4 
As Sugar is one of tlie pleasures of childhood and is toothsome 
in old age, so is Tobacco the pride of youth, the joy of manhood, 
and the solace of the septuagenarian. Holding these views, 
should I not be dishonest and illogical if I did not urge the 
growth of the fragrant weed upon West Indians, as an industry 
fraught with present satisfaction to the individual, and with 
future wealth to the community. 
I purpose therefore, in this Paper, to give a short history 
of Tobacco in England, and a succinct account of its proper 
cultivation in the West Indies, in the hope that some of the 
inhabitants of these lovely Islands will rise to the occasion, and 
will endeavour not only to consume their own smoke, but to 
supply their brothers at home with a good cigar at a low figure. 
1 may say at once that it is only on those terms that this industry 
i 
can be thoroughly established here. I do not know why it is, 
but people in the West Indies seem to me more greedy of profit 
than people elsewhere. They want to turn over their money too 
rapidly. They will not understand that “ small profits and quick 
returns’’ is a sound commercial axiom. I have noticed this 
particularly in reference to Tobacco. Talk to a Planter about 
Tobacco, and he will say to you probably : “ Oh, Tobacco ! it 
grows wild on my estate, and all the year round too, it is quite 
a weed at my place.’* Now, this assertion involves a fundamental 
error, and if acted on, as it frequently is, results in disappointment 
and failure. An industry which would pay well if properly 
followed is therefore sacrificed, or at all events rendered unsuc- 
cessful by inattention to simple rules, and by a desire to secure 
two or three yields and the supposed consequent profit in one 
year instead of in three. As I shall show presently, Tobacco 
requires great care. It can only be reaped successfully at a 
certain period of the year. It has its seed time and harvest 
time like other economic plants, and more than one crop means 
an unmarketable yield, and an exhaustion of the soil to such an 
extent as to render it fruitless, if not barren, within a very short 
period. But more of this anon. The history of Tobacco in 
England is both interesting and somewhat amusing. 
