Book VI. TOBACCO. 941 



tobacco, maize, or hemp." {Srodigan, p. 84.) The farmers of Virginia, as the immortal Jefferson pre- 

 dicted {Hist, of Virginia), have now ascertained that it is better to raise wheat at one dollar a bushel than 

 tobacco at eight dollars per hundred weight. {Ibid. p. 127.) As a source of labour, Mr. Brodigan thinks 

 the culture and cure of tobacco a desirable employment for the rural population of Ireland. Its great 

 advantage is that it affords employment for those intervals when the labouring poor are at present destitute 

 of occupation. " The cultivation of a potato crop is of vital importance to the Irish peasant ; but as soon 

 as that crop is planted, there is a long interval of idleness and distress. The stock of potatoes is then 

 generally exhausted or unfit for use, and the summer months are the most pinching times with the poor. 

 The planting of tobacco may be may be said to commence when the other is furnished ; and the field 

 management occupies the interval until the corn-harvest. Again, between the corn-harvestand the taking 

 up of the potatoes there is another interval of idleness, and that is occupied in the curing of the tobacco." 

 {Brodigan, p. 178.) As a cleaning crop and a preparation for wheat, it must be at least equal to the potato. 



6150. The analysis of the tobacco stalk is given by Mr. Brodigan on the authority of 

 Mr. Davy of Dublin. The object was to ascertain whether the stalks contained any 

 quantity of the tannin principle, of alkali, or of any useful vegetable substance. 



,\r>l. The presence of the tannin principle could not be detected ; and the alkali afforded was not very 

 considerable. One thousand parts of the stalks yielded fifty-eight of ashes, which afforded three parts and 

 a quarter of alkali, mostly potash. The stalks contain nearly one tenth of tlieir weight of tobacco ; and 

 where tobacco is employed either in fumigating or in making decoctions for the destruction of insects, it 

 may be useful to know, that ten parts of the stalk will always produce effects equal to one part of the leaves. 



6152. Diseases and enemies. " In Virginia, the diseases and injuries to which tobacco 

 is liable, are, in the language of the planter, v/orm-holes, ripe-shot or sun-burnt, moon- 

 burnt, house-burnt, stunted by growth, torn by storms of hail or wind, injured or killed 

 by frost. In Ireland we are exempt from those damages, except what may arise from 

 heavy gales, which, in exposed situations, lacerate and break off' the leaves ; or an early 

 frost, which is seldom injurious before Michaelmas, at which time, if the planter be care- 

 ful, he can have his tol)acco off' the ground." (Brodigan, p. 197.) 



6153. The same writer, however, enumerates the eneniies of the tobacco in Ireland, as " the red or ring 

 worm, which is so destructive in some situations to wheat and corn crops, the grub, slug, caterpillar, and 

 the tobacco-worm. Where the first two predominate in the soil, it is better not to plant tobacco ; for there 

 is no effectual mode of arresting their ravages. A correspondent in the county of Wexford has informed 

 me, that two gentlemen in his neighbourhood attempted the planting of six acres of tobacco this last 

 season, and the plants were no sooner put down than they were cut off by the red worm ; they planted again, 

 and the same fate attended them ; they planted a third time, and they were a third time destroyed. Thus all 

 their labour and expense were lost ; and in the month of July, they sowed the ground with turnips. The 

 grub, or rook-worm as it is called, marches from plant to plant beneath the soil, secure from observation ; 

 he attacks the roots of the plants when grown to a considerable height, and thus prostrates a whole fieki 

 Where numerous, it is in vain that you seek for the enemy ; but as soon as the plant appears sickly, it is 

 advisable to pull it up, and you arc likely to meet a pair of grubs, as they are companionable travellers. 

 The other enemies are visible, and not so destructive. The slug attacks the young plants in the seed-bed 

 and in the field, and devours the young leaves: he will also cut the leaves of the tobacco in every stage aS 

 its growth, which is a proof that its caustic or poisonous property does not attach to it in the green state. 

