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TOBACCO
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TOBACCO
, the name (see below) for the leaves of several See also:species of Nicotiana (nat. ord
.
See also:Solanaceae), variously prepared for use as a narcotic
.
While it is principally manufactured for smoking, a large amount is also prepared for chewing, and, to a more limited extent, it is taken in the See also:form of See also:snuff
.
Under one or other of these forms the use of tobacco is more widely spread than is that of any other narcotic or stimulant
.
See also:History.—Although the fact has been controverted, there cannot be a doubt that the knowledge of tobacco and its uses came to the See also:rest of the See also:world from See also:America
.
In See also:November 1492 a party sent out by See also:Columbus from the vessels of his first expedition to explore the See also:island of See also:Cuba brought back See also:information that they had seen See also:people who carried a lighted firebrand to kindle See also:fire, and perfumed themselves with certain herbs which they carried along with them
.
The See also:habit of snuff-taking was observed and described by Ramon See also:Pane, a Franciscan who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage (1494-1496), and the practice of tobacco-chewing was first seen by the Spaniards on the See also:coast of See also:South America in 1502
.
As the See also:continent of America was opened up and explored, it became evident that the See also:consumption of tobacco, especially by smoking, was a universal and immemorial usage, in many cases See also:bound up with the most significant and See also:solemn tribal ceremonies
.
The See also:term tobacco appears not to have been a commonly used See also:original name for the plant, and it has come to us from a See also:peculiar See also:instrument used, for inhaling its See also:smoke by the inhabitants of
Hispaniola (See also:San Domingo)
.
The instrument, described by See also:Oviedo (Historia de See also:las Indias Occidentales, See also:Salamanca, 1535), consisted of a small hollow wooden See also:tube, shaped like a If, the two points of which being inserted in the See also:nose of the smoker, the other end was held into the smoke of burning tobacco, and thus the fumes were inhaled
.
This apparatus the natives called " See also:tabaco "; but it must be said that the smoking See also:pipe of the See also:continental tribes was entirely different from the imperfect tabaco of the Caribees
.
Benzoni, on the other See also:hand, whose Travels in America (1542–1556) were published in 1565, says that the Mexican, name of the See also:herb was " tabacco."
The tobacco plant itself was first brought to See also:Europe in 1558 by Francisco Fernandes, a physician who had been sent by See also:
By the See also:French See also:ambassador to See also:Portugal, See also:Jean Nicot, seeds were sent from the See also:Peninsula to the See also:queen, See also:Catherine de' See also:Medici
.
The services rendered by Nicot in spreading a knowledge of the plant have been commemorated in the scientific name of the genus Nicotiana
.
At first the plant was supposed to possess almost miraculous healing See also:powers, and was designated " herba See also:panacea," " herba See also:santa," " sang sancta Indorum "; " divine tobacco " it is called by See also:Spenser, and " our See also:holy herb nicotian " by See also:
The plant has alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate leaves, those at the See also:lower part of the stem being slightly stalked, and of large See also:size, reaching to 2 ft
.
in length, while the upper are semi-amplexicaul and of variable outline
.
The seeds are See also: Very slight See also:differences in See also:climate appear to cause very great differences in the quality of the tobacco, and See also:ordinary meteorological records are of little use in determining the suitability or not of a region for a particular See also:kind of See also:leaf ; this essential point must be determined by experiment . In See also:general, tropical and semi-tropical conditions as to temperature, with a comparatively dry climate, give the best results . Given suitable climatic conditions, the type of tobacco produced is determined mainly by the soil, and particularly by its See also:mechanical or See also:physical See also:condition . Speaking generally, See also:clay soils retentive of moisture produce heavy-cropping tobaccos which cure to a dark brown or red colour . Sandy soils produce tobaccos with a thin leaf, curing to a yellow or See also:bright red colour . In the same locality, i.e. under the same climatic conditions, quite different kinds of tobacco may be produced in See also:direct relation to the See also:character of the soil . Thus the bright yellow tobacco used for cigarettes, &c., is largely produced in Virginia and N . Carolina on a loose porous See also:sand, which must he at least a See also:foot deep, and contains usually about 8% of clay; this sand is underlaid by a clay subsoil, and, as Mr See also:Milton See also:Whitney points out in Tobacco Soils (U.S.A . Dept. of See also:Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin, No . 83), this clay is the same as that on which the heavy manufacturing and export tobacco is grown . Where the clay is exposed on the surface the heavy type of tobacco is produced, and bright tobacco where the clay is covered by from 12 to 20 in. of sand . Tobacco soils should be well drained and contain a large percentage of humus .
Tobacco being cultivated over such a large See also:area of the world, under very varying climatic conditions, and by many different races of mankind, the methods employed in its See also:production naturally differ very considerably
.
