THE companions of Christopher Columbus on the first voyage of discovery in 1492 found what has since been known as tobacco. Two weeks after sighting the first known land in the New West, that is to say, on the 27th of October, the ships of Columbus anchored off the shores of a great land, supposed to be the Kingdom of the Khan, to whose ruler Columbus bore letters of introduction from the King and Queen of Spain. Here—in the Island which is now called Cuba—exploring parties went ashore and proceeded into the interior seeking mines of gold and silver, which they had been told existed. They found no gold or silver, but many strange things, among them natives, with firebrands in their hands, and puffing smoke from their mouths and noses. After investigation into the nature of this peculiar custom the sailors tried it for themselves; but its adoption by the Spaniards was not immediate. The herb bore several names, but tabago, or tobago, or tabaco, seemed to be the one of most general adoption. It was the name of a peculiar-shaped implement, or pipe, which the natives used in smoking, and from this the name tobacco easily grew—though various European writers attempted to fix more romantic or poetic names upon the new narcotic.

Although tobacco was first known to the Spaniards in 1492, it was not until 1560 that it was known at all in Spain, and not until 1586 that it was used in Europe, when Ralph Lane, sent out to Virginia as Governor by Sir Walter Raleigh, returned and smoked the first pipe in England.

PLANTING TOBACCO.
PLANTING TOBACCO.

Thence very quickly the habit grew, until in the middle of the seventeenth century tobacco was sought and fÊted in every civilised country of the world.

It may be appropriate in this connection to call the reader’s attention to the fact that, although every known climate and soil of the earth have been tried in the cultivation of tobacco, Cuba, where it was discovered more than four hundred years ago, is still first in the quality produced, and Cuban tobacco need never fear a successful rival in excellence.

The cultivation of tobacco in Cuba was not begun until 1580, when the Spaniards laid out small plantations in the neighbourhood of Havana. Three hundred years later there were over ten thousand tobacco plantations in the Island. These first plantations were located in or near the Vuelta Abajo (Lower Valley) to the south-west of Havana; and although even at that early period these plantations produced the best tobacco in the Island, the product of the Vuelta Abajo did not reach its world-wide fame until two hundred and fifty years later. Having once reached the summit of tobacco glory, however, the Vuelta Abajo product has never lost its proud position, and to-day ranks as the first tobacco in the world.

This is due, of course, to soil and climatic conditions; for that peculiar skill or strange power, or whatever it may be, which the Cuban tobacco grower possesses is not more a characteristic of the Vuelta Abajo farmer than of other growers in the Island. Indeed, the Partidos leaf is larger in size, finer in texture, and richer in colour than its neighbour, the Vuelta Abajo, but it is lacking in the flavour which can only come from water, soil, and air. The Vuelta Abajo district occupies an area of about ninety miles in length by ten in width, and its province (Pinar del Rio) leads in the Cuban tobacco output, both as to quality and quantity.

Tobacco is the second leading industry of Cuba, with sugar first, and its cultivation is considerably in advance of sugar as concerns not only profit to acreage, but conditions of plantations and labour. A sugar plantation is a wide waste of monotony in appearance; while a tobacco plantation, or vega, as it is known, with its kitchen garden, its plantanos for feeding the hands, its flowering and fruit trees, its stone walls, its entrance gates and, pretty houses, is the most charming agricultural sight in Cuba except a coffee plantation. The average acreage of a vega is, say, thirty-five acres, and from a dozen to forty men are employed in each vega, chiefly lower-class whites. More skill, too, is required in the cultivation of tobacco than sugar, and the class of labour is considerably superior to that employed in sugar planting.

Only a small portion of the acreage of Cuba is occupied by tobacco plantations, notwithstanding tobacco is its second product in value. The bulk of it comes from the western end of the Island: the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana, and Santa Clara.

The following report on the tobacco product will show the amounts raised in each province, the grade, the amount consumed, and the amount exported:

While the methods of the tobacco grower differ in detail in the various provinces, in a general way one fairly broad description of tobacco raising will apply to all. The activity begins in September, at which time the seed is sown in the semilleros, or planting beds, which ordinarily lie higher than the common level of the farm. About the end of October, or say in fifty days, the young plants are transferred to a field prepared for them, and are set out at intervals of eighteen inches; great care being taken, as they are so delicate that a slight bruise upon their roots will kill them. The plants are removed from the nursery in the morning and set out in the evening. The growing plant is now carefully watched, the ground kept free from weeds, the tops of the plants pruned, and the suckers removed from the roots. The pruning is done with the thumb nail, as its dull edge closes the wound to the stem and prevents its bleeding. The three enemies to the plant are the common tobacco worm, a slug that destroys the leaf, and a butterfly from this slug, which lays its eggs on the leaves and kills them. These insects must be removed by hand, and the work is hard and disagreeable.

