26 TOBACCO GROWING IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



case it causes a tendency to paralysis. The 

 plant is an annual, varying in height from two 

 to sixteen feet ; it is in appearance something 

 like a sunflower, in its earlier stages ; it has a 

 strong straight stem, with from four to sixteen 

 large light-green leaves ; the flower grows on the 

 top of the stem in a cluster, and is succeeded 

 by the capsules, oval-shaped, with a pointed 

 apex, and each containing about one thousand 

 seeds. 



The kind which is in most geneiul use in 

 America is the Nicotiana Tabacum, the common 

 Virginian or sweet-scented tobacco; in Europe 

 the Nicotiana Major or N. Rustica is chiefly 

 grown. 



The American Encyclopaedia remarks of 

 tobacco : — " In England it is raised in gardens, 

 and there is no question but it would be an 

 important crop if it were not for the severe 

 restrictions imposed upon its growth for manu- 

 facturing purposes. It has been even grown in 

 Scotland." 



The date of the first introduction of tobacco 

 into England is not quite certain, but pi-obably 

 the travellers Amidas and Barlow first brought 

 it over in 1584. 



Smoking and snuffing quickly became the 

 rage, the practice spreading like wildfire, and 



