PLANTS YIELDING DRUGS, INCLUDING NARCOTICS AND OTHER COMMON MEDICINAL
SUBSTANCES.
The chief plants furnishing the drugs of commerce, and which enter
largely into tropical agriculture, are the narcotic plants, especially
tobacco, the poppy for opium, and the betel nut and leaf; as
masticatories--but there are very many others to which the attention
of the cultivator may profitably be directed. I have already trenched
so largely upon my space, that I cannot do that justice to the plants
coming under this section I could have wished. There are very many,
however, of which I must make incidental mention. Some few medicinal
plants have been already alluded to in former sections, particularly
in that on dye-stuffs, &c.
THE COCA PLANT grows about four or five feet high, with pale bright
green leaves, somewhat resembling in shape those of the orange tree.
The leaves are picked from the trees three or four times a year, and
carefully dried in the shade; they are then packed in small baskets.
The greatest quantity is grown about 30 leagues from Cicacica, among
the Yunnos on the frontiers of the Yunghos. Some is also cultivated
near to Huacaibamba.
The natives in several parts of Peru chew these leaves as Europeans do
tobacco, particularly in the mining districts, when at work in the
mines or travelling; and such is the sustenance that they derive from
them, that they frequently take no food for four or five days. I have
often (observes Mr. Stevenson) been assured by them, that whilst they
have a good supply of coca they feel neither hunger, thirst, nor
fatigue, and that without impairing their health they can remain eight
to ten days and nights without sleep. The leaves are almost insipid,
but when a small quantity of lime is mixed with them, they have a very
agreeable sweet taste. The natives generally carry with them a leather
pouch containing coca, and a small calabash holding lime or the ashes
of the molle to mix with them.
_Cocculus indicus_, or Indian berries.--This is the commercial name
for the berries or fruit of the _Menispermum Cocculus_ of Linnæus, _M.
heteroclitum_ of Roxburgh, _Animerta paniculata_ of Colebrooke, _A.
Cocculus_ of Wright and Arnot, and _Cocculus suberosus_ of Decandolle.
It is a strong climbing shrub or tree, native of Malabar, Ceylon, and
the Eastern Islands. The seeds or drupes contain a bitter poisonous
acid, and are used for the purpose of stupefying fish, and, in the
form of a black extract, for fraudulently increasing the intoxicating
power of malt liquors; one pound of the berries, it is said, will go
as far in brewing as a sack of malt. The berry is kidney-shaped, with
a white kernel. Whilst the imports in 1846 were but 246 bags, in 1850
they had increased to 2,359 bags of about 1 cwt. each. The price is
19s. to 24s. the cwt.
A crystalline, poisonous, narcotic principle called picrotoxin, has
been detected in these seeds, and occasionally employed externally in
some cutaneous diseases. _Cocculus crispus_ is used in intermittent
fevers and liver complaints.
The annual imports now average 250 tons, and nearly the whole is
consumed for illegal purposes by brewers. Though the practice is
nominally discountenanced by the Legislature under the penalty of £200
upon the brewer and £500 upon the seller, yet under the recent tariff
great encouragement is given to the introduction of these berries, the
duty having been reduced from 7s. 6d. to 5s. the cwt.
The capsules and seeds of _Xanthoxylum hostile_ are also employed for
the same purpose as cocculus indicus. The bark of _Walseria piscidia_,
a native of the Circar mountains, also intoxicates fish.
About 250 tons of _Nux vomica_, another species of dried flat seed
possessing intoxicating properties, are also imported annually for the
same purposes, and they fetch about 6s. to 8s. the cwt.
BETEL LEAF.--_Piper Betel_, a scandent species of the shrubby
evergreen tribe of plants belonging to the pepper family, furnishes
the celebrated betel leaf of the Southern Asiatics, in which they
enclose a few slices of the areca nut and a little shell lime; this
they chew to sweeten the breath, and to keep off the pangs of hunger,
and it acts also as a narcotic.
Such is the immense consumption of this masticatory, termed Pan, in
the East, that it forms nearly as extensive an article of commerce as
that of tobacco in the West. The tax on the leaf forms a considerable
portion of the local revenue of Pinang; in 1805, the tax yielded as
much as 5,400 dollars.
Rumphius describes six species of this vine, besides several wild and
cultivated varieties. It is very easily reared in the Indian islands,
but in the countries of the Deccan requires manuring, frequent
watering and great care, and in the northern parts of Hindostan it
becomes an exotic very difficult to rear. The vine affords leaves fit
for use in the second year, and continues to yield for more than
thirty, the quantity diminishing as the plants grow older.
ARECA PALM (_Acacia Catechu_).--This is a fine, slender, graceful
tree, rising from 20 to 30 feet high, which, being a native of the
East, is found abundant in many of the forests of India, from 16 to 30
degs. of latitude. The principal places of its growth are the Burmese
territories, a large province on the Malabar coast called the
_Concan_, and the forests skirting the northern parts of Bengal, under
the hills which divide it from Nepaul, the south and west coasts of
Ceylon, the south of China, &c., the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and the
Eastern islands, it produces fruit at five years old, and continues
bearing till about its twenty-fifth year, when it withers and dies. It
thrives at a greater distance from the sea, and in more elevated
regions than the coco-nut palm. In Prince of Wales Island some
hundreds of thousands of these palms are cultivated.
The seeds or nuts form a chief ingredient in the celebrated eastern
masticatory called Pan and which seems to owe its stimulating
properties to the leaves of the _Piper Betel_. When prepared for use,
the nut is cut into slices and wrapped in the fresh leaves of the
betel pepper vine, together with a quantity of quicklime (_Chunam_) to
give it a flavor. The flavor is peculiar, between an herbaceous and an
aromatic taste.
All classes, male and female, chew it; they say it sweetens the
breath, strengthens the stomach, and preserves the teeth, to which it
gives a reddish hue; there is probably less objection to its use than
tobacco or opium, and its taste is more pleasant; but, if taken to
excess, it will produce stupor like other narcotics, and even
intoxication. The nuts grow in large bunches at the top, and when ripe
are red and have a beautiful appearance; they resemble the nutmeg in
shape and color, but are larger and harder. When gathered they are
laid in heaps until the shell be somewhat rotted, and then dried in
the sun, after which the process of shelling commences. The trees vary
in their yield from 300 to 1,000 nuts, averaging about 14 lbs.; which
the cultivators sell at about half a dollar (2s.) a picul of 133 lbs.
As these palms are planted usually at the distance of 7½ feet, it
follows that the produce of an acre is about 10,841 lbs. The tree
bears but once in a year generally, but there are green nuts enough to
eat all the year long. Betel nut is a staple article of import into
China; 25,000 piculs annually is the amount returned, but there is an
immense quantity imported in Chinese junks from Hainan, of which there
is no account kept. In the single port of Canton alone, 15,565 piculs
were imported in 1844, and about 400 to Ningpo. 3,005 piculs of betel
nuts, valued at 8,700 dollars, were imported into Canton in 1850, and
as much as 4,000 tons of areca nuts are shipped annually from Ceylon.
The astringent extract obtained from the seeds of the Areca-palm
constitutes two (or perhaps more) kinds of the catechu of the shops.
According to Dr. Heyne ("Tracts Hist. and Statist. on India"), it is
largely procured in Mysore, about Sirah, in the following manner:--
The nuts are taken as they come from the tree and boiled for some
hours in an iron vessel. They are then taken out, and the remaining
water is inspissated by continual boiling. This process furnishes
Kassu, or most astringent terra japonica, which is black and mixed
with paddy criu, husks, and other impurities. After the nuts are
dried, they are put into a fresh quantity of water, boiled again;
and this water being inspissated, like the former, yields the best
or dearest kind of catechu, called Coony. It is yellowish brown, has
an earthy fracture, and is free from the admixture of foreign
bodies.
Most of the betel nuts imported into China come from Java, Singapore,
and Pinang. Betel nut is not so generally used in the South of China
as among the Southern Islands, and in the north of China it is a
luxury, as the pepper does not grow freely there. Formerly there was a
considerable trade in betel nuts with the Coromandel coast, from
whence the natives brought back manufactured goods and other
necessaries in return, but this has ceased for some time. The common
price was 20,000 for a dollar. These nuts are seldom imported into
England, though they might be of use as a dye in some manufactures.
The natives of the East chew the fruit of _Elate sylvestris_, (which
is something like a wild plum), in the same manner as the areca nut,
with the leaf of the betel pepper and quick lime.
The inner wood furnishes a kind of _Catechu_ or _Cutch_, which
contains much tannin and is a powerful astringent. It is obtained by
the simple process of boiling the heart of the wood for a few hours,
when it assumes the appearance and consistency of tar. It hardens by
cooling, and when formed into small squares and dried in the sun is
fit for the market.
The produce of Bombay is of uniform texture and of a dark red color.
That of Concan and other parts of India is of chocolate color, and
marked inside with red streaks.
The analysis of Sir H. Davy gave the following result:--
Bombay. Concan.
Tannin 54.5 48.5
Extractive 34.0 36.5
Mucilage 6.5 8.0
Insoluble matters, sand, lime, &c. 5.0 7.0
----- -----
100. 100.
Catechu is in extensive use in India for tanning purposes, and of late
years it has entirely superseded madder in the calico works of Europe
for dyeing a golden coffee-brown, one pound of catechu being found
equivalent to six pounds of madder.
Value of the areca nuts exported from Ceylon to the British Colonies
and foreign States in the years named:--
£.
1839 22,956
1840 23,096
1841 22,428
1842 29,222
1843 27,028
1844 20,978
1845 31,836
1846 34,209
1847 35,723
1848 42,482
1849 31,746
1850 42,907
1851 54,846
1852 52,230
THE POPPY.
OPIUM is the concrete inspissated juice of the white poppy, _Papaver
somniferum_ and its varieties, obtained by scratching the capsules and
collecting the exuding juice. The plant has been long known, and is
perhaps one of the earliest described. It is a native of Western Asia
and probably also of the South of Europe, but it has been distributed
over various countries.
In 1826 the imports of opium into the United Kingdom were 79,829 lbs.,
of which 28,329 lbs. were consumed in this country. The imports and
consumption in subsequent years are shown by the following figures:--
Imports. Consumption.
lbs. lbs.
1827 113,140 17,322
1830 209,076 22,668
1833 106,846 35,407
1836 130,794 38,943
1839 196,247 41,682
1842 72,373 47,432
1845 259,644 38,229
1848 200,019 61,055
1819 105,724 44,177
1850 126,318 42,324
1851 118,024 50,682
1852 205,780 62,521
Few who have not looked into the statistics of this trade, are aware
of the enormous consumption of opium all over the world, but chiefly
in China and India.
In 1845, 18,792 chests of opium were sent from Calcutta to China, and
nearly the same number of the Malwa opium from Bombay and Damaun. The
total production of India exported to China, in 1844, was 21,526
chests from Bengal, and 18,321 from Bombay, in all 39,847 chests. The
number of persons in China given to the consumption of opium was
estimated, in 1837, at three millions, and the average quantity smoked
by each individual is about 17½ grains a day. The consumption of
Indian opium (independent of Turkey opium) in China has gradually
increased from 3,210 chests in 1817, to 9,969 chests in 1827, and
about 40,000 chests in 1837, valued at 25,000,000 dollars. Now it has
reached 50,000 to 60,000 chests. Notwithstanding severe penalties,
imprisonment, temporary banishment, and even death, the number of
those who smoke opium has multiplied exceedingly, and the contraband
trade in the drug is carried on to so large an extent, that it is to
be feared the practice will become general throughout the empire.
According to Mr. E. Thornton's statistics, the production of opium in
Bengal has increased cent. per cent. in the last ten years:--
Chests.
1840-41 17,858
1841-42 18,827
1842-43 18,362
1843-44 15,104
1844-45 18,350
1845-46 21,437
1846-47 21,648
1847-48 30,515
1848-49 36,000
The chest is about 140 lbs., so that the production in 1849 was
5,040,000 lbs.
According to the statements annexed to the statistical papers relating
to India, the income from the opium monopoly is obtained by two
principal means, namely, by a system of allowing the cultivation of
the poppy by the natives of British India on account of Government,
and by the impost of a heavy duty on opium grown and manufactured in
foreign states, but brought in transit to a British port for
exportation. The former system obtains in Bengal, the latter in
Bombay. According to the statements published, Bengal opium yields a
profit of 7s. 6d. per lb., whilst the duty derived in the Bombay
presidency is only equal to a surplus of 5s. 8d. per lb. By these
means the total revenue realised by the opium monopoly, in Bengal and
Bombay, in the year 1849-50 yielded £3,309,637.
Lest objection should be taken to this large annual revenue derived
from the cultivation of a drug, the unnatural consumption of which
would be suppressed under any other European government, the Court of
Directors is very anxious to show the benefit which the country
derives from this monopoly; they say "that as the price of opium is
almost wholly paid by foreign consumers, and the largest return is
obtained with the smallest outlay, the best interests of India would,
appear to be consulted." Nobody at all acquainted with the financial
resources and the capabilities of any country, would hazard such an
assertion. By paying cultivators for the restricted growth of the
poppy a price hardly yielding more than the average rate of wages to
the common laborer, I do not see in what way the best interests of
India are consulted, nor is it clear that the population derives any
benefit by being prohibited altogether from manufacturing a drug,
which may be brought from another country _in transitu_ on the payment
of a heavy duty; unless indeed the Court of Directors are of opinion
that in the event of the abolition of the monopoly, the people of the
country would have to make up for the loss of the revenue by
submitting to some other mode of direct or indirect taxation. There is
an inconsistency in the statements of the Court of Directors, which is
absolutely amusing. "The free cultivation of the poppy," say the
Directors, "would doubtless lead to the larger outlay of capital, and
to greater economy in production; but the poppy requires the richest
description of land, and its extended cultivation must therefore
displace other products." How very considerate on the part of the
Directors, but how strongly at variance with facts, since all the fear
of displacing other products, and all this appropriation of the
richest description of land for other purposes has not prevented the
Indian Government, within less than ten years, from more than doubling
the cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of opium. The
Directors tell us that the heavy transit duty charged at Bombay is to
discourage production, but they do not say whether that discouragement
applies, as one would imagine, to those foreign districts which have
to pay the transit duty for their production. If so, the assertion is
again at variance with facts, because in a subsequent statement they
say, "It is stated that neither the price of opium, nor the extent of
cultivation in Malwa, has been affected by the great enhancement of
the pass duty, which has taken place since 1845."
The following will show that the Company loses no opportunity of
applying the screw:--
The subjugation of Scinde afforded opportunity for the levy of a
higher rate. Down to the period of that event, a large portion of
the opium of Malwa had been conveyed through Scinde to Kurrachee,
and thence onward to the Portuguese ports of Diu and Demaun. That
route is now closed, and it was reasonably expected that an advance
might be made in the charge of passes without the risk of loss to
the revenue from a diminished demand for them. The rate was
accordingly increased in October, 1843, from 125 to 200 rupees per
chest. Upon the principle that it was desirable to fix the price at
the highest amount that could be levied, without forcing the trade
into other channels, a further increase was made in 1845. when it
was determined that the charge should be 300 rupees per chest. Under
the like views it was, in 1847, raised to 400 rupees per chest.
