CHAPTER III

THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO

TOTAL PRODUCTION. COUNTRIES WHICH CULTIVATE TOBACCO. PRODUCTION IN THE NEW WORLD OTHER THAN IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO

The world's recorded annual crop of tobacco leaf is over one million tons. The latest government figures available are those for 1912 and 1913, and show 2,696,401,379 and 2,722,190,030 lbs. respectively. Of this amount Asia and America produce each about 350,000 tons, Europe about 250,000 tons and the rest of the world the balance.

The details of the production in the U. S. will be given in the next chapter.

The principal Asiatic countries which produce tobacco are China, Japan, Afghanistan, India, Persia and Asia Minor. China has an immense production and consumption of tobacco, a large portion of which finds its way into western markets for the cigar and cigarette trade and is sold as "Turkish" tobacco. No figures as to production are available.

British India and Afghanistan produce good tobacco, a lot of which is used in Hindustan and other Eastern countries.

The Persian crop is known to be large, but there are no available records of it. In Persia most of the tobacco raised is of the species known as Nicotiana Persica. This is generally known under its trade name of Tumbach or _Tumbeki_ (or more correctly Teymbeki). This is the common Eastern name for tobacco. It is considerably exported to the countries in the neighborhood of Persia and is smoked in the pipe known as the Narghilli. In this pipe the teymbeki burns in contact with a piece of incandescent charcoal. The smoker draws the vapor through a flexible tube which passes to the bottom of a water chamber and passes above it, whence it is inhaled. The narghili is technically a water pipe. The teymbeki is very strong in nicotine, containing up to 5 or 6 per cent.

Japan produces large and medium size leaf of good color but poor in quality. It is generally used for pipe and cigarette trade.

The statistics of production for Asia are extremely unreliable. When we consider the teeming populations of China, India and other Eastern countries and the prevalence of the smoking habit, it is very probable that the figure of production (350,000 tons annually) is much under the mark. There is very little export of tobacco from the United States or Europe to the East. Whatever tobacco is consumed there is mostly of its own production.

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO

In Europe the principal tobacco producing countries are Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Italy and Turkey.

Germany has nearly 40,000 acres under tobacco cultivation in Rhenish Bavaria, Baden, Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine. The annual production is about 50 to 70 million lbs.; and in addition nearly 3 times that much is imported. German home grown leaf is medium to large in size, of fair body, heavy and with coarse veins. It is used for cigar filler and pipe, but is not suited for cigar wrappers. (See the chapter on cigars.)

French tobacco is raised from Virginia seed. It is dark, coarse and heavy and is suitable for plug and snuff making only.

Russia is the largest European producer. Russian tobacco leaf is very large in size and like the French is coarse, dark and heavy and is only fit for plug and snuff making. There is a lighter kind grown from Turkish seed in South Russia which is fit for cigarettes.

Italy has made several attempts to cultivate good tobacco, and several different types are produced. A dark heavy leaf is grown from Virginia seed, and a type from Kentucky seed is also produced. These types are suitable to the dark, heavy fertile soils of Middle and North Italy. In the lighter sandy soil of the south, the varieties grown are raised from Turkish seed and are similar in appearance and quality to the genuine Turkish tobacco.

Hungary is a heavy grower of tobacco and produces some of the best in Europe. There is a heavy dark type, of a rich brown color, medium sized leaf with small and thin veins, which is used in cigar manufacture. A small bright yellow leaf is also grown, poor in quality and aroma, which is used for pipe smoking and cigarettes.

The most important foreign tobacco as regards U. S. consumers is that known as Turkish. The leaves of the Turkish tobacco are small (about 8" long), clear yellow in color, and have a special aroma, which renders them peculiarly suitable for the manufacturing of cigarettes. The principal producing centers are Macedonia, Albania, Syria, Palestine and Trebizond, that raised in Macedonia being per-haps the most celebrated. Just like the Cuban leaf, the very best grades of Turkish tobacco are not exported, but are kept for domestic consumption.

