Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and CommerceBillings, E. R.
History
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce
Billings, E. R.
Tobacco -- History; Tobacco industry -- History; Tobacco use
His attachment for the horse has developed qualities of patience and
thoroughness that are shown elsewhere than on the "course." Benefiting
by years of training and study, the success that follows his efforts
shows at once that such talents are not confined to a single field of
operations. In many respects like the Virginia planter, they differ
somewhat in their taste in all that pertains to the turf and the
field. But we would not lose sight, among his many noble traits of
character, of that love of his State that pre-eminently characterizes
the Kentuckian. He is justly proud of her soil and of her sons, and
whether in the halls of Congress or on the field of carnage and blood,
fears not to maintain the honor and safety of the one and the other.
It is surprising to one acquainted with the growth of tobacco and the
value of the Southern States for its production that so small an area
of land is devoted to its culture in Georgia, Florida and Louisiana.
When owned by Spain, West Florida was noted for its tobacco, and
produced large quantities which were exported to Spain and France. The
soil of Florida is well adapted for tobacco, and the rich hummock
lands produce an excellent quality for cigars, not unlike Havana leaf.
Its cultivation has been tried in various parts of the State, but the
result has not warranted its cultivation to any great extent
excepting in Gadsden County where the plant flourishes as well as in
Cuba.
The seed used in Havana and the plant resembles it so closely that
even Cuban planters cannot distinguish it from that grown on the
island. The mode of cultivation is nearly the same, and the soil is
said to produce a leaf of tobacco similar to that of the celebrated
Vuelta de Albajo. Formerly the product was sent to New Orleans, and
the leaf was pronounced by some dealers to be bitter, but most of them
considered it valuable. The planter selects the high lands or
hummocks, the soil of which is light and rich for the tobacco field.
The plants are carefully drawn from the bed, and transplanted
afterwards. The mode of culture is to plow between the rows and hoe
the plants carefully.
A Florida tobacco field in appearance is not unlike a _vega_, or Cuba
tobacco field; the same luxuriant growth of the forest may be seen on
every hand, and the "queen of herbs" grows underneath or near the
fragrant Orange and the stately Magnolia. The soil of Gadsden County
is in some respects unlike that of the rest of the State in that there
is an entire absence of limestone, which is found elsewhere all
through Florida. The climate of the State is well adapted for the
growth of tobacco, and is less changeable on the Gulf side than along
the Atlantic coast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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