The company was perfectly correct, for though the quantity of opium
did not increase, the revenue did; and whilst in 1840-41 16,773 chests
yielded an income of only 22,046,452 rupees--16,500 chests brought in
1849-50 actually 72,094,835 rupees into the coffers of the Government
of Bombay. But the people of India earned not a pice by it, and those
richest descriptions of land, which it was so desirable to reserve for
other produce than the poppy, remained barren.
The white variety of the poppy is that which is exclusively brought
under cultivation for the production of the drug in India and Egypt.
For the successful culture of opium a mild climate, plentiful
irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry are indispensable. One
acre of well cultivated ground will yield from 70 lbs. to 100 lbs. of
"chick," or inspissated juice, the price of which varies from 6s. to
12s. a pound, so that an acre will yield from £20 to £60 worth of
opium at one crop. Three pounds of chick will produce one pound of
opium, from a third to a fifth of the weight being lost in
evaporation. A chief chemical feature, which distinguishes Bengal
opium from that of Turkey and Egypt, is the large proportion which the
narcotine in the former bears to the morphia, and this proportion is
constant in all seasons. It is a matter of importance to ascertain
whether the treatment which the juice receives after its collection
can influence in any way the amount of alkaloids, or of the other
principles in opium. In Turkey it is the custom to beat up the juice
with saliva, in Malwa it is immersed as collected in linseed oil,
whilst in Bengal it is brought to the required consistence by mere
exposure to the air in the shade, though, at the same time, all the
watery particles of the juice that will separate are drained off, and
used in making _Lewah_, or inferior opium.
The lands selected for poppy cultivation are generally situated in the
vicinity of villages, where the facilities for manuring and irrigation
are greatest. In such situations and when the soil is rich, it is
frequently the practice with the cultivators to take a crop of Indian
corn, maize, or vegetables off the ground during the rainy season, and
after the removal of this in September, to dress and manure the ground
for the subsequent poppy sowings. In other situations, however, and
when the soil is not rich, the poppy crop is the only one taken off
the ground during the year, and from the commencement of the rains in
June or July, until October, the ground is dressed and cleaned by
successive ploughings and weedings, and manured to the extent which
the means of the cultivator will permit. In the final preparation of
the land in October and November, the soil, after being well loosened
and turned up by the plough, is crushed and broken down by the passage
of a heavy log of wood over its surface, and it is in this state ready
for sowing.
The amount of produce from various lands differs considerably. Under
very favorable circumstances of soil and season, as much as twelve or
even thirteen seers (26 lbs.) of standard opium may be, obtained from
each biggah of 27,225 square feet. "Under less favorable conditions
the turn-out may not exceed three or four seers, but the usual amount
of produce varies from six to eight seers per biggah.
The chemical examination of different soils in connection with their
opium-producing powers, presents a field for profitable and
interesting inquiry; nor is the least important part of the
investigation that which has reference to variations in the
proportions of the alkaloids (especially the morphia and narcotine),
which occur in opium produced in various localities. That atmospheric
causes exert a certain influence in determining these variations is
probable; that they influence the amount of produce, and cause
alterations in the physical appearance of the drug, are facts well
known to every cultivator: thus the effect of dew is to facilitate the
flow of the juice from the wounded capsule, rendering it abundant in
quantity, but causing it at the same time to be dark and liquid. An
easterly wind (which in India is usually concomitant with a damp state
of atmosphere), retards the flow of juice, and renders it dark and
liquid. A moderate westerly wind, with dew at night, form the
atmospheric conditions most favorable for collection, both as regards
the quantity and quality of the exudation. If, however, the westerly
wind (which is an extremely dry wind) blow violently, the exudation
from the capsules is sparing. Whilst the effect of meteorological
phenomena in producing the above results are well marked, their action
in altering the relative proportions of the chemical constituents of
the juice of the poppy plant is more obscure, and it is highly
probable that the chemical composition of the soil plays a most
important part in this respect. Dr. O'Shaughnessy is certainly the
most accomplished chemist who had ever, in India, turned his attention
to the subject, and he has published the results of his analyses of
specimens of opium from the different divisions of the Behar Agency,
which are worthy of much attention. In the opium from eight divisions
of the agency, he found the quantity of morphia to range from 1¾
grains to 3½ grains per cent., and the amount of the narcotine to vary
from ¾ grain to 3½ grains per cent., the consistence of the various
specimens being between 75 and 79 per cent. In the opium from the
Hazareebaugh district (the consistence of the drug being 77), he found
4½ per cent, of morphia, and 4 per cent, narcotine; whilst from a
specimen of Patna-garden opium he extracted no less than 10¾ per cent.
of morphia, and 6 per cent. of narcotine, the consistence of the drug
being 87. With respect to the last specimen, Dr. O'Shaughnessy
mentions that the poppies which produced it were irrigated three times
during the season, and that no manure was employed upon the soil. It
is much to be regretted that these interesting results were not
coupled with an analysis of the soils from which the specimens were
produced, for to chemical variations in it must be attributed the
widely different results recorded above.
Opium as a medicine has been used from the earliest ages; but when it
was first resorted to as a luxury, it is impossible to state, though
it is not at all improbable that this was coeval with its employment
in medicine, for how often do we find that, from having been first
administered as a sedative for pain, it has been continued until it
has taken the place of the evil. Such must have happened from the
earliest ages, as it happens daily in the present; but as a national
vice it was not known until the spread of Islamism, when, by the
tenets of the Prophet, wine and fermented liquors being prohibited, it
came in their stead along with the bang or hasch-schash (made from
hemp), coffee, and tobacco. From the Arabs the inhabitants of the
Eastern Archipelago most probably imbibed their predilection for
opium, although their particular manner of using it has evidently been
derived from the Chinese. China, where at present it is so extensively
used, cannot be said to have indulged long in the vice. Previous to
1767 the number of chests imported did not exceed 200 yearly; now the
average is 50,000 to 60,000. In 1773 the East India Company made their
first venture in opium, and in 1796 it was declared a crime to smoke
opium.
In different countries we find opium consumed in different ways. In
England it is either used in a solid state, made into pills, or a
tincture in the shape of laudanum. Insidiously it is given to children
under a variety of quack forms, such as "Godfrey's cordial," &c. In
India the pure opium is either dissolved in water and so used, or
rolled into pills. It is there a common practice to give it to
children when very young, by mothers, who require to work and cannot
at the same time nurse their offspring. In China it is either smoked
or swallowed in the shape of _Tye_. In Bally it is first adulterated
with China paper, and then rolled up with the fibres of a particular
kind of plantain. It is then inserted into a hole made at the end of a
small bamboo, and smoked. In Java and Sumatra it is often mixed with
sugar and the ripe fruit of the plantain. In Turkey it is usually
taken in pills, and those who do so, avoid drinking any water after
swallowing them, as this is said to produce violent colics; but to
make it more palatable, it is sometimes mixed with syrups or thickened
juices; in this form, however, it is less intoxicating, and resembles
mead. It is then taken with a spoon, or is dried in small cakes, with
the words "Mash Allah," or "Word of God," imprinted on them. When the
dose of two or three drachms a day no longer produces the beatific
intoxication, so eagerly sought by the opiophagi, they mix the opium
with corrosive sublimate, increasing the quantity of the latter till
it reaches ten grains a day. It then acts as a stimulant. In addition
to its being used in the shape of pills, it is frequently mixed with
hellebore and hemp, and forms a mixture known by the name of majoon,
whose properties are different from that of opium, and may account in
a great measure for the want of similitude in the effect of the drug
on the Turk and the Chinese.
In Singapore and China the refuse of the chandu, the prepared extract
of opium, is all used by the lower classes. This extract, when
consumed, leaves a refuse, consisting of charcoal, empyreumatic oil,
some of the salts of opium, and a part of the chandu not consumed. Now
one ounce of chandu gives nearly half an ounce of this refuse, called
Tye, or Tinco. This is smoked and swallowed by the poorer classes, who
only pay half the price of chandu for it. When smoked it yields a
further refuse called samshing, and this is even used by the still
poorer, although it contains a very small quantity of the narcotic
principle. Samshing, however, is never smoked, as it cannot furnish
any smoke, but is swallowed, and that not unfrequently mixed with
arrack.
_Preparation_.--In Asia Minor, men, women, and children, a few days
after the flower falls from the poppies, proceed to the fields, and
with a shell scratch the capsules, wait twenty-four hours, and
collect the tears, which amount to two or three grains in weight
from each capsule. These being collected and mixed with the
scrapings of the shells, worked up with saliva and surrounded by
dried leaves, it is then sold, but, generally speaking, not without
being still more adulterated with cow's dung, sand, gravel, the
petals of flowers, &c. Different kinds of opium are known in the
markets of Europe and Asia.
The first in point of quality is the _Smyrna_, known in commerce as
the _Turkey_ or _Levant_. It occurs in irregular, rounded, flattened
masses, seldom exceeding two pounds in weight, and surrounded by
leaves of a kind of sorrel; the quantity of morphia said to be
derived from average specimens is eight per cent.
Second, _Constantinople Opium_, two kinds of which are found in the
market, one in very voluminous irregular cakes, which are flattened
like the Smyrna; this is a good quality. The other kind is in small,
flattened, regular cakes, from two to two and a half inches in
diameter, and covered with the leaves of the poppy; the quantity of
morphia is very uncertain in this description of opium, sometimes
mounting as high as 15 per cent., and sometimes descending so low as
six, showing the great variety in the quality of the drug.
Third, _Egyptian Opium_, occurs in round flattened cakes, about 3
inches in diameter, and covered externally with the vestiges of
some leaf. It is distinguished from the others by its reddish color,
resembling "Socotrine Aloes." The quantity of morphia in this is
inferior to the preceding. It has one quality which, when
adulterated, ought to be known, that is a musty smell. By keeping it
does not blacken like the other kinds.
Fourth, _English Opium_, is in flat cakes or balls enveloped in
leaves. It resembles fine Egyptian opium more than any other kind.
Its color is that of hepatic aloes, and in the quantity of morphia
it is inferior to the preceding, but in the strength of the mass it
is said by one of its most extensive cultivators to be superior.
Fifth, _French_, and sixth _German Opium_, require no particular
remarks. By a recent notice I find the French are cultivating the
poppy in Algeria, from which they get opium giving a small per
centage of morphia.
Seventh, _Trebizond_ or _Persian Opium_, is sometimes met with of a
very inferior quality in the form of cylindrical sticks, which by
pressure have become angular.
Eighth, _Indian Opium_, divided into four kinds, Cutch, Malwa, Patna
and Benares. Of these Cutch is but little known or cultivated. It
occurs in small cakes covered with leaves, and its color is much
inferior to Smyrna. Malwa opium is to be met with of two kinds. The
inferior is in flattened cakes, without any external covering, dull,
opaque, blackish brown externally, internally somewhat darker, and
soft. Its color is somewhat like the Smyrna, but less powerful, and
with a slight smoky smell. Superior Malwa is in square cakes, about
three inches in length and one inch thick. It has the appearance of
a well prepared, shining, dry, pharmaceutical extract; its color is
blackish brown, its odor less powerful than Smyrna; it is not
covered by petals as the following kinds are, but smeared with oil;
it is then rubbed with pounded petals.
The Behar, Patna, and Benares Opium, being strictly in the hands of
Government, no adulteration can take place, without a most extensive
system of fraud; but it will not be uninteresting to trace the
progress of the opium from the hands of the natives, to the
condition in which it is delivered to the public by the Government.
From the commencement of the hot season to the middle of the rains
the Government is ready to receive opium, which is brought by the
natives every morning, in batches, varying in quantities from twenty
seers to a maund. The examining officer into each jar thrusts his
examining rod, which consists of a slit bamboo, and, by experience,
he can so judge of the qualities of the specimens before him, which
are sorted into lots of No. 1 to No. 4 quality. Opium of the first
quality is of a fine chesnut color, aromatic smell, and dense
consistence. It is moderately ductile, and, when the mass is torn,
breaks with a deeply notched fracture, with sharp needle-like
fibres, translucent and ruby red at the edges. It is readily broken
down under water, and the solution at first filters of a sherry
color, which darkens as the process proceeds. One hundred grains of
this yield an extract to cold distilled water of from 35 to 45, and
at the temperature of 212 degs., leaves from 20 to 28 per cent.,
having a consistency of 70 to 72, the consistence of the factory.
The second quality is inferior to the first, and the third quality
is possessed of the following properties, black paste, of a very
heavy smell, drops from the examining rod, gives off from 40 to 50
per cent, of moisture, and contains a large quantity of "Pasewa;"
while the fourth or last number embraces all the kinds which are too
bad to be used in the composition of the balls, comprising specimens
of all varieties of color and consistence. This number is mixed with
water, and only used as a paste to cement the covering of the balls.
The three first qualities are emptied from their jars into large
tanks, in which they are kept until the supply of the season has
been obtained. The opium is then removed and exposed to the air on
shallow wooden frames, until it becomes of the consistency of from
69 to 70, when it is given to the cake maker, who guesses to a
drachm the exact weight, and envelops the opium in its covering of
petals, cemented by a covering of quality number 4. The balls are
then weighed and stored, to undergo a thorough ventilation and
drying. Formerly the covering of the balls was composed of the
leaves of tobacco; but the late Mr. Flemming introduced the
practice of using the petals of the poppy, which was such an
improvement that the Court of Directors presented him with 50,000
rupees. The balls, forty in number, are packed in a mango wood case,
which consists of two stories with twenty pigeon holes in each,
lined with lath and surrounded by the dried leaves of the poppy.
Sometimes these balls are so soft as to burst their skins, and much
of the liquid opium running out, is lost. In 1823, many of the
chests of Patna lost five catties from this cause, and to this day
we have the same thing continuing to occur. Patna chests are covered
with bullock hides, Benares with gunnies.
Dr. Impey, staff surgeon at Poona, who resided in Malwa from 1843 to
1846, published at Bombay, in 1848, a valuable treatise on the
cultivation, preparation, and adulteration of Malwa opium. It was some
time before he obtained the permission of the East India Company to
publish the result of the experience he had acquired in Malwa, and as
Government inspector of opium at Bombay. It is the most practical
treatise I have yet met with, although a very elaborate, useful paper,
by Mr. Little, surgeon, of Singapore, appears in the 2nd vol. of the
"Journal of the Indian Archipelago," from which I have quoted the
preceding remarks.
Mr. Little furnishes a complete history of the drug, and the physical
and mental effects resulting from its habitual use. There are also
some able remarks in Dr. O'Shaughnessy's Bengal Dispensatory:--
For the successful cultivation of opium, a mild climate, plentiful
irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry, are indispensable.
In reference to the first of these, Malwa is placed most favorably.
The country is in general from 1,300 to 2,000 feet above the level
of the sea: the mean temperature is moderate, and range of the
thermometer small. Opium is always cultivated in ground near a tank
or running stream, so as to be insured at all times of an abundant
supply of water. The rich black loam, supposed to be produced by the
decomposition of trap, and known by the name of cotton soil, is that
prepared for opium. Though fertile and rich enough to produce thirty
successive crops of wheat without fallowing, it is not sufficiently
rich for the growth of the poppy until largely supplied with manure.
