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TOBACCO LEAVES
[Illustration: PLANT OF KENTUCKY TOBACCO _From a Sketch by W. A. Brennan_]
TOBACCO LEAVES
BEING A BOOK OF FACTS FOR SMOKERS
BY W. A. BRENNAN
Department of Medical Sciences
The John Crerar Library
PUBLISHED FOR
Index Office, Inc.
BY The Collegiate Press
GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY
MENASHA, WISCONSIN
1915
_First issue
December, 1915_
_Copyright 1915
by W. A. BRENNAN_
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 7
CHAPTER I 11
_Historical, Botanical._
CHAPTER II 19
_The Cultivation of the Tobacco Plant._
Climatic and soil conditions--Treatment of the growing
plant--Shade grown tobacco--Harvesting.
CHAPTER III 29
_Production of Tobacco._
Countries which produce tobacco and amount--Production in
the New World other than in the United States--Varieties.
CHAPTER IV 39
_Production of Tobacco in the United States._
Total production--Amount produced by the different States--
Varieties raised--Description of the different varieties.
CHAPTER V 53
_The Chemical Composition of the Tobacco Plant._
Organic and inorganic matters contained in tobacco and the
part they play--Analysis of various tobaccos--Nicotine.
CHAPTER VI 61
_The Curing of Tobacco Leaf._
Objects of curing--Methods.
CHAPTER VII 67
_The Marketing and Sale of Tobacco Leaf._
Methods of disposal by the grower--The warehouse system--
Direct purchase--Principal markets in the United States--
Prices.
CHAPTER VIII 75
_Rehandling and Fermentation of Tobacco Leaf Prior to
Manufacture._
Selection of leaf--Treatment and blending--Objects and methods
of manufacturers fermentation--Action of microbes.
CHAPTER IX 88
_Manufactured Products of Tobacco in the United States._
Statistics of production and consumption--Amount of capital
invested--Number of plants, etc.
CHAPTER X 93
_Cigars: Historical and General Facts._
History--Statistical information regarding the cigar business
in the United States.
CHAPTER XI 99
_Cigars and Their Qualities._
Qualities of cigars and cigar leaf--Imported cigars--Havanas--
Domestic cigars.
CHAPTER XII 111
_Cigar Making._
Hand-made cigars--Machine-made cigars--Classification of
cigars--Terms used in the cigar trade.
CHAPTER XIII 121
_Pipe Smoking and Chewing Tobacco._
Qualities required--Description of kinds--Perique tobacco--
Statistics.
CHAPTER XIV 131
_Cigarettes._
Statistics--Kinds and where made--Imported cigarettes--
Domestic cigarettes--Cigarette papers.
CHAPTER XV 143
_Snuff._
How made--Qualities--Description of kinds.
CHAPTER XVI 149
_Tobacco Smoking Pipes._
History--How made and materials used in making--Meerschaum--
Briar root--Amber--Special kinds of pipes--Care of pipes.
CHAPTER XVII 171
_Effects of Tobacco Smoking on the Human System._
Physical and other effects--Opinions of medical men quoted
and discussed.
CHAPTER XVIII 195
_The Beneficial Effects of Tobacco._
Its disinfecting action--A protection against infectious
disease--Psychological effects of smoking.
CHAPTER XIX 207
_Miscellaneous._
Revenue, taxation, etc., in connection with tobacco--Free
imports--The insect pests which attack tobacco--Tobacco
flavoring fluids, etc.--Formulae.
INTRODUCTION
This little book is intended for the man who uses tobacco. While there is
a very extensive literature concerning tobacco, yet it is surprising how
few books there are written expressly for the smoker. Much has been
written concerning culture, production and manufacture; the historical and
anecdotal aspects have been catered for; pamphlets and books abusing and
denouncing the use of tobacco are plentiful; but the smoker will find it
difficult to get a book just giving him the facts concerning tobacco and
smoking, which he ought to know, and omitting matters, which, although
interesting, are not necessary. This little book is an attempt to fulfil
that purpose; and it is felt that no apology is needed for its appearance.
