y order very faire, long leaves, broad,
smooth and sharp-pointed, soft and of a light green color;
so fastened about the stalk that they seem to embrace and
compass it about. The flowers grow at the top of the stalks
in shape like a bell-flower, somewhat long and cornered;
hollow within, of a light carnation color, tending to
whiteness towards the rims. The seed is contained in long,
sharp-pointed cods, or seed-vessels, like unto the seed of
yellow henbane, but somewhat smaller, and browner of color.
The root is great, thicke and of a wooddy substance, with
some threddy strings annexed thereunto."

MEXICAN TOBACCO.

The tobacco plant seems to have been cultivated in Mexico from time
immemorial. Francisco Lopez de Gomara, who was chaplain to Cortez,
when he made conquest of Mexico, in 1519, alludes to the plant and the
custom of smoking; and Diaz relates that the king Montezuma had his
pipe brought with much ceremony by the chief ladies of his court,
after he had dined and washed his mouth with scented water. The
Spaniards encouraged its cultivation, and to this day it is grown in
several of the coast states. Various kinds are cultivated, but chiefly
a variety bearing yellow flowers, with a large leaf of fine flavor
resembling the Havana. The plant is a favorite with the Mexicans, who
prefer it to any other product grown. It is cultivated like most
varieties of the tropics, and is hardly inferior to any grown in the
West Indies, and is especially adapted for cigars and cigaritos. After
the first harvest another, and sometimes a third crop is gathered by
allowing one shoot to grow from the parent root, which oftentimes
develops to a considerable size. The quality of leaf, however, is
inferior; as is the case with all second and third crops grown in this
manner.

ST. DOMINGO TOBACCO.

This well-known West India variety is inferior to most kinds grown on
the neighboring islands. The plant attains a large size, cures dark,
is coarse, and of inferior flavor. It is a favorite tobacco in
Germany, and thousands of Ceroons are annually shipped to Hamburg. The
West India islands produce many varieties of tobacco, which is owing
more to the composition of the soil and climate than to the method of
cultivation and curing.

The demand for St. Domingo tobacco is limited. It has no established
reputation in this country, and on account of the high duties can not
compete with