Tobacco Leaves Part 1

Tobacco Leaves.

by W. A. Brennan.

INTRODUCTION

This little book is intended for the man who uses tobacco. While there is a very extensive literature concerning tobacco, yet it is surprising how few books there are written expressly for the smoker. Much has been written concerning culture, production and manufacture; the historical and anecdotal aspects have been catered for; pamphlets and books abusing and denouncing the use of tobacco are plentiful; but the smoker will find it difficult to get a book just giving him the facts concerning tobacco and smoking, which he ought to know, and omitting matters, which, although interesting, are not necessary. This little book is an attempt to fulfil that purpose; and it is felt that no apology is needed for its appearance.

If the average user of tobacco is questioned concerning the matters treated in the following pages, he will be found ignorant of them. This ought not be so. The custom of tobacco smoking is so general and so intimate a part of the daily life of the great majority of men, that a better acquaintance with the plant, its qualities, uses and effects, should be cultivated and welcomed.

No claim is made for originality. The facts here stated have been gathered from various sources and the only credit claimed is for putting them together in a concise and consecutive form. The object aimed at is to give information. Whether the custom of tobacco smoking is desirable, whether in any individual case it would be beneficial or otherwise to smoke--these and similar questions are left to the reader's own judgment from the facts and opinions presented, as well as from his own observations. The man who uses tobacco daily should know what he is doing. If statements are made either verbally or in print concerning the custom he should be able to verify them or show that they are incorrect. It is trusted that the information given in these pages will enable him to form a clear judgment whatever the judgment may be.

It may be felt that many aspects of the use of tobacco and matters connected with it have either not been touched on, or only referred to very briefly. The reader who may desire further information will find it in the bibliographical references given throughout the book. These references have generally been consulted by the author and his indebtedness is acknowledged here.

TO MY WIFE

CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL--BOTANICAL

HISTORICAL

The history of tobacco commences with the discovery of the New World by Columbus. The Chinese claim that it was known and used by them much earlier, but there appears to be no evidence to support this claim.

Columbus found the natives of Cuba smoking the dried leaves, and his followers are said to have brought the plant to Spain about 1512. Oviedo published a book ent.i.tled _La Historia general de las Indias_ in Seville in 1526, in which he mentions pipe smoking. It may be inferred that this custom was well established in Spain then. Sir Walter Raleigh is usually credited with having brought tobacco to England for the first time from Virginia in 1586; and the Virginian Colonists are known to have cultivated the plant at that time; but there is evidence enough to show that Sir Francis Drake was the first to introduce the plant into England. Drake's voyages were made between 1570 and 1580 and he brought the plant with him in one of these. Some give the date of introduction by Drake as 1560.

Raleigh was, however, probably the first English distinguished smoker, and he cultivated the plant on his estate at Youghal, Ireland. There is no doubt about the culture of tobacco by the early English Colonists in the U. S., but it is doubtful whether the plant was introduced by them from England or whether they continued a culture learned from the Natives. From Virginia it spread to the other colonies. In Peru and other parts of South America the growing of tobacco was well established at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

In 1560 Jean Nicot, the French Amba.s.sador at Lisbon, sent some tobacco to Catherine de Medici as a cure for headache. Catherine was pleased with it and is said to have become quite addicted to its use. Tobacco was designated the "Queen's herb" and the "Sovereign herb" from this circ.u.mstance and Nicot himself is perpetuated in the word "Nicotine" and its derivatives.

Many persons erroneously give credit to Nicot for the introduction of tobacco into Europe. It is quite clear, however, from Oviedo's book, quoted above, that the plant was known in Spain very much earlier; and it is most probable that the immediate followers of Columbus brought samples of the leaves and pipes back to Spain with them. Moreover, in 1558, Phillip II of Spain sent Francisco Hernandez, a physician, to investigate the resources, etc., of Mexico, and on his return he brought back tobacco as one of the products, and grew it as a drug. From Spain and England, the use of tobacco spread by degrees all over the known world.

REFERENCES

PENN, W. A. _The Soverane Herbe; a history of Tobacco._ Chapters I, II.

London and New York, 1901.

BOUANT, E. _Le Tabac; culture et industrie._ Paris, 1901.

