Venezuela, the Virginia blanca, the Corazon de Vaca, the Cubano, and others. As yet the selection of the variety best suited for the purposes of the manufacturer has not been made. He prefers a leaf with color, elasticity, large intercostal spaces, and small ribs, which are the best for the manufacture of the different kinds of cigars which the consumer demands essential qualities which oblige the maker to seek the locality productive of good tobacco, indeed the only selection that is now made.

"The cultivation of tobacco presents three principal phases: First, the seed; second, the general cultivation in all its details; third, the cutting and curing of the leaf.

"In order to obtain good seed, as a general rule forest land or that next to rivers is selected. When the land is properly prepared, the seed is irrigated from the 30th of August until the end of September, special attention being given to germination until the plant is sufficiently developed to be transplanted to the field where it is to be cultivated.

"Some months before the seed is sown the land is prepared, the plowing being done in the months of June and July. If the ground is full of weeds, they are turned under, so that as they decay they may serve as a fertilizer. In August the ground is plowed again, and as a final preparation it is harrowed so as to be kept loose. The months of October, November, December, and January are the months in which tobacco is sown, October being the month in which it is most likely to secure good results, because the plants grow during the season of light showers. The hard rains of April injure many leaves.

"Tobacco fields require careful cultivation and constant attention in order to overcome the many insects that attack the plant. The cultivator must persecute them morning, noon, and night.

"The tobacco grower, as the plant develops, separates the leaf from the plant, which should not be done until said plant is three months old. The leaves are cut off with the proper instrument in handfuls, which the laborer places on his arm, in order to deposit them with much. care on wooden frames, and carries them to the curing house, where they are placed with the proper spaces between them.

"From 16,000 to 20,000 plants should be set out on each cuerda of land.

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"The leaves are cured in houses covered in such a manner that the air does not penetrate, and never the rays of the sun nor the rains. When the leaf is cured it is taken from the curing house, and after cutting off a small piece of the stem attached it is put through the first 'sweat,' or, rather, a slight fermentation.

"When the tobacco is sorted the leaves are united in bunches of 15 or 20, tied together at the base, and this bunch is known as a manilla. These manillas are then arranged according to classes, forming large

piles, so that they undergo the second fermentation, which should be watched and brought to an end at the proper time. Finally the manillas are packed in yaguas (palm bark),; being in this form ready to be stored in the warehouses.

"The tobacco leaves undergo three fermentations or sweatings in the months of April, June, and August.

"There is much tobacco which, after undergoing the three fermen tations, loses its strength and becomes in this manner of poor quality for the manufacture of cigars. In Latin America this is called tubano. "The manufacturer, jealous for the reputation of his factory, always keeps this fact in mind, and therefore it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the place of production and the importance which a good producing zone acquires.

"The tobacco produced on the coast, in forests, and other places, not suited to be made into cigars, is employed in the manufacture of fine cut chewing tobacco. This is prepared in the following manner: A given number of leaves are twisted together, and to this twist is added another equal to the former, and this process is continued until a cord or rope some 80 yards long is produced, which is then rolled like thread on a spool, forming a roll a yard in diameter, covered with banana leaves.

"In order to cut or thread the tobacco, it is moistened with salt water or an infusion of coffee, for the purpose of developing a sufficient quantity of nicotine and acquiring greater strength when it ferments. Many of these rolls are lost after the last sweat, which is in August, owing to the poor quality of the tobacco, which fact the merchant keeps in mind and buys with the proviso that he will pay 10 or more dollars a roll, if in August it should not spoil. After this date the roll is safe and the tobacco improves with age.

"In conclusion, this plant, which gives no element of life to the human organism, is one of those most desired by mankind, and develops an industrial-agricultural movement of such importance that it gives employment to thousands of persons, forming an industry which represents millions of dollars, in which skill and good taste unite in order that the cigar smoker may reduce their products to smoke and ashes, delighting his senses in a grateful and aromatic combustion."

In remarking on the origin and production of tobacco in Porto Rico Señor Coll y Toste writes:

"Our tobacco is an indigenous plant. The Government originally was opposed to smoking, and there exist two Papal bulls excommunicating any one using it. There exists also a royal cedula of 1608, prohibiting the cultivation of tobacco in Porto Rico. In 1634 planting was resumed. According to statistics in 1770, the production of tobacco amounted to 83,651 arrobas, and, according to the report of Governor O'Reylly, in 1776 the production amounted only to 28,070