The Harmsworth Universal Atlas 



The World's Commodities. — 7. Tobacco. 



The TOBACCO of Commerce is derived from the dried and 

 manufactured leaves of numerous varieties of Nicotiana, a genus 

 of plants belonging tothe natural order oiSolanaceac. The tobacco 

 plant is an annual, growing from three to six feet in height, and is 

 indigenous to tropical America, though a few species are also native 

 to Eastern Asia. It is now cultivated all over the world in sub- 

 tropical and temperate regions : thriving best in a w;irm climate, but 

 ripening, under favourable conditions, up to ds" of latitude. Its use 

 was general in tropical America before the discovery of that con- 

 tinent by Columbus, and the name is probably derived from the 

 tahaco or tube through which the West Indian natives smoked the 

 plant. Its Latin name of Nicotiana it owes to Nicot, the French 

 Ambassador to Portugal, by whom it was planted in 1560 in France. 

 Sir John Hawkins first introduced it to England in 1565, and its use 

 was further extended by R;ileigh and Drake. From that time, and 

 in spite of numerous edicts and laws prohibiting smoking, tobacco 

 hasgradually spread over Europe and the rest of the world, and now 

 forms one of the most widely distributed of commercial products. 



The chief varieties of Tobacco known to commerce are :— 



North American. — The United States is the chief tobacco grow- 

 ing country of the world — over 1,000,000 acres being under cultiva- 

 tion, with an annual yield of 816,000,000 lbs,, valued at over 11 

 million sterhng. The chief tobacco growing states are Kentucky, 

 North Carolina, and V^irginia, and the plant is also extensively gro\\'n 

 in Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Con- 

 necticut, Alaryland, and New York. Louisville, in Kentucky, is the 

 largest tobacco mart in the world, and the principal American 

 tobacco-ports are Baltimore^ New York, New Orleans, and Phila- 

 delphia. Total Exports to all countries, ;f6,455,ooo ; to the United 

 Kingdom £2,887,000. inexkan tobacco is of good quality, and is 

 exported to the annual value of nearly £200,000. In OutariOj 

 Canada, 8^ million pounds are produced annually. 



West Indian. — The finest cigar tobacco comes from Cuba: 

 the best varieties being grown in the district of Vuelta Abajo, 

 west of Havana, the great tobacco-port of Cuba. The area under 

 cultivation is 84,100 acres, and large quantities of "leaf " grown 

 elsewhere are imported into Cuba, and manufactured there, to be 



;:e-exported as '' genuine Havanas." Porto Rico has over 14,000 

 .acres under cultivation, and produces an excellent pipe tobacco. 

 Value of Exports {almost entirely to the United States) about 

 £520,000- The other well-known West Indian tobacco is Dominican,* 

 the best varieties of which are grown near Porto Plata, in the Repub- 

 lic of San Domingo. In Hawaii a very promising start has been 

 made with the Cuban variety. 



SoutEi American. Brazil is the principal tobacco growing 

 country of South America. Bahia is the chief port and centre of the 

 industry, but considerable quantities are also grown in the province 

 of Rio Grande do Sul. Annual Exports, over a miUion sterling, 

 Venezuelan tobacco is grown in the provinces of Varinas, Merida, and 

 Margarita, and in the Orinoco Delta ; Ciudad Bolivar being the chief 



tobacco centre. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay also export 



tobacco in small quantities. 



Asiatic. — In Asia the chief varieties are — Manila, from the 

 Philippine Islands : the best varieties of which are grown in Northern 

 Luzon [annual exports about ^456,000] ; East Indian, chiefly from 

 India (1,000,000 acres under cultivation but, except in Madras, the 

 crop is of poor quality, annual exports £139,000), Java and Sumatra 

 [annual exports, almost entirely to HoUand, £2,500,000] ; Persian 

 and Levant (chiefly from the Shiraz district), Latakia being the best 

 known variety. Tobacco is also extensively cultivated in Southeni 

 Japan, over the greater part of China Proper, and in some districts 



in Central Asia. 



African. — Rhodesian and Transvaal tobaccos are shortly expected 



to assume commercial importance. 



European. — The principal tobacco producing countries of Europe 

 are^Ru5sia, especially in the governments of Chernigov, Samara, and 

 Poltava; Austria-Hungrary, in Hungary, the Tyrol, and Eastern 

 Galicia ; Turkey, in Macedonia ; Germany, in the Palatinate and 

 Brandenburg ; France, in the basin of the Garonne ; and the Low 

 Countries. In Ireland 8o acres (30 in Meath) are under tobacco, and 

 the crop has proved a commercial success. In Turkey, France^ 

 Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Italy the cultivation of tobacco is 

 under State control, and its manufacture forms a Government 

 monopoly. 



TOBACCO IMPORTS 



UNITED KINGDOM 

 I 905, 



^. 



fHOH *LL 

 COUNTRIES 



FROM THE 



UNITFD STATES 

 Z2,8e?,0fJD, 



THE WORLD'S ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO, 



(in cwts.) 



TOTAL WORLDS PRODUCTION J3, -139. 109 



UNITED STATES. 5.919.051, 



RUSSJA 

 1,973.640. 



ALTSTRIA-HU^GAPY 

 917,740, 



JAVA 

 661. 08€. 



GEfiWANY 

 676. & 6 9. 



MEKICO 

 i60.?46 



JAPAN 

 617, 2BO 



PHILIPPINES 



177,054. 



[ Loaf exports onJy ) 



BRAZIL 

 479,200 



TUHKEY 

 [72,000, 



i6 



BELGIUM 

 324,809. 



CUBA 

 4 9,314. 



BRIT INDlft 

 LI 9,4SS. 

 {E*port4) 



FRANCE 

 3:3e,2r4, 



3&eiflilfV^T*- 



PORTO RtCO 

 L07J4Z. 



ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF 



TOBACCO 

 m DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, 



per head of the poptilationn 



(in lbs.) 



RUSSIA ^=^^=^^ 

 I I 



UNITED KINODOH 



CANADA 

 I'J. 



AU5TPIA 

 hUHQAnr 

 3. 



GERMANY 

 3 4 



UNITED 

 STATES 

 5 4. 



RELClUMl 

 6 Z 



