Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-09-19
THE WEED.
Mysteries and Beauties of Cuban To-
baccO-What Smokers Need
rng winter behind thee.
II. ". BOuTdill0n.

TO drink the first glass of sherry in Here's,
or to discover that the port you bought in
Lisbon is rather dearer than the wine OF
the same brand which you got in London,
and not quite 80 good. 1t is almost a
truism TO say that the blades purchased
In Toledo might have been obtained
without journeying as far as Spain, or
that the brasses Of Benares may, as
rule, be had in England quite as eheaply
as on the banks OF the danges. In Ike
manner, it is often buying experience at
too great price to bring carpets from
1spahan, or lace from Malta. But OF all
the disappointment that await the trav-
pler, the most poignant is when he finds
that "HaYanpahs' cost more in the capt.
tai OF Cuba than ne had been accustomed
10 pay for a cigar dishOnOring that title In
the metropolis OF England. At St.
Thomas or at Kingston 1t is possible that
he entered the first "stOre' under the
idea that here he could smoke Henry
Claws or Cabanas Perfectas at cheap
price-OnlY TO lean that the lsraelitsn
merchant entertained an entirely
different opinion. However, as 1.-THE
schooner was just in from Cuba" the gen.
uineness Of what had cost. per box, some
thing like Sd. piece could not be
doubted, The result was, nevertheless,
not satisfactory. The Captain declined
to help himself from the box for q second
time; the polite creole declared that the
cigar was charming, but dropped it over
board when nobody was looking. Best
test OF all, the negro steward, after one
trial, refrained from pillaging the open
box. 1t Is, however, only on arriving at
Havana that the travellers disilluslOn re-
gSrding the cheap cigars is complete. If
anyone should still entertain the belief
thatitis still possible TO smoke more cheap
~ IN Cuba than in London, he had better
read the latest report of Her Majesty
Consul General to that colony. In Ha-
gana, as elsewhere, Mr.. Grove allows
that there is plenty OF dark, powerful
tobacco" OF fine quality, at moderate,
though Dy no means low. rates. But il
smoker desires light leaf, with aroma,
bur without strength, such as the ''educa-
ted palate of an Englishman" seeks, he
must be prepared 10 pay for 1t. Only
about 10 per cent. Of the tobacco harvest
OF CUBA can be classed as OF
this quality; and apart from the
cost OF the raw material the best
makers Of the best cigars obtain wages
which alone would render their handi-
work OF value. AS much as $40 in gold
are paid to skilled laborers for turning
out Loco "frst-class goods" Or, IN other
words, a cigar of this grade costs ID. for
the mere rolling, apart from the boxing,
the price Of the tobacco, the freight, the
custom house duty, the interest on the
capital expended, or the profits OF the two
or three middlemen who must 1.-THE the
'-weed' before it gets between the lips OF
the European consumer.
II is, therefore, In no way surprising TO
learn that 'intelligent smokers with SEN
sitive palates" viii find no cheap tobacco
IN Cuba. II any man has a proper respect
for his reputation. or desires TO be the
possessor OF cigar which will not bring
him to shame on the Pasee Isabel, hemust
be prepared TO pay not less than 90 shil-
ings per 100. Even then be has not gone
very high, for there are brands marked
a. 80 and % shilllngs. though Mr.. Grove
admits that the extra 30 or 80
shilings may sometimes be credited
as much TO the smart cases and
Tue envelopes as 10 the superior quality
Of the leaf. Nor at these rates is
there any superiority Of good cigars, The
Havana tObacconist knows the worth OF
bis ares, and the man who Is ambitious
OF owning many boxes of such ''cigarrOsn
may range from the CalZada del Real
Monte to the Plaza de San francesca he
fore obtaining more than what
he knows what 20 do with. The
truth is, that pure Havana to-
bacco is getting scarcer and scarcer, and
promises before long 10 be all but unob-
tainable. The quality OF tobacco, like
that Of other agricultural produce, de-
ponds on conditions which baile the most
careful cultivator. Since 1881 there has
been no really 1ne-navored aromatic
leaf, and though high,,hopes are enter
tanned regarding the coming harvest,
these anticipations may be doomed TO dis
appointment. Something, however, more
serious than wind and weather is At work
IN the destruction OtCuban tobacco. The
soil itself Is getting worn out. Tobacco
l. one Of the most eXhausting Of crops,
aud IN course OF ages the chemical ele-
ments on which 10 suOslsts have been so
extracted and converted into ashes ali
over the world that the earth is no longer
capable OF imparting them 20 the hungry
plant. Artificial manures have accordingly
been had resource to, with the result that
while some OF them have proved fairly
useful. many Of them have so poisoned the
delicate herb that In order TO eliminate
them from the soil, the ground has been
sown with other crops. Even then years
must elapse before the drugged planta-
lions can recover from the treatment TO
which they have been subjected, while
there are prophets Of evil who are not
slow 70 affirm that no compounds OF the
CHEMISTS laboratory, and no fertilizers
from the Peruvian shores, will ever sup.
ply the Cuban earth with the tobacco food
Of which the harYests OF two centuries
have robbed II. Under these circum-
stances, IL may be imagined how many of
'.the real Hayanas" sold IN London aud
Paris ~ such have ever seen the city from
which they derive their name, or what
percentage OF the suppositiOus CubanOs
EXcepcionalee, or Partaga Conchas. can
claim 70 have the remotest connection
with the humblest Geld In the spanish
lreiand.v
In reality there is and always has been
ready market Tor more than all the best
tobacco that the island can supply, and
70 Oner threepenny cigar a. the "best
hnVanaV ~ about as absurd as 10 pretend
that claret at thirty shillings dozen is
l.ahte or Chateau Margaux. The cigar
~ question may be--and ought 10 be-
very honest tobacco, and the wine az half
crown bottle as good as tho buyer de-
serves. But It is no more the first
~ tne second Of its order than
the cigar Is OF the nrieto-
cratic stock Of which Il claims