208 



The World's Commercial Products 



The people, however, disregarded the 

 patriarchal ban and the orders of the 

 "Little Father," with the result that 

 three years later smoking was forbidden 

 under the penalty of losing one's nose. 

 Even this vigorous measure failed in its 

 object, and, in 1641 the Czar Alexis 

 ordered that, on the third conviction for 

 smoking, the offender should have his 

 nostrils split and be banished to Siberia 

 for life. Many paid the penalty, but 

 smoking became more and more popular 

 — so popular, indeed, that several fires in 

 Moscow were directly traced to the users 

 of the weed. This was the last straw, for, 

 fearing a disastrous conflagration in his 

 capital, the Czar, in 1655, absolutely pro- 

 hibited smoking under penalty of death. 

 In the reign of Peter the Great, however, 

 a great change of opinion took place, and 

 smoking was openly encouraged by the 

 Crown in spite of the prohibitions of the 

 Church. Since that time smoking has 

 steadily increased in the country, and at 

 the present time Russia is one of the chief 

 tobacco-producing countries of the world. 



The Botany of Tobacco 



We will now consider, in somewhat 

 greater detail, the species of Nicotiana 

 of value to the tobacco manufacturer, and 

 the classes of tobacco which are prepared 

 from them. Probably the most important 

 is N. Tabacum, variety macrophylla, which produces the Maryland tobaccos. There are two 

 kinds, the Stalkless Maryland, which yields a good smoking tobacco and excellent material 

 for the outer "wrappers" of cigars, and some of its forms, especially those cultivated 

 in Germany and -Holland, are especially adapted for snuff manufacture. The other kind 

 is the Stalked Maryland, which produces a very fine leaf from which probably the finest 

 Turkish tobacco is obtained. Much of the Cuban and Manilla tobacco is regarded as derived 

 from trlis variety. 



^Ve then have another variety of N. Tabacum, viz., var. angustifolia, so called on account 

 of its -comparatively narrow leaves. This is the source of much of the Virginian tobacco, 

 but large quantities of snuff are also prepared from this variety which is cultivated to a 

 considerable extent in Germany and also in the East Indies. 



The world-famous Latakia and Turkish tobaccos are now generally regarded as obtained 

 from a variety- of N. Tabacum, though formerly they were ascribed to N. rustica. 



The latter species is the source of -Hungarian, Brazilian, and much Asiatic tobacco, and 

 some of its varieties, especially the narrow-leaved Hungarian form distinguished as N. rustica, 

 var. ovata, afford good smoking tobacco, although the yield is comparatively small. 



N. crispa is the source of the tobacco used in making the famous cigars of the Levant, and 

 is largely grown in many parts of Asia Minor and also in Central Asia. Shiraz tobacco, as stated 



1 



OBACCO GROWN FOR SEED PURPOSES IN SUMATRA 