If the average user of tobacco is questioned concerning the matters
treated in the following pages, he will be found ignorant of them. This
ought not be so. The custom of tobacco smoking is so general and so
intimate a part of the daily life of the great majority of men, that a
better acquaintance with the plant, its qualities, uses and effects,
should be cultivated and welcomed.
No claim is made for originality. The facts here stated have been gathered
from various sources and the only credit claimed is for putting them
together in a concise and consecutive form. The object aimed at is to give
information. Whether the custom of tobacco smoking is desirable, whether
in any individual case it would be beneficial or otherwise to smoke--these
and similar questions are left to the reader's own judgment from the facts
and opinions presented, as well as from his own observations. The man who
uses tobacco daily should know what he is doing. If statements are made
either verbally or in print concerning the custom he should be able to
verify them or show that they are incorrect. It is trusted that the
information given in these pages will enable him to form a clear judgment
whatever the judgment may be.
It may be felt that many aspects of the use of tobacco and matters
connected with it have either not been touched on, or only referred to
very briefly. The reader who may desire further information will find it
in the bibliographical references given throughout the book. These
references have generally been consulted by the author and his
indebtedness is acknowledged here.
TO MY WIFE
CHAPTER I
HISTORICAL--BOTANICAL
HISTORICAL
The history of tobacco commences with the discovery of the New World by
Columbus. The Chinese claim that it was known and used by them much
earlier, but there appears to be no evidence to support this claim.
Columbus found the natives of Cuba smoking the dried leaves, and his
followers are said to have brought the plant to Spain about 1512. Oviedo
published a book entitled _La Historia general de las Indias_ in Seville
in 1526, in which he mentions pipe smoking. It may be inferred that this
custom was well established in Spain then. Sir Walter Raleigh is usually
credited with having brought tobacco to England for the first time from
Virginia in 1586; and the Virginian Colonists are known to have cultivated
the plant at that time; but there is evidence enough to show that Sir
Francis Drake was the first to introduce the plant into England. Drake's
voyages were made between 1570 and 1580 and he brought the plant with him
in one of these. Some give the date of introduction by Drake as 1560.
Raleigh was, however, probably the first English distinguished smoker, and
he cultivated the plant on his estate at Youghal, Ireland. There is no
doubt about the culture of tobacco by the early English Colonists in the
U. S., but it is doubtful whether the plant was introduced by them from
England or whether they continued a culture learned from the Natives. From
Virginia it spread to the other colonies. In Peru and other parts of South
America the growing of tobacco was well established at the time of the
Spanish Conquest.
In 1560 Jean Nicot, the French Ambassador at Lisbon, sent some tobacco to
Catherine de Medici as a cure for headache. Catherine was pleased with it
and is said to have become quite addicted to its use. Tobacco was
designated the "Queen's herb" and the "Sovereign herb" from this
circumstance and Nicot himself is perpetuated in the word "Nicotine" and
its derivatives.
Many persons erroneously give credit to Nicot for the introduction of
tobacco into Europe. It is quite clear, however, from Oviedo's book,
quoted above, that the plant was known in Spain very much earlier; and it
is most probable that the immediate followers of Columbus brought samples
of the leaves and pipes back to Spain with them. Moreover, in 1558,
Phillip II of Spain sent Francisco Hernandez, a physician, to investigate
the resources, etc., of Mexico, and on his return he brought back tobacco
as one of the products, and grew it as a drug. From Spain and England,
the use of tobacco spread by degrees all over the known world.
REFERENCES
PENN, W. A. _The Soverane Herbe; a history of Tobacco._ Chapters I, II.
London and New York, 1901.
BOUANT, E. _Le Tabac; culture et industrie._ Paris, 1901.
SHEW, JOEL. _Tobacco; its history, nature and effects on the body and
mind._ Wortley, 1876.
BILLINGS, E. R. _Tobacco; its history, varieties, culture, etc._ Chapters
II, IV. Hartford, Conn., 1895.
COMES, O. _Histoire, geographie, statistique du Tabac. Son introduction et
son expansion dans tous les pays depuis son origine jusqu' a la fin du XIX
siecle._ Naples, 1900.
