HISTORICAL 



The history of tobacco commences with the 

 discovery of the New World by Columbus. The 

 Chinese claim that it was known and used by 

 them much earlier, but there appears to be no 

 evidence to support this claim. Columbus found 

 the natives of Cuba smoking the dried leaves, 

 and his followers are said to have brought the 

 plant to Spain about 1512. Oviedo published 

 a book entitled La Hist or la general de las 

 Indias in Seville in 1526, in which he mentions 

 pipe smoking. It may be inferred that this 

 custom was well established in Spain then. 

 Sir Walter Raleigh is usually credited with hav- 

 ing brought tobacco to England for the first 

 time from Virginia in 1586; and the Virginian 

 Colonists are known to have cultivated the plant' 

 at that time; but there is evidence enough to 

 show that Sir Francis Drake was the first to 

 introduce the plant into England. Drake's 

 voyages were made between 1570 and 1580 and 

 he brought the plant with him in one of these. 

 Some give the date of introduction by Drake as 

 1560. Raleigh was, however, probably the first 

 English distinguished smoker, and he cultivated 

 the plant on his estate at Youghal, Ireland. 

 There is no doubt about the culture of tobacco 

 by the early English Colonists in the U. S., 



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