136 The Soverane Herbe 



writer, ' to disillusion the public of their idea that the 

 extra value is in the tobacco itself, but the fact is 

 such is not the case. The highest-priced Havanas 

 and tobacco consist only of selected leaf.' 



Fifty years ago all tobacco smoked in Britain was 

 very dark, strong, and full-flavoured, and uniform in 

 colour. In the last thirty years a very remarkable 

 change has taken place, and now light-coloured, mild 

 tobacco almost monopolizes the market. As we 

 have shown in the previous chapter, its production and 

 consequent sale was the result of the carelessness of 

 planters. Its general demand arose about 1870- 1880, 

 and has extended so greatly that to-day a really good, 

 full-flavoured dark tobacco is rare. 



Whether this is the result of a perverted taste is an 

 open question ; certainly old smokers sigh in vain for 

 the full-flavoured, coarse cut of their youth. As to 

 the hygienic aspect, ' smoker's throat ' and the 

 indigestion produced by over-smoking arise from 

 the consumption of light, woody, sapless tobacco. 

 The best antidote for over-smoking is to act upon 

 the advice of Hippocrates and cure one smoke by 

 another — smoke stronger tobacco. It satisfies the 

 appetite for smoking ; delicate ' moss-leaves ' and 

 mild cigarettes are merely spoon meat, and leave 

 the craving untouched. Probably the demand for 

 mild tobacco is an instance of the weakening of 

 the national taste consequent upon the enervation 

 of wealth : claret is preferred to port, flannelette to 

 flannel, snippety reading to literature, the music-hall 

 to the drama, and the cigarette to the pipe. On the 

 other hand, it must be stated that since the demand 



