60 CIRCULAR 249, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
As a result of the specialized processing to which Perique tobacco 
is subjected the dealers and growers are classified by the Bureau of 
Internal Revenue as quasi tobacco manufacturers, a term applied to 
a class of manufacturers of tobacco whose handling of tobacco mate- 
rial embraces one or more elements of manufacturing but whose 
product is not taxable in its existing form. Perique tobacco, however, 
when prepared for sale to consumers direct is taxable. 
It is not certain that this peculiar method of curing tobacco was 
originated in its essentials by the Acadians, as some think. The 
natives of some Central American and South American countries 
have for years put up tobacco in twists after subjecting it to heavy 
pressure by windlass or other devices, and certain African tribes 
practice a method of curing analogous to that used in Louisiana. 
Many European manufacturers put up coil tobacco, blackened by 
heavy pressure and absorbed juices. 
RUSTICA 
Rustica tobacco, Nicotiana rustica, is not used for human consump- 
tion in this country but only for manufacture into nicotine sulfate, 
insecticides, etc. Production is so limited and scattering that no 
statistics are available. In some foreign countries rustica is used 
extensively for smoking purposes. That produced in the United 
States is high in nicotine content, coarse, and strong. Since the annual 
requirements of raw material for the manufacture of nicotine sulfate 
are obtainable from tobacco stems and low grades of some of the dark 
air-cured and fire-cured types, the growing of rustica for that purpose 
has not been found generally profitable. 
Figure 28 shows the appearance of this tobacco in the field. 
AMA 2210-A 
Figure 28.—Nicotiana rustica is produced in small quantities in Pennsylvania 
and elsewhere for the manufacture of nicotine sulfate, insect powders, etc. 
The plants are relatively small, and the leaves are rough and crinkled. The 
nicotine content is considerably higher than that of N. tabacum. 