The plant is ready for cutting in January, and after being cut the leaves are hung on poles and dried in the open air and in the drying-sheds. When thoroughly dry, the leaves are removed from the poles, sprinkled with water in which tobacco stems have been left until fermentation has taken place, and the tobacco is packed, first into bunches, then into bales of 110 pounds each. In this form it is ready for shipment. The tobacco is classed according to quality, which also fixes the price. Fertilisers are not often used, as they affect the flavour.

One man can attend to 15,000 plants, which is about the product of two acres, and one acre has been known to yield a crop worth $3000, but, of course, quality, rather than quantity, makes such value. It is estimated that 80,000 persons are engaged in cultivating tobacco in Cuba.

Although profits of from ten to thirty-five per cent. have been realised on tobacco-raising in Cuba, very few foreigners, excepting an occasional German, have undertaken it. English and German companies own the majority of the manufacturing establishments in Havana and elsewhere, but they have found that it is more profitable to buy the raw material than to raise it, although an English company, manufacturing in Havana, is reported to have paid $1,000,000 for 18,000 acres in the Vuelta Abajo district.

Among the great Havana companies are the famous Henry Clay and Bock Company, Limited, with a capital of $2,500,000; the Partagos Company, of London, capital $1,500,000; H. Upmann & Company, a German corporation, and many others (120 in all), of varying nationalities; but no American companies.[16] Of the total exports of cigars and tobacco from Cuba, Havana ships by far the largest percentage, estimated at from ninety-five to ninety-nine per cent. of the whole. The largest number of cigars (188,755,000) were shipped in 1888, out of a total shipment to all countries of 219,892,000. In 1896, owing to the high tariff in the United States, the exports dropped to 60,000,000, estimated, and the entire shipments of Cuban tobacco to the United States decreased from 26,771,317 pounds, valued at $10,613,468, in 1896, to 4,410,073 pounds, valued at $2,306,067 for the first nine months of 1897.

The tobacco interests of Cuba have suffered, as all others have, from Spanish greed, dishonesty, and misrule; and now that the new era is at hand, changed conditions for the better will develop at once. No more fitting conclusion to this chapter could be made than to present the following clear and comprehensive statement of Mr. Gustavo Bock, of the Henry Clay and Bock Company, Limited, of Havana, on the production of tobacco in Cuba, its manufacture, its necessities in the present difficult situation, and the quickest and best means of improvement. Mr. Bock prepared this valuable report especially for the author.

“The war, with its sad and distressing consequences, has been the principal cause of the destruction of the farms employed in the cultivation of tobacco and the ruin of the tobacco industry.

“The principal causes of destruction are three: 1st. Depopulation of the country. It is an undoubted and recognised fact that the scarcity of men employed in the country has greatly reduced the production of tobacco, limiting it to small zones, where at great expense and sacrifice a small production has been obtained. This reduction in the population is estimated at sixty-five per cent., as may be seen by the statistics of the districts of Guane, Remates, Grifa, Cortes, and Sabalo, in the province of Pinar del Rio, to which—not to make these notes too long—we will limit ourselves. Before the war there were 36,000 inhabitants in the province named, and the average production of leaf tobacco was 60,000 to 65,000 bales. To-day there are scarcely 6000 inhabitants, and the last crop was barely 6000 bales; and these were produced thanks to the efforts of a foreign syndicate, which, risking its capital, and with few hopes of future compensation, began the work of reconstruction, thereby saving thousands of families from a certain death.

“2nd. Seizure of cattle. Cattle, which are the most important factor in agriculture, have been reduced to such small numbers that in some tobacco districts there are absolutely none, and in the few places where there are any left, they are entirely insufficient for the most urgent requirements. Cattle in this Island are of the first necessity. Without exaggerating the expression, oxen constitute the right hand of the farmer during the crop. Their work commences with the plough and continues without rest until the crop is gathered and taken to the seaboard. They cannot be replaced by any other animal, as has been proved by experience; practice having shown that horses and mules are unavailable in this service, in view of the special topography of the Vuelta Abajo district and the climate of the Island of Cuba. One of the chief reasons of this scarcity is the constant seizure of the cattle by the Government troops, carried on unmercifully. It is not necessary to prove that this state of affairs will bring about the complete annihilation of cattle, leaving the poor labourer and the majority of the inhabitants of the Vuelta Abajo in the most precarious circumstances. The consequence of this unjustifiable measure will affect not only those employed in the fields of that province, but also those who depend exclusively on the tobacco industry in the towns and in Havana. Without a crop, without raw material, the factories will have to close their doors, and the misery with all its horrors, brought about by the system of reconcentration, will only be renewed.

