Abstract
THIS is a small book of seventy pages. The first half is occupied by pleasant matter relating to the history of tobacco in Europe not strictly or seriously relevant to the title. The latter half redeems the whole from the stigma of being unpractical. An interesting account is given of the despotic regulations of the “Régie des Tabacs,” a Government Department which grants licenses for growing, manufacturing, and selling tobacco throughout France, and whose powers extend to the nomination of the cultivators, the variety of tobacco to be grown, the number of plants per hectare, and even the number of leaves permitted per plant, so that the unfortunate cultivator may and must give a perfectly accurate account of his yield down to a single leaf. The methods of cultivation followed in France are described plainly and apparently practically. The important question as to whether tobacco can be grown profitably in England is answered unhesitatingly in the affirmative, and a sensible scheme is propounded for bringing its culture into harmony with the Excise. The coldness exhibited by our Royal Agricultural Society towards the tobacco movement last April is strongly animadverted upon. As to our climate, Mr. Taylor writes as follows:—“It is stated to be too cold, too damp, too uncertain in England to allow of the introduction of the proposed culture. I cannot conceive or allow that there can exist any sensible difference between the climate of the southern counties of England and that of Picardy and Flanders. I do not take notice of Prussia and even Russia, where tobacco is grown. I believe that the general climate in Southern England is more genial than in the countries across the Channel, and I feel confident that in the said southern counties of England and in Ireland tobacco could be advantageously grown. I recall my former statement that the plant is only on the ground from June to September: cold winters, early frosts, and November fogs have naught to do with the question.” The author does not appear to take into account the comparative coolness of the summer months in England, which has always prevented the successful growth of maize, vines, and probably tobacco also. This very readable little book, with its unstudied side-lights upon French rural life, and its pleasant style, may be recommended without any hesitation to the reading public.
Tobacco a Farmer's Crop.
By Philip Meadows Taylor. (London: Edward Stanford, 1886.)
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WRIGHTSON, J. Tobacco a Farmer's Crop . Nature 35, 52 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/035052a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035052a0