The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-25

|
OF tobacco culture In Cuba. resulting from the
world wide demand for tho particularly fine
leaf grown only In q very restricted area. the
so-called Vueta Abaio. which has made Ha.
yana tobacco famous. II was not until the
| forties that Cuba surpassed Porto Rico in hel
| annual expectations. but since then the lat
| ter has been completely eclipsed. IL L.
| In the second place. to be noted that
| In earlier times well rs to-day. II
was almost exclusively tho peasant who raised
| tho Porto Rico crop on meaGre patches OF from
quarter OF an acre to several acres. the
product being mortgaged beforehand to shop
| keepers and petty dealers The landed pro-
| prietors and capitalists chose to risk their
| funds in sugar and coffee. and preferred to buy
| their manufactured tobacco from the expert
| cgarmakers OF Cuba and the peninsula rather
| than to foster the home industry. Hence.
| at all times. with the exception OF the
last few years. tho manufactured products OF
tobacco in Porto Rico have been execrable,
while the leaf itself has been raised BY care
less hands. eaten by insects. badly cured and
improperly packed. For some decades tho
Cuban manufacturers have imported the
greater part OF the best Porto Rico product,
branding it with tho attractive word Havana.
The second great buyer has been Spain. Be-
tween them these two consumers have alb
only few hundred thousand pounds in some
years for Germany and few thousand for
Italy and Franco. Tho inhabitants OF the
United States smoke Porto Rico tobacco but
they do it under the name Of Havana, which
increases tho cost to the buyer some 50 per
cent. Only in exceptional years during Cuba's
struggle for liberty have we imported any OF
tho leaf from Porto Rico and then only to the
amount OF n few thousand pounds 1t Is pro-
nounced undenabe that at present the
tobacco grown on the smaller island is info
rlor to that produced on the larger. That
the Porto Rcans. however. can grow q leaf
equally good Mr.. Dinwidde has no doubt The
soil and climate both favor the assertion. but
until careful meth DDS OF handling. curing and
manufacturing prevail. and the growing is
done in scientific manner on large estates.
the quality and. consequently. the reputation
OF the tobacco will be lower. 1t is probable
that the change OF ownership will cause the
raw crop to drift toward the United States,
while II Porto Rican products are admitted to
our ports free OF duty n strong impetus will be
given to the manufacture OF cigars on the
island 1t is generally acknowledged that
finer cigars may be manufactured in the humid
atmosphere OF tho tropics than in more
northern. drier regions. whore much Of the
native flavor and aroma of the leaf Is lost
The best lands for growing tobacco in Porto
Rico are considered by some experts to be
those Of the low lying foothills. near the mar
row valley meadows. and beneath and protect
cd by tho more rugged mountain ranges. but
there is a very limited area OF such land. made
by the dsintegration of the massive limestone
aud fertilizod by the docaying vegetable matter
Of tho upper slope; consequently. the higher
ridges are cultivated to their very tops The
differences which exist between the top and
bottom OF ridges are marked in the varying
quality OF the tobacco; that grown at the top
having rouGhcr darker leaf, while that at the
base is thin and good for wrappers We have
referred to the lack OF adequate care in the
tobacco plantations the leaves OF the growing
plants are not assiduously examined for the
eggs OF cutworms: neither are the budding
flower stalks sedulously cut Off. so that the
leaves may grow larger. The weakest side
however, OF tobacco culture on the island Is
disclosed in the methods pursued in driving.
The long. low. open sheds employed for this
purpose afford n very imperfect shelter from
the weather. Forty days Is considered tho
proper length OF time for curing tobacco.
and as many planters follow the rule without
regard to the kind of weather that may have
prevailed in the interim. there is a marked
difference from year to year in the quality Of
the product derived from single plantation.
We observe. finally, that all the growers OF
tobacco in Porto Rico bale their product care
leSsly in burlaps One never sees the careful
handling OF the cured leaf. which Is customary
in the western province OF Cuba Within re-
cent years, since the introduction OF more skiful
cGarmakers. the native connoisseurs contend
that as good cigars can be manufactured on
the island as in Cuba. This opinion will not
be shared by tho casual visitor because
the vast majority OF the cigars which
ton are green. badly rolled by hand and
wrapped with heavy, coarse. black leaf.
They arc sold as low as fifty American cents a
hundred. and range from this price to the cigar
used by the average clerk and shopkeepcr,
which brings dollar and n half to two and
half hundred Really good cigars, though
those are too strong for the American taste.
sell from three to five American dollars a hun
drod.
Mr. Dinwidde says that the cigars last
named. If they had time to age and dry, would
be sold readily in the United States two for n
quarter or five for dollar. They are Well
made. burn perfectly. with a clear. white ash
and are pleasing in color and fragrance. There
is. 1t appears, very limited output OF yet finer
cigars. which, even in Porto Rico. bring as
much ms SIP hundred ut the manufactory.
These are made with the utmost care from tho
rare. fine leaf and wrapped sngly in tinfoil,
II is pronounced doubtful whether any Ua-
vana-grown tobacco can much surpass this
particular brand. 1t is at Cayey whore the
very best cigars are made. Here there are a
number OF factories, but none OF them EMPLOYS
more than dozen men and the largest output
from single place is about =, 900 cigars a day.
Every cigar Is hand made. the mould being
unknown in the island. We add that the CLASH
Tying and asserting OF cigars by color is I'm
Porto Rico very defective. Thus box marked
"claro" may have all shades packed within it
from the llghtest to the oscuro." This is one
OF the defects which has initiated against
securing permanent market for the manu-
featured product. Mr.. Dinwiddic tells us that
homemade molasses- soaked plug tobacco in
ropes hundred feet long is one OF the print
tive wonders Of the island. On any market
day ono may see the tobacco man with his lit
tie table piled up with bad cigars. black rs
your hat, so green that you may wiring water
from them. and so cheap that silver dollar
will buy out his stock In trade; but the
objects which catch the eye are the cylinders
IL inches high 10y g in breadth. made up, us
you would swear, from bIghts Of hawsers
soaked in tar. but which, in reality, are chew