[6] Copyright by Tobacco Leaf Publishing Co.
Where Did the Name Tobacco Originate?
It is now generally agreed that the word tobacco is derived from
“tobago,” which was an Indian pipe. The tobago was Y-shaped, and
usually consisted of a hollow, forked reed, the two prongs of which
were fitted into the nostrils, the smoke being drawn from tobacco
placed in the end of the stem. The island of Tobago, contrary to the
belief of many, did not furnish the name for tobacco, but on the other
hand, it was given that name by Columbus, owing to its resemblance in
shape to the Indian pipe.
How Was Tobacco Discovered?
While tobacco is now found growing in all inhabited countries, it is a
native of the Americas and adjacent islands. Its discovery by civilized
man was coincident with the discovery of this continent by Christopher
Columbus in 1492. Columbus and his adventurous sailors found the
native Indians using the weed on the explorer’s first visit to the new
world. Investigation has established that the plant was first used
as a religious rite and gradually became a social habit among the
natives. Columbus and his Castilian successors carried the weed to
Spain. Sir Walter Raleigh took it to England, Jean Nicot, whose name
is immortalized in nicotine, introduced it to the French; adventurous
traders brought the seed to Turkey and Syria, and Spanish argosies
carried it westward from Mexico to the Philippines and thence to China
and Japan. Thus within two centuries after its discovery tobacco was
being cultivated in nearly every country and was being used by every
race of men.
Where Does Tobacco Grow?
While tobacco is a native of the Americas, it is a fact that it will
grow after a fashion almost anywhere. Milton Whitney, Chief of the
Division of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, in his
bulletin on tobacco soils says tobacco can be grown in nearly all
parts of the country even where wheat and corn cannot economically
be grown. The plant readily adapts itself to the great range of
climatic conditions, will grow on nearly all kinds of soil and has
a comparatively short season of growth. But while it can be so
universally grown, the flavor and quality of the leaf are greatly
influenced by the conditions of climate and soil. The industry has
been very highly specialized and there is only demand now for tobacco
possessing certain qualities adapted to certain specific purposes....
It is a curious and interesting fact that tobacco suitable for our
domestic cigars, is raised in Sumatra, Cuba and Florida, and then
passing over our middle tobacco States the cigar type is found again
in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin....
It is surprising to find so little difference in the meteorological
record for these several places during the crop season. There does not
seem to be sufficient difference to explain the distribution of the
different classes of tobacco, and yet this distribution is probably
due mainly to climatic conditions.... The plant is far more sensitive
to these meteorological conditions than are our instruments. Even in
such a famous tobacco region as Cuba, tobacco of good quality cannot
be grown in the immediate vicinity of the ocean or in certain parts
of the island that would otherwise be considered good tobacco lands.
This has been experienced also in Sumatra and in our own country, but
the influences are too subtle to be detected by our meteorological
instruments.... Under good climatic conditions, the class and type
of tobacco depend upon the character of the soil, especially on the
physical character of the soil upon which it is grown, while the grade
is dependent largely upon the cultivation and curing of the crop.
Different types of tobacco are grown on widely different soils all the
way from the coarse sandy lands of the Pine Barrens, to the heavy,
clay, limestone, corn and wheat lands. The best soil for one kind of
tobacco, therefore, may be almost worthless for the staple agricultural
crops, while the best for another type of tobacco may be the richest
and most productive soil of any that we have.
~WHERE HAVANA TOBACCO IS GROWN~
Havana tobacco, which means all tobacco grown on the island of Cuba,
possesses peculiar qualities which make it the finest tobacco in the
world for cigar purposes. The island produces from 350,000 to 500,000
bales annually, of which 150,000 to 250,000 bales come to the United
States for use in American cigar factories. The best quality of the
Cuban tobacco comes largely from the Vuelta Abajo section, although
some very choice tobaccos are raised also in the Partidos section.
Remedios tobaccos are more heavily bodied than others and are used
almost exclusively for blending with our domestic tobaccos. While there
are innumerable sub-classifications, such as Semi-Vueltas, Remates,
Tumbadero, etc., the three general divisions named above, Vuelta
Abajo, Partidos and Remedios, embrace the entire island. If a fourth
general classification were to be added, it would be Semi-Vueltas.