There is, in fact, no crop known to the agriculturist, unless sugar
cane, that requires so much care and labor as the poppy. The ground
is first four times ploughed on four successive days, then carefully
harrowed; when manure, at the rate of from eight to ten cart loads
an acre, is applied to it; this is scarcely half what is allowed a
turnip crop at home. The crop is after this watered once every eight
or ten days, the total number of waterings never exceeding nine in
all. One beegah takes two days to soak thoroughly in the cold
weather, and four as the hot season approaches. Water applied after
the petals drop from the flower, causes the whole to wither and
decay. When the plants are six inches high, they are weeded and
thinned, leaving about a foot and a-half betwixt each plant; in
three months they reach maturity, and are then about four feet in
height if well cultivated. The full-grown seed-pod measures three
and a-half inches vertically, and two and a-half in horizontal
diameter. Early in February and March the bleeding process
commences. Three small lancet-shaped pieces of iron are bound
together with cotton, about one-twelfth of an inch of the blade
alone protruding, so that no discretion as to the depth of the wound
to be inflicted shall be left to the operator; and this is drawn
sharply up from the top of the stalk at the base, to the summit of
the pod. The sets of people are so arranged that each plant is bled
all over once every three or four days, the bleedings being three or
four times repeated on each plant. This operation always begins to
be performed about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, the
hottest part of the day. The juice appears almost immediately on the
wound being inflicted, in the shape of a thick gummy milk, which is
thickly covered with a brownish pellicle. The exudation is greatest
over night, when the incisions are washed and kept open by the dew.
The opium thus derived is scraped off next morning, with a blunt
iron tool resembling a cleaver in miniature. Here the work of
adulteration begins--the scraper being passed heavily over the
seed-pod, so as to carry with it a considerable portion of the
beard, or pubescence, which contaminates the drug and increases its
apparent quantity. The work of scraping begins at dawn, and must be
continued till ten o'clock; during this time a workman will collect
seven or eight ounces of what is called "chick." The drug is next
thrown into an earthen vessel, and covered over or drowned in
linseed oil, at the rate of two parts of oil to one of chick, so as
to prevent evaporation. This is the second process of
adulteration--the ryot desiring to sell the drug as much drenched
with oil as possible, the retailers at the same time refusing to
purchase that which is thinner than half dried glue. One acre of
well cultivated ground will yield from 70 to 100 pounds of chick.
The price of chick varies from three to six rupees a pound, so that
an acre will yield from 200 to 600 rupees worth of opium at one
crop. Three pounds of chick will produce about two pounds of opium,
from a third to a fifth of the weight being lost in evaporation. It
now passes into the hands of the Bunniah, who prepares it and brings
it to market. From twenty-five to fifty pounds having been
collected, is tied up in parcels in double bags of sheeting cloth,
which are suspended from the ceilings so as to avoid air and light,
while the spare linseed oil is allowed to drop through. This
operation is completed in a week or ten days, but the bags are
allowed to remain for a month or six weeks, during which period the
last of the oil that can be separated comes away; the rest probably
absorbs oxygen and becomes thicker, as in paint. This process
occupies from April to June or July, when the rain begins. The bags
are next taken down and their contents carefully emptied into large
vats from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, and six or eight inches
thick. Here it is mixed together and worked up with the hands five
or six hours, until it has acquired an uniform color and consistence
throughout, become tough and capable of being formed into masses.
This process is peculiar to Malwa. It is now made up into balls of
from eight to ten ounces each, these being thrown, as formed, into a
basket full of the chaff of the seeds pod. It is next spread out on
ground previously covered with leaves and stalks of the poppy; here
it remains for a week or so, when it is turned over and left further
to consolidate, until hard enough to bear packing. It is ready for
weighing in October or November, and is then sent to market. It is
next packed in chests of 150 cakes, the total cost of the drug at
the place of production being about fourteen rupees per chest,
including all expenses. About 20,000 chests are annually sent from
Malwa, at a prime cost charge of two lacs and 80,000 rupees. It may
easily be supposed that manipulations so numerous, complex, and
tedious, as those described, give the most ample opportunities for
the adulteration to which the nature of the drug tempts the
fraudulent dealer.
In order to enable the cultivator to carry on his agricultural
operations, he receives from time to time certain advances, the
amount of which reaches in the aggregate to about one-half of the
value of the estimated out-turn of produce. If the land has been
under cultivation in previous seasons, its average produce is known;
if it be new land, and considered by the Sub-Deputy Agent as
eligible, then the cultivator, in addition to the usual advances,
receives an advance of so much per biggah to enable him to bestow a
certain amount of extra care in tilling and dressing the soil. The
first advance is made on the completion of the agreement or
bundobust, and this takes place in September and October. The second
advance is made on the completion of the sowings in November, and
the final or Chook payment is made immediately after the delivery
and weighing of the produce. Nothing therefore can be fairer to the
cultivator than this system of advances; he is subject to no sort of
exaction, in the shape of interest or commission on the money which
he receives, and it puts within his power the certain means of
making a fair profit by the exercise of common care and honesty. It
is an established rule in the Agency that the cultivator's accounts
of one season shall be definitively settled before the commencement
of the next, and that no outstanding balances shall remain over.
When a cultivator has from fraud neglected to bring produce to cover
his advances, the balances due by him are at once recovered, if
necessary by legal means; whereas, if he can satisfactorily show
that he has become a defaulter from calamity and uncontrollable
circumstances, and that the liquidation of his debt is placed
entirely beyond his power, his case is then made the subject of
report to the Government by the Agent, with the request that the
debt may be written off to profit and loss. These provisions are
most wise, for outstanding balances may be made the means of
oppression, and to their operation may be traced a considerable
amount of litigation and agrarian crime in the indigo districts of
lower Bengal. It is clear that when such balances become so large
that the cultivator cannot discharge them, he is no longer a free
agent, but is perfectly subservient to the will of his creditor, for
whom he must cultivate whether he desire it or not. Such burdens may
even be handed down from father to son. The fairness of the Agency
system, and the justice with which the cultivators are treated, are
best evidenced by the readiness with which they come forward to
cultivate, and also by the comparative rarity of agrarian crime,
arising out of matters connected with the poppy cultivation.
Opium is grown to some extent in Egypt; 39,875 lbs. were produced in
1831, and sold at two dollars a pound.
At the end of October, after the withdrawal of the Nile waters the
seed, mixed with a portion of pulverised earth, is sown in a strong
soil, in furrows; after fifteen days the plant springs up, and in two
months has the thickness of a Turkish pipe, and a height of four feet;
the stalk is covered with long, oval leaves, and the fruit, which is
greenish, resembles a small orange. Every morning before sunrise, in
its progress to maturity, small incisions are made in the sides of the
fruit, from which a white liquor distils almost immediately, which is
collected in a vessel; it soon becomes black and thickish, and is
rolled into balls, which are covered with the washed leaves of the
plant; in this state it is sold. The seeds are crushed for lamp oil,
and the plant is used for fuel.
A plant known in Jamaica under the name of bull hoof yields a narcotic
which has been administered successfully in the shape of tincture and
a syrup, instead of opium. This is the _Muracuja ocellata_, or
_Passiflora muracuja_, of Swartz, an elegant climber, bearing bright
scarlet blossoms. There is another species, _M. orbiculata_, found in
Hayti and other islands, which may be expected to partake more or less
of the properties of the former. The flowers are the parts most
commonly employed.
THE TOBACCO PLANT.
Several species of _Nicotium_ furnish tobacco; that chiefly used in
Europe is procured from _N. Tabacum_ and its numerous varieties, a
plant naturally inhabiting the hotter parts of North and South
America. The popular narcotic furnished by tobacco is probably in more
extensive use than any other, and its only rivals are opium and the
betel-nut and leaf of the East. The herb for smoking was brought to
England from Tobago, in the West Indies, or from Tobasco, in Mexico
(whence the name), by Sir Ralph Lane, in 1586. Seeds were shortly
after introduced from the same quarter.
"Tobacco, as used by man," says Du Tour, "gives pleasure to the savage
and the philosopher, to the inhabitant of the burning desert and the
frozen zone; in short, its use, either in powder, to chew, or to
smoke, is universal; and for no other reason than a sort of convulsive
motion (sneezing) produced by the first, and a degree of intoxication
by the two last modes of use."
Tobacco is an annual plant, attaining a height of six feet, having
dingy red, funnel-shaped flowers, and viscid leaves. The leaves are
the officinal part, and their active properties depend on a peculiar,
oily-like alkaloid, called Nicotin. The flavor and strength of tobacco
depend on climate, cultivation, and the mode of manufacture. That most
esteemed by the smoker is Havanna tobacco, but the Virginian is the
strongest. The small Havanna cigars are prepared from the leaves of
_Nicotium repanda_, Syrian and Turkish tobacco from _N. rustica_, and
fine Shiraz tobacco from _N. persica_. With the exception of the
Macuba tobacco, which is cultivated in Martinique in a peculiar soil,
the tobacco of Cuba is considered the finest in the world. That grown
in the island of Trinidad is, however, fully equal to it in quality,
but all raised in the colony is generally consumed there, and is
little known in the English market. This ought not to be the case, for
no article would pay better.
The Maryland is a very light tobacco, in thin, yellow leaves; that of
Virginia is in large brown leaves, unctuous or somewhat gluey on the
surface, having a smell very like the figs of Malaga; that of Havanna
is in brownish light leaves, of an agreeable and rather spicy
smell,--it forms, as I have already stated, the best cigars. The
Carolina tobacco is less unctuous than the Virginian, but in the
United States it ranks next to the Maryland. The shag tobacco is dried
to the proper point upon sheets of copper, and is cut up by
knife-edged chopping stamps. There are said to be four kinds of
tobacco reared in Virginia, viz., the sweet-scented, which is
considered the best; the _big and little_, which follows next; then
the Frederick; and, lastly, the _one and all_, the largest kind, and
producing most in point of quantity.
According to Loudon ("Encyclo. of Plants"), there are fourteen species
of this genus, besides a few varieties. Lindley, however, enumerates
31, but many of these are mere showy species, adapted to flower
gardens. I shall therefore follow chiefly London's classification--
1. _N. Tabacum_, a native of several parts of America, but
principally known as Virginian tobacco, having a stem rising from
four to six feet or more in height, bearing pink flowers. Of this
there are three chief varieties known in America by the popular
names of Orinoco, Broad-leaved and Narrow-leaved. Lindley enumerates
eight varieties of _N. Tabacum_.
2. _N. macrophylla_, or large-leaved tobacco, an ornamental annual,
also with pink flowers, native of America, which rises to the height
of six feet.
3. _N. fruticosa_, or shrubby tobacco, an ornamental evergreen
shrub, native of China, with pink blossoms, which grows to about
three feet.
4. _N. undulata_, or _suaveolens_, sweet-scented or New Holland
tobacco, a green house perennial, native of New South Wales, with
white flowers, which is only two feet high.
5. _N. rustica_.--The common green or English tobacco, an annual
plant, native of America, producing white flowers, which seldom
grows higher than three feet.
6. _N. paniculata_, or panicled tobacco, an annual plant bearing
greenish yellow flowers, native of Peru, rises to the height of
three feet.
7. _N. glutinosa_, or clammy-leaved tobacco, also an annual plant,
native of Peru, growing to the height of four feet, with bright
scarlet flowers.
8. _N. plumbaginifolia_, or curled-leaved tobacco, an ornamental
deciduous annual, native of America, with white blossoms, rising to
the height of two feet.
9. _N. pusilla_, or primrose-leaved tobacco, an ornamental deciduous
biennial, with white flowers, native of Vera Cruz, rising to three
feet.
10. _N. quadrivalvis_, four-valved, or Missouri tobacco, an
ornamental annual, native of North America, with white flowers,
seldom growing higher than two feet.
11. _N. nana_, or rocky mount tobacco, a curious greenhouse annual,
native of North America, with white blossoms, rising only three
inches high.
12. _N. Langsdorffii_, or Langsdorff's tobacco, an ornamental
annual, with greenish yellow flowers, native of Chili, reaching five
feet high.
13. _N. cerinthoides_, or honey-wort tobacco, an ornamental annual,
with greenish yellow flowers, native country unknown.
14. _N. repanda_, or Havanna tobacco, an annual with white flowers,
native of Cuba, rising two feet high.
There are a few species, natives of the Province of Buenos Ayres,
which may be particularised. _N. bonariensis_, having white flowers;
_N. glauca_, yellowish green flowers; _N. longiflora_, white
flowers; and _N. viscosa_, pink flowers.
The important mineral substances presented in Havanna tobacco,
examined by Hertung, are in 100 parts of ashes,
Salts of potash 34.15
Salts of lime 51.38
Magnesia 4.09
Phosphates 9.04
These substances were for the most part insoluble in earth, and must
have been dissolved during the growth of the crop.
ANALYSIS OF FIVE SAMPLES OF TOBACCO.
No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5.
Grown on argillaceous soil Grown in calcareous soil.
Potash 29.08 30.67 9.68 9.36 10.37
Soda 2.26 -- -- -- .36
Lime 27.67 24.79 49.28 49.44 39.58
Magnesia 7.22 8.57 14.58 15.59 15.04
Chloride of sodium .91 5.95 4.61 3.20 6.39
Chloride of potassium -- -- 4.44 3.27 2.99
Phosphate of iron 8.78 6.03 5.19 6.72 7.56
Sulphate of lime 6.43 5.60 6.68 6.14 9.42
Silica 17.65 18.39 5.54 6.28 8.34
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
From the above it will be seen that on the argillaceous soil the
tobacco contained a large quantity of alkalies and silica, while on
the other hand, the lime, magnesia and chlorides were high in
proportion, in the tobacco grown on calcareous soil.
There is no doubt that the manure which contains the largest
proportion of alkaline carbonate, magnesia, lime and gypsum, is that
best adapted for tobacco.
I give an analysis taken from Prof. Johnston's "Lectures," (2nd
edition) of the ash of the tobacco leaf and the composition of a
special manure for tobacco:--
Potash 12.14
Soda 0.07
Lime 45.90
Magnesia 13.09
Chloride of sodium 3.49
Chloride of potassium 3.98
Phosphate of iron 5.48
Phosphate of lime 1.49
Sulphate of lime 6.35
Silica 8.01
------
100.00
All the ingredients which are necessary to replace 100 lbs. of the ash
of tobacco leaves are present in the following mixture:--
Bone dust, sulphuric acid 23 lbs.