As the United States of America produce more tobacco than any other See also:country it will be best to See also:deal generally with conditions there and to refer to marked differences in dealing with production in other countries
.
The See also:seed is sown in nursery beds, and the See also:plants set out in the See also: They must be well hardened off before being set out in the open . The See also:land for their reception must be thoroughly well tilled and manured . If moist, ridges are formed about 3 to 4 ft. apart; the distance apart in the rows varies greatly with various types of tobacco: 3 ft. is the normal for ordinary manufacturing and smoking tobaccos, t to 11 ft. for Cuba and See also:Sumatra types . See also:Cigar tobaccos become coarse if planted too widely . An See also:acre of tobacco planted 3 ft. by 15 in. will contain 11,600 plants and 3 ft . 6 in. by 15 in., so,000 plants . During the transplanting, preferably done on cloudy days or during light rains, the plants must be handled very carefully; See also:machines are now available which can set out and See also:water plants over from two to six acres in a working See also:day . After transplanting the See also:crop takes about another sixty days to mature, i.e. about 120 days in all from the date the seed was sown . During this See also:period, until the plants begin to ripen, the tilth is maintained and weeds checked first by See also:horse cultivators or horse-hoes, and, as the plants increase in size, by hand labour . When the plants show signs of flowering they are ' topped " to prevent seed formation, the terminal buds being removed, and only a certain number of leaves See also:left on each plant to ripen . This operation requires experienced See also:judgment to decide when it should be done; the number of leaves to be left varies with the variety and vigour of the plant, the nature of the soil, climate, seasons and particular use for which the crop is intended . The product from plants which have not been topped is of little value . In the U.S.A., in the cigar tobacco See also:district, fifteen to twenty leaves are often left on each plant, and of manufacturing tobaccos only ten to twelve leaves . As one result of the topping, suckers are usually formed; these also must be removed, although, e.g. in See also:Florida, vigorous stickers are sometimes allowed to remain when the plant is cut, and produce a " sucker crop " inferior in character to the first or See also:principal crop, but still serviceable . The leaves now ripen, indicated by a See also:change from a dark to lighter green, and by the appearance of yellow spots . Ripening is See also:complete in about 35 days after topping or about 155 days of cer sowing . A ripe leaf easily cracks or shows a crease when folded between the fingers . The leaves on a plant decrease in See also:age from below upwards, and all are not ripe at exactly the same See also:time . In high quality tobaccos the leaves are primed " or picked singly as they ripen, but in the great bulk of American tobaccos the whole plant is cut See also:close to the ground when the See also:middle leaves are about ripe . In either See also:case leaves should not be gathered when wet with See also:dew or See also:rain, or in very hot See also:sunshine; the afternoon is usually the best time . The next step is to remove the harvested crop to the drying-See also:shed ; primed leaves are placed at once in shallow baskets or boxes, and when under See also:cover are strung on See also:string or on See also:wire and hung up on laths in the See also:barn . Cut plants are allowed to wilt, or become flaccid, before removal from the field, to prevent injury to the turgid leaves . These cut plants may be laid in rows on the ground to wilt, or spitted on long rods or laths supported on trestles, or placed on See also:special drying racks . When sufficiently wilted they are hauled to the barn and hung up there on the same laths on which they were placed in the field . A very interesting development of quite See also:recent years is that of growing some valuable cigar tobaccos under artificial shade . Sumatra Cultivatlon produced the best cigar wrappers of the world, and under efforts to cultivate Sumatra tobacco in Florida under Shade, apparently suitable conditions of climate and soil were not successful . It was noticed, however, that if the tobacco was grown under the shade of trees the character of the leaf was improved . Artificial shading, first by laths, and later by See also:cheese-cloth, both supported on posts, was then resorted to with eminently satisfactory results . The U.S.A . See also:Department of Agriculture, in co-operation with See also:local growers, devoted a great deal of See also:attention and See also:money to the problem, and Sumatra tobacco of very high quality is now produced in Florida and See also:Connecticut . The yield of leaf is often much increased, the plants are protected from the See also:weather, and the enhanced value of the crop much more than repays the very considerable expense involved in artificially shading whole See also:fields . So successful have the results been that American-grown tobacco of the Sumatra type is now exported even to Cuba . Important changes take place in the tobacco leaf from the timeit is cut until the finished product is ready for consumption . These may be all placed under curing, but it is usual to recognize three stages: (I) curing proper; (2) fer- Curing. mentation; and (3) ageing . See also:Sun curing, now but little practised in the United States, is the simplest method . The wilted tobacco is suspended on racks in the sun .
Great care is necessary to protect it from rain, and it must if necessary be placed in a barn in which fires may be required during wet weather
.
