, an enemy to the worm likely to prove a valuable ally to the planter in his war of extermination.

“Turn your flock of turkeys into the tobacco-field, that they, too, may prey upon the pest, and themselves grow fat in so doing.

“If these remedies should fail, sprinkle diluted spirits of turpentine over the plant through the rose of a watering-pot, a herculean task truly in a large crop, but mere child’s play to the hand-picking process, for the one sprinkling suffices to keep off the worms for all time, whereas the hand-picking is a continual round of expensive labour from the appearance of the first worm until the last plant has been carried to the barn. We have no idea that such sprinkling will at all affect the odour or flavour of the tobacco when cured.

“If, as stated by a writer in a California paper, the well-known ‘yellow-jacket’ be useful in destroying tobacco-worms, by all means win it as an ally. As proving its usefulness, the writer asserts that one of his neighbours, a Mr. Culp, daring fifteen years growing tobacco, has never expended a dollar for labour to destroy the worm, trusting all to this little workman, who, he says, carefully searches the plants for the worms, and never allows one to escape its vigilance.

“We cannot speak from our own experience as to many of these suggested means for overcoming the horn-worm, but we have no hesitation in saying to the farmer, try any, try all of them rather than have your crop eaten to shreds, and the labour of more than half the year brought to naught in a few days, it may be, by a single ‘glut’ of worms.

“VIII. ‘Prime high and top low.’ While open to objection in particular cases, even with the character of tobacco chiefly under consideration, and altogether inadmissible, it may be, in the management of other varieties of tobacco, this is a safe rule, we think, to follow in general practice.

“We favour ‘priming’ by all means; for when no priming is done the lower leaves (made worthless by constant whipping on the ground) serve only as a harbour for worms, which are the more difficult to find because of the increased burden of stooping. Moreover, if the bottom leaves be saved on the cut stalk, as most likely they will be, there is always the temptation to put them on the market; and against a _sacrilege_ like this we are firmly set, let others say and think what they may.

“Yet another advantage to be gained by the removal of these bottom leaves, which is what the planter terms ‘priming,’ is the increased circulation of air and distribution of light thereby afforded, both essential factors, the merest tyro knows, to the full development of plant life.

“‘Topping’ (the pinching off with the finger-nail the bud at the top of the plant) is an operation requiring considerable skill and judgment. Let it be performed only by hands having these prerequisites.

“That as many plants as possible may ripen at the same time (a desideratum not to be undervalued in aiming, as all should, at a _uniform_ crop) wait until a large number of plants begin to button before commencing to top. Going about through the crop, topping a plant here and there because it may chance to have buttoned before its fellows, is a damaging process not to be tolerated.

“No inflexible rule can be given for the number of leaves that should be left on a plant. All depends upon the variety of tobacco, the strength of the soil, the promise of the particular plant, the probable seasons and time left for ripening, &c.

“One of the most successful growers of heavy dark tobacco we have ever known, once stated to us his conviction, after years of observation and practice, that one year with another, taking the seasons as they come, eight leaves would give a better result than any other number. Our own experience has tended to confirm this judgment.

“IX. See to it that the suckers are promptly removed. It is work quickly done, and with worming may constitute a single operation.

“X. We come now to consider the last operation in the field, ‘cutting’ the crop. In this, as in topping, a man of judgment, experience, and fidelity is needed. An inexperienced hand, one without judgment, and particularly one who is indifferent to the interests of his employer, will slash away, right and left, not knowing or not caring whether the tobacco he cuts be ripe or green, doing more damage in a few hours than his whole year’s wages would compensate for, even could they be garnished.

“Therefore, be on hand to see for yourself, and do not delegate the duty to any less interested party, that a crop managed well, it may be, so far, from the initial plant-bed, should not be spoiled in the closing work by an incompetent or unfaithful cutter.

“Be there, too, to see, in this supreme hour, that injury from sunburn is warded off by the timely removal, to the shade, of the plants that have been cut, or by a proper covering, where they lie, against the scorching rays of the sun. The neglect of this precaution has played havoc with many a crop when brought under the auctioneer’s hammer.

“XI. We should have no space to describe the different methods of ‘curing’ tobacco, as, for instance, ‘sun-curing,’ ‘air-curing,’ ‘flue-curing,’ ‘open-fire-curing,’ &c., even though the whole subject had not been gone over again and again in previous reports of this Department. We can only say of this operation, as of all others connected with the production of tobacco, that much depends on its proper doing, and that, as much as possible, it should have the personal superintendence of the owner.