Carbonate of potash (dry) 31 "
Carbonate of soda (dry) 5 "
Carbonate of Magnesia 25 "
Carbonate of lime (chalk) 60 "
------
144 "
The following is the result of an analysis of the fresh leaves of
tobacco, by Posselt and Reimann ("Mag. Pharm." xxiv. xxv.):--
Nicotine 0.06
Nicotianine 0.01
Extractive matter, slightly bitter 2.37
Gum, with a little malate of lime 1.74
Green resin 0.26
Vegetable albumen 0.26
Substance analogous to gluten 1.04
Malic acid 0.51
Malate of ammonia 0.12
Sulphate of potash 0.04
Chloride of potassium 0.06
Potash combined with malic and nitric acids 0.90
Phosphate of lime 0.16
Lime in union with malic acid 0.24
Silica 0.08
Woody fibre 4.96
Water (traces of starch) 87.21
------
100.10
Dr. Covell, in "Silliman's American Journal," vol. vii., shows its
components to have been but imperfectly represented in the above
German analysis. He found in tobacco by chemical examination--1, gum;
2, a viscid slime, equally soluble in water and alcohol, and
precipitable from both by subacetate of lead; 3, tannin; 4, gallic
acid; 5, chlorophyle (leaf green); 6, a green pulverulent matter,
which dissolves in boiling water, but falls down again when the water
cools; 7, a yellow oil, possessing the smell, taste and poisonous
qualities of tobacco; 8, a large quantity of a pale yellow resin; 9,
nicotine; 10, a white substance, analogous to morphia, soluble in hot,
but hardly in cold alcohol; 11, a beautiful orange red dye stuff,
soluble only in acids; it deflagrates in the fire, and seems to
possess neutral properties; 12, nicotianine. According to Buchner, the
seeds of tobacco yield a pale yellow extract to alcohol, which
contains a compound of nicotine and sugar.
M.M. Henry and Boutron Charlard found in 100 parts of
Cuba tobacco 8.64 of nicotine.
Maryland 5.28
Virginia 10.00
Ile et Vilaine 11.20
Lot et Garonne 8.20
quantities from 12 to 19 times more than were obtained by Posselt and
Reimann.--"Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures."
The following are the results of a series of experiments made by
Messrs. Cooper and Brande, for the purpose of ascertaining the
quantity of soluble matter in eight samples of tobacco, of detecting
the presence and quantity of sugar contained in them, and the nature
and relative proportions of their inorganic constituents. An important
paper on the state in which _Nicotine_ exists in tobacco, and on the
relative proportion of it furnished by different varieties of the
plant, has been furnished by Schloessing ("Ann. Ch. et Ph." 3ieme Ser.
XIX. 230).
__________________________________________________________________
|P s |P & |P t o |P s a|P s a|P m t|P o i|P m o|
|e o |e c |e r f |e o s|e o c|e a h|e b n|e a b|
|r l |r . |r e |r l h|r l i|r t e|r t f|r t t|
| u | | a a | u .| u d| t | a u| t a|
|c b |c i |c t m |c b |c b |c e a|c i s|c e i|
|e l |e n |e m o |e l |e l i|e r s|e e i|e r n|
|n e |n s |n e n |n e |n e n|n , h|n n o|n e|
|t |t o |t n i |t |t |t .|t e n|t d d|
|. i |. l |. t a |. i |. i t|. a |. d .|. e |
| n | u | . | n | n h| s | | d a|
Tobacco dried |o |o b |o w |o |o e|o |o f |o u l|
at 212 degs. |f w |f l |f i |f w |f h |f s |f r |f c c|
| a | e | t | a | y a| i | o | e o|
|e t |w |a h |m t |m d s|i l |a m |s d h|
|x e |o i |s |a e |a r h|n i |l |a o|
|t r |o n |h c |t r |t o .|s c |c f |c f l|
|r . |d | a |t |t c |o a |o e |c r .|
|a |y w |a r |e i |e h |l , |h r |h o |
|c | a |f b |r n |r l |u |o m |a m |
|t |f t |t n | | o |b & |l e |r |
|, |i e |e a | t | r |l c | n |i t |
| |b r |r t | h | i |e . | t |n h |
|& |r . | e | e | c | | e |e e |
|c |e | | | | i | d | |
|. | | | | | n | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
------------------|----|----|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
1. Light Missouri}|49 |54.9|20.97 |2.17 |11.73| 5.9 | -- | -- |
leaf and stalk}| | |white | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
2. Light Missouri}|50 |47.7|19.7 |1.77 |12.83| 5.1 |0.75 |1.50 |
leaf only }| | |white | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
3. Dark Missouri }|50 |52.4|16.47 |4.2 |10.14| 2.13| -- | -- |
leaf and stalk}| | |white | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
4. Dark Missouri} |51 |50.6|13.8 |2.17 | 8.73| 2.9 |0.35 |0.71 |
leaf only } | | |white | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
5. Light Virginia}|51.5|53.1|16.4 |2.53 | 8.54| 5.33| -- | -- |
leaf and stalk}| | |gray- | | | | | |
| | |white | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
6. Light Virginia}|54 |46.1|11.97 |2.0 | 6.86| 3.11|1.045|2.09 |
leaf only }| | |green-| | | | | |
| | |gray | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
7. Dark Virginia }|48.5|51.8|14.7 |4.8 |8.40 | 1.5 | -- | -- |
leaf and stalk}| | |gray | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
8. Dark Virginia} |52 |49.8|12.53 |2.63 |8.20 | 1.7 |1.46 |2.93 |
leaf only } | | |gray | | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The samples were dried and the woody fibre and extract were also
dried at 212 degs. The watery infusions of all contained ammoniacal
salts. The salts from the ash, which were soluble in water,
consisted of sulphates, carbonates, phosphates, and chlorides; the
bases being potassa and lime. The solution by hydrochloric acid
contained lime, alumina, phosphate of lime, and oxide of iron.
3. Contained oxide of manganese in small quantity; sulphates in
watery solution of ash abundant. Hydrochloric solution contained an
abundance of lime.
4. A trace of manganese; a trace only of phosphoric acid in watery
solution.
5. Contained abundance of oxide of manganese.
6. Abundance of oxide of manganese.
7. A mere trace of oxide of manganese, and a trace of oxide of iron;
only a trace of alumina.
8. A trace of oxide of manganese; quantity of oxide of iron very
great; only a trace of alumina.
In rich loams, where the solution of the minerals of the soil is
rapid, and where 10 to 20 per cent, of vegetable matter is
incorporated in the earth, tobacco may be obtained for many years, but
it is always an exhausting crop. It has been stated that 170 Lbs. of
mineral matter are removed in less than three months from one acre of
land, by a crop of tobacco. This is very much more than wheat or other
grains abstract from the soil in eight or nine months.
Tobacco is now very extensively cultivated in France and other
European countries, in the Levant, the East and West Indies; and a
little is grown at the Cape and in the Australian Settlements.
A good deal of tobacco is raised in Mexico, but only for home
consumption, as its export is prohibited. It forms an article of
culture in Brazil and some of the South American republics, and is
grown to a small extent along the Western shores of Africa. It is from
North America, however, that we derive the bulk of our supplies of
this great article of commerce, which, with cotton, forms the chief
agricultural wealth of the United States.
In 1821, the tobacco exported from the Brazils amounted to 29,192,000
Lbs., but its cultivation was greatly injured by the siege of the
capital in 1822-23. Fresh seed was subsequently obtained from Cuba,
and in 1835 the exports were 6,051,040 Lbs.
131 cases of Princeza snuff were shipped from Bahia to Lisbon, in
1835; about 60,000 Lbs. per annum of this snuff being now manufactured
at Bahia, with the aid of two steam-engines. The exports of tobacco
from Bahia increased from 2,048,000 Lbs. in 1833, to 6,051,040 Lbs. in
1835. The average shipments are about 21,000 bales and rolls.
The army of smokers in Great Britain and Ireland consume yearly about
six millions of pounds worth of tobacco. The duty alone paid upon
snuff and tobacco for the people of Great Britain, averages
four-and-a-half millions sterling a year! The quantity
consumed--smoked, snuffed, or chewed--during the same period, is about
28 millions of pounds weight, or about four pounds weight per annum
for every male adult. Ireland annually pays not less than £800,000 of
duty on tobacco and snuff, and only about £30,000 on coffee. For every
pound of coffee that the Irish people use, they smoke away about _four
pounds of tobacco_.
North America produces annually upwards of 200 million pounds. The
combustion of the mass of vegetable material used in this kingdom
would yield about 340 million pounds of carbonic acid gas; so that the
yearly produce of carbonic acid gas from tobacco smoking alone cannot
be less than 1,000,000,000 lbs.--a large contribution to the annual
demand for this gas made upon the atmosphere for the vegetation of the
world. Henceforth let no one twit the smoker with idleness and
unimportance. Every pipe is an agricultural furnace,--every smoker a
manufacturer of vegetation,--the consumer of a weed that he may rear
more largely his own provisions.
In the year 1842, 605,000,000 of cigars were made in the German
Commercial Union.
In 1839, the revenue on tobacco in this country was about £3,600,000.
Of this it has been estimated eleven-twelfths are drawn from the
working classes, and one-twelfth from the richer classes. The
following is a calculation of the consumption of tobacco per head of
the population, estimated from the number of pounds on which duty was
paid:--
Consumption per head.
Rate of duty. ozs.
1801 {1s. 7 3-10d. England } 17
{1s. 0 7-10d. Ireland.}
1811 2s. 2 13-20d. 19½
1821 4s. 0d. 11 45
1831 3s. 0d. 12 35
1841 3s. 1 8-10d. 12 4-5
1851 3s. 1 4-5d. 21
Thus it will be seen the consumption is materially affected by the
rate of duty.
A memorial presented to the First Lord of the Treasury a few years
ago, by the American Chamber of Commerce, and signed by Mr. Thomas
Todd, the chairman, furnishes some valuable information, and I am
therefore tempted to give it entire:--
The American Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool desire respectfully to
bring under the consideration of her Majesty's Government the
impolicy of the present high rate of duty on foreign tobacco, and
the benefit to commerce, as well as to the revenue, which would
arise from such a reduction as would remove the temptation now held
out to the smuggler.
The cost of tobacco, including freight and all charges, is from 3d.
to 4d. per lb., and the duty is 3s. per lb., being 900 per cent, on
the value. A duty so enormously disproportioned to the cost offers
an irresistible premium to the illicit trader; for the expense of
smuggling tobacco by the cargo, including the first cost, does not
exceed 9½d. per lb., and it has been ascertained that the smuggler
receives 6d. per lb. less than the duty, or 2s. 6d. per lb., which
yields him a clear profit of 1s. 8½d. per lb., to the injury not
only of the revenue, but of the fair trader.
The effect of this heavy duty in diminishing the consumption of
duty-paid tobacco is further exemplified by the fact that, while all
other articles of general consumption have progressively increased
with the increase of the population, tobacco alone forms an
exception, as will appear from the following:--
COMPARATIVE SCALE OF POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION OF TEA, COFFEE,
AND TOBACCO, IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, COMPILED FROM PARLIAMENTARY
PAPERS.
Population Tea Coffee Tobacco
1801 16,338,102
Duty, 65 a 95 per ct 19d. per lb. 19d. per lb.
& 12½ per ct. & 12½ per ct.
Lbs., 23,163,999 871,846 16,895,752
1811 18,547,720
Duty 96 per cent. 8d. per lb. 26½d. per lb.
Lbs., 24,461,308 6,895,619 21,376,370
1821 21,193,458
Duty, 96 a 100 per ct. 12d. per lb. 4s. per lb.
Lbs., 26,043,257 7,593,001 1,823,365
1831 24,271,763
Duty 96a 100 per ct. 6d. per lb. 3s. per lb.
Lbs., 30,648,348 22,740,627 19,418,941
1841 26,855,928
Duty, 26¼d. per lb. 6d. per lb. 3s. per lb.
Lbs., 36,396,073 28,420,980 22,094,772
The consumption of tobacco in the island of Great Britain, excluding
Ireland, and the duty thereon, were in
Consumption. Duty.
1801 10,514,998 lbs. 1s. 7d.
1811 14,923,243 " 2s. 2½d.
1821 12,983,198 " 4s. 0d.
1831 15,350,018 " 3s. 0d.
1841 16,083,593 " 3s. 0d.
1851 28,062,841 " 3s. 0d.
In the last two periods five per cent is added to all the duties.
Thus, while the consumption of tea and coffee has increased even
beyond the ratio of the population, the consumption of tobacco has
decreased.
This table also exemplifies the greater productiveness of a low duty
compared with a high one; for instance, coffee in 1801, at 1s. 7d.
per lb., yielded £77,654; in 1821, at 1s. per lb., £379,650; and, in
1841, at 6d. per lb., £710,524; tobacco in 1821, at 4s. per lb.,
yielded £3,164,673, and 1841, at 3s. per lb., £3,314,215. But the
difference in duty in the latter case was not sufficient to curtail
the profits of the smuggler to any material extent.
Cigars afford a remarkable example of the amount of duty being
increased by diminishing the rate. In 1828, when the duty was 18s.
per lb., duty was paid on 8,600 lbs. only, yielding £7,740. In 1830,
when the duty was reduced to 9s. per lb., duty was paid on 66,000
lbs., yielding £29,700; and such has been the increase of
consumption, that, in 1841, duty was paid on 213,613 lbs., yielding
£100,899.
We would further illustrate the position by the following facts:
In 1798, Ireland, with a population of 4,000,000, consumed 8,000,000
lbs. of tobacco, and now, with more than double the population, she
consumes about 3,000,000 lbs. of tobacco less than at the former
period. The reason is obvious: in 1789 the duty was 8d. per lb; now
it is 3s. In 1798, England and Scotland, with a population of
10,000,000, consumed 10,000,000 lbs. of tobacco, being one half of
the relative consumption of Ireland at the same period; the duty in
England and Scotland being then 1s. 7d. per lb., and in Ireland only
8d.
But the quantity of tobacco on which duty is paid does not even
approximately show the quantity consumed. If the duty now paid on
tobacco in the United Kingdom retained the same relative proportion
to the population that it held in Ireland in 1798, the duty in 1841
would have been actually levied upon 53,711,856 lbs., instead of
22,094,772 lbs.; and such we believe to be about the actual amount
of consumption, the great bulk of the supply being furnished by the
illicit trader.
In Prussia, it appears that the consumption of tobacco is at the
rate of three pounds per head; while, in England, if we were to
judge from the amount on which duty is paid, it is considerably less
than one pound per head.
Assuming the actual consumption at only 45,000,000 lbs., or two
pounds per head, we believe that a reduction of duty to 1s. per
pound would so effectually destroy the illicit trader, that the
revenue would gain by the change, not only by bringing upwards of
30,000,000 lbs. under duty, which at present escape, but by the
great increase of the consumption consequent upon the encouragement
given to the fair trader.
We would not, however, treat the question merely as a matter of
revenue. We would strongly represent the injustice which this
exorbitant duty inflicts upon those who pursue a legitimate trade,
by enabling the smuggler to lessen the extent of their transactions
by more than half what they would otherwise be; and we would further
earnestly urge upon your consideration the demoralising tendency of
such a systematic and extended violation of the law, not only upon
those engaged in the illicit trade, also upon those parties who are
found to connive at the practice from a sense of the gross injustice
and impolicy of a duty so disproportioned to the value of an article
of such extensive consumption.
We would refer to the opinion of a committee of the House of Commons
on the growth of tobacco in Ireland, in 1840, as follows:--'That it
further appears, from the evidence, that smuggling of foreign
tobacco is at present carried on to a great extent, and that all the
measures now adopted, at great expense to the country, are and will
be ineffectual to repress it so long as the temptation of evading a
duty equal to twelve times the value of the article on which it is
imposed, remains."
We beg, therefore, respectfully to express our opinion, that if the
duty on tobacco were reduced to one shilling per pound, it would be
alike beneficial to the interests of legitimate commerce; to the
consumers, who consist almost entirely of the poorer classes; to the
revenue, by increasing the productiveness of the duty, and by
greatly diminishing the expenditure so ineffectually incurred to
suppress the illicit trade; and to the general morals of society by
removing a powerful inducement to infringe the laws.
