Difference between revisions of "Tobacco"

From Gardenology.org - Plant Encyclopedia and Gardening Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(Redirecting to Nicotiana)
 
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:DunhillEarlyMorningPipeMurrays.jpg|thumb|275px|Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking]]
+
#REDIRECT [[Nicotiana]]
[[Image:DunhillLightFlake.jpg|thumb|275px|Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes]]
 
'''Tobacco''' is an [[agricultural]] product processed from the fresh [[leaves]] of plants in genus ''[[Nicotiana]]''. Tobacco has a long history of use in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] culture and played an important part in the foundation of the [[United States of America]] going back to [[colonial]] times. Commercially available in both dried and cured forms, it is often smoked (see [[tobacco smoking]]) in the form of a [[cigar]] or [[cigarette]], or in a [[smoking pipe (tobacco)|stem pipe]], [[Water Pipe]] or [[hookah]]. Tobacco can also be chewed, "dipped" (placed between the cheek and gum), or sniffed into the nose as finely powdered [[#Snuff|snuff]]. Many countries set a [[smoking age]] regulating when youths may legally buy and use tobacco products.
 
 
 
All means of [[consumption]] result in the [[absorption (chemistry)|absorption]] of [[nicotine]] in varying amounts into the user's [[bloodstream]], and over time the development of [[Physiological tolerance|tolerance]] and [[Chemical dependency|dependence]]. Absorption quantity, frequency and speed seem to have a direct relationship with how strong a dependence and tolerance, if any, might be created. A [[lethal dose]] of nicotine is contained in as little as one half of a cigar or three cigarettes; however, only a small fraction of the nicotine contained in these products is actually released into the smoke, and most clinically significant cases of [[nicotine poisoning]] are the result of concentrated forms of the compound used as [[insecticide]]s. Some sources report, however, that even a discarded cigarette butt can contain enough nicotine to kill a small child. <ref>http://marshallbrain.com/cp/cigarette-butts.htm</ref> Other active alkaloids in tobacco include [[harmala alkaloid]]s.
 
 
 
Long-term tobacco use carries significant risks of developing various [[cancer]]s as well as [[stroke]]s and severe [[cardiovascular]] and [[respiratory disease]]s.<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16229246&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum Health harms have induced by cigarette smoking]</ref>
 
Significantly shorter life expectancies have been associated with tobacco smoking.<ref>[http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/smokehealth.htm Smoking - Health Risks]</ref> It has been shown that tobacco may cause lasting brain changes just like morphine or cocaine.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6378179.stm Smoking alters brain 'like drugs']</ref>
 
Many jurisdictions have enacted [[smoking ban]]s in effort to minimize possible damage to [[public health]] caused by [[tobacco smoking]]. The substantially increased risk of developing cancer as a result of tobacco usage seems to be due to the plethora of [[nitrosamine]]s and other [[carcinogen]]ic compounds found in tobacco and its residue as a result of [[Anaerobic respiration|anaerobic]] heating, either due to smoking or to flue-curing or [[#fire-cured|fire-curing]]. The use of flue-cured or fire-cured smokeless tobacco in lieu of smoked tobacco reduces the risk of respiratory cancers but still carries significant risk of oral cancer.<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15373710&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum Oral cancers in Mumbai, India: a fifteen years perspective with respect to incidence trend and cumulative risk]</ref>
 
 
 
In contrast, use of steam-cured chewing tobacco ([[#Snus|snus]]), avoids the carcinogenicity by not generating nitrosamines, but the negative effects of the nicotine on the [[cardiovascular system]] and [[pancreas]] are not ameliorated.<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9411127&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSum Overview of knowledge of health effects of smokeless tobacco. Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality because of snuff]</ref>
 