This method is employed in a portion of Virginia and results in a very sweet chewing tobacco
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See also:Air curing is essentially similar to sun curing
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The tobacco is hung in a barn in which there is a See also:free circulation of air during dry weather
.
Artificial See also:heat may be resorted to in See also:bad weather; in the States, cigar tobaccos and " See also: By whichever way treated; the tobacco-leaf after curing is brittle and cannot be handled without crumbling to See also:powder . The contents of the barn are therefore left till moist weather occurs, and then by the See also:admission of atmospheric air the leaf See also:blades absorb moisture and become soft and pliant . In this condition the leaves are stripped from the stems and Forted into qualities, such as " lugs, " or lower leaves, " firsts " and " seconds . These are made up into " hands, " or small bundles of from six to twelve leaves . Each bundle is tied See also:round with a See also:separate leaf, and in this condition the tobacco is ready for bulking for See also:fermentation . The tobacco, whether in bundles, hands or separate leaves, is piled up or bulked on the floor in a barn into a solid stack to the height of 5 or 6 ft . Within this stack a process of Fermentafermentation is quickly set up, and the temperature of the See also:mass rises steadily till it reaches about 13o° F . See also:Con . Great care is now taken to prevent overheating and to secure the See also:uniform fermentation of all the tobacco . The See also:pile is from time to time taken down and rebuilt, the tobacco from the See also:top going to the bottom and that exposed at the edges being turned in to the centre . In from three to five weeks the fermentation should be sufficiently carried out, and the leaves then have a See also:nice uniform brown colour . Dark-coloured leaves are produced when the temperature is allowed to See also:mount higher than when light leaves are required . Fermentation is essentially a chemical process due apparently to the presence of enzymes, See also:developed in the leaf during the earlier curing stages . The view has been put forward that fermentation is due to the activity of bacteria, distinct types occurring in various tobaccos, but the See also:balance of See also:evidence is against it . On the bacterial theory it was thought possible to inoculate a poor tobacco with, say, the special bacteria See also:present in Cuban tobacco, and so give the product the aroma and other good qualities of the more valuable tobacco . When fermentation is completed the tobacco is graded, an operation carried out very carefully in the case of the better cigar tobaccos, and packed for export, cigar tobaccos in See also:bales, and other kinds in hogsheads . It is then kept at a moderate and fairly uniform temperature in a warehouse, when, although there is no marked outward change, the tobacco becomes more mellow . Two years are usually required for ageing, but some tobaccos are kept for four or five years before being manufactured . An artificial aroma is sometimes given to tobaccos, especially for the " fillers " of cigars, by saucing or treating the leaves with a See also:solution containing an infusion of fine quality tobacco stems, See also:rum, sour See also:wine and various flavouring materials such as oil of aniseed, See also:tincture of See also:valerian, powdered See also:cloves, See also:cinnamon and See also:liquorice . Pests and Diseases.—Tobacco, like other cultivated plants, is subject to attack by various pests and diseases, but fortunately these are less destructive than with many crops . On the other hand, comparatively trivial incidents do more harm to a relatively delicate plant like the tobacco than to more robust plants . The "tobacco See also:flea-See also:beetle " (Epitrix parvula, Fabr.) isa small active beetle, the larvae of which attack the roots, while the adult beetles eat holes in the leaves . The latter is the more serious, as in addition to the actual damage done by the beetle the holes afford entrance to fungus spores, &c . Under the name " See also:horn See also:worms " are included the larvae or caterpillars of species of Protoparce . These comparatively large and voracious animals, when abundant, do great damage by eating the leaves . Other caterpillars,"budworms" (Heliothis, spp.), attack the buds or burrow into the seed-pods . Seedling plants of tobacco, like many other crops, are liable to attack by " cut worms," the caterpillars of species of Peridromia and Agrotis . " Plant bugs," which suck the juice of the leaves, have been recorded as serious enemies in some parts of the world . Recently, shade-grown tobacco in some localities has suffered considerably from the attacks of small sucking See also:insects known as thrips, which produce " white See also:veins " in the leaf . White vein may also be induced by other causes besides the attacks of thrips . Stored tobacco is liable to be attacked and ruined by the " cigarette beetle," a See also:cosmopolitan insect of very varied tastes, feeding not only on dried tobacco of all kinds, including snuff, but also on See also:rhubarb. See also:cayenne See also:pepper, tumeric, See also:ginger, See also:figs and See also:herbarium specimens . Other beetles, such as the See also:rice See also:weevil (Calandra oryza), also attack dried tobacco . The fungoid diseases of tobacco are comparatively unimportant; there are, however, some diseases of obscure origin which at times cause considerable damage . " See also:Mosaic disease " is the name given to a condition in which the leaves are more or less sharply differentiated into light and dark green patches . The See also:matter has been fully investigated by Mr A . F . See also:Woods (Bulletin No . 