The imports of all kinds of tobacco for the last five years have been
as follows:--
| 1848. | 1849. | 1850. | 1851. | 1852.
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs.
Unmanufactured|34,090,360|41,546,848|35,166,358|31,061,953|33,205,635
Manufactured | | | | |
and snuff | 1,512,714| 1,905,306| 1,557,618| 2,331,886| 2,930,299
|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------
|35,603,074|43,452,154|36,723,876|33,393,839|36,135,934
Gross duty received:--
| 1848. | 1849. | 1850. | 1851. | 1852.
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £
On raw tobacco| 4,267,579| 4,328,217| 4,337,258| 4,386,910| 4,466,533
Cigars, snuff,| | | | |
&c. | 97,655| 96,814| 92,873| 98,858| 94,298
|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------
| 4,365,234| 4,425,031| 4,430,131| 4,485,768| 4,569,831
The amount of tobacco consumed is so limited that the trade will not
admit of an excessive growth. In the two most thickly populated
countries in Europe--France and England--not more than a certain
quantity finds its way there. In France the trade is monopolised by
Government, which gives out contracts to deliver a stipulated quantity
at certain prices; in England the duty imposed is so enormous that
only a limited quantity of certain descriptions can be imported
without risk of loss. In Germany and Holland, where the trade is more
extensively carried on than elsewhere, the duty imposed is almost
nominal, and all classes of their citizens are enabled to use the weed
at prices very little higher than its first prime cost. The tobacco
trade constitutes so large a staple of American produce that it is
singular greater efforts are not made upon the part of that Government
to cause a reciprocal duty to be imposed, that more favor may be shown
by European Governments to this particular article. England, from the
duty imposed upon it alone, derives a revenue of £4,500,000, being
about £160 to the hogshead, or from ten to sixteen times its original
cost. France makes the trade a monopoly, from which she derives an
income of £3,000,000 sterling.
STATEMENT OF IMPORTS, SALES, AND STOCKS OF TOBACCO AND
STEMS, IN BREMEN, FROM 1840 TO 1850.
----+---------------------------+-----------------------+
| MARYLAND | VIRGINIAN |
----+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | S | | | | S |
| S | | | t | S | | | t |
| t | | | o D | t | | | o D |
| o J | I | | c e | o J | I | | c e |
| c a | m | | k c | c a | m | | k c |
| k n | p | S | e | k n | p | S | e |
Y | u | o | a | l m | u | o | a | l m |
e | 1 a | r | l | a b | 1 a | r | l | a b |
a | s r | t | e | s e | s r | t | e | s e |
r | t y | s | s | t r | t y | s | s | t r |
----+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
1840| 4,890|14,570|18,399| 1,061| 245| 3492| 3422| 285|
1841| 1,061|19,629|18,321| 2,369| 285| 3466| 3025| 726|
1842| 2,369|20,821|19,067| 4,123| 726| 6729| 5898| 1557|
1843| 4,123|18,483|15,004| 7,602| 1557| 5541| 4242| 2856|
1844| 7,602|16,978|18,338| 6,242| 2856| 5092| 4282| 3666|
1845| 6,242|24,251|24,571| 5,922| 3666| 1588| 3099| 2155|
1846| 5,922|26,785|23,788| 8,919| 2155| 2386| 2456| 2085|
1847| 8,919|21,743|20,681| 9,981| 2085| 911| 2079| 917|
1848| 9,981|12,084| 9,935|12,130| 917| 847| 1054| 710|
1849|12,130|19,285|22,112| 9,303| 710| 1173| 1734| 149|
----+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
----+---------------------------+-----------------------+
| KENTUCKY | STEMS |
----+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | S | | | | S |
| S | | | t | S | | | t |
| t | | | o D | t | | | o D |
| o J | I | | c e | o J | I | | c e |
| c a | m | | k c | c a | m | | k c |
| k n | p | S | e | k n | p | S | e |
Y | u | o | a | l m | u | o | a | l m |
e | 1 a | r | l | a b | 1 a | r | l | a b |
a | s r | t | e | s e | s r | t | e | s e |
r | t y | s | s | t r | t y | s | s | t r |
----+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
1840| 181| 3,803| 3,699| 285| 2853| 3362| 4564| 1651|
1841| 285| 5,206| 4,941| 550| 1651| 7085| 7054| 1682|
1842| 550| 9,407| 8,939| 1018| 1682| 4151| 5386| 447|
1843| 1018| 7,485| 6,441| 2062| 447| 3969| 3447| 969|
1844| 2062| 9,736| 9,569| 2229| 969| 4753| 5513| 209|
1845| 2269|11,439|10,328| 3340| 209| 5273| 4152| 1330|
1846| 3340| 5,028| 6,099| 2269| 1330| 6092| 4716| 2706|
1847| 2269| 3,816| 5,013| 1072| 2706| 6788| 8038| 1456|
1848| 1072| 4,448| 4,980| 540| 1456| 4912| 4473| 1895|
1849| 540| 4,620| 4,746| 414| 1895| 5188| 5083| 1000|
----+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
_Culture and Statistics in the United States_.--Tobacco has been the
great staple of the States of Virginia and Maryland from their first
settlement. About the year 1642 it became a royal monopoly, and
afterwards, in order to encourage its growth in the colonies, and
thereby increase the revenue of the Crown, Parliament prohibited the
planting of it in England. The average quantity shipped from the North
American colonies to the parent country, for ten years preceding the
year 1709, was about twenty-nine millions of pounds. For some years
prior to the American revolution, about 85,000 hhds. were exported,
then valued at little more than four millions of dollars, and
constituting nearly one-third the value of all the exports of the
British North American colonies. From 1820 to 1830 tobacco constituted
about one-ninth in value of all the domestic exports of the United
States. It finds a market principally in Great Britain, France,
Holland, and the north of Europe.[55] The crop of tobacco produced in
the four principal States, was in--
1838. 1839.
hhds. hhds.
Virginia 26,000 45,000
Kentucky 27,000 35,000
Maryland 16,000 16,000
Ohio 3,000 4,000
------ -------
72,000 100,000
The whole crop of 1840 was 219,163,319 lbs., which, at the estimate
of 1,200 lbs. to the hhd., would be equal to 182,636 hhds., and at the
average price of that year, 81 dollars 5 cents. per hhd., would make
the value of the crop of the United States 14,802,647 dollars 80
cents. The average annual export for the ten years ending with 1840,
was 96,775 hhds. The actual exportation of 1840 was 119,484 hhds. The
principal exports are formed of the produce of Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Maryland, and North Carolina. The exports are chiefly to
the following countries--about 30,000 hhds. annually to England,
15,000 hhds. to France, 20,000 hhds. to Holland, 25,000 hhds. Germany,
and about 22,000 hhds. to other countries. The whole crop for 1845 was
put down at 187,422,000 lbs. In 1839, it was ascertained that one and
a half million persons were engaged in the cultivation and manufacture
of tobacco in the United States, one million of whom were so occupied
in the States of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. In the
city of New York the consumption of cigars is computed at 10,000
dollars a day, a sum greater than that which the inhabitants pay for
their daily bread; and in the whole country the annual consumption of
tobacco is estimated at 120 million pounds, being 7 lbs. for every
man, woman, and child, at an annual cost to the consumers of 20
million dollars (more than four million pounds sterling).
It is estimated that the manufacture of tobacco in the United States
is increasing at the rate of 2,000 hhds. per annum.
hhds.
The quantity manufactured in 1851, was stated at 55,000
Exportations for the year estimated at 120,000
-------
175,000
The production for 1852 is supposed to be as follows:--
hhds.
Virginia 27,000
Maryland 33,000
Western States, including frosted 65,000
-------
Total production 125,000
Deficiency in the year's crop 50,000
The quantity produced in the United States, in 1847, was 220,164,000
lbs., worth, at 5 cents per lb., nearly 11 million dollars (more than
two million sterling). The principal producing States were--Kentucky,
65 million lbs.; Virginia, 50 millions; Tennessee, 35 millions; North
Carolina, 14 millions; Ohio, 9 millions; Indiana, 4 millions;
Illinois, Connecticut, and a few others in smaller proportions.
The production in 1848 was 218,909,000 lbs., which, valued at four
cents per lb., would be worth nine million dollars. From persons
largely interested in the tobacco trade, and well informed in relation
thereto, I have gathered the following general statements:--
The crops of tobacco to come to market in the year 1851, were
estimated as follows--
hhds.
Virginia 30,000
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, about 50,000
Maryland, about 22,000
Ohio, about 14,000
From the above estimate it will be seen that the quantity produced
in 1850 is less than two-thirds of the usual production in the
States named. The entire crop of Virginia will be required for home
consumption. About 15,000 hhds. Kentucky, and 5,000 hhds. Maryland
will also be wanted for home use. Owing to the increase of
population by immigration and otherwise, the domestic consumption,
which was a few years ago so small as not to be considered worthy of
notice, has now increased to a very important item, and affords a
steady home market for a large portion of the production.
The quantity of Maryland tobacco left for export to Bremen and
Holland, in 1851, will only be about 17,000 hhds., which is not more
than half the amount usually shipped to these countries every year.
Of the Kentucky tobacco contracted for last year by France and
Spain, through their agents in this country, less than one third has
yet been purchased, and those governments will this year require the
deficiency to be made up, in addition to their annual average
supply, which, with the quantity required for England, will take the
entire crop, leaving nothing for the rest of Europe, Africa, South
America, the West Indies, &c. The tobacco markets throughout the
world are in a much more healthy condition than has ever been known,
and it is thought prices will rule very high the coming season. In
Maryland, while the production has been not more than half an
average crop, the price is nearly three times as high as usual; so
that the planter will receive more for his diminished crops than in
ordinary seasons of plenty.
QUANTITY OF TOBACCO EXPORTED ANNUALLY FROM 1821 TO 1850.
Exports for Year ending hhds.|Stocks in Europe, year ending hhds.
September 30th, 1821 66,850| December 31st, 1821 --
" " 1822 83,169| " " 1822 --
" " 1823 99,000| " " 1823 --
" " 1824 77,889| " " 1824 --
" " 1825 75,986| " " 1825 --
" " 1826 64,099| " " 1826 --
" " 1827 100,020| " " 1827 --
" " 1828 96,279| " " 1828 69,485
" " 1829 77,136| " " 1829 63,670
" " 1830 83,810| " " 1830 50,672
" " 1831 86,718| " " 1831 54,690
" " 1832 106,800| " " 1832 61,868
" " 1833 83,153| " " 1833 50,543
" " 1834 87,979| " " 1834 53,413
" " 1835 94,353| " " 1835 57,458
" " 1836 109,042| " " 1836 68,918
" " 1837 100,232| " " 1837 38,703
" " 1838 100,593| " " 1838 31,067
" " 1839 78,995| " " 1839 38,715
" " 1840 119,484| " " 1840 37,623
" " 1841 147,828| " " 1841 50,880
" " 1842 158,710| " " 1842 62,496
June 30 (9 ms.) 1843 94,454| " " 1843 91,196
" (12 ms.) 1844 163,042| " " 1844 88,973
" " 1845 147,168| " " 1845 91,213
" " 1846 147,998| " " 1846 100,774
" " 1847 135,762| " " 1847 88,858
" " 1848 130,665| " " 1848 80,391
" " 1849 101,521| " " 1849 70,527
" ' 1850 145,729| " " 1850 66,777
It is a curious fact that, notwithstanding the variety of climate
and soil in the northern State;, every State and territory in the
Union produces some tobacco. In many of the States its cultivation
is, of course, a secondary object, and perhaps in several it is
attended to as a mere matter of curiosity; but in most of the
States, probably a sufficient quantity has been grown, to show that
with attention to this object, it might, in case of necessity, be
resorted to as a profitable crop. The States in which the great bulk
of the crop is grown lie between the latitudes of about 34 and 40
degrees.
There is a considerable increase of consumption of American tobacco
in Europe, as well as in the United States, which should encourage
the planters of Virginia and North Carolina to cultivate this
article more abundantly than they have done for several years past;
and, since the home manufacture has increased so much, and the
Virginia tobacco is preferred in many parts of the European markets,
they may safely count on getting good prices for many years to come.
It is not in the power of Virginia to make any three years together
more than 56,000 hhds., even with good seasons, and 30,000 hhds.
annually of this will be wanted by our manufacturers.
The planters, then, should enrich their lands, and aim to make full
crops.
The increased consumption in Europe is three per cent., and in the
United States four per cent. per annum.
The crop of the United States from 1840 to 1850 inclusive--say 11
years--averaged about 160,000 hhds.; this embraces the large crops
of 1842-43-44.
The consumption of Europe from 1829 to 1838 was 96,826 hhds.--it is
now 130,000.
An account of the quantities of unmanufactured tobacco, manufactured
called negro-head, and cigars, imported into the United Kingdom in
1850:--
Countries from whence imported. Unmanufactured Manufactured
United States of America 30,173,444 1,191,001
Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador 895,523 527
Brazil 12,138 56,802
Peru 8,649 6
Cuba 589,627 153,819
British West Indies, including Demerara
and Honduras 26,169 3,242
British Territories in the East Indies 14,500 25,332
Philippine Islands 12,233 51,210
Hongkong and China 2,706 2,340
Turkey, Syria, and Egypt 140,361 2,882
Malta 13,028 7,818
Italy, Sardinian Territories 431,939 17
Gibraltar 7 3,063
Spain 307,641 1,100
France 29,950 1,521
Channel Islands 149 1,342
Belgium 29,922 6,579
Holland 2,418,732 9,078
Hanseatic Towns 50,610 36,680
Other parts 8,930 1,980
---------- ---------
Total unmanufactured 35,166,358 1,556,321
Ditto manfactured 1,556,321
Snuff 1,197
----------
Total 36,723,876
From the tobacco circulars of Messrs. Clagett, Son, and Co., leading
brokers of London, dated Feb., 1st, 1850, I take the following
extracts:--
The exhaustion of the stock has resulted from the concurrence of a
gradually decreasing supply and increasing consumption, which may
be very clearly perceived by a reference, first to the official
returns from New Orleans of the yearly receipts of the western crops
in each of the last seven years; and secondly, to the consumption of
American tobacco in Great Britain and Ireland in the years 1847,
1848, and 1849, as compared with that of 1840, 1841, and 1842. We
have no means of exhibiting with similar accuracy the relative
consumption of Continental Europe in the latter as compared with the
former part of these last ten years, but it is quite reasonable to
assume that the increase, where there has been little or no duty,
must have gone on more rapidly than it has done here, under the
restraining force of a duty of 800 to 900 per cent.
The deliveries from London and Liverpool, independently of those
from Scotland, Bristol, and Newcastle, for the use of Great Britain
and Ireland, have been as follows:--In 1840, 15,037 hhds.; 1841,
15,019 hhds.; 1842, 15,468 hhds.; 1847, 18,091 hhds.; 1848, 18,595
hhds.; 1849, 18,738 hhds.
