TOBACCO. 165 



the son. When the plant is about eighteen inches high, a bud is 

 formed at the spperior extremity ; this bud and any others that may 

 appear are removed, as well as any sprouts which sliow themselves 

 on the stem. By this treatment the tobacco becomes bushy and 

 thick ; by and by the leaves acquire a decidedly blue tint, and the 

 time of gathering is indicated by the appearance of a slain of a deep- 

 blue color near the pedicle. The leaves do not all ripen simultane- 

 ously, so that the business of the planter, in gathering those that 

 apj)ear ripe, is incessant for a certain time. 



After they are gathered, the leaves are carried under sheds, where 

 they are disposed two and two upon hurdles arranged for their re- 

 ception. The tobacco soon becomes yellow and pliant, and the ribs 

 of the leaves having been removed, they are twisted into a rope 

 which is coiled up into a mass of the weight of from sixty to eighty 

 pounds. These coils are placed upon a bed made with damaged 

 leaves and the ribs which have been removed. The whole is cover- 

 ed, and left to ferment during forty eight hours, a little water being 

 supplied if the tobacco appears too dry ; during the fermentation the 

 temperature rises, and the process having been carried sufficiently- 

 far, the coils are exposed separately to the air; they are then un- 

 rolled, and hung up under sheds to dry comjdetely. 



The vertical zone in which the cuhivation of tobacco within the 

 tropics is carried on, is extensive ; it reaches from the level of the 

 sea to an elevation of about 5,900 feet above it. The time during 

 which the crop remains on the ground varies according to the mean 

 temperature of the place ; according to M. Codazzi, the leaves are 

 gathered one hundred and fifty days after the sowing in the hottest 

 regions of the coast of Venezuela. In more elevated situations, 

 where the thermometer ranges from 65" to 68° Fahr., the first leaves 

 are not fit to be gathered until after about seven months and a half 

 from the sowing. 



In Ceylon, tobacco is cultivated almost precisely as in America. 

 There they also prevent the plant rising in height, and they limit the 

 number of leaves upon each stem according to the quality of the 

 tobacco which they desire to grow. By leaving the plant with no 

 more than from ten to twelve leaves, the most esteemed quality is 

 obtained ; if eighteen or twenty leaves be left, the tobacco is far 

 from having the same strength. Lastly, in leaving the plant to itself, 

 by suffering the stem to run up and to flourish, a large crop is 

 obtained, but the produce is not esteemed. The leaves gathered 

 from the plant in this slate of maturity are often held fit for con- 

 sumption after being simply dried without further preparation. The 

 tobacco is then yellow, extremely mild, and perfectly suited to the 

 immoderate use made of it by the Cingalese, 



If the mode of cultivation enables the tobacco-grower to obtain a 

 superior quality at the cost of quantity, it is still indubitable that 

 climate exercises the chief influence on the quality of the article. 

 That which is grown in the temperate regions of the Andes, in 

 Virginia, and in Europe, can in no way be compared with the tobacco 

 of the Havana, of Varinas, of Giron, of the valley of Cauca 



