MANILLA TOBACCO, 403 
nor to any great extent an article of commerce. There are 
several varieties grown in Guatemala, Honduras, N icaragua, 
and the other Central American states; some of which by 
proper cultivation might be valuable to both the user and the 
manufacturer. One variety bears white flowers like the tobacco 
of Persia, but in other respects it differs but little from South 
American varieties. Numerous other sorts occur, many of 
which are local, and differ principally, if not solely, in the 
size or form of the leaves. 
The soil of Guatemala is well adapted for tobacco, and 
with careful cultivation it could hardly fail of becoming an 
important agricultural product. It is also probable that the 
soil of nearly all of Central America is adapted to the plant, 
and with the favorable climate, the varieties now grown 
would doubtless with proper care, become noted as tobacco 
well adapted for cigars. 
MANILLA TOBACCO. 
This variety is one of the most celebrated grown in the 
East.* It is used exclusively for the manufacture of cigars 
and cheroots, and supplies India and Spain with a vast quan- 
tity of the manufactured article. The plant is a strong, 
vigorous grower, bearing dark green leaves; coming forward 
rapidly under the careful culture bestowed upon the plants. + 
After curing, the leaves show a variety of colors ranging 
from dark brown to light yellow or straw color. The leaf 
when cured, has a peculiar appearance unlike that of any 
other tobacco. It is of good body but smooth, and has the 
appearance of tobacco that has been ‘frost-bitten.’? The leaf 
is not as porous as most other tobaccos, and therefore does 
not as readily ignite, and frequently ‘chars’ in burning— 
thus giving it the name of a non-burning tobacco. 
The plants are ‘set’ wide apart, and during the first two 
— 
*Blanco thus describes the tobacco of the Philippines: ‘It is an annual, growing to the 
height of a fathom and fur the tob or Pine est (licensed shops). eneral 
opinion prefers the tobacco of Gapan, but that of the Pasy districts, Laglag and Lambunao, 
lollo, of Maasin or Leyte, is appreciated for its flne aroma; also that 0 Cagayan, after 
deing kept for some years,—for ths use like the tobacco of the island of Negros it burns the 
+The seedlings are planted in January, and the greater part of the crop comes forward in 
May and June. 