The highest estimates we have seen of the whole of the crops of the
United Slates in 1849, do not exceed 140,000 hhds., of which it is
not doubted that fully 45,000 hhds. will be required for consumption
there, and we estimate the supply required for the consumption of
Europe, South America, the West Indies, and Africa, at certainly not
less than 125,000 hhds.; if these estimates be realised in fact, it
will follow that the stocks at the close of this year must be 30,000
hhds. less than at the close of 1849.
We estimate the present consumption of American tobacco in Great
Britain and Ireland as follows:--
The deliveries in London and Liverpool in 1849, were 18,738 hhds.;
do. do. Bristol 1,400 hhds.; do. do. Scotland we assume at 2,800
hhds. Total 22,939.
Of Stripts, the deliveries in Liverpool last year were 8,544 hhds.,
of which about 300 were for exportation; the deliveries, therefore,
were--For the use of Great Britain and Ireland, 8,250 hhds. In
London we have no account of the deliveries of stripts, as
distinguished from leaf, for the whole of last year; it is doubtless
less than that in Liverpool, and we assume it at 7,000 hhds.; in
Bristol it was about 900 hhds.; in Scotland we assume it at 2,400
hhds. Total 18,550 hhds.
Now, assuming 1,500 hhds. of the deliveries in Scotland and Bristol
to be included in the coastwise returns in London and Liverpool,
then the consumption of Great Britain and Ireland would appear to be
about 21,500 hhds. of American tobacco, and 17,000 for these to be
stripts. The progressive increase which we have shown in the returns
of 1849, as compared with those of 1840, must still go on.
Without troubling you with any detail of the stocks in each of the
several markets, it may be sufficient to show that the summary of
the whole in all the markets of Europe, other than Great Britain,
consisted on the 31st December, 1849, of about 22,000 hhds.; of
which about 18,000 were Maryland and 2,000 stalks; and it is
important to notice especially the fact, that the stocks of the
manufacturers and dealers in Germany, Holland and Belgium are
unusually small. We have taken very considerable care to inform
ourselves on this point, and are fully satisfied that the usual
stocks in second or dealers' hands do not exist. The whole demand of
the year must, therefore, be supplied from those stocks in
importers' hands, from England or from the United States.
The following were the prices current in London in the spring of
1853:--Virginia Leaf, common, per pound, 3¼d. to 3¾d.; middling, 5d.
to 6d.; good and fine 6½d. to 7½d. Stripts, 5½d. to 10d. Kentucky
Leaf: common 3d., to 3½d.; middling, 3¾d. to 4½d.; good and fine,
5d. to 6d. Stripts, 5d. to 7d. Maryland, 3½d. to 9d. Negrohead and
Cavendish: common and heated, 4d. to 6d.; middling to good, 6d. to
8d. and 9d.; fine, 10d., 12d., 16d.; Barret's none. Columbian, 7d.
to 1s. 8d.; Brazil, 3d. to 6d.; flat, 5d. to 1s. 1d.; Manilla, 7d.
to 2s. 6d.; Havana, 10d. to 5s.; Yara, 11d. to 3s.; Cuba, 9d. to 1s.
1d.; ingars, 3s. to 16s.; cheroots, Manilla, 7s. 6d., nominal;
German and Amersfoort 4d. to 1s. 3d.; stalks, duty paid, 2s. 6d. to
3s. 4d.; smalls, 2s. 9d to 2s.
The shipments to Europe were 76,516 hhds. against 40,652 hhds. the
previous year, and 43,576 hhds. in 1850. The rapidity of sales, the
diminished stocks even now held in first hands, were taken as an
infallible index of the progressive rate of consumption; and of a
truth the quantity of hogsheads received in the principal markets of
Belgium, Holland, Germany, and the North, and as speedily relieved
from the control of the importers, was enough to control even those
who were alive to the existing necessities of Europe, and to give a
color to the rumour of almost inexhaustible consumption.
This extraordinary demand for tobacco on the continent has been
occasioned by three distinct causes; the first of which was the
pressing wants which, for the last two years, were well known to
have existed, and the constant willingness of consumers to act at
the very moderate rates which prevailed some time last spring. The
second was the compulsory purchases by the Austrian Government,
amounting, it is estimated, to 20,000 hhds., by reason that the
discontented Hungarians, for political considerations, abandoned
altogether the cultivation of tobacco, and which deficiency was
obliged to be replaced by American growths. The third cause also had
a political origin: the anticipation of the extension of the
Zollverein or German Customs League to the Kingdoms of Hanover and
Oldenburg, whereby the duties on tobacco in those countries would be
greatly increased, was a natural incentive to the dealers and
manufacturers there to lay in heavy stocks, to reap the benefit
thereon; and these last two causes, therefore, may be viewed in the
light of fortuitous circumstances, which have fostered a speculation
originally founded on the cheapness of money alone.
It has been shown, and the statistics of the past year fully confirm
the statement, that a plethora of money and prosperity among the
middle classes of society, while it induces to the consumption of
tobacco in general, rather curtails than otherwise the demand for
American growths. A poor man addicted to smoking takes his pipe not
from choice, but necessity; as he grows independent, the humble pipe
is abandoned and the more costly cigar assumed. We have frequently
heard this matter noticed, more especially after the disasters which
followed the railway speculations of 1846, when the demand for
English cigars sensibly declined; and we have now a further
verification of the assertion in the opposite sense, the sales of
cigar materials in Bremen having been extended more than 40 per
cent, in three years, viz., from 94,750 bales and cases in 1850 to
135,650 during last season.
From New Orleans we learn that the arrivals from the interior since
the 1st September had amounted to 18,043 hhds. against 5,165 hhds.
last season, and the stock on hand was 24,128 hhds. against 7,927
hhds. only.
The shipments from Virginia during the past year exceeded 13,700
hhds. In 1851 they were under 4,000 casks.
From Baltimore 54,272 hhds. have been exported. The official figures
for the previous year gave 35,967 as the total.
The aggregate stock of tobacco on the 1st of January last, in the
principal ports of America, was taken at 52,982 hhds. against 45,292
the year before and the growth of the Western States, Virginia, and
Maryland during 1852, to come forward for our supply the present
season, is estimated at 185,000 hhds., notwithstanding all the
unfavorable influences and curtailing causes which were said to have
prevailed.
The method adopted of cultivating tobacco in Virginia is thus
described:
Several rich, moist, but not too wet spots of ground are chosen out
in the fall, each containing about a quarter of an acre or more,
according to the magnitude of the crop, and the number of plants it
may require.
These spots, which are generally in the woods, are cleared, and
covered with brush or timber, for five or six feet thick and
upwards; this is suffered to remain upon it until the time when the
tobacco seed must be sowed, which is within twelve days after
Christmas. The evening is commonly chosen to set these places on
fire, and when everything thereon is consumed to ashes, the ground
is dug up, mixed with the ashes, and broken very fine. The tobacco
seed, which is exceedingly small, being mixed with ashes also, is
then sown and just raked in lightly; the whole is immediately
covered with brushwood for shelter to keep it warm, and a slight
fence thrown around it. In this condition it remains until the
frosts are all gone, when the brush is taken off, and the young
plants are exposed to the nutritive and genial warmth of the sun,
which quickly invigorates them in an astonishing degree, and soon
renders them strong and large enough to be removed for planting,
especially if they be not sown too thick. Every tobacco planter,
assiduous to secure a sufficient quantity of plants, generally has
several of these plant beds in different situations, so that if one
should fail, another may succeed; and an experienced planter
commonly takes care to have ten times as many plants, as he can make
use of.
In these beds, along with the tobacco, they generally sow kale,
colewort, and cabbage seed, &c., at the same time.
There are seven different kinds of tobacco, particularly adapted to
the different qualities of the soil on which they are cultivated,
and each varying from the other. They are named Hudson, Frederick,
Thick-joint, Shoe-string, Thickset, Sweet-scented, and Oronoko. But
although these are the principal, yet there are a great many
different species besides, with names peculiar to the situations,
settlements and neighbourhoods wherein they are produced; which it
would be too tedious here to specify and particularise. The soil for
tobacco must be rich and strong; the ground is prepared in the
following manner:--after being well broke up and by repeated
working, either with the plough or hand hoes, rendered soft, light,
and mellow, the whole field is made into hills, each to take up the
space of three feet, and flattened at the top.
In the first rains, which are here called seasons, after the vernal
equinox, the tobacco plants are carefully drawn while the ground is
soft; carried to the field where they are to be planted, and one
dropped upon every hill, which is done by the negro children. The
most skilful slaves then begin planting them, by making a hole with
their finger in each hill, inserting the plant with the taproot
carefully placed straight down, and pressing the earth on each side
of it. This is continued as long as the ground is wet enough to
enable the plants sufficiently grown to draw and set; and it
requires several different seasons, or periods of rain, to enable
them to complete planting their crop, which operation is frequently
not finished until July.
After the plants have taken root, and begin to grow, the ground is
carefully weeded and worked, either with hand hoes or the plough,
according as it will admit. After the plants have considerably
increased in bulk, and begin to shoot up, the tops are pinched off,
and only ten, twelve, or sixteen leaves left, according to the
quality of the tobacco and the soil. The worms, also, are carefully
picked off and destroyed, of which there are two species that prey
upon tobacco. One is the ground worm, which cuts it off just beneath
the surface of the earth; this must be carefully looked for and
trodden to death; it is of a dark brown color, and short. The other
is a horn worm, some inches in length, as thick as your little
finger, of a vivid green color, with a number of pointed
excrescences or feelers from his head like horns. These devour the
leaf, and are always upon the plant. As it would be endless labor to
keep their hands constantly in search of them, it would be almost
impossible to prevent their eating up more than half the crop had it
not been discovered that turkeys are particularly dexterous at
finding them, eat them up voraciously, and prefer them to every
other food. For this purpose every planter keeps a flock of turkeys,
which he has driven into the tobacco grounds every day by a little
negro that can do nothing else; these keep his tobacco more clear
from horn worms than all the hands he has got could do were they
employed solely for that end. When the tops are nipped off, a few
plants are left untouched for seed. On the plants that have been
topped, young shoots are apt to spring out, which are termed
suckers, and are carefully and constantly broken off lest they
should draw too much of the nourishment and substance from the
leaves of the plant. This operation is also performed from time to
time, and is called "suckering tobacco." For some time before it is
ripe, or ready for cutting, the ground is perfectly covered with
leaves, which have increased to a prodigious size, and then the
plants are generally about three feet high. When it is ripe, a
clammy moisture or exudation comes forth upon the leaves, which
appear, as it were, ready to become spotted, and they are then of a
great weight and substance. The tobacco is cut when the sun is
powerful, but not in the morning and evening. The plant, if large,
is split down the middle, and cut off two or three inches below the
extremity of the split; it is then turned directly bottom upwards,
for the sun to kill it more speedily, to enable the laborers to
carry it out of the field, else the leaves would break off in
transporting it to the scaffold. The plants are cut only as they
become ripe, for a field never ripens altogether. There is generally
a second cutting likewise, for the stalk vegetates and shoots forth
again, and in good land, with favorable seasons, there is a third
cutting also procured, notwithstanding acts of the Legislature to
prevent cutting tobacco even a second time.
When the tobacco plants are cut and brought to the scaffolds, which
are generally erected all around the tobacco houses, they are placed
with the split across a small oak stick, an inch and better in
diameter and four feet and a half long, so close as each plant just
to touch the other without bruising or pressing. These sticks are
then placed on the scaffolds, with the tobacco thus suspended in the
middle, to dry or cure, and are called tobacco sticks. As the plants
advance in curing, the sticks are removed from the scaffolds out of
doors into the tobacco house, on to other scaffolds erected therein
in successive regular gradations from the bottom to the top of the
roof, being placed higher as the tobacco approaches to a perfect
cure, until the house is all filled and the tobacco quite cured, and
this cure is frequently promoted by making fires on the floor below.
When the tobacco house is quite full, and there is still more
tobacco to bring in, all that is within the house is struck, and
taken down, and carefully placed in bulks, or regular rows, one upon
another, and the whole covered with trash tobacco, or straw, to
preserve it in a proper condition, that is moist, which prevents its
wasting and crumbling to pieces. But, to enable them to strike the
cured tobacco, they must wait for what is there called a season,
that is rainy or moist weather, when the plants will better bear
handling, for in dry weather the leaves would all crumble to pieces
in the attempt. By this means a tobacco house may be filled two,
three, or four times in the year. Every night the negroes are sent
to the tobacco house to strip, that is to pull off the leaves from
the stalk, and tie them up in hands or bundles. This is also their
daily occupation in rainy weather. In stripping, they are careful to
throw away all the ground leaves and faulty tobacco, binding up none
but what is merchantable. The hands or bundles thus tied up are also
laid in what are called a bulk, and covered with the refuse tobacco
or straw to preserve their moisture. After this, the tobacco is
carefully packed in hogsheads, and pressed down with a large beam
laid over it, on the ends of which prodigious weights are suspended,
the other end being inserted with a mortice in a tree, close to
which the hogshead is placed. This vast pressure is continued for
some days, and then the cask is filled up again with tobacco until
it will contain no more, after which it is headed up and carried to
the pubic warehouses for inspection. At these warehouses two skilful
planters constantly attend, and receive a salary from the public for
that purpose. They are sworn to inspect with honesty, care, and
impartiality, all the tobacco that comes to the warehouse, and none
is allowed to be shipped that is not regularly inspected. The head
of the cask is taken off, and the tobacco is opened by means of
large, long iron wedges, and great labour, in such places as the
inspectors direct. After this strict attentive examination, if they
find it good and merchantable, it is replaced in the cask, weighed
at the public scales, the weight of the tobacco and of the cask also
cut in the wood on the cask, stowed away in the public warehouses,
and a note given to the proprietor, which he disposes of to the
merchant, and he neither sees nor has any trouble with his tobacco
more. The weight of each hogshead must be 950 lbs. nett, exclusive
of the cask--for less a note will not be given. Under the name of a
crop hogshead, however, the general weight is from 1,000 to 1,200 or
1,300 lbs. nett, but if the tobacco is found to be totally bad, and
refused as unmerchantable, the whole is publicly burnt in a place
set apart for that purpose. However, if it be judged that there is
some merchantable tobacco in the hogshead, the owner must unpack the
whole publicly on the spot, for he is not permitted to take any of
it away again, and must select and separate the good from the bad;
the last is immediately committed to the flames, and for the first
he receives a transfer note, specifying the weight, quality, &c.
This great and very laudable care was taken by the public to
prevent frauds, which, however, was not always effectual, for, even
with all these precautions, many acts of iniquity and imposition
were committed.
So little is this crop cultivated in the States north of Maryland,
that scarcely any notice has been taken of it in the agricultural or
other public journals.
In Connecticut, in some few towns of Hartford county, considerable
attention has been directed to it for a number of years past. A ton
and a-half the acre is said to be no uncommon yield. The tobacco is
planted very thick, two feet and a half each way. The seed came
originally from Virginia. It is cured in houses, without having been
yellowed in the sun, and without the use of fire. It is said that the
best Havana cigars (as they are termed) are often manufactured from
mixed Cuba and American tobacco, and sold under that name in
Connecticut.
In the Connecticut Valley is produced about 500 tons of tobacco
annually, the average quantity, 1,500 lbs. per acre, value from seven
to ten cents per pound.
