The times., 1899-02-27
THE TOBACCO TRADE.
Some Things Not Generally Known
About the Commercial Weed.
From the New York SUM-

| (From the New York SUM-
1t may surprise many who enjoy the fine
| flavor of the Egyptian cigarette to know
| that tobacco raising has been prohibited
| by law in Egypt since 1890. This drastic
measure was adopted curiously enough. to
maintain the high reputation of Egypts
| cigarettes. II was discovered about eleven
years ago that many of the smaller cigar
/ cite makers were realizing large profits
4 by mixing the inferior tobacco of the coun-
I try with Turkish tobacco and selling cigar
cites made OF this mixture at the usual
/ high price commanded by the Egyptian
product. Ii had won a place among the
luxuries OF the world. but 1t was in danger
of losing its pre-eminence through the
deterioration of the product. At first the
Government sought to mitigate the evil
by restricting the acreage devoted TO to-
bacco raising, but it was finally decided
to stop the cultivation of the weed entirely.
Today not a pound Of tobacco is raised on
the 5,500,00 acres of land under cultiva-
tion in Egypt. In fact, there is nothing
Egyptian about Egyptian cigarettes" ex-
cept that they are made in Egypt. The
tobacco comes from Turkey, the paper
from Austria, Germany or Italy, and most
of the labor employed in Greek, except for
the common brands which are consumed
in Egypt and are made by the natives.
The greater part of the trade is centred
in Cairo. where at least 1000 persons are
dependent for their daily bread upon this
industry. OF course the Government de-
rives considerable revenue from the tax it
imposes upon tobacco imports.
All American travellers in north Europe
know that they have to pay good round
price for inferior tobacco products. The
( best use to make OF European grown to-
! bacco is TO keep il for the pipe but many
dealers persist in turning ii into inferior
grades of cigars. The so-called Havana
cigars" mostly manufactured in Antwerp
and sold widely throughout Belgium, are
chiefly made of leaf grown in West
Flanders and are inferior to most of our
domestic cigars sold at half the price
In Germany there are many factories
turning German grown tobacco into
cigars, cigarettes, snuff and smoking and
chewing tobacco. Some Americans say 1t
requires special education to learn to
| like the German products.
No one has yet discovered what the prop
critics of climate or soil are that give pecu-
liar excellence to the tobacco leaf grown in
certain regions. Tobacco grows well in
all parts of Cuba and the soil OF the to-
| bacco plantations is mostly composed of
calcareous rocks, but why is it that the leaf
grown along the southern slope of the Cor
dillera de las Organos in Pinar del Rio,
at the west end of the island is the finest
.
is that the best tobacco of this famous
Nuelta Abajo region is almost worth its
weight in gold and is reserved for those
who can afford to make the use of to-
bacco dear bought luxury Because of
the excellence of its leaf, Cuba is the most
famous tobacco growing region and many
imagine that II is the chief centre of to-
bacco production. The Cuban product.
however. in the best of times. is very small
in comparison with that of several other
countries. The United States is one of the
greatest tobacco growing countries in the
world. Over POO 600 tons of dried leaves
are prepared every year in this country
$50 600 tons in India, about 100 900 tons in
Russia. and 10000 tons in Austria Hun
gary. Mr. Gollan, the British Consul-Gen-
eral at Havana, says that the normal to-
| bacco crop of Cuba averages only about
81 900 tons year. Even France. in the
valley of the Garonne and in Algeria far
surpaSses Cuba in amount OF tobacco pro-
ductiOn. and so do Sumatra the Eastern
Archipelago, and the Philippines. In 1894
before the internal troubles largel? Ie-
duced the exports of the Philippines these
islands sent abroad 1887 tons of tobacco
and 140, ,0S0, 900 cigars.
All countries make tobacco an important
source of revenue, and in some lands. most
conspicuously in France, Italy, Austria
Hungary, and Spain, the tobacco trade is
a government monopoly and no one is per
mitted to engage in it unless he pays well
for the privilege In Spain, for instance.
one company pays to the government a
very large sum for the monopoly of manu-
featuring and selling tobacco in that coun-
try. Every cigar store in the country is
owned by this company 1t has eleven
factories in different parts Of Spain. in
which it employs nearly 80. coo girls II
maintains nearly $4,000 cigar stores. and it
is estimated that $4,000 families are sup
ported by the money disbursed on its pay
rolls. The sales of the company amount
to about s35 OOO, 900 a year Barcelona
spends $4,000. 600 year for tobacco, and
Madrid comes next with about 81 800. 900 a
year Though Cuba was a Spanish colony,
Havana cigars have always been as ex-
pensive in Spain as in the United States.
but all other kinds are somewhat cheaper
than in This country.