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TOBACCO:
GROWING, CURING, AND MANUFACTURING.
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TOBACCO:
GROWING, CURING, & MANUFACTURING.
A HANDBOOK FOR PLANTERS
IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD.
EDITED BY
C. G. WARNFORD LOCK, F.L.S.
[Illustration]
E. & F. N. SPON, 125, STRAND, LONDON.
NEW YORK: 35, MURRAY STREET.
1886.
PREFACE.
Tobacco growing is one of the most profitable branches of tropical and
sub-tropical agriculture; the$1“$2”$3has even been proposed as a
remunerative crop for the British farmer, and is very extensively grown
in continental Europe. The attention recently drawn to the subject has
resulted in many inquiries for information useful to the planter
desirous of starting a tobacco estate. But beyond scattered articles in
newspapers and the proceedings of agricultural societies, there has been
no practical literature available for the English reader. It is a little
remarkable that while our neighbours have been writing extensively about
tobacco growing, of late years, no English book devoted exclusively to
this subject has been published for nearly thirty years. A glance at the
bibliography given at the end of this volume will show that the French,
German, Swiss, Italian, Dutch, Sicilian, and even Scandinavian planter
has a reliable handbook to guide him in this important branch of
agriculture, while British settlers in our numerous tobacco-growing
colonies must glean their information as best they may from periodical
literature.
To supply the want thus indicated, the present volume has been prepared.
The invaluable assistance of tobacco-planters in both the Indies and in
many other tropical countries, has rendered the portion relating to
field operations eminently practical and complete, while the editor’s
acquaintance with agricultural chemistry and familiarity with the best
tobacco-growing regions of Asiatic Turkey, have enabled him to exercise
a general supervision over the statements of the various contributors.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
THE PLANT 1
CHAPTER II.
CULTIVATION 7
CHAPTER III.
CURING 67
CHAPTER IV.
PRODUCTION AND COMMERCE 137
CHAPTER V.
PREPARATION AND USE 231
CHAPTER VI.
NATURE AND PROPERTIES 253
CHAPTER VII.
ADULTERATIONS AND SUBSTITUTES 267
CHAPTER VIII.
IMPORTS, DUTIES, VALUES, AND CONSUMPTION 271
CHAPTER IX.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 276
INDEX 281
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
1. CUBAN TOBACCO PLANT 4
2. MARYLAND TOBACCO PLANT 5
3. AMERSFORT TOBACCO PLANT 6
4. STRAW MAT FOR COVERING SEED-BEDS 47
5. SHADE FRAMES USED IN CUBA 49
6. QUINCUNX PLANTING 52
7. TOBACCO WORM AND MOTH 56
8. SHED FOR SUN-CURING TOBACCO 83
9. HANGING BUNCHES OF LEAVES 95
10. TOBACCO BARN 95
11. INTERIOR OF TOBACCO BARN 96
12. HAND OF TOBACCO 108
13. PACKING HOGSHEAD 133
14 to 17. TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINE 234
18. MACHINE FOR MAKING PLUG TOBACCO 237
19 to 21. MACHINE FOR MAKING TWIST OR ROLL TOBACCO 238
22, 23. DIAGRAMS OF SEGMENT ROLLERS OF TWIST MACHINE 240
24 to 26. ANDREW’S IMPROVEMENTS IN TWIST MACHINE 243–4
27. MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND SIFTING SCRAP TOBACCO 246
28. MACHINE FOR MAKING CIGARETTES 247
29. RESWEATING APPARATUS 249
30. MACHINE FOR WEIGHING OUT SMALL PARCELS OF TOBACCO 250
31. TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINE 252
TOBACCO:
GROWING, CURING, AND MANUFACTURING.
CHAPTER I.
THE PLANT.
Next to the most common grains and pulses, probably no plant is so
widely and generally cultivated as tobacco. In what country or at what
date its use originated has little to do with us from a practical point
of view, though interesting enough as a subject for the student of
ethnography and natural history. Suffice it to say that it has been
grown and smoked since pre-historic times in many tropical and
sub-tropical countries, and has assumed an importance in modern daily
life only surpassed by a few prominent food plants and cotton.