More than 400,000 Americans a year die from smoking; 276,000 men and 142,000 women.<ref>http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/cig_smoking_mort.htm</ref> Interestingly, despite all of the health problems attributed to tobacco, smoking has been linked to a reduction in risk of developing Parkinson's disease.<ref>http://health.yahoo.com/news/177208;_ylt=AjM816sX7EgGwpbG7dznn.SmxbAB</ref>
 
 
 
One study from the [[Aristotle University]] of [[Thessaloniki]] in [[Greece]] measured the amount of naturally occurring [[radium]] and [[polonium]] found in Greece's tobacco leaves. The radiation dose was discovered to be nearly a thousand times more than the amount of [[Caesium-137]] found in the leaves of plant life adjacent to the [[Chernobyl disaster]]. Despite the actual radiation dose attained by tobacco smokers to be only 10 percent of the [[mean]] dose any person receives from the environment, some scientists believe that this radioactive content is a major cause of cancer deaths in smokers and not nicotine or tar. <ref>New Scientist, 2 June 2007, page 6</ref>
 
 
 
==History==
 
[[Image:Native American tobacco flower.jpg|thumb|200px|Tobacco Flower, Leaves, and Buds.]]
 
Native Americans used tobacco before Europeans arrived in North & South America, and early European settlers in North & South America learned to smoke and brought the practice back to [[Europe]], where it became hugely popular.  At extremely high doses, tobacco becomes [[Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants|hallucinogenic]]; accordingly, Native Americans generally did not use the drug [[recreational drug|recreationally]].  Rather, it was often consumed in extraordinarily high quantities and used as an [[entheogen]]; among some tribes, this was done only by experienced [[Shamanism|shamans]] or [[medicine man|medicine men]].  Eastern North American tribes would use tobacco only on sacred or ceremonial occasions, as to seal a bargain, and would smoke it at such occasions in all stages of life, even in childhood, without ever suffering from addiction. It was believed that the exhaled tobacco smoke was capable of carrying one's thoughts to [[heaven]].
 
 
 
In addition to being smoked, uncured tobacco was often eaten, drunk as tobacco juice, or used in enemas.  Early missionaries often reported on the ecstatic state caused by tobacco. As its use spread into Western cultures, however, it was no longer used in such large quantities or for entheogenic purposes.  Religious use of tobacco is still common among many [[indigenous people]]s, particularly those of [[South America]] and North America.  Among the [[Cree]] and [[Ojibway]] of Canada it is offered to the Creator with a prayer; it is used in sweatlodges, pipe ceremonies, smudging and presented as a gift. A gift of tobacco is tradition when asking an Ojibway elder a question of a spiritual nature. Because of its sacred and respected nature, tobacco abuse (thoughtlessly and addictively chain smoking) is seriously frowned upon by the Algonquian tribes of Canada, as it is believed that if one so abuses the plant, it will abuse that person in return, causing sickness.
 
 
 
With the arrival of Europeans, tobacco became one of the primary products fueling the colonization of the future American South, long before the creation of the [[United States]]. The initial colonial expansion, fueled by the desire to increase tobacco production, was one cause of the first colonial conflicts with [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and became a driving factor for the use of [[African slave trade|African slave]] labor.
 
 
 
In [[1609]], [[John Rolfe]] arrived at the [[Jamestown Settlement]] in [[Virginia]]. He is credited as the first man to successfully raise tobacco for commercial use at Jamestown. The tobacco raised in Virginia at that time, ''[[Nicotiana rustica]]'' (often referred to as Brown Gold), was not to the liking of the Europeans, but Rolfe had brought some seed for ''[[Nicotiana tabacum]]'' with him from [[Bermuda]]. Shortly after arriving, his first wife died, and he married [[Pocahontas]], a daughter of Chief [[Powhatan]]. Tobacco was used as [[currency]] by the Virginia settlers for years, and Rolfe was able to make his fortune farming it for export at [[Varina, Virginia|Varina Farms Plantation]]. When he left for [[England]] with Pocahontas, he was wealthy. When Rolfe returned to Jamestown following Pocahontas's death in England, he continued to improve the quality of tobacco. By [[1620]], 40,000 pounds of tobacco were shipped to England. By the time John Rolfe died in [[1622]], Jamestown was thriving as a producer of tobacco and Jamestown's population would top 4,000. Tobacco led to the importation of the colony's first black slaves in [[1619]]. In the year 1616, 2,500 pounds of tobacco were produced in [[Jamestown]] [[Virginia]], quickly rising up to 119,000 pounds in 1620.
 