SHEW, JOEL. _Tobacco; its history, nature and effects on the body and mind._ Wortley, 1876.

BILLINGS, E. R. _Tobacco; its history, varieties, culture, etc._ Chapters II, IV. Hartford, Conn., 1895.

COMES, O. _Histoire, geographie, statistique du Tabac. Son introduction et son expansion dans tous les pays depuis son origine jusqu' a la fin du XIX siecle._ Naples, 1900.

FAIRHOLT, F. W. _Tobacco; its history and a.s.sociations._ London, 1876.

WOLF, JAKOB. _Der Tabak und die Tabakfabrikate._ Chapter I. Leipzig, 1912.

BOTANICAL

Tobacco belongs to the family of plants known in botany under the name of _Solanaceae_. Other well-known members of this family are the Irish potato, the red pepper, the tomato, the egg-plant, etc.

American tobacco belongs almost exclusively to that group of this family which comprise the genus _Nicotiana_. Of this genus there are about 50 separate species, one of which, _Nicotiana Tabac.u.m_, supplies almost all the tobacco of commerce. Plants of this species grow from 2 feet to 9 feet in height; they have numerous wide-spreading leaves sometimes as much as 3 feet in length; these leaves may be oval, oblong, pointed, or lanceolate in shape, and are generally of a pale green color when young; they are arranged alternately in a spiral on the stem; the root is large and fibrous; the stem is erect, round and viscid, branching near the top. The alternate arrangement of the leaves on the stalk, succeeding each other spirally, so that the 9th overhangs the 1st, the 10th the 2nd, and so on, is very characteristic. The distance on the stalk between the leaves is about 2 inches. Flowers are in large cl.u.s.ters, with corollas of rose color, or white tinged with pink. The leaves and stalks are covered with soft downy hair. The plant is perennial but crops are usually raised from seed.

Of this species (N. Tabac.u.m) there are probably more than 100 varieties grown in the U. S. alone. Some of the best known will be described later.

To this same species (N. Tabac.u.m) Havana, East Indian and European tobaccos princ.i.p.ally belong. The other important species are:

_Nicotiana Persica._ Grown in Persia. This has a white flower and the leaves almost enwrap the stem. It is used almost exclusively as a pipe-smoking tobacco. Some claim that this is only a variant of N.

Tabac.u.m.

_Nicotiana Repanda._ This is a species of Cuban tobacco entirely different from that grown in the Havana district. It is also called Yara.

_Nicotiana Rustica._ A kind of wild growing tobacco princ.i.p.ally cultivated in Mexico, and which is claimed as the parent of some of the Turkish, Syrian and Latakia tobaccos although many authorities claim that these tobaccos belong to the species _N. Tabac.u.m_. The European tobacco is hardier than the American parent plant. The leaves are smaller.

_N. Rustica._ Also includes common Hungarian and Turkish tobaccos. There are large and small leaved varieties.

_N. Crispa._ Grown in Syria and largely in Central Asia. Used as a cigarette tobacco in the Orient.

It has been stated above that there are many varieties of _N. Tabac.u.m_ in the U. S. Of these the most important are known to botanists by the names, _Nicotiana Tabac.u.m Macrophylla_ and _Nicotiana Tabac.u.m Angustifolia_.

Maryland tobacco belongs to the _Macrophylla_ variety and there are many other types differing from each other according to shape of the leaf, size of the stalk, etc.

Virginian tobacco is of the _Angustifolia_ variety, and of this also there are many different types.

Most European and other grown tobaccos have been raised from original plants of the Maryland and Virginian varieties.

It should be remembered that there is no essential difference in cigar, pipe smoking or cigarette tobaccos. The differences are physical only. All kinds may be obtained from the same species or even the same variety of the species by suitable culture and crossing.

REFERENCES

ANASTASIA, G. E. _Le varieta della Nicotiana Tabac.u.m._ Scafati, 1906.

COMES, O. _Delle razze dei tabacchi._ Naples, 1905.

KILLEBREW, J. B. and MYRICK H. _Tobacco leaf; its culture and cure, marketing and manufacture._ Part I. New York, 1897.

LOCK, C. G. W. _Tobacco growing, curing, and manufacturing._ Chapter I.

London and New York, 1886.