614 



DRUGS, I>'ABCOTICS, ETC. 



inferior class of wrapper. There are many good leaves in it, but 

 the hands are usually made up of those which are stained, have a 

 bad color, or have been slightly touched by the worm. The bales 

 contain eighty hands of four gabillas of thirty-six to forty leaves 

 each, and are marked T. 2a. 80. 



Terceiras is the best tilling, and much wrapper can usually be 

 selected from it when new. The bales contain eighty hands of 

 four gabillas of more than forty leaves each, and are marked 3a. SO. 



Cuartas is the most inferior class, fit only for fillmg. The bales 

 contain eighty hands of four gabillas of no determined number of 

 leaves, and are marked 4a. 80. 



The A'uelta arriba tobacco is prepared in a similar manner, 

 but neither its color or flavor is good, and it does not bum well. 



The crop is gathered in the spring, and usually begins to appear 

 at market in July. Good tobacco should be aromatic, of a rich 

 brown color, without stains, and the leaf thin and elastic. It 

 should burn well and the taste should be neither bitter nor biting. 

 The best is grown on the margins of rivers which are periodically 

 overflowed, and is called " De rio." It is distinguished from other 

 tobacco by a fine sand, which is found in the creases of the leaves. 



The tobacco plantations in Cuba increased in number from 

 5,534 in 1827, to 9,102 in 1846. The production of tobacco has 

 nearly doubled in the province, of which St. Jago is the port, in 

 the last ten years. 



The following figures show the exports from the Havana : — 





Leaf tobacco. 



Cigars. 



1840 



. 1,031,136 103. 



147,818 thousand 



1841 



. 1,450,302 „ 



151,928 „ 



1842 



. 1,053,161 „ 



135,127 „ 



1843 



. 2,125,805 „ 



153,227 



1844 



. 1,197,136 „ 



147,825 



1845 



. 1.621,889 „ 



120,352 „ 



1846 



. 4,066,262 „ 



158.841 



1847 



. 1,936,829 



. 1,982,267 



1848 



. 1,350.815 „ 



150,729 „ 



1849 



. 1,158,265 „ 



111,572 



The class of tobacco shipped at the port of Havana, is not the 

 same as that gathered in the districts irom which the manufac- 

 turers of cigars there receive their supplies — it would cost too 

 dear. However, it is not a rare occurrence to find among a num- 

 ber of bales a few of a quality about equal to that employed there, 

 and this happens in years when the crop has been very abundant, 

 as in J 846 and 1848. The various classes are paid in proportion 

 to the capa, or outside leaves, which are found in an assortment ; 

 the three first classes are employed as covers, and often, if the 

 tobacco is new, they may be found in the fourth and even in the 

 fifth. In parcels well assorted, one-fourth is composed of capa — 

 say, first, second, and third, and the rest is composed of tripa, or 

 interior of the cigar. In the first-named, there generally comes 

 more of the cajpa than is necessary to use ; the remaining bales, 

 which contain the inferior class, are fit only for filHngs. 