 
 
[[Image:Tobacco.JPG|thumb|250px|This 1670 painting shows enslaved Africans working in the tobacco sheds of a colonial tobacco plantation]]
 
 
 
The importation of tobacco into Europe was not without resistance and controversy, even in the 17th century. King [[James VI of Scotland and I of England|James I]] of England (James VI of [[Scotland]]) wrote a famous [[polemic]] titled [[A Counterblast to Tobacco|''A Counterblaste to Tobacco'']] in [[1604]] (published in [[1672]]). In his essay, the king denounced tobacco use as "[a] custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse." In that same year, an English [[statute]] was enacted that placed a heavy protective [[tariff]] on every [[pound (mass)|pound]] of tobacco brought into England.
 
 
 
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, tobacco continued to be the "cash crop" of the Virginia Colony, along with [[The Carolinas]]. Large tobacco warehouses filled the areas near the wharfs of new thriving towns such as [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] and [[Manchester, Virginia|Manchester]] at the [[fall line]] ([[head of navigation]]) on the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]], and [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]] on the [[Appomattox River]].
 
 
 
Until 1883, tobacco excise tax accounted for one third of internal revenue collected by the United States government.
 
 
 
A historian of the American South in the late 1860s reported on typical usage in the region where it was grown:<ref>''A History of the United States since the Civil War'' Volume: 1.  by Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer; 1917. P 93.</ref>
 
 
 
{{quotation|The chewing of tobacco was well-nigh universal. This habit had been widespread among the agricultural population of America both North and South before the war. Soldiers had found the quid a solace in the field and continued to revolve it in their mouths upon returning to their homes. Out of doors where his life was principally led the chewer spat upon his lands without offence to other men, and his homes and public buildings were supplied with spittoons. Brown and yellow parabolas were projected to right and left toward these receivers, but very often without the careful aim which made for clean living. Even the pews of fashionable churches were likely to contain these familiar conveniences. The large numbers of Southern men, and these were of the better class (officers in the Confederate army and planters, worth $20,000 or more, and barred from general amnesty) who presented themselves for the pardon of President Johnson, while they sat awaiting his pleasure in the ante-room at the White House, covered its floor with pools and rivulets of their spittle. An observant traveller in the South in 1865 said that in his belief seven-tenths of all persons above the age of twelve years, both male and female, used tobacco in some form. Women could be seen at the doors of their cabins in their bare feet, in their dirty one-piece cotton garments, their chairs tipped back, smoking pipes made of corn cobs into which were fitted reed stems or goose quills. Boys of eight or nine years of age and half-grown girls smoked. Women and girls "dipped" in their houses, on their porches, in the public parlors of hotels and in the streets.}}
 
 
 
As a lucrative crop, tobacco has been the subject of a great deal of biological and genetic research. The economic impact of Tobacco Mosaic disease was the impetus that led to the isolation of [[Tobacco mosaic virus]], the first virus to be identified; the fortunate coincidence that it is one of the simplest viruses and can self-assemble from purified [[nucleic acid]] and [[protein]] led in turn to the rapid advancement of the field of [[virology]]. The [[1946]] [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] was shared  by [[Wendell Meredith Stanley]] for his [[1935]]  work crystallizing the virus, and showing that it still remains active.
 