 The caterpillar generally appears in the warm month of July ; it is large and of a voracious aspect. As 

 soon as the leaves appear perforated, this enemy must be sought for, and he will be found in the day-time 

 in the shaded parts of the plants. The caterpillar appears to exist only in close and warm situations." 

 {Brodigan, p. 161.) Limewater or cow urine effectually destroys slugs, snails, and worms, and probably 

 some of the sorts of caterpillars. 



6154. The manufacticre of tobacco we have slightly described in the Encyclopaedia (^ 

 Plants- We have since had an opportunity of witnes.sing the progress of all the dif- 

 ferent operations carried on in preparing shag and other kinds of smoking tobacco, pig- 

 tail and other chewing tobacco, various snuff's, and different kinds of cigars, in one of 

 the most extensive manufactories in London ; and the conviction on our mind is, that 

 very little in the way of manufacturing can be attempted by the gardener or cottager. 

 That little we shall shortly describe. 



6155. The tobacco, being properly fermented and cured, may be kept closely pressed and excluded from 

 air, in casks, till wanted; or when the curing process is completed, smtking tobacco and snuff may be 

 made from it as follows : Open out the leaves singly, and from each tear out the midrib. The midribs 

 are better adapted for rasping into snuff than for cutting into shag for smoking ; and being scented by 

 any essence, such as that of thyme, anise, lemon, or more especially by that of the root of Pr'is florentina, 

 the orris root of the druggists, may be tied up in what are called carrots, or rolls, about eighteen or twenty 

 inches long, two or three inches in diameter in the middle, and half an inch at each end. They are tied 

 with packthread drawn as tight as possible, and the threads quite close, so as to compress the tobacco into 

 one solid substance, and completely to exclude the air. When snuff is wanted, unroll a part of the pack, 

 thread at one end, and rasp the tobacco into snuff with a file or grater. The carrot may then be laid in a 

 dry place till wanted for a fresh supply. The soft parts of the leaves may be treated in the same manner, 

 and a snuff produced which some prefer to the other. Gardeners may dry leaves of any odoriferous 

 plant, such as thyme, mint, Alo5^s?rt citriodbra, &c., and tie them up in the tobacco carrot as substitutes for 

 liquid scents ; and, if thought necessary, they may add a leaf or two of f^cratrum album to add pungency. 

 For cottagers, there are agrimony, wild thyme, and various other plants, which may be added. The soft 

 parts of the leaves, from which the midribs have been removed, may be slightly sprinkled with water, 

 without any admixture whatever, and twisted into a rope, about the thickness of a common straw rope. 

 The rope may then be coiled up in a ball, as firmly and compactly as possible, tied round in two or three 

 places with packthread, wrapped in paper, and placed in a dry situation, excluded from the air, till wanted 

 for use. When to be used for smoking, cut oft a few inches of the rope, open it out, and cut it into shreds 

 with a knife or chopper, so that it may resemble shag tobacco. If it is to be made into snuff, open out the 

 leaves, dry them over the fire or in an oven, and pound them in a mortar, adding to the powder any 

 scented water, or volatile odoriferous oil, at pleasure. If more snuff" is made than is wanted for immediate 

 use, put it in a glass bottle, and cork it closely. In manufacturing snuff' various matters are added to give 

 it an agreeable scent, and hence its numerous varieties. The three principal kinds are rappees, Scotch, 

 or Spanish, and thirds. The first is only granulated, the second is reduced to a very fine powder, and the 

 third consists of the siftings of the second sort. The Scotch and Irish snuffs are, for the most part, made 

 from the midribs ; the Strasburgh, French, and Russian snuffs from the soft parts of the leaves. 



6156. The process of forming cigars is very simple ; but, as it cannot be done well without much practice, 

 it would be of little use to offer a description. Whoever wishes to make himself master of all that i? 

 know on the culture of tobacco in different parts of the world, and all the different modes of its raanufac- 