_Culture_.--Seed bed made rich and sown as cabbage early in April as
possible.
Land well ploughed and manured and harrowed as for corn, laid out in
rows three feet apart, and slight hills in the row about two and
a-half feet apart; begin to plant about 10th of June, the ground to be
kept clean with hoe and cultivator, and examine the plants and keep
clear of worms.
"When in blossom and before seed is formed, the plants must be topped
about thirty-two inches from the ground, having from sixteen to twenty
leaves on each stalk, after this the suckers are broken off, and the
plants kept clean till cut. When ripe the leaves are spotted, thick,
and will crack when pressed between the fingers and thumb. It is cut
at any time of the day, after the dew is off, left in the row till
wilted, then turned, and if there is a hot sun, it is often turned to
prevent burning; after wilting it is put into small heaps of six or
eight plants, then carried to the tobacco house for hanging, usually
on poles twelve feet long; hung with twine about forty plants to a
pole, twenty on each side, crossing the pole with a hitch knot to the
stump end of the plants; when perfectly cured, which is known by the
stems of the leaves being completely dry, it is then taken in a damp
time, when the leaves will not crumble, from the poles and placed in
large piles, by letting the tops of the plants lap each other, leaving
the butts out; it remains in these heaps from three to ten days before
it is stripped, depending on the state of weather, but it must not be
allowed to heat. When stripped it is made into small hands, the small
and broken leaves to be kept by themselves; it is then packed in boxes
of about 400 lbs. and marked "Seed Leaf Tobacco."
One acre of tobacco will require as much labor as two of corn that
produce 60 bags to the acre, and requires about the same quantity of
manure. If the tobacco can be cured without fire heat the quality
will be improved, and if dried in the open air, should have shades of
boards to keep off rain and excess of sun. The chief market for
Connecticut tobacco is Bremen.
In a number of the "Charleston Southern Planter," a remedy is
described for preventing the destruction of plants by the fly. The
writer says: "I had a bushel or two of dry ashes put into a large tub,
and added train oil enough (say one gallon of oil to the bushel of
ashes) to damp and flavor the ashes completely: this was well stirred
and mixed with the hand, and sown broadcast over certain patches, and
proved thoroughly effectual for several years, while parts left
without the remedy were destroyed."
The best ground for raising the plant, according to Capt. Carver
("Treatise on Culture of Tobacco," &c.), is a warm rich soil, not
subject to be overrun with weeds. The soil in which it grows in
Virginia is inclining to sandy, consequently warm and light; the
nearer, therefore, the nature of the land approaches to that, the
greater probability there is of its flourishing. The situation most
preferable for a plantation is the southern declivity of a hill, or a
spot sheltered from the blighting north winds. But at the same time
the plants must enjoy a free current of air; for if that be obstructed
they will not prosper.
The different sorts of seed not being distinguishable from each other,
nor the goodness to be ascertained by its appearance, great caution
should be used in obtaining the seed through some responsible
mercantile house, or individual of character.
Each capsule contains about a thousand seeds, and the whole produce of
a single plant has been estimated at 350,000. The seeds are usually
ripe in the month of September, and when perfectly dry may be rubbed
out and preserved in bags till the following season.
There is a large quantity of tobacco raised in the southern part of
Indiana annually, equal in quality to the tobacco raised in Kentucky.
In some counties the article is extensively cultivated, and generally
pays the producer a handsome profit on the labor bestowed on it. The
cultivation of it is becoming more extensive every year. Nearly all
this crop is taken to Louisville for sale, very little being shipped
south on account of the producer.
Heretofore, owing to the heaviness of tobacco and bad roads, the
producer has encountered great difficulties in getting his crop to
market. The hauling of a few hogsheads fifty or sixty miles, or even
forty, is no light job, even over good roads. Hence, tobacco has not
been as extensively cultivated as it would have been under different
circumstances. But, with the facilities afforded by the railroads in
carrying their crops to market, I doubt not the farmers of the
interior will more generally engage in the cultivation of tobacco, and
those who have been in the habit of raising small crops will extend
their operations.
In Maryland the seed is sown in beds of fine mould, and the plants
arising therefrom are transplanted in the beginning of May. They are
set at the distance of three or four feet apart, and are hilled, and
kept continually free from weeds. When as many leaves have shot out as
the soil will nourish to advantage, the top of the plant is broken
off, which of course prevents its growing higher. It is carefully kept
clear from worms, and the suckers which put out between the leaves are
taken off at proper times, till the plant arrives at perfection, which
is in August. When the leaves turn of a brownish color, and begin to
be spotted, the plants are cut down and hung up to dry, after having
sweated in heaps one night. When the leaves can be handled without
crumbling, which is always in moist weather, they are stripped from
the stalks, tied up in bundles, and packed for exportation in
hogsheads. No suckers nor ground leaves are allowed to be
merchantable. An industrious person may manage 6,000 plants of
tobacco, which will yield 1,000 lbs. of dried leaves, and also four
acres of Indian corn.
Miller, an American author, thus describes the mode of culture:--
When a regular plantation of tobacco is intended, the beds being
prepared and well turned up with the hoe, the seed, on account of
its smallness and to prevent the ravages of ants, is mixed with
ashes and sown upon them, a little before the rainy season. The beds
are raked, or trampled with the foot, to make the seed take the
sooner. The plants appear in two or three weeks. As soon as they
have acquired four leaves, the strongest are carefully drawn up and
planted in the field by a line, at a distance of about three feet
from each other. If no rain fall, they should be watered two or
three times. Every morning and evening the plants must he looked
over in order to destroy a worm which sometimes invades the bud.
When they are about four or five inches high, they are to be cleaned
from weeds and moulded up. As soon as they have eight or nine
leaves, and are ready to put forth a stalk, the top is nipped off in
order to make the leaves longer and thicker. After this the buds
which sprout at the joints of the leaves are also plucked off, and
not a day is suffered to pass without examining the leaves to
destroy the large caterpillar, which is often most destructive to
them. When they are fit for cutting, which is known by the
brittleness of the leaves, they are cut off with a knife close to
the ground, and, after lying some time, are carried to the
drying-shed or house, where the plants are hung up by pairs upon
lines, leaving a space between, that they may not touch one another.
When perfectly dry, the leaves are stripped from the stalks and made
into small bundles, tied with one of the leaves. These bundles are
laid in heaps and covered with blankets; care is taken not to
overheat them, for which reason the heaps are laid open to the air
from time to time, and spread abroad. This operation is repeated
till no more heat is perceived in the heaps, and the tobacco is then
ready for packing and shipping.
I have been favored by Mr. J. M. Hernandez, a Cuba planter, with some
valuable instructions for the cultivation of Cuba tobacco, which I
subjoin. These remarks apply principally to America, but most of the
advice and information will be found generally applicable to other
localities:--
The first thing to be considered in this, as in every other culture,
is the soil, which for this kind of tobacco (_N. repanda_) ought to
be a rich, sandy, loam, neither too high nor too low--that is,
ground capable of retaining moisture, the more level the better,
and, if possible, well protected by margins. The next should be the
selection of a spot of ground to make the necessary beds. It would
be preferable to make those on land newly cleared, or, at all
events, when the land has not been seeded with grass; for grass
seeds springing up together with the tobacco would injure it
materially, as the grass cannot be removed without disturbing the
tobacco plants. In preparing the ground for the nurseries, break it
up properly, grub up all the small stumps, dig out the roots, and
carefully remove them with the hand. This being done, make the beds
from three to four inches high, of a reasonable length, and from
three to three and a-half feet broad, so as to enable the hand, at
arm's length, to weed out the tender young plants with the fingers
from both sides of the bed, and keep them perfectly clean.
The months of December and January are the most proper for sowing
the seed in Florida. Some persons speak of planting it as early as
the month of November, I am, however, of opinion, that about the
latter part of December is the best time to sow tobacco seed; any
sooner would expose the plants to suffer from the inclemency of the
most severe part of the winter season. Before the seed is sown take
some dry trash and burn it off upon the nursery beds, to destroy
insects and grass seeds; then take one ounce of tobacco seed and mix
it with about a quart of dry ashes, so as to separate the seed as
much; as possible, and sow it broadcast. After the seed has been
thus sown, the surface of the bed ought to be raked over slightly,
and trodden upon by the foot, carrying the weight of the body with
it, that the ground may at once adhere closely to the seed, and then
water it. Should the nursery-beds apparently become dry from
blighting winds or other causes, watering will be absolutely
necessary, for the ground ought to be kept in a moist state from the
time the seed is planted until the young plants are large enough to
be set out.
The nurseries being made, proceed to prepare the land where the
tobacco is to be set out. If the land is newly cleared--and new land
is probably more favorable to the production of this plant than it
is to that of any other, both as respects quality and
quantity--remove as many of the stumps and roots as possible, and
dig up the ground in such a manner as to render the surface
perfectly loose; then level the ground, and in this state leave it
until the nursery plants have acquired about one-half the growth
necessary to admit of their being set out; then break up the ground
a second time in the same manner as at first, as in this way all the
small fibres of roots and their rooted parts will be more or less
separated, and thus obviate much of that degree of sponginess so
common to new land, and which is in a great measure the cause of new
land seldom producing well the first year, as the soil does not lay
close enough to the roots of the plants growing in it, so that a
shower of rain produces no other effect than that of removing the
earth still more from them.
The ground having been prepared and properly levelled off, and the
plants, sufficiently grown to be taken up--say of the size of good
cabbage plants--take advantage of the first wet or cloudy weather to
commence setting them out. This should be done with great care, and
the plants put single at equal distances, that is, about three feet
north and south, and two and a-half, or two and three-fourths feet
east and west. They are placed thus close to each other to prevent
the leaves growing too large. The direction of the rows, however,
should alter according to the situation of the land; where it has
any inclination, the widest space should run across it, as the bed
will have to be made so as to prevent the soil from being washed
from the roots by rain when bedded; but where the land is rather
level, the three feet rows should be north and south, so as to give
to the plants a more full effect on them by passing across the beds,
than by crossing them in an oblique direction. To set the plants out
regularly, take a task line of 105 feet in length, with a pointed
stick three feet long attached to each end of it, then insert a
small piece of rag or something else through the line at the
distance of two feet and three-fourths from each other; place it
north and south (or as the land may require), at full length, and
then set a plant at every division, carefully keeping the bud of the
plant above the surface of the ground. Then remove the line three
feet from the first row, and so on, until the planting is completed.
Care ought to be taken to prevent the stretching of the line from
misplacing the plants. In this way the plants can be easily set out,
and a proper direction given to them both ways. In taking the plants
up from the nursery, the ground should be first loosened with a flat
piece of wood or iron, about an inch broad; then carefully holding
the leaves close towards each other between the fingers, draw them
up, and place them in a basket or some other convenient thing to
receive them for planting. After taking up those that can be planted
during the day, water the nursery that the earth may again adhere to
the remaining ones. The evening is the best time for setting out the
plants, but where a large field has to be cultivated it will be well
to plant both morning and evening. The plants set out in the
morning, unless in rainy or cloudy weather, should be covered
immediately, and the same should be done with those planted the
evening previous, should the day open with a clear sunshine,--the
palmetto leaf answers the purpose very well. There should be water
convenient to the plants, so as to have them watered morning and
evening, but more particularly in the evening, until they have taken
root. They should also be closely examined when watered, so as to
replace such plants as happen to die, that the ground may be
properly occupied, and that all the plants may open as nearly
together as possible.
From the time the plants are set out, the earth around them should
be occasionally stirred, both with the hand and hoe. At first hoe
flat, but as soon as the leaves assume a growing disposition, begin
gradually to draw a slight heel towards the plant. The plants must
be closely examined, even while in the nursery, to destroy the
numerous worms that feed upon them--some, by cutting the stalk and
gnawing the leaves when first set out; these resemble the grub-worm,
and are to be found near the injured plant, under ground; others,
which come from the eggs deposited on the plant by the butterfly,
and feed on the leaf, grow to a very large size, and look very ugly,
and are commonly called the tobacco-worm. There is also a small worm
which attacks the bud of the plant, and which is sure destruction to
its further growth; and some again, though less destructive, are to
be seen within the two coats of the leaf, feeding as it were on its
juices alone. The worming should be strictly attended to every
morning and evening, until the plants are pretty well grown, when
every other day will be sufficient. The most proper persons for
worming are either boys or girls from ten to fourteen years of age.
They should be made to come to the tobacco ground early in the
morning, and be led by inducements, such as giving a trifling reward
to those who will bring the most worms, to clear it thoroughly.
Grown persons would find it rather too tedious to stoop to examine
the under part of every leaf, and seek the worm under ground: nor
would they be so much alive to the value of a spoonful of sugar, or
other light reward. Beside, where the former would make the search a
matter of profit and pleasure, it would to the latter prove only a
tedious and irksome occupation. Here I will observe, that it is for
similar reasons that the culture of the Cuba tobacco plant more
properly belongs to a white population, for there are few plants
requiring more attention and tender treatment than it does. Indeed
it will present a sorry appearance, unless the eye of its legitimate
proprietor is constantly watching over it.
When the plants have acquired from twelve to fourteen good leaves,
and are about knee high, it may be well to begin to top them, by
nipping off the bud with the aid of the finger and thumb nail
(washing the hands after this in water is necessary, as the acid
juices of the plants, otherwise, soon produce a soreness on the
fingers), taking care not to destroy the small leaves immediately
near the bud: for if the land is good and the season favorable,
those very small top leaves will in a short time be nearly as large,
and ripen quite as soon as the lower ones, whereby two or more
leaves may be saved; thus obtaining from 16 to 18 leaves, in the
place of 12 or 14, which is the general average. As the topping of
the tobacco plant is all essential in order to promote the growth,
and to equalise the ripening of the leaves, I would observe that
this operation should at all events commence the instant that the
bud of the plant shows a disposition to go to seed, and be
immediately followed by removing the suckers, which it will now put
out at every leaf. Indeed, the suckers should be removed from the
plant as often as they appear. The tobacco plant ought never to be
cut before it comes to full maturity, which is known by the leaves
becoming mottled, coarse, and of a thick texture, and gummy to the
touch, at which time the end of the leaf, by being doubled, will
break short, which it will not do to the same extent when green. It
ought not to be out in wet weather, when the leaves lose their
natural gummy substance, so necessary to be preserved. About this
period, the cultivator is apt to be rendered anxious by the fear of
allowing the plants to remain in the field longer than necessary;
until experience removes those apprehensions, he should be on his
guard, however, not to destroy the quality of his tobacco, by
cutting it too soon. When the cutting is to commence, there should
be procured a quantity of forked stakes, set upright, with a pole or
rider setting on each fork ready to support the tobacco, and to keep
it from the ground. The plant is then cut obliquely, even with the
surface of the ground, and the person thus employed should strike
the lower end of the stalk, two or three times with the blunt side
of his knife, so as to cause as much of the sand or soil to fall
from it as possible, then tying two stalks together, they are gently
placed across the riders or poles prepared to receive them. In this
state they are allowed to remain in the sun or open air until the
leaves have somewhat withered, whereby they will not be liable to
the injury which they would otherwise receive, if they came suddenly
in contact with other bodies when fresh cut. Then place as many
plants on each pole or rider as may be conveniently carried, and
take them in the drying house, where the tobacco is strung off upon
the frames prepared for it, leaving a small space between the two
plants, that air may circulate freely among them, and promote their
drying. As the drying advances, the stalks are brought closer to
each other, so as to make room for those which yet remain to be
housed.
