CHAPTEE XIII. 



TOBACCO CULTURE. 



OBACCO at the present time is one of the great 

 products of the world. As an article of agriculture 

 and of commerce, it holds an important place among 

 the great staples, while as a luxury, its use has 

 become as extensive as its culture. The tobacco plant is now 

 cultivated in nearly all parts of the world with varying suc- 

 cess, according to the system of cultivation adopted by its 

 growers. Primarily cultivated by the aborigines of America 

 in the rude manner common to uncivilized races, the plant 

 has, by numerous experiments and careful culture, become 

 one of the greatest of agricultural products. When first 

 discovered by the Spanish and Portuguese, the plant was 

 small, and in flavor " poor and weak and of a byting taste." 

 As soon, however, as the Spaniards began its cultivation in 

 the islands of St. Domingo and Trinidad, attention was paid 

 to developing it, and in a few years the description we find 

 of the latter variety is that it is "large, sharp, and growing 

 two or three yards from the ground." 



At the close of the sixteenth century the Portuguese began 

 its cultivation in Portugal, the soil of which seemed well 

 adapted to the plant, and still further increased the size and 

 quality of the leaf. Tobacco is now cultivated through a 

 wider range of temperature than any other tropical plant, 

 and whether grown amid the sands of Arabia, the plains of 

 South America, or in the rich valley of the Connecticut, 

 develops its finest form and perfection of leaf. During the 

 last half -century the plant has been developed to a greater 



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