8 TOBACCO. 



inferior to that produced in the West Indies. The more 

 closely the climate of a place corresponds with that of 

 Cuba, the greater chance is there that a Havanna variety 

 will preserve its peculiar aroma. In such places, a fine 

 and valuable tobacco may be grown with less expenditure 

 on labour, &c., than it is necessary to bestow in raising 

 an inferior article in less suitable climes. In countries 

 where a low temperature rules, the plants must be raised 

 in hot-beds, and there is also a great risk that the young 

 plants may be destroyed by frost, or afterwards by hail- 

 stones. When damp weather prevails during the tobacco 

 harvest, it is often injured ; and to give the required 

 flavour, &c., to make the article marketable, macerating 

 has often to be resorted to, thus involving great risk and 

 expenditure. But in spite of these drawbacks, tobacco 

 cultivation is often very remuneratively carried out in 

 countries possessing an unfavourable climate. The defi- 

 cient climatic conditions are here partly compensated for 

 by making the other conditions affecting the quality of 

 tobacco, and which can be controlled by the cultivator, 

 the most favourable possible. 



Soil. The soil affects to a great extent the quality of 

 a tobacco. The plant thrives best in a soil rich in vege- 

 table mould ; this, however, is not so much required to 

 supply the necessary plant food, as to keep the soil in 

 a good physical condition. No other plant requires the 

 soil in such a friable state. A light soil, sand or sandy 

 loam, containing an average amount of organic matter, 

 and well drained, is considered best adapted for raising 

 smoking- tobacco ; such a soil produces the finest leaves. 

 The more organic matter a soil contains, the heavier is 



