nched so as to retain water, while the
plants are set on the ridges where they flourish and mature until the
buds and flowers are broken off. The harvest occurs in the autumn,
when the singular process of curing begins.

Abbott says of the culture and commerce of tobacco in Persia:

"Jehrum, South Persia, is the principal mart for tobacco,
which is brought here from all the surrounding districts,
and disposed of to traders, who distribute it over the
country far and near. These traders are numerous, and many
established here are wealthy; they usually transact their
business in their private houses, without resorting to the
caravansaries of which there are six in the place. There are
many grades and qualities of Shiraz tobacco but that
produced at Tuffres (according to Forster), a town about one
hundred miles to the south-west of Turshish, is esteemed the
best in Persia.

"Of the many varieties of the tobacco plant grown in the
East, that known as Manilla is among the most famous and the
most extensively cultivated. It is grown in several of the
Philippine islands, particularly in Luzon and the southern
group, known as the Visayos. The Philippines are a large
group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, discovered by
Magellan in 1521; they were afterwards taken posession of by
the Spaniards, in the reign of Philip II., from whom they
take their name.

"The islands are said to be eleven hundred in number, but
some hundreds of them are very small, and all are nominally
subject to the Spanish government at Manilla. The
Philippines produce a great variety of tropical products
such as rice, coffee, sugar, indigo, tobacco, cotton, cacao,
abaca, or vegetable silk, pepper, gums, cocoa-nuts,
dye-woods, timber of all descriptions for furniture and the
buildings, rattans of various kinds, and all the agreeable
fruits of the tropics. On the shores are found nacre, or
mother of pearl, magnificent pearls, bird's-nests, shells of
every description, an incredible quantity of excellent fish,
and the _trepang_, or _balate_, a sea-worm, or animal
substance, found on the shores of the Philippine Islands,
resembling a large pudding. The Chinese esteem it as a great
delicacy and mix it with fowl and vegetables. The
inhabitants practise various kinds of indust