462 TOBACCO LEAF. 



aimed to secure for this purpose a short, waxy leaf, and 

 heavy bodied, low grades, but the area of dark tobacco 

 having become circumscribed in Virginia, as compared 

 with that for bright leaf, these fine grades of short leaf 

 and best lugs have been in demand for the German mar- 

 kets at such high prices that France now substitutes a 

 commoner grade of Virginia tobacco for making rappee 

 snuff. This lower grade is soaked in some decoction 

 which turns it black, after which it is dried, prized and 

 sent to France for that purpose. Rappee snuff is used 



FIG. 133. PLUG TOBACCO FACTORY OF J. WHIGHT CO., RICHMOND, VA. 



altogether for inhaling. The practice of inhaling snuff 

 through the nostrils was once very common, but this 

 habit has nearly gone out of use. It was once much 

 affected by royal personages, and snuff boxes were con- 

 sidered not inappropriate presents from one monarch to 

 another, or from kings to those subjects who had distin- 

 guished themselves in the battlefield or in the councils 

 of the State. 



Much of the information contained in this article 

 was furnished by Mr. B. F. McKeage, of the snuff fac- 