The Vuelta Abajo is grown in the Province of Pinar del Rio, located
at the western end of the island. It is raised practically throughout
the entire province. Semi-Vueltas are also grown in Pinar del Rio, but
the trade draws a line between them and the genuine Vueltas. Partidos
tobacco, which is grown principally in the Province of Havana, differs
from the Vuelta Abajo in that it is of a much lighter quality. The
Partidos country is famous for its production of fine light glossy
wrappers. Tobacco from the foregoing sections is used principally in
the manufacture of clear Havana cigars. Some of the heavier Vueltas,
however, are also used for seed and Havana cigar purposes. Remedios,
otherwise known as Vuelta-Arriba, is grown in the Province of Santa
Clara, located in the center of the island. This tobacco is taken
almost entirely by the United States and Europe and is used here for
filler purposes, principally in seed and Havana cigars. Its general
characteristics are a high flavor and rather heavy body, which make it
especially suitable for blending with our domestic tobaccos. Havana
tobacco is packed and marketed in bales.
Preparing the Seed Beds.
The first step is the preparation of the seed beds. For these beds
low, rich, hardwood lands are selected. The trees are cut down and the
wood split, converted into cord wood and piled up to dry. About the
middle of January this wood is stacked up on skid poles and ignited.
The ground is thus cleared by burning, the fires being moved from spot
to spot until a sufficient area is cleared. By this process all grass,
weeds, brush and insects are eradicated. The ground is then dug up with
hoes and cleared off and a perfect seed bed is made.
The tobacco seed is first mixed with dry ashes in the proportion of
about a tablespoonful of seed to a gallon of the ashes, and about this
quantity is sowed over a square rod of land. This amount is calculated
to supply plants enough for one acre of ground, but the farmers usually
double the planting as a precaution against emergencies. After the seed
beds are sowed they are covered over with cheesecloth as a means of
protection, and they are carefully weeded and watered until the leaves
have attained a length of about four inches. They are then ready for
transplanting, which operation begins about the middle of April.
Fertilization.
In the meantime, the tobacco-growing areas have been prepared by
plowing and fertilizing. The matter of fertilization has been the
subject of much study and many experiments, and it has been definitely
established that cow manure is one of the best for this purpose.
This natural fertilizer is distributed on the fields at the rate of
ten to twenty two-horse loads to each acre. In addition to this from
two hundred to three hundred pounds of carbonate of potash, and from
two thousand to three thousand pounds of bright cottonseed meal are
employed. The total cost of this fertilizer amounts to about $120 per
acre.
Planting.
After the fertilizer is well plowed into the land the ground is laid
off into ridges about four feet apart, made by throwing two one-horse
furrows together. These ridges are about two feet in width and are
flattened on the top so as to make a level bed for the young plant. The
farmer then measures off and marks these rows at intervals of 16 to 18
inches. At each mark he makes a small hole, and after pouring in a pint
of water the plant is carefully set. Machine planters are used for this
purpose to a limited extent.
Care of the Growing Crop.
The growers usually calculate on finishing their planting about the
first of June. The young plants are then closely watched and are hoed
and cultivated at least once a week. They are also supplied with
sufficient water to keep them alive and growing. At this stage of the
proceedings, the planter begins to look out for worms. The butter worm
is one of his greatest enemies. This is a small green moth that lays
its eggs in the bud of the plant and turns into a worm two days later.
To stop the ravages of this insect, it is customary to use a mixture
composed of some insecticide mixed with corn meal. A small pinch of
this mixture is inserted at regular intervals in the bud of each plant
until the plant is nearly grown.
When the tobacco is about three feet high, all such leaves as were on
the plant when it was first set out are picked off and thrown away.
About this time the crop is usually threatened by another enemy known
as the horn worm. This is a large, mouse-colored moth, which swarms
over the field about sun-down, and deposits green eggs about the size
of a very small bird shot, on the back sides of the leaves. This is a
very ravenous insect and unless carefully watched it will devour every
leaf of tobacco, leaving nothing but the stalks standing. It is removed
by picking off and by insecticides.
[Illustration: A FIELD OF FINE HAVANA.]
Harvesting.
