miral Sir Francis Drake having, on his way home from the Spanish Main, in 1586, touched at Virginia, and brought away some forlorn colonists, is reported to have first imported tobacco into England. But according to Lobel, this plant was cultivated in Britain before the year 1570; and was consumed by smoking in pipes by Sir Walter Raleigh and companions so early as the year 1584. The first time Sir Walter Raleigh smoked, as reported, it was in private; he had called his servant for a jug of water; when the man brought it in, he saw the smoke coming out of his master's mouth, and naturally supposing he was on fire, as naturally threw the jug of water over him, to put it out. Whether this anecdote be true or not is imma terial. The introduction and use of tobacco form a singular chapter in the history of mankind; and it may well excite astonishment that the discovery in America of a nauseous and poisonous weed, of an acrid taste and disagreeable odor, in short, whose only properties are deleterious, should have had so great an influence on the social condition of all nations; that it should have become an article of extensive Commerce; and that its culture should have spread more rapidly than that of the most useful plants. At the time of the discovery of America, tobacco was in frequent use among the Indians, and the practice of smoking was common to almost all the tribes; and by it they pretended to cure a great variety of diseases. Its introduction into the Eastern Continent was everywhere marked with ridicule and persecution. A book was written against it even by the king of Great Britain, James I., and perhaps a hundred others of the same character were published in various languages. Pope Urban VIII. excommunicated all who took tobacco in churches, and the empress Elizabeth also prohibited the use of it in churches. In Transylvania, an ordinance was published, in 1689, threatening those who should plant tobacco with the confistion of their estates. The Grand Duke of Moscow and the king of Persia forbade its use under penalty of the loss of the nose, or even of death. At present, the aspect of affairs is so much altered, that all the sovereigns of Europe, and most of those of other parts of the world, derive a considerable part of their revenues from tobacco. Having been introduced into England by Raleigh and other young men of fashion, its use rapidly spread in that country, as it previously had done among the Portuguese, Spaniards, and French. During the reign of George III., the practice of smoking, which had previously been exceedingly prevalent, went out of fashion, and was nearly superseded, among the higher and middle classes, by that of snuff-taking. Latterly, however, smoking has been revived in that country. The practice of smoking has become so general, especially in Holland and Germany, that it constitutes a daily luxury with nearly all the peasantry of those countries, as well as with the more indolent and wealthy classes. Tobacco is a powerful narcotic, and also a strong stimulant, and taken internally, even in small doses, it proves powerfully emetic and cathartic. The oil is celebrated for its extreme virulence, and when applied to a wound, is said, by Redi, to be as fatal as the poison of a viper. The decoction, powder, and smoke are used in agriculture to destroy insects. The article is not only used for smoking, but for snuff. In the manufacture of the latter, various matters are added for giving it an agreeable scent; and hence the numerous varieties of snuff. Virginia has been famous for the successful cultivation of the tobacco plant. It became the staple of that province, but it is now giving way to a much wider cultivation of wheat. The tobacco plant, when full grown, will rise to six feet in hight. The stem is pretty straight, rather hairy and clammy. The leaves are of considerable length, of a yellow green; those nearest the ground are the largest, but they make the coarsest tobacco. As the plants grow they require much attention, to keep the ground between the rows clear from weeds, and to pull off all the lowest and coarsest leaves from the plant itself, in order to feed more fully the upper ones. The laborious work is done by negroes. When the leaves turn brown the plant is ripe. The plants, as they ripen, are cut down, and laid in a heap to heat, after which they are hung up separately to dry, in houses built on purpose. The tobacco of Cuba, for smoking, is the best raised. Recently, the exportation of cigars from that island is said to have amounted to 200,000 boxes a year. It is stated that as early as 1650, the fields, gardens, streets, and publie squares of Jamestown, in Virginia, were planted with tobacco, which was used as a currency in that as well as many other of the Southern States. As a sample of this, in 1669, by enactment in Virginia, heinous social crimes