St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-11-02

Cuban ports by our warships stopped
entirely trade which had been Ian
gushing ever since the instruction be-
gan. But had those bars to the trade
not existed at all there was another
cause that would have lessened the ex-
porting capacity of Cuba so far as this
product is concerned.
On Jan. 10 Of the present year all
Porto Rican tobacco was prohibited en-.
try into Cuba. Previously the greater
part of the tobacco produced in Porto
Rico was shipped to Cuba and there
made into cigars and branded "Ha-
vana" Some prominent dealers in this
country state that the best cigars and
tobacco that have been sent from Ha-
vana to the United States during the
past three years were Porto Rican. AS
a result of this act of the Cuban gov
eminent in its effort to protect its own
tobacco against that grown in Porto
RIGA the price of the latter greatly de-
clined, while that produced liz Cuba be-
came still dearer.
The culture of tobacco requires the
richest possible soil and also peculiari-
ties of soil to produce the best grades.
1t rapidly exhausts the land upon
which it is grown, and perhaps more
than any other plant requires rich
manures and fertilizers. Even the fer
tile soil of Vuelta Abajo in Cuba,
more peculiarly suited to the tobacco
plant than any other part of the world,
finally became exhausted, and the plant
ers have for years been compelled to use
strong fertilizers, such as guano and
house refuse, to produce good crop.
A few facts relative to the growing
of tobacco in Cuba may prove interest
ing. From an acre of ground about 300
pounds of tobacco are usually produced.
The seed requisite for this space of
ground could be contained in an ordi
nary thimble, but as much of this
would never terminate owing to being
covered too deeply in the soil and from
other causes larger quantity would re-
quire to be sown. After sowing the seed
beds receive the closest attention, and
when the plants are four inches high
they are transplanted From 1000 to
1000 plants are allowed to the acre.
Various insects attack the tobacco
plant, but the most destructive is a
large green worm, the larvae of sphinx.
Leaves Of the plants which touch the
ground and become broken or soiled are
generally removed, but some Cuban
planters cure all the leaves and put the
poor ones by themselves The plants
are never permitted to bloom, and their
upward growth is prevented by break
ing off the end of the stem. This process
has the effect of increasing the develop
ment of the lower leaves. The maturity
of the crop is judged of by the color and
consistency of the leaf, and the plant
ers much prefer to have the plants cut
too green than overripe. Cutting is
sometimes done as soon as the dew is
off in the morning and the tobacco is
housed as soon as it is wilted. Others
cut in the afternoon and house the next
morning. Tobacco plantations in Cuba
have large buildings for curing the
leaves, which are designed with special
reference to ventilation.
When quite cured, the tobacco is
stripped, and in this operation the
leaves are assorted into four qualities.
When the stripper gets enough leaves
to weigh about quarter of a pound, he
binds them together by means of anoth-
er leaf Up to this stage the tobacco is
simply the dried leaves without the
aroma and other qualities for which il
is esteemed. These are only developed
after it has undergone process Of fer.
menfation, to effect which the leaves
are bulked.
1t is to be feared that most of. the
cigars sold as Havana do not contain
any Vuelta Abajo tobacco, or at least
only the remains of the bad leaves
Cigar making has reached such de
gree of perfection in this country tina
it is extremely difficult to distinguish
the imported Cigar from the domestic
unless by trying it, and even then moi
rarely even oonnoisseurs cannot tell tht
difference.
The Seville mandatory in Spain ha
acquired European reputation TO
making high priced cigars and produce
an article equal in appearance and al
most as good as the finest Havana. Il
Belgium and at Hamburg and Frank