In drying the tobacco, all damp air should be excluded, nor ought
the drying of it to be precipitated by the admission of high drying
winds. The process is to be promoted in the most moderate manner,
except in the rainy season, when the sooner the drying is effected
the better; for it is a plant easily affected by the changes of the
weather, after the drying commences. It is then liable to mildew in
damp weather, which is when the leaf changes from its original color
to a pale yellow cast, and from this, by parts, to an even brown.
When the middle stem is perfectly dry, it can be taken down, and the
leaves stripped from the stalk and put in bulk to sweat, that is, to
make tobacco of them; for before this process, when a concentration
of its better qualities takes place, the leaves are always liable to
be affected by the weather, and cannot well be considered as being
anything else than common dry leaves, partaking of the nature of
tobacco, but not actually tobacco. The leaves are to be stripped
from the stalks in damp or cloudy weather, when they are more easily
handled, and the separation of the different qualities rendered also
more easy. The good leaves are at this time kept by themselves as
wrappers, or caps, and the most defective ones for fillings, or
_tripa_. When the tobacco is put in _bulk_, the stem of the leaves
should all be kept in one direction, to facilitate the tying of them
in hanks: afterwards make the bulk two of three feet high, and of a
proportionate circumference. To guard against the leaves becoming
over-heated, and to equalise the fermentation or sweating, after the
first twenty-four hours, place the outside leaves in the centre, and
those of the centre to the outside of the _bulk_. By doing this once
or twice, and taking care to cover the _bulk_ either with sheets or
blankets, so as to exclude all air from it, and leaving it in this
state for about forty days, it acquires an odor strong enough to
produce sneezing, and the other qualities of cured tobacco. The
process of curing may then be considered as completed. Then take
some of the most injured leaves, but of the best quality, and in
proportion to the quantity of tobacco made, and place them in clean
water, there let them remain until they rot, which they will do in
about eight days; then break open your _bulks_, spread the tobacco
with their stems in one direction, and damp them with this water in
a gentle manner, that it may not soak through the leaf, for in this
case the leaf would rot. Sponge is used in Cuba for this operation.
Then tie them in hanks of from, twenty-five to thirty leaves; this
being done, spread the hanks in the tobacco house for about twelve
hours, to air them, that the dampness may be removed, and afterwards
pack them in casks or barrels, and head them tight, until you wish
to manufacture them.
The object of damping the tobacco with this water, is to give it
elasticity, to promote its burning free, to increase its fragrance;
to give it an aromatic smell, and to keep it always soft. This is
the great secret of curing tobacco for cigars properly, and for
which we are indebted to the people of Cuba, who certainly
understand the mode of curing this kind of tobacco better than other
people. It is to them a source of great wealth, and may be made
equally so to others. We have here three cuttings from the original
plants; the last cutting will be of rather a weak quality, but
which, nevertheless, will be agreeable to those who confine their
smoking to weak tobacco.
In ratooning the plant, only one sprout ought to be allowed to grow,
and this from those most deeply rooted; all other sprouts ought to
be destroyed.
The houses necessary for the curing of tobacco ought to be roomy,
with a passage way running through the centre, from one extremity of
the building to the other, and pierced on both sides with a
sufficient number of doors and windows to make them perfectly airy.
In addition to what I have said respecting the mode of cultivating
and treating the tobacco plant, I have further to state, that when
once the plant is allowed to be checked in its growth, it never
again recovers it. That in promoting the drying of the leaf, fire
should not be resorted to, because the smoke would impart to it a
flavor that would injure that of the tobacco itself.
In order to obtain vigorous plants, the seed ought to be procured
from the original stalk, and not from the ratoons, by allowing some
of them to go to seed for that express purpose. In Cuba, the seed is
most generally saved from the ratoon plants, but we should consider
that that climate and soil are probably more favorable to the
production of the plant than America, and consequently we ought to
confide in the best seed, which is had from the original stalk.
All plants have their peculiar empire: nevertheless, we should not
be deterred from planting Cuba tobacco here; for even if we should
be compelled to import the seed every third year, which would be as
often as necessary, it would still prove a profitable culture.
Taking 600 lbs., which is the average product per acre, it would
yield, if well cured, at 50 cents, per lb., 300 dollars in the leaf.
The following exhibits the profit to be derived from it when
manufactured into cigars:--
Dls. Dls.
Six hundred pounds, allowing eight pounds to the 1.000, would
produce 75,000 cigars, which at ten dollars per thousand 750.00
Cost of the leaf 300.00
Worth of manufacture, at two dollars fifty cents per thousand 187.50 487.50
--------
Difference in favor of manufacturer 262.50
This amount being the profits of the manufacturer alone, the profit
to him who could combine both pursuits would be more than doubled.
As to the quantity of land which can be cultivated to the hand,
there is some difference in the practice of planters; however, I
think that I am within the usual calculation in saying, that an acre
and a half would not exceed the quantity that an able hand can
easily cultivate and manage properly.
"With reference to the cultivation of Spanish tobacco from the seed,
the following remarks are also made by a gentleman residing in
Maryland:--
My experience for some years in the cultivation and manufacture of
Spanish tobacco into cigars, convinces me that the first-rate
variety of Spanish tobacco--that is, the most odorous and fine--will
bear reproduction in our climate twice, without much deterioration;
by that time it becomes acidulated and worthless as Spanish tobacco.
For seven years I have imported annually first seed from Cuba, but
have occasionally made experiments with reproduced seed, and I have
arrived at the conclusion above stated. I have obtained, annually, a
cigar maker from Baltimore, who has made for me on my farm, and from
Spanish tobacco. These produced about the average of 70,000 cigars,
per year; they have been sold in Baltimore and Philadelphia for five
dollars the half box, that is ten dollars the thousand. The tobacco
has been uniformly admired, but in former years they have been very
badly made; for the last two years, (writing in 1843,) my crops were
destroyed by the unfavorable weather. This growth and manufacture do
not interfere with my cultivation of other crops; in fact they are
wholly unconnected with the other operations of the farmer." He
mentions having obtained a premium from an agricultural society, for
having produced on one and a half acres, growth and manufacture
included, of Spanish tobacco 504 dollars net profit.
The following letter from Mr. Clarke, to the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth,
Washington, speaks favorably of a new variety of tobacco:--
Willow Grove, Orange County, Virginia,
Feb. 13, 1844.
Dear Sir,--Agreeably to my promise I enclose you the Californian
tobacco seed. It grew from the small parcel given to me by Mr. Wm.
Smith, in your office in March last. On getting home, although late,
I prepared a bed, and sowed the small parcel, the first week in
April, and not having seed enough to finish the bed, sowed the
balance of the bed in Oronoko tobacco seed, and to my astonishment
the Californian plants were soon ready to set out, as soon as the
other kinds of tobacco sown in the month of January; and the Oronoko
seed, that was sown with the Californian, did not arrive to
sufficient size until it was too late to set out. The Californian
tobacco, if it continues to ripen and grow for the time to come, as
it did for me on the first trial, must come into general use--first,
because the plants are much earlier in the spring (say ten days at
least), than any kind we have; secondly, when transplanted, the
growth is remarkably quick, matures and ripens at least from ten to
fifteen days earlier than any kind of tobacco we have in use amongst
us. It is a large broad, silky leaf, of fine texture, and of a
beautiful color, and some plants grow as large as seven feet across,
from point to point; upon the whole, I consider it a valuable
acquisition to the planting community.
Tobacco is one of the chief staples of Cuba. There are many qualities,
but it is usually classed into two kinds. That which is raised on the
western end of the island and is unequalled for smoking, is called
"Vuelta abajo." That which is raised east of Havana, is called "Vuelta
arriba," and is far inferior to the former.
The best Havana tobacco farms are confined to a very narrow area on
the south west part of Cuba. This district, twenty-seven leagues long
and only seven broad, is bounded on the north by mountains, on the
south and west by the ocean, whilst eastward, though there is no
natural limit, the tobacco sensibly degenerates in quality. A light
sandy soil and rather low situation suit the best.
The "Vuelta abajo" is usually divided into five classes.
Calidad or Libra.
Ynjuriado Principal or Firsts.
Segundas or Seconds.
Terceiras or Thirds.
Cuartas or Fourths.
Calidad is the best tobacco, selected for its good color, flavor,
elasticity and entireness of the leaves. The bales contain sixty hands
of four gabillas, or fingers of twenty-five leaves each, and are
marked L.60. Ynjuriado Principal has less flavor, and is usually of a
lighter color. The leaves should be whole and somewhat elastic. The
bales contain eighty hands of four gabillas, or thirty leaves each,
and are marked B. 80. Segundas is the most inferior class of wrapper.
There are many good leaves in it, but the hands are usually made up of
those which are stained, have a bad color, or have been slightly
touched by the worm. The bales contain eighty hands of four gabillas
of thirty-six to forty leaves each, and are marked Y. 2a. 80.
Terceiras is the best tilling, and much wrapper can usually be
selected from it when new. The bales contain eighty hands of four
gabillas of more than forty leaves each, and are marked 3a. 80.
Cuartas is the most inferior class, fit only for filling. The bales
contain eighty hands of four gabillas of no determined number of
leaves, and are marked 4a. 80.
The Vuelta arriba tobacco is prepared in a similar manner, but neither
its color or flavor is good, and it does not burn well.
The crop is gathered in the spring, and usually begins to appear at
market in July. Good tobacco should be aromatic, of a rich brown
color, without stains, and the leaf thin and elastic. It should burn
well and the taste should be neither bitter nor biting. The best is
grown on the margins of rivers which are periodically overflowed, and
is called "De rio." It is distinguished from other tobacco by a fine
sand, which is found in the creases of the leaves.
The tobacco plantations in Cuba increased in number from 5,534 in
1827, to 9,102 in 1846. The production of tobacco has nearly doubled
in the province, of which St. Jago is the port, in the last ten years.
The following figures show the exports from the Havana:--
Leaf tobacco. Cigars.
1840 1,031,136 lbs. 147,818 thousand.
1841 1,460,302 " 161,928 "
1842 1,053,161 " 135,127 "
1843 2,125,805 " 153,227 "
1844 1,197,136 " 147,825 "
1845 1,621,889 " 120,352 "
1846 4,066,262 " 158,841 "
1847 1,936,829 " 1,982,267 "
1848 1,350,815 " 150,729 "
1849 1,158,265 " 111,572 "
The class of tobacco shipped at the port of Havana, is not the same as
that gathered in the districts from which the manufacturers of cigars
there receive their supplies--it would cost too dear. However, it is
not a rare occurrence to find among a number of bales a few of a
quality about equal to that employed there, and this happens in years
when the crop has been very abundant, as in 1846 and 1848. The various
classes are paid in proportion to the capa, or outside leaves, which
are found in an assortment; the three first classes are employed as
covers, and often, if the tobacco is new, they may be found in the
fourth and even in the fifth. In parcels well assorted, one-fourth is
composed of capa--say, first, second, and third, and the rest is
composed of tripa, or interior of the cigar. In the first-named, there
generally comes more of the _capa_ than is necessary to use; the
remaining bales, which contain the inferior class, are fit only for
fillings.
The following is an analysis of the ashes of Havana tobacco:--
Salts of potash 24.30
Salts of lime and magnesia 67.40
Silica 8.30
-----
100.00
Hayti exported in 1836 1,222,716 lbs.
Porto Rico, in 1839 43,203 cwt.
The French have been so successful in cultivating tobacco, in their
possessions in Northern Africa, that they hope soon to be independent
of the foreign grown article. The mode of preparing it, however, is
not very well understood by the colonists. In 1851, the number of
planters in Algeria was only 137, whereas in 1852, it was 1,073. The
number of hectares under culture with the tobacco plant was 446 in
1851, and 1,095 in 1852. The total of the present year's crop is
estimated at 1,780,000 kilogrammes, of which 700,000 kilogrammes have
been grown by the natives, and the rest by Europeans.
In the province of Algiers alone, the quantity of tobacco sold will
amount to 550,000 kilogrammes, which is nearly three times as much as
in 1851, and an equal progression has taken place in the provinces of
Oran, and Constantina.
The cultivation of tobacco in Algeria has proved most successful; in
1851, only 264,912 kilogrammes were produced; in 1852, the quantity
had risen to 735,199 kilogrammes. There are two crops in the year, the
first being the best, but even this is capable of almost indefinite
augmentation.
CULTURE OF TOBACCO IN THE EAST.
Having touched upon the practice of culture in the western world, we
will now bend our steps towards the east, and it may be curious to
notice the method pursued in cultivating and curing the celebrated
Shiraz tobacco of Persia (_Nicotiana Persica_), which is so much
esteemed for the delicacy of its flavor, and its aromatic quality. It
is thus described by an intelligent traveller. The culture of the
plant, it will be seen, is nearly the same; it is only the preparation
of the tobacco that forms the difference:--
In December the seed is sown in a dark soil, which, has been
slightly manured (red clayey soils will not do). To protect the
seed, and to keep it warm, the ground is covered with light, thorny
bushes, which are removed when the plants are three or four inches
high; and during this period, the plants are watered every four or
five days, only however in the event of sufficient rain to keep the
soil well moistened not falling. The ground must be kept wet until
the plants are six to eight inches high, when they are transplanted
into a well moistened soil, which has been made into trenches for
them; the plants being put on the top of the ridges ten or twelve
inches apart, while the trenched plots are made, so as to retain the
water given. The day they are transplanted, water must be given to
them, and also every five or six days subsequently, unless rain
enough falls to render this unnecessary. When the plants have become
from thirty to forty inches high, the leaves will be from three to
fifteen inches long. At this period, or when the flowers are
forming, all the flower capsules are pinched or twisted off. After
this operation and watering being continued, the leaves increase in
size and thickness until the month of August or September, when
each plant is cut off close to the root, and again stuck firmly into
the ground. At this season of the year, heavy dews fall during the
night; when exposed to these the color of the leaves change from
green to the desired yellow. During this stage, of course no water
is given to the soil. When the leaves are sufficiently yellow, the
plants are taken from the earth early in the morning, and while they
are yet wet from the dew, are heaped on each other in a high shed,
the walls of which are made with light thorny bushes, where they are
freely exposed to the wind. While there, and generally in four or
five days, those leaves which are still green become of the desired
pale yellow color. The stalks and centre stem of each leaf are now
removed, and thrown away, the leaves are heaped together in the
drying house for three or four days more, when they are in a fit
state for packing. For this operation the leaves are carefully
spread on each other and formed into sorts of cakes, the
circumference from four to five feet, and three to four inches
thick, great care being taken not to break or injure the leaves.
Bags made of strong cloth, but thin and very open at the sides, are
filled with these cakes, and pressed very strongly down on each
other; the leaves would be broken if this were not attended to. When
the bags are filled, they are placed separately in a drying house,
and turned daily. If the leaves were so dry that there would be a
risk of their breaking during the operation of packing, a very
slight sprinkling of water is given them to enable them to withstand
it without injury. The leaf is valued for being thick, tough, and of
a uniform light yellow color, and of an agreeable aromatic smell.