THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO
TOTAL PRODUCTION. COUNTRIES WHICH CULTIVATE TOBACCO. PRODUCTION IN THE
NEW WORLD OTHER THAN IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO
The world's recorded annual crop of tobacco leaf is over one million tons.
The latest government figures available are those for 1912 and 1913, and
show 2,696,401,379 and 2,722,190,030 lbs. respectively. Of this amount
Asia and America produce each about 350,000 tons, Europe about 250,000
tons and the rest of the world the balance.
The details of the production in the U. S. will be given in the next
chapter.
The principal Asiatic countries which produce tobacco are China, Japan,
Afghanistan, India, Persia and Asia Minor. China has an immense production
and consumption of tobacco, a large portion of which finds its way into
western markets for the cigar and cigarette trade and is sold as "Turkish"
tobacco. No figures as to production are available.
British India and Afghanistan produce good tobacco, a lot of which is used
in Hindustan and other Eastern countries.
The Persian crop is known to be large, but there are no available records
of it. In Persia most of the tobacco raised is of the species known as
Nicotiana Persica. This is generally known under its trade name of Tumbach
or _Tumbeki_ (or more correctly Teymbeki). This is the common Eastern
name for tobacco. It is considerably exported to the countries in the
neighborhood of Persia and is smoked in the pipe known as the Narghilli.
In this pipe the teymbeki burns in contact with a piece of incandescent
charcoal. The smoker draws the vapor through a flexible tube which passes
to the bottom of a water chamber and passes above it, whence it is
inhaled. The narghili is technically a water pipe. The teymbeki is very
strong in nicotine, containing up to 5 or 6 per cent.
Japan produces large and medium size leaf of good color but poor in
quality. It is generally used for pipe and cigarette trade.
The statistics of production for Asia are extremely unreliable. When we
consider the teeming populations of China, India and other Eastern
countries and the prevalence of the smoking habit, it is very probable
that the figure of production (350,000 tons annually) is much under the
mark. There is very little export of tobacco from the United States or
Europe to the East. Whatever tobacco is consumed there is mostly of its
own production.
EUROPEAN PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO
In Europe the principal tobacco producing countries are Germany, France,
Austria, Russia, Italy and Turkey.
Germany has nearly 40,000 acres under tobacco cultivation in Rhenish
Bavaria, Baden, Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine. The annual production is about
50 to 70 million lbs.; and in addition nearly 3 times that much is
imported. German home grown leaf is medium to large in size, of fair body,
heavy and with coarse veins. It is used for cigar filler and pipe, but is
not suited for cigar wrappers. (See the chapter on cigars.)
French tobacco is raised from Virginia seed. It is dark, coarse and heavy
and is suitable for plug and snuff making only.
Russia is the largest European producer. Russian tobacco leaf is very
large in size and like the French is coarse, dark and heavy and is only
fit for plug and snuff making. There is a lighter kind grown from Turkish
seed in South Russia which is fit for cigarettes.
Italy has made several attempts to cultivate good tobacco, and several
different types are produced. A dark heavy leaf is grown from Virginia
seed, and a type from Kentucky seed is also produced. These types are
suitable to the dark, heavy fertile soils of Middle and North Italy. In
the lighter sandy soil of the south, the varieties grown are raised from
Turkish seed and are similar in appearance and quality to the genuine
Turkish tobacco.
Hungary is a heavy grower of tobacco and produces some of the best in
Europe. There is a heavy dark type, of a rich brown color, medium sized
leaf with small and thin veins, which is used in cigar manufacture. A
small bright yellow leaf is also grown, poor in quality and aroma, which
is used for pipe smoking and cigarettes.
The most important foreign tobacco as regards U. S. consumers is that
known as Turkish. The leaves of the Turkish tobacco are small (about 8"
long), clear yellow in color, and have a special aroma, which renders them
peculiarly suitable for the manufacturing of cigarettes. The principal
producing centers are Macedonia, Albania, Syria, Palestine and Trebizond,
that raised in Macedonia being per-haps the most celebrated. Just like the
Cuban leaf, the very best grades of Turkish tobacco are not exported, but
are kept for domestic consumption.
