A FAMOUS REPUTATION. 39} 



inches in length by fourteen in width, is thick and substan- 

 tial, has the appearance of a rich Kentucky tobacco, and 

 when placed under press immediately after being cured 

 becomes black without the aid of any artificial means. It is 

 put up in rolls, or, as they are called, " carrots." This tobacco 

 is raised mostly in the parish of St. James, La., and derives 

 its name from an old Spanish navigator who settled in St. 

 James parish in the year 1820. His first attempt at raising 

 tobacco, for his own use, succeeded so well and gave him 

 such a fine result, (the plant developing itself to a great extent 

 and being very rich,) that he concluded to devote all his time 

 to the culture of tobacco, in order to make a living out of it. 



The seed first used by him was the Kentucky, but this was 

 subsequently changed for the Virginia, which has been in 

 use up to this time, being renewed every four or five years. 

 The tobacco originally put up by Perique was twisted by 

 hand and placed under press for three or four days, then 

 taken out, untwisted, retwisted and replaced in the press for 

 five or six days. After undergoing the same process three or 

 four different times, it was finally left to remain under press 

 for six months, and then taken out for use. Mr. Perique, how- 

 ever, soon made a capital improvement in the mode of put- 

 ting up his tobacco ; for, as early as the year 1824, we find 

 the tobacco in beautiful rolls of four pounds, and as hard as 

 a " Sancisson de Boulogne." 



This tobacco, which has retained the name of its producer, 

 is still manufactured in the same manner as it was fifty-four 

 years ago, the work still being done entirely by hand. The 

 plant is cultivated as the Virginia tobacco by about a dozen 

 small planters in that part of the Parish called " Grande- 

 Pointe," seven miles "from the Mississippi river. A small 

 quantity is also raised on the banks of the river in the same 

 parish by a few planters. The growers of Perique tobacco 

 have tried Virginia, Kentucky, and Havana seed, but prefer 

 the former Havana producing too small a plant without a 

 much better flavor. 



Tobacco is grown in other parishes of the State; it is 



