Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-01-29
GBe SdpntB's 5rirnb.
TobaceO.

Our first knowledge Of this pla nt, |
now SO valuable, was through the
Spaniards, about Tie year Is 30.
they brought it from Tobacco, in
the proyincd of Yucatan, fir ON
which place lit obtains its name,
Sir Walter Ralegh introduced it in
to England. The first time he
smoked it wds in private; he had
called his servant Tor a jug of wa
ter When thk n an brought it in,
he saw the sfnok Ike coming out Of
his masters hodth, and naturally
surprising he was Oh fire, he as nat
urally threw Ihe jug of water over
him, to pat it ont. Virginia has
been famous for The. successful cul-
livatipn OF the tobacco-planb 1t
has become t}e staple Of the prov
ince; though i y said TO be nov CIV
ing way to much wide cutiva-
ton OF WheatE he tobacco-plant,
when fell groh il, will rise to Six
fecti in height. II he stem is pretty
straight, rathdr hairy and clammy.
The leaves Iare of considerable
length, of al yellow green; those
nearest the ground are the largest,
but they MAXI the coarsest tobacco.
As Tie plants grow, theE require
much attention TO keep the ground
between the rows clear Of weeds;
aud 10 pull DIT all the lowest ana
coarsest leaves from the plant itself,
IN order to, fed I'd more fully the up
per ones. This Notorious work is
done by negrd slaves. When the
leaf turns bro wn, tile plant is ripe.
The Plants, as -tSey ripen, are Gu;
down, and a Re laid il heap TO
heat; after wi fch they are hung up
Separately to dry, in houses built on
purpose WI len thus prepared, the
leaves are stripped off The STALKS,
and sorted ouG the finer ones, pr
those growing towards the top, be
ing kept by thf mselves. They are
then packed d III hogsheads, aud
shipped of for Europe t he lands,
how ever fertile are Soon impover-
jshed by the plant Virginia has,
IN some years, exported seventy
thousand hogsheads Of tobacco
Cuba is celebrh ted for its tobacco,
particularly its cigars. These con
sIst Of the leaves formed into small
rolls for the purpose of smoking.
I Iavana cigars hre usually rec Ikoned
4 be best. Recently, the ex porta-
! ton OF cigars from Cuba is said to
| d ave amounted to 200,000Ibqxes a
IS ear. The tobaccp used in Cuba
By the lower class Is is chiefly i'm
pprtea from the Upited.States, In
some countries, as England, tobac,
IcP is principally used in the form
of snuff; in others it is principally
cheWed; but in one fornror other
it Us every where made use of. So
early as 1924, Pope Urban VIII.
Isyucd a bull communicating
those who smoked in churches. In
Spain, France, anu Germany, in
Denmark, and Russia, the practice
of smoking tobacco prevails among
the rich and poor, the learned and
the gay In our country, smoking
is often carried into excess. The
effects Of this practice are oft en-
highly injurious, and the longer a
person rcfrains from it the better.
For long time smoking was for
+Bidden in many parts OF New Eng
land under severe penalties. In
Russia il was prohibited under pain
of having the nose cut of. Jam es
the First king Of England, did n ol
think it beneath the royal dignity to
take up Ills pen upon the subject.
He accordingly in 1903, pubIlshfd
his famous 'CounteIbIaste to To,
bacco,' in which the following re-
markable passage occurs: stIt is a
custom loathesome tPthe eve, hate
ful to the nose, harmful to the brain,
dangerous to the lungs, and in tile
black lume thereof n earest resemb-
ling the horrible Stygian smoke pf
the pit that is bolt0mless.'