CELEBRATED BRANDS OF TOBACCO. 393 
the tropics, and is hardly inferior to any grown in the West 
Indies, and is especially adapted for cigars and cigaritos: 
After the first harvest another, and sometimes a third crop 
is gathered by allowing one shoot to grow from the parent 
root, which oftentimes develops to a considerable size. The 
quality of leaf, however, is inferior; as is the case with all 
second and third crops grown in this manner. 
ST. DOMINGO TOBACCO. 
This well-known West India variety is inferior to most 
kinds grown on the neighboring islands. The plant attains 
a large size, cures dark, is coarse, and of inferior flavor. It 
is a favorite tobacco in Germany, and thousands of Ceroons 
are annually shipped to Hamburg. The West India islands 
produce many varieties of tobacco, which is owing more to 
the composition of the soil and climate than to the method 
of cultivation and curing. 
The demand for St. Domingo tobacco is limited. It has 
no established reputation in this country, and on account of 
the high duties can not compete with our domestic tobaccos. 
LATAKIA TOBACCO. 
This variety of the tobacco plant is one of the most cele- 
brated known to commerce. It attains its 
finest form and flavor in Syria, where it is 
cultivated to a considerable extent. For 
smoking it is among the best of the varieties 
of the East, and is used for the more deli- 
cate cut tobaccos and cigars. It grows to the 
height of three feet—each offshoot bearing 
flowers, the leaves of which are ovate in 
form, and are attached to the stalk by a 
long stem. The flowers are yellow, and aie 0 aia 
number only a few in comparison wit 
most varieties. When growing, the leaves are thick, but 
after curing are thin and elastic. The stalk is small, as are 
also the leaves. While growing, the plants emit a strong 