FAIRHOLT, F. W. _Tobacco; its history and associations._ London, 1876.
WOLF, JAKOB. _Der Tabak und die Tabakfabrikate._ Chapter I. Leipzig, 1912.
BOTANICAL
Tobacco belongs to the family of plants known in botany under the name of
_Solanaceae_. Other well-known members of this family are the Irish potato,
the red pepper, the tomato, the egg-plant, etc.
American tobacco belongs almost exclusively to that group of this family
which comprise the genus _Nicotiana_. Of this genus there are about 50
separate species, one of which, _Nicotiana Tabacum_, supplies almost all
the tobacco of commerce. Plants of this species grow from 2 feet to 9 feet
in height; they have numerous wide-spreading leaves sometimes as much as 3
feet in length; these leaves may be oval, oblong, pointed, or lanceolate
in shape, and are generally of a pale green color when young; they are
arranged alternately in a spiral on the stem; the root is large and
fibrous; the stem is erect, round and viscid, branching near the top. The
alternate arrangement of the leaves on the stalk, succeeding each other
spirally, so that the 9th overhangs the 1st, the 10th the 2nd, and so on,
is very characteristic. The distance on the stalk between the leaves is
about 2 inches. Flowers are in large clusters, with corollas of rose
color, or white tinged with pink. The leaves and stalks are covered with
soft downy hair. The plant is perennial but crops are usually raised from
seed.
Of this species (N. Tabacum) there are probably more than 100 varieties
grown in the U. S. alone. Some of the best known will be described later.
To this same species (N. Tabacum) Havana, East Indian and European
tobaccos principally belong. The other important species are:
_Nicotiana Persica._ Grown in Persia. This has a white flower and the
leaves almost enwrap the stem. It is used almost exclusively as a
pipe-smoking tobacco. Some claim that this is only a variant of N.
Tabacum.
_Nicotiana Repanda._ This is a species of Cuban tobacco entirely different
from that grown in the Havana district. It is also called Yara.
_Nicotiana Rustica._ A kind of wild growing tobacco principally cultivated
in Mexico, and which is claimed as the parent of some of the Turkish,
Syrian and Latakia tobaccos although many authorities claim that these
tobaccos belong to the species _N. Tabacum_. The European tobacco is
hardier than the American parent plant. The leaves are smaller.
_N. Rustica._ Also includes common Hungarian and Turkish tobaccos. There
are large and small leaved varieties.
_N. Crispa._ Grown in Syria and largely in Central Asia. Used as a
cigarette tobacco in the Orient.
It has been stated above that there are many varieties of _N. Tabacum_ in
the U. S. Of these the most important are known to botanists by the
names, _Nicotiana Tabacum Macrophylla_ and _Nicotiana Tabacum
Angustifolia_.
Maryland tobacco belongs to the _Macrophylla_ variety and there are many
other types differing from each other according to shape of the leaf, size
of the stalk, etc.
Virginian tobacco is of the _Angustifolia_ variety, and of this also there
are many different types.
Most European and other grown tobaccos have been raised from original
plants of the Maryland and Virginian varieties.
It should be remembered that there is no essential difference in cigar,
pipe smoking or cigarette tobaccos. The differences are physical only. All
kinds may be obtained from the same species or even the same variety of
the species by suitable culture and crossing.
REFERENCES
ANASTASIA, G. E. _Le varieta della Nicotiana Tabacum._ Scafati, 1906.
COMES, O. _Delle razze dei tabacchi._ Naples, 1905.
KILLEBREW, J. B. and MYRICK H. _Tobacco leaf; its culture and cure,
marketing and manufacture._ Part I. New York, 1897.
LOCK, C. G. W. _Tobacco growing, curing, and manufacturing._ Chapter I.
London and New York, 1886.
WOLF, J. _Der Tabac._ Chapter II. Leipzig, 1912.
BILLINGS, E. R. _Tobacco; its history, varieties, etc._ Chapter I.
Hartford, Conn., 1875.