The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-09-21

Of all the narcotics We indulge in" no
enc has such q powerful hold ON the affec.
tons ofits dsvotees, ncr 10 used by SO large
. number Of human beings - Tobacco
Popes have issued bulls against it; kings and
parliaments have made DEGREES to suppress
its use; divinss have preached against il
scholars have written against it; and phiian.
thropists have labored for three centuries TO
prove that il 10 an essential poison to ell who
chew, smoke, or snuff it. Nevertheless, in
spite OF bulls, edicts, sermons and essays,
men land women too) have gone on chewing
smoking and snufing it, ever since the dis
covery of ito delicious narcotic properties,
until thrss-fourths Of tho inhabitants OF the
world use it as their daily solace. No less
than 500 DOC, 900 Of human beings are wor-
shippers at the shrine of the drowsy weed,
and the quantity used is annually increas.
ing In the United States alone, however
are all the merits or dement's of the drug
known and appreciated. The stold Asiatic
smokes it; the Englshman snufis it; but
Americans smoke it, snuli-it, chew it, and
dip 1.-THE latter method Of enjoying it
being in vogue among the ladies of the
Southern States
Tobacco was first found in the New World
Indians Some writers claim that its name
derived from the island of Tobago one of
the Caribees, where the Spaniards first saw
1t growing; others trace the origin Of it in
the name of Tabasco, province in Southern
Mexico; while Humboldt insists that name
tor the weed was found in the name (tabaco)
by which the natives of the West Indies de-
elgnated the pipe in which they smoked it
N int Al
1860 by Jean Nicot, the French Embassador
TO Portugal, who procured the seed from the
Dutch traders at Lisbon, and sent them as a
present to that = Italian spider" Catherine
de Medici. 1t is from Nicot that Nicotiana,
the scientific name of Tobacco, is derived
In 1886, Sir Walter Raleigh, on hisr return
from Virginia, smoked it in England and
thus endorsed by nobleman of fashion, it
made its way into the coffee-houses of Lon
don and was speedily domesticated on Brit
lsh soil. BY degrees, also, it made its way
into all European countries, and into Asia
and Africa
Tobacco is most extensively cultivated in
the United States, where it is used boil for
domestic consumption and for export The
more fragrant varieties are cultivated in Gu
ba, Turkey and Hungary, and are used only
Tor smoking. We ourselves 90 abroad for |
the Iabaeeo with which we make our
cigars and fill our pipes, Last year we i'm
ported S,ol4 $50 pounds of Tobacco, valued at |
II Doc, $50 of which $3.50, $50 pounds, val.
ued at SyI2, 561, came from Cuba. In adj |
dltion to this, we imported 560,043,00O CT |
CARS, valued at $4,22l ,096; of which 1873, |
5oi 900, valued at s., SOC, 743 came from Gu
pa, and l9s, 10000, valued at 5000 l6S were
rom Belgium.~ These imports of Tobacco
however are small when compared with our
exports. The latter for the years 1857
to l56,S4S hogsheads, 5,63l cases,
md "A ,432 bales, the value Of which was
SO, 26O,722.
According to the census report of 1850,
he quantity of Tobacco raised in the United
states that year, was POI 1856, $50 pounds
We do not regard these figures as correct,
loweVer, and think the exact amount can be
more nearly Appropriated in another way.
according to the census report, there were
n 1890, 4os, 900 acres of land devoted to
he cultivation Of Tobacco, which at the rea,
onable estimate of GOO pounds to the acre,
you'd yield 24O, 100000 pounds This at
i've cents per pound, would be worth $lo,-
'Oo,VOo. The crop of 1850, however, fell
ar hciowsthat of 1896 $50, 200, 722 worth Of
winch was exported, besides what was re-
AIMED at home for domestic consumption.
Virginia yields the largest proportion of
he Tobacco crop Of the United States. The
rop OF that State in 1850 was 6,S05, 2ls
ounds; the crop Of X entucky was S., sol ,l96
ounds the crop of Maryland was 81 ,4O7,-
- pounds; the crop of Tennessee was 90
As. 932 pounds; the crop Of Missouri was
4 il3,1S4 pounds; the crop of North Caro-
ma was 1854, 7S6 pounds; the crop of
hio was 10, 454 40 pounds; the crop of I
Connecticut was ,267 ,624 pounds; and the
rop Of Indiana was ,044, $40 pounds.-[St.
ouis News