h the quantity received from the
interior, and if there be any material difference the
shipper has to account for it. If any has been sold for
consumption in Turkey, duty has to be paid upon the amount;
and in order that no part of his shipment may be used in the
country, he has to sign a bond that the tobacco shall not be
landed in any other port of Turkey. On the arrival of the
tobacco in England, the landing certificates are forwarded
to Turkey. It is in this way that the trade is retained in
the hands of a few Greeks, who naturally put every obstacle
in the way of the foreigner, whose sole remedy is at last
found to be the payment of the universal 'backshish,' to the
comptroller of customs."

The merchant who buys the tobacco of the planter at a low price, and
thereby takes the profit from him of cultivating it, is preyed upon in
the same manner by the Greek buyers who have the sole monopoly of the
trade. Like Shiraz tobacco, that of Turkey has to be handled
frequently and pass through several stages of curing before it is
ready to be manufactured. In this respect it is unlike most of the
tobaccos of America, but its treatment is not unlike that of the
varieties of the East.

[Illustration: Japan tobacco field.]

The tobacco plant is cultivated with great success in many of the
provinces of Japan, and is exported in large quantities to Europe. The
leaf is excellent, and is in request by many buyers of Eastern
tobaccos. Robertson gives the following interesting account of the
Japan tobacco fields:--

"According to a native account, tobacco was introduced into
Japan in the year 1605, and was first planted at Nagasaki in
Hizen. It is now very generally grown throughout the
country. In the province of Awa, where a great deal of
tobacco is grown, the seed is sown in early spring in fields
well exposed to the sun and duly prepared for its reception.
Well sifted stable manure is strewn over the field, and the
seedlings appear after the lapse of about twenty days. The
old manure is then swept away, and liquid manure applied
from time to time. If the plants are too dense they are
thinned out. The larger plants are now planted out into
fields well prepared for the purpose in rows, with about
eight inches space between each plant, the furrows between
each row being about two feet wide. They a