boasted civilized progress. Turks and 

 Persians are the greatest smokers in the 

 world. In India all classes and both 

 sexes smoke; likewise in China and Ja- 

 pan. When it was found that even the 

 most cruel death penalty did not pro- 

 hibit, efforts were made to check its use, 

 .and to this effect some ridiculous laws 

 were made. For example, according to 

 a Puritan Blue Law it was a criminal 

 offense to smoke within ten miles of any 

 habitation. Yet it will be recalled that 

 tobacco was extensively cultivated in the 

 colonies, and history informs us that 

 England sent shiploads of "fair maid- 

 ens" to America to be bartered for with 

 tobacco leaves. Each eligible Puritan 

 planter had the privilege of choosing a 

 maiden who became his property in ex- 

 change for from forty to as much as 

 ninety pounds of good tobacco. This 

 barter is referred to in the opening chap- 

 ters of that interesting novel ''To Have 

 and to Hold," by Mary Johnston. 



Historically it is stated that Francis 

 Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh the gal- 

 lant favorite of Queen Bess, introduced 

 the custom of smoking into England. 

 One day a servant on entering the study 

 in which Sir Walter was quietly smok- 

 ing, believing his m.aster on fire, rushed 

 forward and dashed a bowl of water 

 over him. It is also stated that Sir Ra- 

 leigh made a wager that he could give 

 the weight of the smoke made from a 

 pipe full of tobacco. He carefully 

 weighed the tobacco before putting it 

 into the pipe, smoked it, and then 

 weighed the ash ; the difference he said 

 was the weight of the escaped smoke. 

 The wager was, however, not justly 

 won, as Raleigh did not take into consid- 

 eration the oxygen of the air which en- 

 tered into chemical union during smoke 

 formation. 



Tobacco requires rich soil and careful 

 cultivation. The seed is sown in a hot- 

 bed or in a sheltered place in the open. 

 The plants are set from April to June-. 

 The ground is carefully tilled, freed from 

 weeds and the plants watched for cut 

 worm and the big green tobacco worm, 

 which arc very destructive. Worms and 

 eggs must be removed and destroyed. 

 To increase the size of the leaves and 

 liasU'ii iii;i(nrily, the flowering tops are 



broken off. When the leaves are ma- 

 tured, which is indicated by a yellowish 

 mottling, the plants are cut off close to 

 the ground, fastened in groups of six to 

 eight and dried. Drying must be done 

 carefully, as upon this depends the 

 aroma of the tobacco. The leaves are 

 also taken from the stalks and dried. In 

 either case they undergo a "sweating 

 process," which must be carefully reg- 

 ulated. According to recent observa- 

 tion the sweating process, which devel- 

 ops the aroma, is initiated by microbes 

 and that the special aroma of each brand 

 or culture variety of tobacco is the re- 

 sult of the action of a certain species of 

 microbe. German scientists have suc- 

 ceeded in developing the flavor or aroma 

 of Havana tobacco in tobacco raised in 

 Germany by adding the sweating mi- 

 crobe of Havana tobacco. Further ex- 

 periments in this line are in progress. 



At the present time tobacco is culti- 

 vated on an enormous scale, the United 

 States producing more than all European 

 countries put together. Southern Eng- 

 land is well suited for tobacco growing, 

 but since 1660 it has been unlawful to 

 grow tobacco for use, because of a stat- 

 ute then passed in favor of the Ameri- 

 can colonies, which law, remarkably 

 enough, has not been repealed. The 

 West Indies produce enormous quanti- 

 ties of highly prized tobacco, the Ha- 

 vana tobacco and cigars having a world- 

 wide fame for delicacy of aroma. 



Tobacco is prepared for use in vari- 

 ous ways. The leaves are more or less 

 finely cut for smoking, powdered for 

 snuff, pressed intO' various forms for 

 chewing and rolled into cylinders for 

 smoking. The leaves may be used pure 

 or flavored with different substances, as 

 licorice, syrup and molasses. Tobacco 

 is also extensively adulterated with other 

 leaves, as cabbage, cherry, peach, carrot, 

 beet, etc. The very poor employ vari- 

 ous substitutes, as red clover heads, dried 

 corn silk, various leaves, even finely cut 

 hay. Enterprising boys may be seen 

 smoking dried cornstalk pith, twigs of 

 the grape vine and other porous plant 

 branches: 



The price of crude tobacco and pre- 

 pared tobacco varies greatly, depending 

 upon the quality, judged by the delicacy 