About sixty to ninety days after setting, the bottom leaves on the
plant are ripe and the grower is able to remove from three to four
on each stalk. This is called priming. The primer detaches each leaf
carefully and places it face down in his left hand, inspecting it at
the same time to see that no worms are carried to the barns. Upon
accumulating a handful, he places them in baskets that are lined with
burlap to prevent injury to the leaf, and the filled baskets are either
carried or hauled to the barns.
About this time the plants have begun to bud out at the top, and
this bud, with a few small leaves around it, is broken off. This
process is called topping, and is done for the purpose of confining
the development of the plant to the leaves below. After topping, the
priming of the tobacco is continued for about three weeks, and until
all the upper leaves of marketable value have been harvested. In the
meantime, the suckering has to be looked after, which is the removing
of the small branches that have a tendency to grow out of the main
stalk of the plant.
In the barns the leaves are placed on long tables, behind which stand
the stringers. They string the leaves, each separately, on strong
cotton twine, about thirty leaves to a string, spaced about an inch
apart. If this is not done carefully and accurately, several leaves may
become bunched together and the cure will thereby be impaired. It is
attention to this detail which prevents the defect known as pole-sweat.
These strings are tied at either end to a tobacco lath, and the lath is
hung upon two poles. These poles are placed in courses in the barn, at
spaces of two feet, one above the other.
[Illustration: A MODERN CUBAN TOBACCO PLANTATION.]
~HOW TOBACCO IS CURED~
Here the tobacco undergoes its preliminary, or barn cure, and during
this period the grower is constantly on the anxious seat, having to
open and close his curing houses according to the changes in the
weather, and to look closely after the ventilation of his crop in order
to avoid the development of stem rot and other afflictions with which
the tobacco is threatened at this stage of the proceedings.
[Illustration: A STAND OF TOBACCO IN EACH HAND.]
Bulk Sweating.
In due course of time the laths are taken down, the strings removed and
the leaves are formed into hands and tied with a string. The tobacco is
then packed temporarily in cases and delivered at the fermenting house,
where it is put into what is known as the bulk sweat. This consists
of uniform piles of tobacco covered over with blankets, and which are
frequently “turned” in order that they shall cure evenly and not become
too dark in color. From the bulk sweat the tobacco goes to the sorting
tables, where it is divided into numerous grades of length and color.
It is then turned over to the packers, who form it into bales.
How is Tobacco Cultivated?
As the young plants spring up and begin to grow, they are thinned out,
watered and cared for until along in October or November, and as soon
as the weather becomes settled for the season, the little seedlings
are transplanted into the field. Some growers use shade, but most of
the tobacco is grown in the open. The plants are placed in rows, very
much as corn is planted, only farther apart. The plants are carefully
protected from weeds and insects, and in December the early tobacco is
ready to be harvested. Here the mode of procedure differs according
to the discretion of the grower. The plan universally in vogue until
recent years was to cut the plant down at the base of the stalk.
Lately, however, the more scientific growers harvest their tobacco
gradually, picking it leaf by leaf, according as they ripen and mature.
The tobacco is then allowed to lie in the field until the leaves are
wilted. The stalks (or stems, according to the method followed) are
then strung on _cujes_ or poles, so that the plants hang with the tips
down. The tobacco is then allowed to hang in the sun until it is dry
and later carried into the barns, where the poles are suspended in
tiers until the barn is full. Tobacco barns everywhere are constructed
with movable, or rather, adjustable, side and end walls which permit of
a constant adjustment of the ventilation. While hanging in the barn the
tobacco undergoes its preliminary cure and changes in color from the
green of the growing plant to a yellowish brown. The climatic changes
have to be carefully studied during this process. If the weather is
extremely dry it is customary to keep the barns closed in the daytime
and to open the ventilators at night. It is generally desirable to
keep the tobacco fairly dry while it is undergoing the barn cure. After
a few weeks, and when the hanging tobacco has reached the proper stage
of maturity, a period of damp weather is looked for so that the dry
leaves may be rehandled without injury. When the desired shower comes
along the tobacco is stripped off the poles and placed in _pilon_--that
is, in heaps, or piles, on the floors of the barns and warehouses, each
pile being covered with blankets. Here, being in a compact mass, it
undergoes the _calentura_, or fever, by which it is pretty thoroughly
cured, the color changing to a deeper brown. After about two weeks in
the piles it is sorted, tied into small bundles or carrots, and these
in turn are packed in bales. After being baled the tobacco, if allowed
to remain undisturbed, undergoes a third cure, by which it is greatly
improved in quality. It is then ready for the factory.