were punished by a fine of from five hundred to one thousand pounds of tobacco. For the thirty years preceding 1775, the annual export of tobac co from the United States was 40,000,000 pounds. In the next seven years, which embraced the Revolutionary War, the entire export was 86,000,000 pounds, but 34,000,000 of this was captured by the British. In the three succeeding years the export was about 90,000,000 pounds. The whole crop of tobacco in the United States in 1847 was estimated at a little over 220,000,000 pounds, which, at the low price of five cents the pound, amounts to the sum of $11,000,000. The use of tobacco has vastly increased in France since the last Duke of Orleans set the fashion of smoking in the streets, in order to lend a hand to government sales. Tobacco, a filthy weed, the vestibule of the drunkard's home, assaults one at every step here-not in the form of chewing, but in puffing bad cigars. Its sale is a rigid monopoly, and to retail it, is a privilege which requires a friend at court. Throughout France the little tobacco shops all look alike-boxes on the counter with separate lids, marked one sou and upwards-prices fixed for the cigars by the government, to which must be added snuff, but never chewing tobacco. The profit the government derives from this borders on a hundred million francs. An attempt has been made to raise tobacco in Algiers, which may not be uninteresting, in the following details, to our growers:-In 1851, the number of planters was only 137, whereas, in 1852, it was 1,073. The number of hectares (a hectare is about 23 acres) under the tobacco plant was 446 in 1851, and 1,095 in 1852. The government has announced that it will purchase this year 720,000 kilograms of this tobacco, whereas the quantity last year was only 303,000. The total of the present year's crop is estimated at 1,780,000 kilograms, of which 700,000 have been grown by the na tives, and the rest by Europeans. There is a considerable increase in the product of Connecticut seed leaf, but in most of the other States, particularly Virginia and Louisiana, there was a marked decline, corresponding with the exports of the following years, thus testing in some degree the accuracy of the census reports. The census returns of the United States for 1840 and 1850 show in the latter period a considerable falling off in the production, as follows: POUNDS OF TOBACCO RAISED IN THE UNITED STATES PER CENSUS. 64,955 317 471,657 744 70,222 Ohio...... 5,942,275 10,480,967 1,922 325,018 272 Maryland 24,816,012 D. of Columbia. 55,550 857,619 Indiana Illinois.. 21,199,281 Missouri 15,000 Iowa.... 56,516,492 Wisconsin N. Carolina. 16,772,359 12,058,147 California 1,000 S. Carolina.. Georgia... Total...... ... 219,163,319 199,532,494 STATEMENT EXHIBITING THE NUMBER OF HOGSHEADS OF TOBACCO EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES FROM 1790 TO 1835, INCLUSIVE, AND THE AVERAGE PRICE PER POUND, AND GROSS VALUE FROM 1802 TO 1835, INCLUSIVE; ALSO THE NUMBER OF POUNDS OF MANUFACTURED TOBACCO AND SNUFF EXPORTED FROM 1791 To 1835, INCLUSIVE, AND GROSS VALUE FROM 1817 TO 1835, INCLUSIVE. 147,168 41 7,469,819 5,312,971 44,399 538,498 6,854,856 52,458 695,914 7,844,592 37,051 658,950 6,698,507 36,192 568,435 7,159,397 49,888 613,044 5,918,583 44,690 648,832 1851..... 9,219,251 7,235,358 37,422 1,143,547 The tobacco trade, which for some years was under a depression, has, within the last two, somewhat improved, as far as an increased average price per hhd. goes. In order to observe the operation of this trade through a series of years, we have compiled from official sources the number of hhds. and export value sent out of the United States annually. We have divided the last twenty-four years into three periods of seven years each, and the last ten years. This division embraces the operation of each tariff. The seven years up to 1828, were of comparative low duties; 1828 and up to 1834, was the period of the highest. The reductions under the compromise. began in 1834, and continued down to 1841, inclusive. In 1842, the duties upon articles before free, were levied, and in 1843 the tariff of 1842 began its operation, and in 1847, the present tariff. The result is as follows: EXPORT OF TOBACCO FROM THE UNITED STATES. The destination of the tobacco exported from the United States, in the last few years, has been as follows: As compared with the year 1849, the tobacco trade has been very good. That is to say, for 5,000 hhds. less tobacco, the United States apparently get $3,400,000 more money. This return, however, does not show the losses sustained by consignors to foreign markets, growing out of the machinery of advances, forced sales, slaughtering, buying in, and reclamations; by which process it has been said that American tobacco may be sent from here and come back for the manufacture of cigars, paying duty, and under |