“But the crop may have been brought along successfully even to the completion of this operation and ‘lack one thing yet,’ if it be not now properly manipulated.

“Therefore, go yourself, brother planter, into your barns, see with your own eyes, and not through the medium of others; handle with your own hands, and _know of a surety_ that the tobacco hanging on the tier-poles is in proper order for ‘striking’ and ‘bulking,’ and act accordingly.

“When, later on, it is being ‘stripped,’ ‘sorted,’ and tied into bundles, or ‘hands,’ as they are often called, be there again, _propria persona_, to see that it is properly classed, both as to colour and to length, the ‘lugs’ going with lugs, the ‘short’ with short, the ‘long’ with long, &c. Instruct those sorting that when in doubt as to where a particular leaf should be put, to put it at least one grade lower than they had thought of doing. Thus any error will be on the safe side.

“Prize in hogsheads to weigh what is usually called for in the market in which you sell, and, above all, ‘let the tobacco in each hogshead be as near alike as possible, uniform throughout, so that the ‘sample,’ from whatever point it may be taken, can be relied on as representing the whole hogshead,’ and that there be left no shadow of suspicion that ‘nesting’ has been attempted, or any dishonest practice even so much as winked at.

“We sum up the whole matter by repeating:

“1. That overproduction, the production at all, of _low_ grade tobacco is the chief cause of the present extremely low price of the entire commodity.

“2. That the planters of the United States have the remedy in their own hands; that remedy being the reduction of area, this reduction to result, from the employment of the means here suggested, in increased crops; and, paradoxical as it may seem, these increased crops to bring greatly enhanced values.

“The whole world wants good tobacco, and will pay well for it. Scarcely a people on earth seeks poor tobacco or will buy it at any price.

“In a word, then, one acre must be made to yield what it has hitherto taken two or three acres to produce; and this double or treble quantity must be made (as, indeed, under good management it could not fail to be) immeasurably superior in quality to that now grown on the greater number of acres. Either this or the abandonment of the crop altogether—one or the other.”

The exports from Baltimore were 46,239 hogsheads in 1882, 43,620 in 1883, 43,192 in 1884. The State of New York, in 1883, had 5440 acres under tobacco, producing 9,068,789 lb., value 1,178,943 dollars; and Connecticut, 8145 acres, 9,576,824 lb., 1,292,871 dollars. The production of Minnesota was 65,089 lb. in 1879, 48,437 lb. in 1880, 79,631 lb. in 1881, 62,859 lb. in 1882, 14,744 lb. in 1883.

_Venezuela._—The exports from Ciudad Bolivar were, in 1884, 1318 _kilo._, value 1037 _bolivares_, to the British West Indies; 9618 _kilo._, 6691 _bolivares_, to the United States; 275,329 _kilo._, 192,188 _bolivares_, to Germany. The exports of tobacco from this port in decades have been:—7,650,656 lb. in 1850–59; 2,134,711 in 1860–69; 3,170,812 in 1870–79.

_West Indies._—The Spanish possessions in the West Indies are well known for their tobacco. The best is produced on the _vuelta abajo_, or low-lying districts of Cuba, near Havana, which are yearly flooded during the autumn, just before the tobacco is transplanted. To this fact, and the peculiar suitability of the seasons, the excellence of this particular product is attributed. The exports from Havana in 1878 were:—93,603 bales tobacco, 75,212,268 cigars, 203,581 bundles cigarettes, to the United States; 6169 bales tobacco, 66,795,330 cigars, 5,034,774 bundles cigarettes, to England; 32,582 bales tobacco, 9,541,498 cigars, 133,008 bundles cigarettes, to Spain; 582 bales tobacco, 3,861,700 cigars, 8206 bundles cigarettes, to N. Europe; 5671 bales tobacco, 18,327,025 cigars, 797,513 bundles cigarettes, to France; 41 bales tobacco, 900,850 cigars, 5,709,442 bundles cigarettes, to other countries. The totals for 1878 were 7,078,904 _kilo._ of tobacco, 182,356 thousand cigars, and 12,816,903 packets of cigarettes; in 1879, 6,371,014 _kilo._ of tobacco, 145,885 thousand cigars, and 14,098,693 packets of cigarettes. The tobacco exports in 1879 from St. Jago de Cuba were 9653 bales to Bremen, 4015 to the United States (chiefly for Bremen), and 1809 coastwise, total 15,477, against 10,249 in 1878. In the island of Puerto Rico, the tobacco-plant thrives well, and the quality, especially in the Rio de la Plata district, is very good. In 1878, the island exported 8 _quintals_ (of 101½ lb.) to the United States, 32,109 to Spain, 4198 to Germany, and 18,123 to other countries.