[Illustration: A TOBACCO BARN.]
The Shade-growing Method.
The shade-growing method is one of the institutions of modern tobacco
cultivation. The principle is this: The sun, shining on the tobacco
plants, draws the nutrition from the earth, and the plant ripens
quickly, the leaves having a tendency to be heavy-bodied and not very
large. To defeat these results and produce large, thin, silky leaves
for cigar-wrapper purposes, the grower sometimes covers his field with
a tent of cheesecloth or with a lattice-work of lathing which protects
the growing tobacco from the direct rays of the sun. Thus the ripening
process is slower, causing the leaves to grow larger and thinner and
less gummy; and being thinner and less gummy, they are of a lighter
color when finally cured. This method is employed by some growers in
cigar-leaf districts, such as Cuba, Florida and Connecticut.
[Illustration: TAKING TOBACCO FROM BALES]
How Are Cigars Made?
While many labor-saving devices have been introduced in all branches
of tobacco manufacture, it is a curious fact that in the production
of the best grade of cigars, namely, the clear Havana, the work is
done entirely by hand. In fact, it may be said that in the process of
manufacturing fine cigars exactly the same principles are followed
as those of two centuries ago. There has been much improvement in
the artisanship of the worker, of course, but no rudimentary change
in method. In the manufacture of snuff, chewing and pipe tobacco,
cigarettes and all-tobacco cigarettes, machinery plays an important
part; and mechanical devices are also used extensively in the
production of five-cent cigars and in the still higher priced grades
of part-domestic cigars, such as the seed and Havana. Some of these
appliances are almost human in their ingenuity. But in fashioning the
tobacco of Cuba into cigars that are perfect in shape, in formation
and in all the qualities that go to make a good cigar, there is no
substitute for the human hand.
Upon opening a bale of tobacco the workman takes each carrot out
separately, shakes it gently to separate the leaves, and then moistens
it, either by dipping it into a tub of water from which it is quickly
removed and shaken to throw off the surplus water or else by spraying
it with a blower. It is left in this condition over night, so that the
leaves may absorb the moisture and become uniformly damp and pliable.
The tobacco is then turned over to the strippers, who remove the midrib
from each leaf, at the same time separating the wrapper from the
filler. From this point on the treatment of the wrappers and fillers is
different.
The half leaves suitable for fillers are spread out and placed one
on top of the other, making what are called books. These books are
placed side by side, closely together, on a board, and a similar board
is placed on top of the tobacco to hold it in position. Later, it is
packed into barrels, the tops of which are covered with burlap, and
there it undergoes a fermentation. It is usually allowed to remain in
this condition for ten days or two weeks, when it is rehandled and
inspected, and if found to be in the right condition, it is placed on
racks, where it remains until it is in just the proper state of dryness
to be ready for working.
~THE GREAT CARE NECESSARY IN SELECTION~
The wrapper leaves, after leaving the hands of the stripper, are taken
by the wrapper selector, who sits, usually, at a barrel, and spreads
out each leaf, one on top of the other, over the edge of the barrel,
assorting them as to size, color, etc., into several different piles or
books. Each of these piles is divided into packs of twenty-five each,
and each lot of twenty-five is folded over into what is called a “pad”
and tied with a stem. It is in this form that they go to the cigarmaker.
Every morning the stock is distributed among the cigarmakers. Each
workman is given enough tobacco to make a certain number of cigars,
and when his work is finished he must return either the full number of
cigars or the equivalent in unused leaves.
The tools of the cigarmaker consist merely of a square piece of
hardwood board, a knife and a pot of gum tragacanth. He sits at a
table upon which rests the board, and at which there is also a gauge
on which the different lengths are indicated. Fastened to the front
of each table is a sack or pocket of burlap into which the cuttings
that accumulate on the table are brushed. The operator deftly cuts his
wrapper from the leaf, fashions the filler into proper form and size
in the palm of his hand (this is known as the “bunch”) and rolls the
tobacco into cigar form, In winding the wrapper around the “bunch” the
operator begins at the “lighting end” of the cigar, called the “tuck,”
and finishes at the end that goes into the mouth, which is called the
“head.” A bit of gum tragacanth is used to fasten the leaf securely at
the “head.” The cigar is then held to the gauge and is trimmed smoothly
off to the proper length by a stroke of the knife at the “tuck.” The
cigars are taken up in bundles of fifty each. They next pass into
the hands of the selectors, who separate them into different piles,
according to the color of the wrappers, and who also reject any cigars
that may be of faulty construction. Broken wrappers, bad colors or any
other defects are sufficient to cause the rejection of a cigar. The
rejected cigars are known as _resagos_ (“throwouts”) or _secundos_.
