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GARDEN CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 
The subject of this article is somewhat out of date : it ought to have been intro- 
duced in March ; but as it was then overlooked, we must now view it prospectively. 
Tobacco is of great importance to the gardener; it is one of those agents upon which 
he can place confidence, which never deceives him if he applies it with judgment, and 
at the right time ; but it is very costly, and though to the man of property this is 
an affair of minor consequence, there are others who feel the outlay of 3s. 6d or 4s, 
a pound that occurs several times in the year. Not, however, to dwell upon contin- 
gencies," it is our intention to prove by undeniable facts and evidences, that the 
economical gardener and amateur may furnish himself with a very excellent succe- 
daneum, which, though its inherent qualities may not amount to more than two-thirds 
of those possessed by the best American Tobacco, are still very efficient, and are 
farther recommended by the great facility and light expense with which it can be 
obtained. By way of introduction, however, the following sketch is offered as con- 
taining a concise historical view of Tobacco. 
The genus Nicotiana comprises about forty species, fourteen of which are 
contained in " Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Plants," p. 136. It belongs to the 
Solanea, order cxliii. (Nightshades) of Jussieu, its colleagues in the tribe being 
Solanum, Atropa, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Capsicum, and Physalis. These " Lurids " 
(Luridce) of Linnaeus, are all of a suspicious sombre character ; they tell of bane and 
poison, and truly the gardener acknowledges the destructive power of the herb, 
which can in a few seconds lay prostrate myriads of those " Vastators," which, if 
they fail to realise Mr. Smee's enthusiastic announcement, do most certainly prey 
upon, and utterly disfigure his best Roses, Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, &c, &c. 
The term Nicotiana was derived from that of Jean Nicot, the agent of the King 
of France at Portugal, who there procured the seeds of the Tobacco from a Dutchman, 
who had obtained them from Florida. Nicot sent them to France in 1560. " The 
first plant was said to have been presented to Catherine de Medicis, whence the 
name 4 Herbe de la Heine.' The name Tobacco, which has superseded all others, is 
that of a certain district of Mexico. Petum or Petume (whence, evidently, our 
modern genus Petunia is nominally derived) is a Brazilian word." 
There are two species of Nicotiana, which alone are worthy of the gardener's 
attention, for the purposes of washing and fumigation. The first, and earliest known, 
is N. Tabacum, introduced in 1570 ; the second, N. rustica, from which the Tobacco 
of Syria is prepared ; both are annuals, and are raised from seeds. N. Tabacum, 
the real Virginian Tobacco, attains the height of 4 to 6 feet, if properly cultivated : 
its leaves are very large and expansive — the lower decurrent down the stem, the 
upper sessile, oblong, acuminate, and of a rich, yellowish green. When fully grown, 
in an open situation, and under the influence of a powerful mid-day sun, they exhale 
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