“3rd. Loss of capital and credit. The disappearance of capital, and the consequent absence of credit, are due essentially to the above mentioned causes. It is unnecessary to prove this statement; it has been the inevitable. These are, I repeat, the principal causes which have brought about the disastrous condition of the tobacco industry.

“That the reconstruction be permanent, it is necessary to give ample protection to the farmer, and for this we need:

WETTING THE TOBACCO LEAF.
WETTING THE TOBACCO LEAF.

“1st. The promotion of immigration. All obstacles to the return of the white man to his labour in the fields should be removed. As the existing number of white labourers is entirely insufficient for the needs of the cultivation of tobacco, it is necessary to favour as much as possible the immigration of Canary Islanders, who constituted before the war the majority of the tobacco growers. Their knowledge and condition make them suitable for the working of these fields in preference to others.

“2nd. Free importation of cattle. The immediate free importation of cattle is necessary, as only a few oxen and milchers are left. As I have already stated, oxen are the principal factors in the farmer’s work in this district, and it is necessary to import them without delay, free of duty, as the farmer cannot afford to pay the exorbitant duties now enforced. Immediate attention should be given this subject in view of the fact that work on the next crop must begin in a very short time.

“3rd. Inducement to capital and revival of credit. With the free importation of cattle, immigration of white labourers, and the establishment of a firm and stable government, undoubtedly this district would return to its former prosperous condition. Peace, order, and work would invite capital to lend a vigorous and impulsive hand to regain the district’s lost wealth and credit.

“4th. Construction of roads. The province of Pinar del Rio has always felt the want of communication with the commercial centres. After three years of war, between neglect and destruction, there are to-day practically no roads. This evil has caused an increase in freight rates, and in some cases the rates exceed the value of the goods. To promote the industry of the province, new roads should be built and the old ones reconstructed.

“5th. Establishment of a corps of rural police. The establishment of a corps of police is an important point to the country districts. They should be organised under conditions similar to those now given to the Civil Guards, an armed force for the persecution of bandits and the maintenance of order in the country districts of Cuba. It is not to be expected that all the vagabonds, thieves, and bad characters who existed before the revolution have decreased in number, considering the irregular lives they must have been leading, and that, now peace is restored, they will become honest and good workmen. Protection against this class of people can be afforded the tobacco grower by a well constituted corps of rural police.

“Protection and guarantee of the genuineness of Cuban tobacco. Now that we have pointed out the measures we consider most urgent to re-establish the industry of the tobacco provinces, we will mention what we consider necessary for the protection of the Vuelta Abajo tobacco leaf. It is not enough that the agriculture of the district should rise to its former state of prosperity; it is necessary, besides, to protect in some way the reputation of Cuban tobacco, and especially the Vuelta Abajo tobacco leaf, considered to-day without a rival in the world. These measures are purely economical. They concern an uncommon article, for the production of which means and expenses are used that entitle it to unusual protection, as will be shown by the following calculation:

“To produce 100 bales of tobacco, of 50 kilos each, a farmer would rent one caballeria of land (equalling 33-16/100 acres), one half of which he would employ for tobacco cultivation and the remainder for vegetables.

TOBACCO DRYING HOUSE.
TOBACCO DRYING HOUSE.

“So that a planter would have to sell each 50 kilos of tobacco at $47.27 to cover the cost of production. The foregoing figures show clearly that the production of tobacco in the Island of Cuba is more expensive than that in any other part of the world, special attention being necessary to its raising from the day it is planted to the cutting of the leaf, besides the subsequent treatment necessary to obtain good results; which work goes on night and day, if a good quality is desired. The following measures are therefore necessary for the protection of the industry:

“To insure a planter the sale of his crop at a price in proportion to the cost of production, it is absolutely indispensable that the present regulations prohibiting the importation and reimportation in this Island of all foreign manufactured or unmanufactured tobacco should continue in force; excepting only snuff and chewing tobacco, that have always been imported here and in no way hurt our trade or agriculture. Of the many laws and decrees which the Madrid Government has issued to favour this colony, none has been wiser than this prohibition of the importation of foreign leaf tobacco, thereby avoiding the importation of a leaf of inferior quality by unscrupulous persons, who after manufacturing the cigar in the way usual in this country, made perhaps with a small proportion of Cuban leaf, would export it as genuine Havana; a business which would prove most profitable to the adulterator, but which in time would totally ruin the reputation of our products, both agricultural and industrial, bringing about a decrease in prices which would eventually cause a cessation of the cultivation of tobacco.

“Production of tobacco in the Island, local consumption, exports, particularly those to the United States. The production of tobacco in normal times is estimated at:

or, on an average of 50 kilos per bale (110 pounds), 28,000,000 kilos, or 62,173,800 pounds.

