hus describes the tobacco of the
Philippines: "It is an annual, growing to the height of
a fathom, and furnishes the tobacco for the _estancos_
(licensed shops). General opinion prefers the tobacco of
Gapan, but that of the Pasy districts, Laglag and
Lambunao, in Iloilo, of Maasin or Leyte, is appreciated
for its fine aroma; also that of Cagayan, after being
kept for some years,--for this use like the tobacco of
the island of Negros it burns the mouth."]

[Footnote 70: The seedlings are planted in January, and
the greater part of the crop comes forward in May and
June.]

The plants are 'set' wide apart, and during the first two months are
carefully cultivated, when the top is broken off and the leaves
allowed to ripen. In some respects, Manilla tobacco is one of the best
varieties of the plant cultivated, and were it not for its non-burning
quality, it would have but few rivals among cigar tobaccos.[71] We
have thus, at some length, described nearly half of the varieties of
tobacco now being cultivated. There are, however, others as well known
and of equal value and favor. Some of these are of superior quality
and of world-wide repute. Of those described, the varieties grown in
the tropics are the most celebrated and of the finest flavor. As when
first discovered, the tobaccos of the tropics command the highest
prices, and possess qualities not easily transmitted when grown in a
temperate clime.

[Footnote 71: "The soil of many of the islands
especially of the Bisayas is favorable to the growth of
tobacco. The island of Negros formerly produced some of
very good quality."]

CHAPTER XII.

TOBACCO HOUSES.

The drying houses or sheds for the curing and storing of tobacco are
among the most interesting objects to be seen on the tobacco
plantation. These sheds vary in size from a small structure capable of
holding only a few thousand plants to the immense sheds with
sufficient capacity for hanging the products of several acres. In the
Connecticut valley, the Southern States, at the West, and in the
Philippine Islands these tobacco sheds are often several hundred feet
in length, built in the most substantial manner and provided with
suitable side doors and ventilators for the free passage of air, and
th