EXPERIENCE OF PRACTICAL GROWERS. 



47 





with the decoction of tobacco, which ia made by let- 

 ting some leaves rot in clean water, and then he would 

 tie it up in hanks of twenty-five or thirty leaves, and 

 hang one day for drying, then take it down and pack 

 it in tight casks as being best. From these leaves he 

 would make the best Cuba segars. The Virginian 



grower would not wet his tobacco after it had fer- 

 mented, but simply tie it in hanks so that five or six 

 would weigh a pound, and then pack it in his hogs- 

 heads for market ; and this, after it had lain from 

 one to six months in the "conditioning bulks." 



GENERAL FACTS CONCERNING TOBACCO. 



BY S. 3. NOBLE, PONTIAC, MICH. 



[TflE following intei'esting general facts are ex- 

 tracted from an able essay by the above-named author ; 

 want of space precluded the publication of the whole 

 of this and many other valuable articles contributed. 

 We only intended to print thirty-two pages, but there 

 were too many good essays to stop short of forty-eight 

 pages. A supplement maybe issued hereafter, though 

 it is probable that this work contains all that is needed.] 



Loudon enumerates fourteen different species of 

 tobacco. Of these, but two are cultivated to any 

 amount, namely, Nlcotiana rustica — Viscid-pubescent, 

 leaves petioled, ovate, entire, tube of corolla cylindrical, 

 longer than calyx, round, obtuse. Nlcotiana Tabaceum 

 — Viscid-pubescent, leaves lanceolate, sessile, decur- 

 rent, tube of corolla inflated at the throat, tube acute. 



The Nicoliana rustica is but little cultivated. It is 

 the most hardy sort, and is grown in the colder cli- 

 mates of Europe, and to some extent by the North- 

 American Indians. The Nicoiiana Tabaceum is the 

 species generally cultivated ; of this there are several 

 varieties, each possessing qualities peculiar to itself, 

 or qualities supposed to be derived from the various 

 modes of cultivation and curing. Each cultivator se- 

 lects such variety as suits him best, having reference 

 to soil and climate. The kinds more generally culti- 

 vated are the Cuba and the Connecticut seed-leaf ; the 

 latter is best adapted to Northern States, in nearly all 

 of which it is raised to a very considerable extent. 



History. — Tobacco was first introduced into Eu- 

 rope by John Nicot, ambassador of the King of France 

 to Portugal, by whom the first plant was presented to 

 Catharine de Medicis : it was afterwards known as the 

 Queen's plant. Nicot is said to have received the seed 

 from a Dutchman, who obtained it from Florida. The 

 aame Tobacco, by which it is now universally known, 

 originated by its having been mostly introduced into 

 Europe from the island of Tobago, in the West-In- 

 dies. By the French it is called Tobac, German Ta- 

 hak^ Spanish Tobaco, and by the Italians and English 

 Tobacco. 



Linna3us says tobacco was known in Europe as 

 early as 1560. It was introduced into England about 

 the year 1586, in the form of an herb, and used by 

 Walter Raleigh for smoking. Raleigh received it 

 from Captain Ralph Lane. It has since been intro- 



duced into almost every European country and some 

 parts of Asia. The English Parliament prohibited 

 the cultivation of tobacco as a crop, and it is now only 

 grown as a curiosity in the gardens of amateurs. Some 

 of the European governments impose excessive duties 

 on imported tobacco. France received one year ten 

 million dollars revenue from it. It is estimated that 

 an aggregate revenue of over fifty million dollars is de- 

 rived from tobacco by all the foreign governments. 



Tobacco, as a staple, has long been cultivated in Mary- 

 land, Virginia, North-Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, 

 and Missouri, but for a few years past it has been 

 largely raised in New-Eugland, New- York, Michigan, 

 and Illinois, and it will soon become a staple in most 

 of the Northern States. 



Medicinal Properties. — Tobacco is a powerful 

 narcotic. Taken in small doses it is sedative, gently 

 quieting the nerves, producing sleep ; in larger doses it 

 acts as an emetic and diuretic. If taken in excessive 

 doses, it produces nausea, vomiting, spasms, and con- 

 vulsions, which often terminate in death. 



Chemical Properties. — An analysis of the ashes 

 of tobacco, by Professor Johnston, shows the follow- 

 ing constituents in their several proportions per cent : 



Pot-Ash, 12-14 



Soda, OOT 



Lime, 45-90 



Magnesia, 13-09 



Chloride of sodium, 8-49 



Chloride of potassium, 8-98 



Phosphate of iron, 5-4S 



Phosphate of lime, 1-49 



Sulphateof lime, 6-85 



SiUcia, 801 



100-no 



From the above analysis, it will be observed that ot 

 the mineral matters contained in tobacco the following 

 predominate : silicia, potash, lime, and magnesia, with 

 a large proportion of the phosphate of iron and sul- 

 phate of lime. There is in tobacco a volatile alkali, 

 which may be known by its smoke changing the color 

 of flowers — turning red to purple, aud purple to 

 green. DifiFirent kinds of tobacco are distinguished 

 by the peculiar odor emitted: this variation is iu 

 part due to the different modes of curing the leaf. 