The British West Indies have only recently appreciated the importance of tobacco cultivation. Many portions of Jamaica seem as well fitted for it as the _vuelta abajo_ of Cuba, and already Jamaica tobacco in the Hamburg market ranks next to the best Havana, and is considered superior to such Cuban growths as St. Jago, Manzanillo, Yara, &c. Tobacco cultivation may now be said to have a place in the industries of Jamaica, a fact mainly due to Cuban refugees. The most extensive plantations in the island are Potosi in St. Thomas Parish, and Morgan’s Valley in Clarendon. Much of the produce goes to the German market, the remainder being made into cigars for local consumption, and said to be quite equal to some of the best Cuban brands. Some experiments made with Bhilsa tobacco have given great satisfaction, on account of the robust habit and immense yield of the plant. It is especially adapted for very wet districts, and its cultivation will be widely extended, if justified by its market value. Tobacco is, and for very many years has been, grown by the peasantry in small patches; from this, they manufacture a smoke-dried leaf, which, twisted together in rope form, sells readily in the home market. The acreage occupied by the crop was 297 in 1874–5, 442 in 1875–6, 331 in 1876–7, and 380 in 1877–8. The slopes of valleys in many parts of Dominica, too, are eminently suited to this crop, particularly the district between Roseau and Grand Bay. The experiment of tobacco culture in New Providence on a large scale has not proved satisfactory, owing to the difficulties encountered in curing and preparing the leaf; the cigars made are fit only for local consumption.

The exports from San Domingo in 1884 were 10,513,940 lb., value 669,500 dollars.

According to a recent Consular Report, it would seem that “Cuban tobacco has lost its prestige through forcing and artificial manures, and has to sustain sharp competition from abroad where it formerly commanded the market; and probably some years must elapse before the soil can recover from the excessive and indiscriminate use of artificial fertilizers.

“A few years ago the leaf harvested in the Vuelta Abajo was not sufficient to meet the large demand, and in order to increase the yield, growers made use of guanos of all sorts, and with such bad results that they find it now difficult to place on reasonable terms more than half, and sometimes less, of their crops, at very low prices; in few localities only the soil has not been spoilt by spurious manures, and the leaf grown there commands very high prices and is warmly competed for by local manufacturers and buyers for the United States.

“Notwithstanding the last crop has been of a better quality than heretofore, growers were compelled to abandon the tobacco cultivation for a certain time, and devote the ground to other purposes.

“It appears that this change of cultivation is absorbing the fertilizers, and restoring to the soil its former good qualities, and, if one can judge from the splendid appearance of the leaf and the ready sale it now meets with, it would seem that the Vuelta Abajo fields are regaining their former renown.

“This has been a hard but healthy lesson the Vegueros are not likely to forget. The soil cannot and should not be taxed beyond a reasonable and natural yield; any attempt to the contrary would only be a repetition of the fable of the golden eggs, as the tobacco growers in the Vuelta Abajo have had occasion to learn to their cost.

“Towards the end of the year buyers, influenced by the pending negotiations of the Spanish-American Treaty, entered the market and operated extensively in the expectation of a great reduction of duties in the United States, paying prices above the established one, and which, a few weeks later, they were utterly unable to obtain.

“Cuban growers complain much of heavy purchases made in the United States for account of the Spanish Government for Peninsular consumption; they say that however low the class of the Cuban leaf may be, it must necessarily be superior to that of the Virginia and Kentucky tobacco, and that they might easily cultivate here the quality required, and place it in the markets at as low a price as any other country.

“Growers are unanimous in denouncing the action of some local merchants and cigar manufacturers in forwarding at the opening of the last season samples of leaf tobacco and cigars in condition that by no means gave a true idea of the quality of the crop, and which necessarily gave a result contrary to the interests of all parties engaged in the trade; and they earnestly protest against a repetition of this injudicious haste.

“The total tobacco production is estimated at between 400,000 and 500,000 _quintals_ (one _quintal_ about 100 lb.), chiefly from the following districts:—

Tercios.

Vuelta Abajo and semi Vuelta Abajo 150,000 to 200,000
Parlida 30,000 50,000
Remedios 60,000 85,000
Cuba and Java 25,000 35,000
Gibara 20,000 30,000
Total 285,000 400,000
(One tercio about 124 lb.)

