Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1913-01-31
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Tobacco that grows shoulder high in
the shade Of cocoanut palms and
comes in tho United States under
tariff that t,tals 60 pr cent. Of what
you pay for pure Havana cigar was
what Frank W. Hopper and r s.
Rouse recently walked through as
guests Of George Linn, plantation own-
er, about 30 miles from Havana.
II own some tobacco myself, her. 10
Maryland" said Mr.. Hopper, 'aud |
used 70 think that it was very respec-
table tobacco, but, and he spread lis
hands in gesture Of surrender, after
looking at that field in Havana I'm
satisfied that there is difference. In
Maryland our tobacco is in the open,
In Havana, /, is raised in the shade.
"we went down there just to see
where Havana tobacco comes from.
how II is handled aud whether we get in
this country what the manufactures
say they send US. And while we were
Investigating we learned that the time
will come when duties will be cut on
tobacco some day. so that man can
have his Havana smoke more reason
ably. Now you can't get lear
Havana filler for less than Is cents
I've a notion that this country will
some day annex Cubs, anyhow. All
the leading Cubans favor annexation,
which would solve mauy Industrial
and educational difficulties.
"Ws we're much interested in the
kind Of land they raise tobacco on, and
the way they handle it, II you've
been in the Piedmont section Of W. Vir-
ginia and noticed the land there, you've
seen something very much like Cuban
soil Its as light and fluffy as ferti-
lizer. One of the interesting sights was
their methods of raising shade-grown
wrappers. They plant much closer
than we do, and the natural shade Of
great fields is furnished by co icauut
palms. Under these palms there Is
plenty of soft daylight, as the shade
100 to $50 feet in the air, and it really
amounts not to complete shading but
to softening OF sunlight to the last
degree. Artifcially, they shade open
fields by building fences Of eheesecloth
and fixing sort of tent over the
whole of the same material. This
forces the light through protecting
screen.
In Maryland we harvest tobacco by
going along and cutting it out much as |
we would cit weeds. They are more
particular ia Cuba. AS the leaves ma
ture they cut them off one at tine. IS
carefully as you would cut rose from
its parent stem. Then these leaves
are taken to the curing house. where
girls thread them carefully and string
them up to cure, Our host showed US
fully cured leaves that were as fine as
silk, and turned them back 10 display
the fibre.
''Then they have the fine art of blend
ing. not by machinery bat by hand
Leaves of dlffer,nt quality are classified
in piles. The blander takes one leaf
from one pile, another from the next
another from the third and so on until
the blend is completed, aud then twists
the whole into bundle and ties it.
There you haYe the perfect blend All
defective parts aud tough ends are
thrown away Nothing goes into the
blend but the very best OF all the to-
bscco. We followed up the tobacco
from field to warehouse aud factory,
from Havana to Tampa, and found
everything just as it had been repre-
seuted from which we conclude that
when cigar is represented as being
clear Havana. it is clear Havana.
10 Cuba the par tation owners rela-
ton to labor is one of abrupt methods.
Necessarily, the owner must keep
tight rein on his organization. And
when it comes to question OF rIght-of-
Nay on the public road-well, Mr.
Hopper told little story to illustrate:
at may sound frontier-like but was
really amusing" he said. ''Our host
took us up to his place in an automo-
bile. Away out in the country negro
driver blocked the way with loaded
wagon. ar. Lion shouted to him but
he was sound asleep. Thin our host
in the most matter-ot-fact way possible
to imagine, drew revolver and fired
three shots in the air, bangl bang
bang Mr.. Driver on the wagon re-
covered consciousness with ludicrous
haste. and gave US all the road we
needed.
what did the driver say9 Make
any comment
"oh, yes" said Mr.. Hopper, s'he
did say something, but his profanity
was very crude and not at all impress
sive."