_Latakia_ tobacco is produced in the northern part of Syria. This tobacco
has a very small nicotine content. It is produced by a special fabrication
and is in very great demand as an ingredient of pipe smoking mixtures.
The District of Cavalla in the Province of Roumelia, is one of the most
important tobacco centers in the Turkish Empire. There are about 75,000
acres under tobacco cultivation and the annual production is about
10,000,000 lbs. The American Tobacco Co. has a large establishment here
through which it purchases its Turkish leaf, amounting to over 6 million
lbs. yearly, for the manufacture of Turkish cigarettes, etc.
The total importation of Turkish leaf into the United States during 1913
was:
From Turkey in Europe 10,816,048 lbs.
From Turkey in Asia 18,955,295 lbs.
Greece and the Balkan States produce tobacco which partakes of the
qualities of Hungarian and Turkish, the Grecian leaf being used a good
deal as a substitute for genuine Turkish tobacco.
TOBACCO PRODUCED IN THE NEW WORLD OTHER THAN IN UNITED STATES
The government of Canada has given a lot of attention to experiments in
connection with the growth of tobacco in the Dominion, but only with
indifferent success. The leaf is raised principally from Virginian seed,
but is large and coarse and is only fit for inferior plug and snuff
making.
Cuban Tobacco. The tobacco raised in the Island of Cuba is the most
celebrated in the world for cigar making. The leaf is of a rich, brown
color; narrow and small in size, varying from 8 to 18 inches in length.
Its richness of flavor and the peculiar aroma are its chief
characteristics. Cuba produces annually about 300,000 to 500,000 bales of
tobacco varying in weight from 80 to 150 lbs. per bale, nearly one-half of
which is exported to the United States alone.
The importation of Cuban leaf into the United States over a series of
years is shown below:
_Cuban leaf imports into the U. S. (lbs.)_
1855-1860 == 7,014,485 }
1871-1875 == 8,985,465 } Average
1886-1890 == 15,532,075 } Yearly
1896-1900 == 10,811,173 } Imports.
1901-1905 == 24,048,837 }
Year 1914 == 26,617,545 }
The value in 1900 was $ 8,478,251
The value in 1905 was $13,348,000
The Province of _Pinar del Rio_ produces about 70 per cent of the entire
Cuban crop. In this is the District of _Vuelto Abajo_ which is celebrated
the world over for the very finest cigar tobacco. The District of Habana
or Havana produces about 13 per cent and Santa Clara about 13 per cent.
The Cubans themselves favor the dark "Maduro" fully ripened leaves. At
present a good deal of Cuban cigar leaf is grown under shade with the
result that although when fully mature they are light in color, they are
rich in flavor.
The value of the cigar leaf imported by the U. S. from Cuba averages at
present about 14 or 15 million dollars annually.
Porto Rican leaf possesses many of the qualities of good Havana leaf, and
like the latter is used in cigar manufacture. The annual production is
about 120,000 bales. The U. S. imports from 4 to 5 million lbs. annually.
Further particulars regarding Cuban and Porto Rican leaf will be given in
the chapters concerning cigars.
Mexico produces a tobacco, large as to leaf, dark in color, with heavy
body and coarse veins. The tobacco is very strong in flavor. The best
grades approach the Cuban tobacco in quality and are imported and used as
substitutes for it. The U. S. importation is small. The annual production
is about 34 million lbs. The best quality is produced in the neighborhood
of Vera Cruz, and only a small portion is exported, principally to Cuba.
Brazilian tobacco leaf is brown in color, medium in size, and medium in
body. It possesses fair qualities as a cigar tobacco, for which purpose it
is generally used in South America, which is its principal market.
EAST INDIAN AND PHILIPPINE TOBACCO
The Dutch East Indies (Sumatra and the adjacent islands) produce yearly
about 180 million lbs. of tobacco, all of which is used in the cigar
business. Of this the United States takes about from 30,000 to 40,000
bales of Sumatran leaf, about 5-1/2 million lbs. About 2 lbs. of this leaf
wraps 1,000 cigars.
The Philippine Islands produce from 50 to 100 million lbs., of tobacco
annually. The crop for 1913 was 101,544,736 lbs. The imports into the
United States are principally as manufactured cigars by special
arrangements which will be referred to later on in the chapter on cigars.