“As is well known, that grown in the Vuelta Abajo or district west of Havana is the best kind, and has given Cuba its well-earned reputation. About 67,000 acres are cultivated under the denomination.

“I have no reliable statistics to show how much of the raw produce is manufactured in the island, probably not more than one-fourth. Very large quantities of the leaf are exported in bales and rolled abroad.

“It is evident, however, that, given the total production and corresponding result in the manufactured form, but a small portion of the cigars sold in Europe and elsewhere as Havana cigars have the slightest claim to a connection with Cuba.

“The chief and only important manufactories of these cigars are in Havana, and much care and money is expended in producing a handsome-looking article. As much as 40 dollars gold are paid to skilled labourers per 1000 for making up first-class goods. About 17,000 operatives are employed in this manufacture in Havana alone. One of the largest establishments here is that supplying the Henry Clay brands, which is stated to turn out from 80,000 to 120,000 cigars daily; and there are many others of considerable importance with a well-earned and old-established reputation for fine goods.

“The quality of tobacco, like other agricultural produce, depends on seasons, soil, and many natural causes, which may baffle the most careful cultivator.

“There are good and bad years; abundant and scanty crops in succession.

“Except in the case of the few rich owners of plantations in the best districts, brands and names are no guarantees for a permanently good article. Even these favoured few are exposed to bad seasons, if in a minor degree than less fortunate holders.

“There has been no really fine-flavoured aromatic leaf harvested since 1881. Much of that since garnered has been simply bad.

“Great hopes are entertained of the coming 1885 crop, and present indications are in favour of this assumption.

“The manner in which the wholesale trade is carried on in Havana is incomprehensible to an ordinary outsider, to whom it would appear that the manufacturers prefer a prospective loss abroad to a present and certain gain here. They will only execute orders, large or small, for cash over the counter, giving no, or in some cases the smallest, discount. No manufactured goods are kept in stock, but are made to order after sample, and, unless examined in warehouse before delivery, and that means little, must be paid in full on delivery, and the consequence but too frequently is that, on arrival at their destination, they do not correspond with the sample, and the deluded buyer finds that he has made a bad bargain, and (if an Englishman) discovers that he could have bought the same article cheaper in the English market with the additional advantage of examining and testing the goods before purchase.

“I leave the solution of this enigma to the initiated: it probably is that the makers consign very largely, and London importers are too experienced and too wary to pay the full invoice price until well acquainted with the wares, or they get large discounts refused to the cash purchaser in Havana.

“Complaints are heard of the depressed state of the Cuban tobacco trade and of the large unsold stocks on hand. I do not think the traders deserve sympathy, nor have they done anything to earn the confidence of foreign customers. My experience leads me to advise intending purchasers to put (I do not advise regular traders) themselves in the hands of reliable London dealers and avoid all direct purchases.

“Intelligent smokers with sensitive palates will find no cheap tobacco here fit to smoke; 50_s._ per 100 and upwards is what must be paid at present for really fine-flavoured aromatic cigars; beyond 80_s._ or 85_s._ prices become fancy ones, and are paid for the smart cases and envelopes. Even at the rates I quote it is not easy to find what is wanted. There is abundance of dark powerful tobacco of fine quality at much lower rates, but not light tobacco with flavour or aroma or without strength, such as the educated (I allude to taste) Englishman seeks. I believe that only about 10 per cent. of the tobacco harvested in ordinary years is of the light colour I refer to, hence the difficulty in supplying the demand, and the artifices resorted to to supply the deficiency.

“Cuba’s annual tobacco crop may be estimated as between 300,000 and 400,000 _tercios_ of 125 lb. each. About 30,000 persons are employed in its cultivation, and its value when harvested may be fixed (according to year’s quality) at between 8,000,000 and 12,000,000 dol. of 4_s._

“I cannot estimate the number of persons engaged in working plantation (Vegueros) and other cigars for home consumption, nor the quantity thus consumed; but the higher class of operatives employed in cigar-making for export number about 20,000, and turn out at present probably 200,000,000 cigars annually.

“The export trade has fallen off considerably of late years. In the five years, 1870 to 1874, about 350,000,000 cigars were annually shipped to foreign ports, whereas in the period between 1879 and 1884 the annual average export was only 200,000,000.

“Probably larger quantities have been exported in each period owing to under valuations to escape export duty; but relative bulk proportions between the two export periods will hardly be affected by this.”

The exports from Havana in 1884 were 11,767,200 lb. to the United States, 613,000 to Spain, 252,600 to France, 37,500 to Mexico and South America, 70,000 to Belgium, and 500 to the Mediterranean.