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.