 
 
There are claims that in the mummies of a number of [[Pharaoh]]s of [[Ancient Egypt]] have been found heavy traces of nicotine, [[hashish]]  and [[cocaine]].[http://www.science-frontiers.com/online/search.cgi?zoom_query=Tobacco&zoom_per_page=50&zoom_and=1&zoom_sort=0]
 
 
 
==Etymology==
 
 
 
The Spanish word "''tabaco''" is thought to have its origin  in [[Arawakan]] language, particularly, in the [[Taino]] language of the [[Caribbean]], said to refer to a roll of these leaves (according to [[Bartolome de Las Casas]], 1552) or to the "tabago", a kind of y-shaped pipe for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo, the leaves themselves were referred to as Cohiba, but Sp. tobacco (also It. tobacco) was commonly used to define medicinal [[herb]]s from [[1410]], originating from the [[arabic language|Arabic]] "tabbaq", reportedly since the [[9th century]], as the name of various herbs. Coming from an Arabic origin, the word might then be European, and later applied to this plant from the Americas.
 
 
 
==Cultivation==
 
[[Image:Tobacco.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Broadleaf tobacco]]
 
[[Image:Nicotiana Tobacco Plants 1909px.jpg|thumb|right|Tobacco plants growing in a field in [[Intercourse, Pennsylvania]]]]
 
===Sowing===
 
 
 
Tobacco [[seed]]s  are scattered onto the surface of the [[soil]], as their [[germination]] is activated by light. In colonial Virginia, seedbeds were fertilized with wood ash or animal [[manure]] (frequently powdered [[horse]] manure). Seedbeds were then covered with branches to protect the young plants from frost [[damage]]. These plants were left to grow until around April.
 
 
 
In the [[nineteenth century]], young plants came under increasing attack from the flea [[beetle]] ([[Epitrix cucumeris]] or [[Epitrix pubescens]]), causing destruction of half the United States tobacco crop in 1876 . In the years afterward, many [[experiment]]s were attempted and discussed to control the flea beetle. By 1880  it was discovered that replacing the branches with a frame covered by thin fabric would effectively protect plants from the beetle. This practice spread until it became ubiquitous in the [[1890s]].
 
 
 
Today, in the [[United States]], unlike other countries, tobacco is often fertilized with the mineral [[apatite]] in order to partially starve the plant for [[nitrogen]], which changes the taste. This (together with the use of licorice and other additives) accounts for the different flavor of American cigarettes from those available in other countries. There is, however, some suggestion that this may have [[Tobacco smoke#Radioactive components of tobacco|adverse health effects]] attributable to the [[polonium]] content of  apatite.
 
 
 
===Transplanting===
 
 
 
After the plants have reached a certain height, they are transplanted into fields. This was originally done by making a relatively large hole in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, then placing the small plant in the hole. Various mechanical tobacco planters were invented throughout the late 19th and early 20th century to automate this process, making a hole, fertilizing it, and guiding a plant into the hole with one motion.
 
 
 
==Harvest==
 
[[Image:basma-tobacco-drying.jpg|thumb|left|[[Basma]] leaves drying in the sun at [[Pomak]] village of [[Xanthi]], [[Greece]]]]
 
 
 
Tobacco is [[harvest]]ed in one of two ways. In the oldest method, the entire plant is harvested at once by cutting off the stalk at the ground with a curved knife. In the nineteenth century, bright tobacco began to be harvested by pulling individual leaves off the stalk as they ripened. The leaves ripen from the ground upwards, so a field of tobacco may go through several "pullings" before the tobacco is entirely harvested, and the stalks may be turned into the soil. "Cropping", "pulling", and "priming" are terms for pulling leaves off tobacco.  Leaves are cropped as they ripen, from the bottom of the stalk up. The first crop at the very bottom of the stalks are called "sand lugs", as they are often against the ground and are coated with dirt splashed up when it rains. Sand lugs weigh the most, and are most difficult to work with.  Originally workers cropped the tobacco and placed it on animal-pulled sleds.  Eventually tractors with wagons were used to transport leaves to the stringer, an apparatus which uses twine to sew leaves onto a stick.
 