_Latakia_ tobacco is produced in the northern part of Syria. This tobacco has a very small nicotine content. It is produced by a special fabrication and is in very great demand as an ingredient of pipe smoking mixtures.

The District of Cavalla in the Province of Roumelia, is one of the most important tobacco centers in the Turkish Empire. There are about 75,000 acres under tobacco cultivation and the annual production is about 10,000,000 lbs. The American Tobacco Co. has a large establishment here through which it purchases its Turkish leaf, amounting to over 6 million lbs. yearly, for the manufacture of Turkish cigarettes, etc.

The total importation of Turkish leaf into the United States during 1913 was:

From Turkey in Europe 10,816,048 lbs. From Turkey in Asia 18,955,295 lbs.

Greece and the Balkan States produce tobacco which partakes of the qualities of Hungarian and Turkish, the Grecian leaf being used a good deal as a substitute for genuine Turkish tobacco.

TOBACCO PRODUCED IN THE NEW WORLD OTHER THAN IN UNITED STATES

The government of Canada has given a lot of attention to experiments in connection with the growth of tobacco in the Dominion, but only with indifferent success. The leaf is raised principally from Virginian seed, but is large and coarse and is only fit for inferior plug and snuff making.

Cuban Tobacco. The tobacco raised in the Island of Cuba is the most celebrated in the world for cigar making. The leaf is of a rich, brown color; narrow and small in size, varying from 8 to 18 inches in length. Its richness of flavor and the peculiar aroma are its chief characteristics. Cuba produces annually about 300,000 to 500,000 bales of tobacco varying in weight from 80 to 150 lbs. per bale, nearly one-half of which is exported to the United States alone.

The importation of Cuban leaf into the United States over a series of years is shown below:

_Cuban leaf imports into the U. S. (lbs.)_

1855-1860 == 7,014,485 } 1871-1875 == 8,985,465 } Average 1886-1890 == 15,532,075 } Yearly 1896-1900 == 10,811,173 } Imports. 1901-1905 == 24,048,837 } Year 1914 == 26,617,545 } The value in 1900 was $ 8,478,251 The value in 1905 was $13,348,000

The Province of _Pinar del Rio_ produces about 70 per cent of the entire Cuban crop. In this is the District of _Vuelto Abajo_ which is celebrated the world over for the very finest cigar tobacco. The District of Habana or Havana produces about 13 per cent and Santa Clara about 13 per cent. The Cubans themselves favor the dark "Maduro" fully ripened leaves. At present a good deal of Cuban cigar leaf is grown under shade with the result that although when fully mature they are light in color, they are rich in flavor.

The value of the cigar leaf imported by the U. S. from Cuba averages at present about 14 or 15 million dollars annually.

Porto Rican leaf possesses many of the qualities of good Havana leaf, and like the latter is used in cigar manufacture. The annual production is about 120,000 bales. The U. S. imports from 4 to 5 million lbs. annually. Further particulars regarding Cuban and Porto Rican leaf will be given in the chapters concerning cigars.

Mexico produces a tobacco, large as to leaf, dark in color, with heavy body and coarse veins. The tobacco is very strong in flavor. The best grades approach the Cuban tobacco in quality and are imported and used as substitutes for it. The U. S. importation is small. The annual production is about 34 million lbs. The best quality is produced in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz, and only a small portion is exported, principally to Cuba.

Brazilian tobacco leaf is brown in color, medium in size, and medium in body. It possesses fair qualities as a cigar tobacco, for which purpose it is generally used in South America, which is its principal market.

EAST INDIAN AND PHILIPPINE TOBACCO

The Dutch East Indies (Sumatra and the adjacent islands) produce yearly about 180 million lbs. of tobacco, all of which is used in the cigar business. Of this the United States takes about from 30,000 to 40,000 bales of Sumatran leaf, about 5-1/2 million lbs. About 2 lbs. of this leaf wraps 1,000 cigars.

The Philippine Islands produce from 50 to 100 million lbs., of tobacco annually. The crop for 1913 was 101,544,736 lbs. The imports into the United States are principally as manufactured cigars by special arrangements which will be referred to later on in the chapter on cigars.