houses. In a quicker and better method, as practiced in Cuba and the cigar districts of the United States, the tobacco is piled under suitable conditions of moisture and the process of fermenting is hastened by the heat developed. The tobacco is repiled when the temperature rises to a certain point, and so continued until the proper flavor and aroma are developed. Tobacco for cigarettes is cured by heating it for a short time in large ovens. The product is of light color and a small nicotine content and without the agreeable aroma of cigar tobacco.
Tobacco, owing to the high rate of duty when in any manufactured form, is mostly imported in the leaf; but small quantities are brought in, chiefly for reëxport, in various states of manufacture.
Tobacco Diseases. Among the various diseases of tobacco perhaps the best known is calico or mottled top, a Connecticut name for the mosaic disease of Holland. The ‘spotting’ of tobacco in Connecticut, the spot disease of Russia, and the nielle of France are somewhat similar. The mosaic disease as described by Mayer, one of the first to investigate it in Holland, is characterized by mottled light and dark green leaves a few weeks after the plants are set. The tissue in the darker parts of the leaves grows faster and soon is much thicker than the light-colored areas. As the disease progresses some of the thin areas die out, giving a decidedly mottled appearance to the leaf. The diseased plants are usually irregularly distributed throughout the field. The cause has been the subject of much controversy. By many observers it is said to be of bacterial origin. Others claim it to be due to certain enzymes which disturb the balance between the normal functions of certain cells. Beijerinck claims to have produced the disease by inoculating healthy plants with the sterilized fluid from diseased leaves. Others claim it to be due to soil and water conditions. The evidence now at hand seems to favor the theory of the unorganized ferments as the probable cause. The spot disease is characterized by white or brown spots of various size and shape upon the leaves. In some cases the leaves resemble the spotted condition which is considered so desirable in some tobaccos, as the Sumatra wrapper leaf. The cause of the spot is not definitely known. In Australia the fungus Peronospora hyoscyami produces a common and destructive disease of the plants, and in Java and Sumatra the dark spots are attributed to Phytophthora nicotianæ. Both these diseases may be prevented by thorough application of Bordeaux mixture. In the curing of tobacco two diseases, pole burn and stem rot, are common. Pole burn is likely to develop if long continued damp, sultry weather occurs while the plants are being cured. It first attacks the veins, turning them black, but spreads to the rest of the leaf, blackening it and making it very bitter. Certain fungi seem always present in this disease, as well as many bacteria. It is believed the fungi are the principal cause of the injury, in which the bacteria doubtless assist. This disease may be prevented by artificial heat and ventilation. The stem rot is due to the fungus Botrytis longibrachiata. It attacks the stems and veins, producing patches of velvety white fungus and causing more or less decay. The spores ripen upon the stalks that are thrown aside as worthless. These should he carefully collected and burned, and the tobacco barn thoroughly fumigated with sulphur fumes before and after curing a crop.
Cigars and Cheroots are forms of manufactured tobacco. Cuba supplies the best cigar tobacco, the best cigars being made from that grown in Vuelta Abajo and hence known as Vuelta tobacco. The greater proportion of genuine Havana cigars smoked in this country are not manufactured in Cuba, but in Florida by Cuban workmen from genuine imported tobacco, under the system used in Cuba and known to the trade as ‘Cuban hand-work.’ This term characterizes a very careful method, by which each piece of leaf is so graded that the entire cigar is of the same color throughout, with each vein of the leaf running in the same direction, in order to insure even and perfect burning.
Next to Cuban ranks the tobacco grown in Florida, while the product of Borneo, Ceylon, and the Philippine Islands is considered little inferior. Persia also produces a good article. Turkish tobacco is very aromatic. The name Turkish is loosely applied to the leaf grown in Syria, Rumelia, Karamania, and about the Persian Gulf. A light yellow tobacco is smoked in China, and some of it is exported. Very excellent tobacco is grown in Java and Sumatra and shipped to Amsterdam, where the best cigars in Europe are most readily obtained. Burmese tobacco is fair. In Germany inferior tobacco is produced along the Rhine, near Baden and at Mainz, and is used for home consumption. In France tobacco is a Government monopoly and can be grown only by those who receive a special license. These producers have the choice of selling their tobacco to the Government manufacturers or of exporting it. The best cigars made in Europe of European tobacco are those manufactured in Spain.
Cigarettes. Of late years cigarette smoking has increased greatly, but in the United States the increased manufacture of little cigars has caused an apparent decrease in the number of cigarettes made. Under the classification in the revenue returns, it is difficult to secure satisfactory statistics. The manufacture is now practically in the hands of a single ‘trust.’ In France there are several factories exclusively devoted to the production of cigarettes, employing over 2000 women and turning out more than 400,000,000 cigarettes a year. In Spain the consumption of cigarettes is very great, but the practice is for the smoker to roll his own, rather than to smoke the manufactured article.
Snuff was originally made in Spain, and later in England, Scotland. Holland, and Belgium. It was at first made by grinding the leaf tobacco in mortars, and scenting the powder in various ways. It is now ground in metal mills by steam power. The United States produces a small amount of snuff, but the practice of taking snuff is annually declining. In the reports of the manufactures of tobacco, snuff is classed with chewing tobacco. Chewing tobacco is put up in pressed cakes called ‘plug tobacco,’ and in a spongy mass of fine threads known as ‘fine cut.’ Usually flavoring matters, as vanilla, sugar, syrups, glycerin, etc., are added in small amounts. Different manufacturers have various formulas, considered as trade secrets, for improving their products. Smoking tobacco for pipes is put up