“Note.—In Vuelta Abajo there is a good deal of uncultivated land, and with permanent peace and a stable government, that could insure protection to capitalists, this production could easily be increased in Vuelta Abajo alone to 500,000 bales. The provinces of Havana, Las Villas, and the Eastern Provinces would increase in the same proportion.

“In the manufacture of cigars, cigarettes, and packages of smoking tobacco for home consumption, the following number of bales of tobacco are used:

and for export as follows:

at 50 kilos per bale, 17,000,000 kilos or 36,956,000 pounds.

“The United States has bought and imported from the Island of Cuba as follows:

“Manufacturing: its importance and prospects. Having expressed our views concerning the production of leaf tobacco, we will now refer to its manufacture, an industry which has for several years dragged along, and which is of great importance and deserves the utmost attention. It is impossible to estimate how important an industry it would be to-day, if, instead of the setbacks it has received, its energies had been allowed to develop. The universal reputation which this leaf enjoys, owing to the excellency of its quality and the perfection of its manufacture, would increase threefold if the industry were promoted. In importance, it is to-day the second industry in the country, and in the provinces of Havana and Pinar del Rio it is the foremost. With 100,000 cwt. costing $4,000,000 in 1889, the following has been manufactured:

“In addition to this, the manufacture of cigarettes represents from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 per annum. However, the importance of this industry must not be gauged by these figures, but by the fact that the proceeds of this industry circulate rapidly and give life and movement to other industries that depend upon it, which in the city of Havana alone employ from 18,000 to 20,000 workmen, who, with their families, represent from 45,000 to 50,000 people.

“We have cursorily glanced over its actual importance: let us study its future. Even if under the auspices of peace, with the adoption of proper measures for the future of the agriculture and production of tobacco a brilliant and promising future is assured, the same cannot be said, unfortunately, of its industry and manufacture. The future of the former is most promising; it has no rival in the world; there is only one Vuelta Abajo district. The latter, besides, handicapped as it is by excessive competition, has the insurmountable obstacle of being taxed by the treasuries of countries burdened by a heavy national debt; while other nations, like the United States, levy heavy duties on cigars to protect their national industry in its various phases. As a proof of what we say, we call attention to the following figures showing the gradual decrease of the manufacture of tobacco in this Island, a decrease which nearly reaches fifty per cent. of normal. The following will show how the exportation of cigars decreased from 250,000,000 in 1889 to 123,000,000 in 1897:

“On the other hand, the exportation of leaf tobacco has increased fifty per cent.; from 177,000 bales exported in 1889 by the port of Havana, the exports in 1895 had increased to approximately 250,000 bales. It is easy, then, to understand the actual condition of the tobacco industry and its dependencies, and that of the numerous families who live by the work that this gives them; their future cannot be promising, unless laws are immediately enforced to protect them and raise them from the abject state in which they find themselves.

BALING TOBACCO.
BALING TOBACCO.

“Cause of decline. Besides the high customs tariffs on imported cigars abroad, among which we may mention those of the Argentine Republic, as well as the internal taxes of those countries where tobacco is a source of government revenue, one of the main reasons of the decline of the Cuban industry originated in the McKinley bill, which compelled many manufacturers to move their factories to the United States, owing to the want of protection on the raw material, thereby causing a considerable decrease in the production of the Island, and increasing in the same proportion that of the United States, in which country the manufacture has reached the enormous sum of 5,000,000,000 cigars per annum.

“Mode of protection. To protect and promote the prosperity of this industry it is necessary: 1st. To maintain the suppression of export duty on cigars ordered by the local Government of this Island on the 31st of last December, both on cigars and cigarettes and packages of cut tobacco, as well as on tobacco in fibre or powdered, which are considered as industrial products thereof.

“2nd. To maintain to its full extent the export duty on leaf tobacco, ordered at the same time, of $12 per 100 kilos for that grown in the provinces of the west and centre of the Island (Vuelta Abajo, Partido, and Remedios). The following data will prove the justice of this step: to manufacture in the United States 1000 cigars weighing 12 pounds, sold in Havana, unstemmed, 25 pounds of filler, and 5 pounds of wrapper, we should arrive at the following results:

making a difference of $46.65 against our tobacco.

“3rd. It is also indispensable that the prohibition of importing and reimporting all tobacco, whether prepared or in leaf, be maintained, and

“4th. If, as is to be hoped, the commercial relations between this Island and the North American Republic continue in perfect harmony and well directed, we may soon expect to have complete reciprocity and free exchange of trade.”

In this connection it will be interesting to note the relative importance of the tobacco-producing countries of the world. The following table is the latest and most reliable obtainable:

Thus the primary cost of the world’s tobacco ranges from $200,000,000 to $225,000,000 per annum. It is not in quantity but in quality that Cuba leads the world.