18, See also:Bureau of Plant See also:Industry, U.S . Department of Agriculture), who attributes it not to any specific See also:parasite but to a disturbance of the normal physiological activity of the cells . " See also:Frog's See also:eye," or " leaf spot," denotes the occurrence of small white specks on the leaf . This disease is probably bacterial in origin . See also:Wind and See also:hail may break plants or damage leaves, especially if required for wrapper purposes . The See also:provision of wind breaks is the only effective remedy . Diseases which occur in curing are important . Excessive humidity causes small dark spots to appear; these become confluent and the whole leaf may become dark and decay . Various names are given, such as " See also:pole See also:burn," " pole sweat," " See also:house burn." The disease is checked by raising the temperature above x 1o° F., and reducing the humidity of the barn . Stem rot, due to a See also:mould (See also:Botrytis sp.), occurs in wet weather . Too rapid drying of the See also:outer See also:tissue of the leaf leads to the formation of " white veins," which injure leaves required for wrapper purposes, otherwise it is not important . Another defect arising during curing and fermentation is the efflorescence of salts on the surface, a phenomenon known as " See also:saltpetre "; light brushing and spraying with a weak solution of acetic See also:acid are effective remedies . Improvement by Selection.—Careful examination of a large number of individuals of one variety growing under similar conditions reveals differences in such characters as number of leaves per plant, the size and shape of the leaves, tendency to form suckers, time of maturing and resistance to disease . Other tests show variability in burning quality, See also:elasticity of leaf, texture, See also:taste, &c . The United States Department of Agriculture has closely investigated this important questicn and the results attained are brought together by Messrs H . D . Shamel and W . W . Cobey in Tobacco Breeding (Bulletin 96, Bureau of Plant Industry, 1907) . No crop, it is pointed out, responds so readily to breeding as tobacco, or deteriorates more rapidly, as regards both yield and quality, if neglected .. The variations are classified as: (x) Variation in type due to See also:crossing, change of soil and climate, especially, for example, when seed from the tropics is introduced to temperate regions . (2) Variations within the type, due to natural tendency to vary, local conditions and maturity of seed . When Cuban tobaccos were first introduced into Florida, the type See also:broke up, but by carefully selecting the best plants and using them only as See also:sources of seed for later crops, a good type was obtained . The tobacco See also:flower is fortunately perfectly self-fertile, and by enclosing the flowers of selected plants in See also:paper bags, so as to exclude all possibility of hybridization, progeny true to the type of the See also:mother plant can be obtained . No See also:attempt should ever be made to raise large crops of tobacco from imported seed, but only a small crop, and the seed of the selected plants should be used for future See also:propagation . In selection See also:work the grower must keep definitely in view the special See also:market requirements for the kinds of tobacco he is producing . Thus for wrapper tobaccos, amongst other points a broad, rounded leaf, which will yield perhaps eight wrappers, is much more valuable than a narrow pointed leaf which yields perhaps only four . Plants may be found growing See also:side by side, the one with broad leaves, the other with narrow, but by selection the broad type can be perpetuated and gradually improved . Hybridization can also be readily controlled in the case of tobaccos, and in this connexion it is useful to See also:note that, if See also:pollen is desired of some variety growing at a distance, it will retain its vitality for several weeks if kept perfectly dry, and so can readily be sent by See also:post from one place to another . Another favourable feature is the fact that a single See also:capsule contains from 4000 to 8000 seeds, and one tobacco plant may easily produce from 500,000 to 1,000,000 seeds . Production . United States.—Tobacco cultivation See also:dates in the States from the very See also:early years of the 17th century, when it was taken up in Virginia . A general description has already been given of the methods of cultivation and preparation . In 1906 the See also:total area 4ader tobacco in twenty-five states was 796,099 acres, and theproduction 682,428,530 lb, valued at about £13,500,000 . The principal tobacco-producing states, with the approximate value of their crops, were: Kentucky, £3,885,400; See also:Ohio, £1,706,600; North Carolina, £1,396,153; See also:Wisconsin, £x,342,600; Virginia, £i,2o6,309, See also:Pennsylvania, £979,550; Connecticut, £883,184; See also:Tennessee, £511,035; Florida, £330,750; New See also:York, £244,053, and Maryland, £241,046 . The See also:average yield per acre in the States as a whole in 1906 was 857.2 lb . New See also:Hampshire had the highest average, 1785 lb per acre, and See also:Mississippi the lowest, 440 lb . The successful production of cigar tobaccos from Cuban and Sumatran seed was a development of the |