218 



The World's Commercial Products 



manufacturing," " Burley," and " Perique '* 

 types of tobaccos have also been evolved 

 during the last fifty or sixty years. 



At the present day the principal 

 tobacco-producing States of America are 

 Kentucky (with a crop in 1905 worth 

 sixteen million dollars), North Carolina 

 (seven and a quarter millions), Virginia 

 (six millions), Wisconsin (five and a 

 quarter millions), Ohio (four and a 

 quarter millions), Connecticut (four 

 millions), Tennessee and Pennsylvania 



(two millions each), 

 and a half millions), 

 one-tenth millions). 



Massachusetts (one 

 Maryland (one and 

 New York, Indiana, 



CUTTING CIGARETTE TOBACCO 



Arkansas, Illinois, and some other States 

 produce less than a million dollars' worth 

 each. 

 The enormous extent of the industry in the United States may be judged from the following 

 figures indicating the production of tobacco since 1800 : — 



The figures given represent the quantities received at the factories, and it will be noticed 

 that the returns for 1904 are less than the average return of the United States given in the 

 table representing the world's annual production of tobacco. The figures of the latter table 

 are obtained from the planters and the discrepancy is due to the fact that after being sold 

 to the dealers the leaf is subjected to a " fermentation " process, during which it loses from 

 fifteen to twenty per cent, of its weight. 



One of the most important factors affecting the successful production of good tobacco 

 is climate, and it is only in the presence of sufficient warmth and moisture that the aromatic 

 principles, upon which depend to so large an extent the quality of the tobacco, can be fully 

 developed in the- plant. There can be little doubt that the most famous tobaccos of the world, 

 e.g. the Cuban, Turkish, and Persian varieties, owe their peculiarities largely to the climate 

 in which they are grown, and the more closely the climate of a proposed new tobacco-growing 

 district resembles that of some recognised tobacco country, the more likely will it be capable 

 of growing a good leaf. Allowing climate, therefore, the premier position of importance in 

 tobacco culture, we find that the character of the soil also affects to a great extent the quality 

 of the product. ' The plant thrives best in a light sandy loam, rich in decaying vegetable matter 

 or manures. As is so often 'the case, the importance of the manures depends not so much 

 upon the amount of actual plant food rendered available by its decomposition, but upon the 

 effect it has in keeping the soil in a well aerated, " loose " condition. So long as the soil is 

 in a good physical condition its chemical composition is of secondary importance, for by 