 
 
Some farmers use "tobacco harvesters" - basically a trailer pulled behind a tractor. The harvester is a wheeled sled or trailer that has seats for the croppers to sit on and seats just in front of these for the "stringers" to sit on. The croppers pull the leaves off in handfuls, and pass these to the "stringer", who loops twine around the handfuls of tobacco and hangs them on a long wooden square pole. Traditionally, the croppers, down in the dark and wet, with their faces getting slapped by the huge tobacco leaves, were men, and the stringers seated on the higher elevated seats were women.  The harvester has places for four teams of workers: eight people cropping and stringing, plus a packer who takes the heavy strung poles of wet green tobacco from the stringers and packs them onto the pallet section of the harvester, plus a driver, making the total crew of each harvester 10 people. Interestingly, the outer seats are suspended from the harvester - slung out over to fit into the aisles of tobacco. As these seats are suspended it is important to balance the weight of the two outside teams (similar to a playground [[see-saw]]).  Having too heavy or light a person in an unbalanced combination often results in the harvester tipping over especially when turning around at the end of a lane.  Water tanks are a  common feature on the harvester due to heat, and danger of dehydration for the workers. Salt tablets sometimes get used as well.
 
 
 
===Curing===
 
[[Image:MyrtlefordVicTobaccoDryingHut.JPG|thumb|[[Myrtleford, Victoria]], Australia: historic tobacco kiln]]
 
Cut plants or pulled leaves are immediately transferred to tobacco barns (kiln houses), where they will be cured. Curing methods vary with the type of tobacco grown, and tobacco barn design varies accordingly.
 
 
''Air-cured'' tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of four to eight weeks.
 
 
 
''Fire-cured'' tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smoulder and takes between three days and ten weeks, depending on the process and the tobacco.
 
 
 
''Flue-cured'' tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier-poles in curing barns (Aus: [[kiln]]s, also traditionally called [http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/oast Oasts]). These barns have flues which run from externally-fed fire boxes, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke, slowly raising the temperature over the course of the curing. The process will generally take about a week. 
 
 
 
Traditional curing barns in the U.S. are falling into disuse, as the trend toward prefabricated metal "bulk bars" allows greater efficiency.
 
 
Curing and subsequent aging allows for the slow [[oxidation]] and degradation of [[carotenoid]]s in tobacco leaf. This produces certain compounds in the tobacco leaves very similar and give a sweet hay, [[tea]], [[rose oil]], or fruity aromatic flavor that contribute to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Starch is converted to sugar which [[glycation|glycates]] protein and is oxidized into [[advanced glycation endproduct]]s (AGEs), a [[caramelization]] process that also adds flavor. Inhalation of these AGEs in tobacco smoke contributes to  [[atherosclerosis]] and [[cancer]].<ref>{{cite journal | author=Cerami C, Founds H, Nicholl I, Mitsuhashi T, Giordano D, Vanpatten S, Lee A, Al-Abed Y, Vlassara H, Bucala R, Cerami A | title=Tobacco smoke is a source of toxic reactive glycation products | journal=PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS)  | volume=94 | issue=25 | year=1997 | pages=13915-20 | url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/94/25/13915 | id=PMID 9391127 }}</ref>
 
 
 
Unaged or low quality tobacco is often flavoured with these naturally occurring compounds. Tobacco flavoring is a significant source of revenue for the international multi-million dollar [[:Category:Flavor companies|flavour and fragrance industry]].
 
 
 
The aging process continues for a period of months and often extends into the post-curing harvest process.
 
 
 
After tobacco is cured, it is moved from the curing barn into a storage area for processing. If whole plants were cut, the leaves are removed from the tobacco stalks in a process called stripping. For both cut and pulled tobacco, the leaves are then sorted into different grades. In colonial times, the tobacco was then "prized" into hogsheads for transportation. In bright tobacco regions, prizing was replaced by stacking wrapped "hands" into loose piles to be sold at auction. Today, most cured tobacco is baled before sales are made under pre-sold contracts.
 
