TOBACCO 



5825 



TOBACCO 



Production. The United States is the great- 

 est producer, exporter and consumer of to- 

 bacco. In 1916 there were 1,411,800 acres de- 

 voted to tobacco culture in the country, and 

 the total product was 1,150,622,000 pounds. 



By Countries 



United States 

 1004 



Russia in 

 t Europe 

 220 



British India 

 800 



Hungary 



Japan 

 108 



Philippines 

 90 



In United States 



Kentucky 

 330 



Virginia 

 130 



North Carolina 

 150 



Ohio 

 11 



In Canada 



Ontario 

 7 



Quebec 

 5 



Figures Represent Millions of Pounds 



AN AVERAGE YEAR'S CROP 

 In the illustration the relative sizes of the 

 cigars, the chief tobacco product, indicate the 

 comparative yields in the world's tobacco dis- 

 tricts. 



The ten leading states in tobacco production 

 are Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, 

 Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, . South 

 Carolina, Maryland and Indiana, ranking in 

 the order named. Holland first cultivated to- 

 bacco in Europe, but the industry soon spread 

 to other countries. British India, Russia, Hun- 

 gary, the Dutch East Indies, Japan, the Philip- 

 pines, Porto Rico, Santo Domingo, Cuba, Bra- 

 zil, Germany, France and Mexico are all im- 

 portant tobacco countries. 



Manufacture. The manufacture of tobacco 

 products is an industry of enormous propor- 

 tions. In the United States alone the govern- 

 ment derives an income of about $100,000,000 a 

 year from tobacco taxes. The chief products 

 are cigars, cigarettes, and smoking and chewing 

 tobacco. The first steps in the manufacturing 

 process are the cleaning and stripping of the 

 leaves. By stripping is meant the removing of 

 the midribs and stems. Tobacco for chewing is 

 pressed into cakes, and flavored with vanilla, 

 licorice, sugar, etc. Pipe tobacco is finely cut 

 and marketed in small bags or tins, or is put 

 Up in thin cakes or rolls. 

 365 



Cigars are made from carefully-selected 

 leaves, for the inner material, known as the 

 fillers, must be of uniform quality. A cigar 

 consists of core (fillers), an inner cover and an 

 outside cover, or wrapper. The core must be 

 so arranged that the cigar will bum evenly and 

 the smoke be freely drawn through it. The two 

 covers are made of tobacco leaf, and the out- 

 side piece is shaped so that it can be wound 

 about the cigar in a spiral. After being 

 wrapped the cigar is dried in the sun or in mild 

 artificial heat. 



The finest cigars made are manufactured in 

 Cuba of a native tobacco called Vuelta Abaijo 

 leaf. The word Havana is the trade name for 

 all cigars made from Cuban tobacco, but genu- 

 ine Havanas are produced only in the island or 

 in Florida, where there are a number of fac- 

 tories having Cuban workmen. In the manu- 

 facture of high-grade cigars much of the work 

 is done by hand, but cheaper brands are made 

 by machinery. 



Cigarettes are small, paper-covered rolls of 

 tobacco cut very fine. Some smokers prefer to 

 roll their own cigarettes, but these tobacco 

 products are made in vast quantities by ma- 

 chines which turn out several hundred per hour. 

 As is true of cigars, the best cigarettes are made 

 by hand. Cheroots are an inferior kind of ci- 

 gar, with both ends open and cut square across. 

 Manila is the most important center of their 

 manufacture. Snuff is a tobacco product now 

 much less important than formerly. 



Effects of the Use of Tobacco. Ever since 

 tobacco was first used in Europe its influence 

 upon the health and morals has been the sub- 

 ject of much discussion. Like alcohol, opium, 

 tea and coffee, it possesses narcotic properties, 

 and it is generally agreed that its use in excess 

 is harmful and that its habitual use by the 

 young decreases bodily and mental vigor and 

 development. A certain disease of the eye is 

 common among smokers and those using strong 

 preparations of tobacco (see BLINDNESS) . After 

 mental or physical strain its narcotic properties 

 have a soothing and restful effect upon the 

 nerves, and it is to this quality that it owes its 

 wide popularity. There is no evidence that the 

 use of tobacco deadens the moral sensibilities, 

 as is true of opium, morphine and alcoholic 

 drinks, and in general it may be said that there 

 is no serious objection to its moderate use by 

 adults. The developing youth, however, should 

 avoid tobacco in every form. 



Tobacco Worm, the name applied to the 

 larvae of two species of sphinx moth, which 



