Tobacco 



199 



CLEARING THE FOREST FOR TOBACCO IN SUMATRA 



which is very largely cultivated in the United States, Cuba, the Philippines, and also in Holland, 

 Germany, France, and some other countries. It is a handsome plant, the upright unbranched 

 stem reaching a height of from three to six feet or more, and bearing large, pointed, oval leaves, 

 which at the base of the stem are slightly stalked while those towards the upper part are 

 without stalks and clasp the stem. The pink or rose-coloured flowers are funnel-shaped, and 

 borne in a branched inflorescence at the top of the stem. The whole plant, with the exception 

 of .the flowers, is viscid to the touch, due to the occurrence of soft hairs which secrete a 

 resinous juice from the cells at their apex. 



East Indian, or Green Tobacco, is obtained from another species of Nicotiana, viz., N. 

 rustica, originally a native of Mexico, but now extensively cultivated in Southern Germany, 

 Hungary, and the East Indies. The plant is smaller than the preceding, with a much- 

 branched stem, but grows more quickly, and not only ripens earlier, but is more hardy. The 

 flowers are greenish or pale yellow, and the leaves are shorter and broader in proportion than 

 those of the American plant. While N. Tabacum produces the various grades of American 

 and Turkish tobaccos, and also the famous Latakia variety, N. rustica is the source of the 

 Hungarian tobaccos, and also affords much of the East Indian leaf. In the opinion of many 

 connoisseurs, the finest tobacco in the world is the Persian variety, known as Shiraz tobacco, 

 and this again has an origin different from either of the two mentioned above, the plant 

 concerned being N. persica. 



It must not be supposed that the species of Nicotiana cultivated for tobacco exhibit no 

 variation in botanical characters when grown in different parts of the world, for the first 

 two species mentioned above possess numerous varieties ; but, in the two species N. Tabacum 

 and N. rustica and their many varieties, and perhaps N. persica, (which is regarded by many 

 authorities as a mere variety of AT". Tabacum), we have practically the only members of the large 

 genus Nicotiana, which are the sources of commercial tobacco. N. repanda, however, is said 

 to have formerly furnished some of the best cigar tobaccos of Cuba, and N. latissima is 