This long-continued and widespread cultivation has helped to produce
local varieties or races of the plant which have sometimes been mistaken
for distinct species, and caused a multiplication of scientific names
almost bewildering. The following epitome comprehends the species and
varieties of _Nicotiana_ possessing interest for the cultivator:—
I. _N. Tabacum macrophylla_ [_latifolia_, _lattissima_,
_gigantea_]—Maryland tobacco. Of this, there are two sub-species—(1)
Stalkless Maryland, of the following varieties: (_a_) _N. macrophylla
ovata_—short-leaved Maryland, producing a good smoking-tobacco, (_b_)
_N. macrophylla longifolia_—long-leaved Maryland, yielding a good
smoking-tobacco, and excellent wrappers for cigars, (_c_) _N.
macrophylla pandurata_—broad-leaved, or Amersfort, much cultivated in
Germany and Holland, a heavy cropper, and especially adapted for the
manufacture of good snuff; (2) Stalked Maryland, of the following
varieties: (_a_) _N. macrophylla alata_, (_b_) _N. macrophylla
cordata_—heart-shaped Maryland, producing a very fine leaf, from which
probably the finest Turkish is obtained. Cuban and Manilla are now
attributed to this group.
II. _N. Tabacum angustifolia_—Virginian tobacco. Of this, there are two
sub-species—(1) Stalkless Virginian of the following varieties: (_a_)
_N. angustifolia acuminata_, grown in Germany for snuff, seldom for
smoking, (_b_) _N. angustifolia lanceolata_, affords snuff, (_c_) _N.
angustifolia pendulifolia_, another snuff tobacco, (_d_) _N.
angustifolia latifolia_—broad-leaved Virginian, used chiefly for snuff,
(_e_) _N. angustifolia undulata_—wave-like Virginian, matures quickly,
(_f_) _N. angustifolia pandurata_, furnishes good leaves for smoking,
produces heavily, and is much grown in Germany, and said to be grown at
the Pruth as “tempyki,” and highly esteemed there; (2) Stalked
Virginian, of the following varieties: (_a_) _N. angustifolia alata_,
(_b_) _N. angustifolia lanceolata_ [_N. fructiosa_], growing to a height
of 8 ft., (_c_) _N. angustifolia oblonga_, (_d_) _N. angustifolia
cordata_—E. Indian, producing heavily in good soil, and well adapted for
snuff, but not for smoking. Latakia and Turkish are now accredited to
_N. Tabacum_.
III. _N. rustica._—Common, Hungarian, or Turkish tobacco. Of this, there
are two varieties: (_a_) _N. rustica cordata_—large-leaved Hungarian,
Brazilian, Turkish, Asiatic, furnishing leaves for smoking; (_b_) _N.
rustica ovata_—small-leaved Hungarian, affords fine aromatic leaves for
smoking, but the yield is small. Until quite recently, Latakia, Turkish,
and Manilla tobaccos were referred to this species; Latakia is now
proved to belong to _N. Tabacum_, and Manilla is said to be absolutely
identical with Cuban, which latter is now ascribed to _N. Tabacum
macrophylla_.
IV. _N. crispa._—This species is much grown in Syria, Calabria, and
Central Asia, and furnishes leaves for the celebrated cigars of the
Levant.
V. _N. persica._—Hitherto supposed to be a distinct species, affording
the Shiraz tobacco, but now proved to be only a form of _N. Tabacum_.
VI. _N. repanda._—A Mexican plant, with small foliage. Long thought to
be a distinct species peculiar to Cuba, but none such is now to be found
in Cuba, whether wild or cultivated, and all the Cuban tobacco is now
obtained from _N. Tabacum macrophyllum_.
Among the many other forms interesting only to the botanist or
horticulturist, the principal are _N. paniculata_, _N. glutinosa_, _N.
glauca_, attaining a height of 18 ft., and _N. clevelandii_, exceedingly
strong, quite recently discovered in California, and supposed to have
been used by the early natives of that country.
Thus the bulk of the best tobaccos of the world is afforded by the old
well-known species _Nicotiana Tabacum_.
A good idea of the foliage and inflorescence of commonly cultivated
tobaccos may be gained from a study of the accompanying illustrations.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
Fig. 1 is a Cuban tobacco, and much grown on the continent of Europe,
notably in Holland, Germany, and Switzerland, and there known as
_goundie_, from the name of an American consul who introduced the plant
into Germany in 1848. It has a broad yet somewhat pointed leaf, with the
ribs not arranged in pairs; it is fine, soft, thin, and esteemed for
smoking in pipes and for wrappers of cigars.
One variety of the Maryland plant is shown in Fig. 2. The leaves spring
from a tall stem at considerable intervals, and are broad and rounded at
the end. This kind is valued for cigar-wrappers, and assumes a fine
light brown colour when well cured.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
A broad-leaved Cuban or Maryland growth long naturalized in Germany, and
now familiar as Amersfort, is represented in Fig. 3. It is distinguished
by unusual length of leaf accompanied by a corresponding narrowness. A
stem and flower are shown at _a_, a leaf at _b_, a flower in section at
_c_, a capsule at _d_, a seed at _e_, and a cross-section of a leaflet
at _f_.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
These three examples represent the most successful kinds grown in Europe
and at the same time some of the most marked diversities of form of
leaf.