From the selectors the cigars go to the packers, whose duty it is to
place them in the boxes, and to see that the colors in each box are
uniform, marking the temporary color classification on each box in lead
pencil. After being packed, the filled boxes are put into a press and
so left for twelve hours or until the cigars conform somewhat to the
shape of the box which contains them. On being removed from the press,
if to be banded, the cigars are carefully removed in layers from the
box, the bands affixed, and the cigars replaced. The goods are then
placed in an air-tight vault to await shipment.
When the cigarmaker ties up his bundle of fifty cigars, he attaches to
it a slip of paper upon which is marked his number. This enables the
manufacturer to keep an accurate account of the number of cigars made
by each workman and also to place the responsibility for any defects in
the workmanship. Cigarmakers are paid by the piece, the scale of wages
ranging from $16 to $100 per thousand. In nearly every factory there
may be found advanced apprentices or old men working at the rate of
$14 per thousand and also there may be found skilled artisans making
exceptionally large odd sizes at more than $100 per thousand, but these
are not generally considered in the regulation scale of prices. In
averages, the workmen earn about $18 a week and make about 150 cigars a
day.
Just a Few Figures About Tobacco.
The internal revenue from tobacco for one year would build fourteen
battleships of the first-class; or it would pay the salary of the
President of the United States for nearly a thousand years. It would
pay the interest on the public debt for three years, and there would be
enough left over to add a dollar to the account of every savings bank
depositor in the United States.
The money spent by smokers for cigars only, _not counting_ cigarettes,
smoking and chewing tobacco and snuff would more than pay for the
building of the Panama Canal, besides taking care of the $50,000,000
paid to the new French Canal Co., and the Republic of Panama for
property and franchises. And in addition to this it would cover the
cost of fortifying the Canal.
Or it would build a fleet of thirty-five trans-Atlantic liners, each
exactly like the lost _Titanic_, coal them, provision them and keep
them running between New York and Liverpool with a full complement of
passengers and crew, almost indefinitely.
There are 21,718,448 cigars burned up in the United States every
twenty-four hours; and 904,935 every hour; and 15,082 every minute; and
251 _every second_.
The annual _per capita_ consumption of cigars in the United States,
counting men, women and children, is eighty-six cigars.
_If all the cigars smoked in the United States in one year were put
together, end to end, they would girdle the earth, at its largest
circumference, twenty-two times._
AS TO THE CIGARETTES, there are 23,736,190 of them consumed in the
United States every day; and 989,007 every hour; and 16,482 every
minute. With every tick of your watch, night and day, the year around,
the butts of 275 smoked-up cigarettes are dropped into the ash tray.
Cigarette smokers in the United States, not counting those who roll
their own smokes from tobacco, spend $60,645,966.36 for the little
paper-covered rolls.
If all the cigarettes smoked in the United States in one year were
placed end to end and stood up vertically they would make a slender
shaft rising 512,766 miles into the heavens.
_If strung on a wire they would make a cable that would reach from
the earth to the moon and back again, with enough left over to circle
one-and-a-half times around the globe._
If this quantity of tobacco could be placed on one side of a huge
balancing scale it would take the combined weight of four vast armies,
each army consisting of 1,000,000 men, to pull down the other side of
the scale.
The weight of the tobacco consumed in the United States in a year is
equal to the weight of the entire and combined population of Delaware,
Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, Tennessee and Alabama.
[Illustration: HOW OUR FINGER PRINTS IDENTIFY US
ARCH: IN THIS PATTERN RIDGES RUN FROM ONE SIDE TO ANOTHER, MAKING NO
BACKWARD TURN.]
[Illustration: LOOP: SOME RIDGES IN THIS PATTERN MAKE A BACKWARD TURN,
BUT WITHOUT TWIST.]