 
 
==Types==
 
==='''Aromatic Fire-cured===
 
Aromatic Fire-cured smoking tobacco is a robust variety of tobacco used as a condimental for pipe blends. It is cured by smoking over gentle fires. In the United States, it is grown in the western part of Tennessee, Western Kentucky and in [[Virginia]]. Fire-cured tobacco grown in [[Kentucky]] and [[Tennessee]] is used in some chewing tobaccos, moist snuff, some cigarettes and as a condiment leaf in pipe tobacco blends. It has a rich, slightly floral taste, and adds body and aroma to the blend.
 
 
 
Another fire-cured tobacco is [[Latakia (tobacco)|Latakia]] and is produced from oriental varieties of ''N. tabacum''. The leaves are cured and smoked over smoldering fires of local hardwoods and aromatic shrubs in [[Cyprus]] and [[Syria]]. Latakia has a pronounced flavor and a very distinctive smoky aroma, and is used in Balkan and English-style pipe tobacco blends.
 
 
 
[[Image:Tobac grnhouse8980.JPG|frame|Mowing young tobacco in greenhouse of half million plants [[Hemingway, South Carolina]]]]'''
 
 
 
===Brightleaf tobacco===
 
Brightleaf is commonly known as "Virginia tobacco", often regardless of which state they are planted. Prior to the [[American Civil War]], most tobacco grown in the US was fire-cured dark-leaf. This type of tobacco was planted in fertile lowlands, used a robust variety of leaf, and was either fire cured or air cured.
 
 
 
Sometime after the [[War of 1812]], demand for a milder, lighter, more aromatic tobacco arose. [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Maryland]] all innovated quite a bit with milder varieties of the tobacco plant. Farmers around the country experimented with different curing processes. But the breakthrough didn't come until around 1839.
 
 
 
[[Image:Ripe tobacco leaf 3037.JPG|300px|left|thumb|Brightleaf tobacco leaf ready for harvest. When it turns yellow-green the sugar content is at its peak, and it will cure to a deep golden color with mild taste. The leaves are harvested progressively up the stem from the base, as they ripen.]]
 
 
 
It had been noticed for centuries that sandy, highland soil produced thinner, weaker plants. Captain Abisha Slade, of [[Caswell County, North Carolina]] had a good deal of infertile, sandy soil, and planted the new "gold-leaf" varieties on it. Slade owned a slave, Stephen, who around 1839 accidentally produced the first real bright tobacco. He used charcoal to restart a fire used to cure the crop. The surge of heat turned the leaves yellow. Using that discovery, Slade developed a system for producing bright tobacco, cultivating on poorer soils and using charcoal for heat-curing.
 
 
 
Slade made many public appearances to share the bright-leaf process with other farmers.  Prosperous and outgoing, he built a brick house in Yanceyville, North Carolina, and at one time had many servants.
 
 
 
News spread through the area pretty quickly. The infertile sandy soil of the [[Appalachia]]n [[Piedmont (United States)|piedmont]] was suddenly profitable, and people rapidly developed flue-curing techniques, a more efficient way of smoke-free curing.  Farmers discovered that Bright leaf tobacco needs thin, starved soil, and those who could not grow other crops found that they could grow tobacco. Formerly unproductive farms reached 20-35 times their previous worth. By 1855, six Piedmont counties adjoining Virginia ruled the tobacco market. 
 
 
 
By the outbreak of the Civil War, the town of [[Danville, Virginia]] actually had developed a bright-leaf market for the surrounding area in [[Caswell County, North Carolina]] and [[Pittsylvania County, Virginia]].
 
 
 
Danville was also the main railway head for [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] soldiers going to the front. These brought bright tobacco with them from Danville to the lines, traded it with each other and Union soldiers, and developed quite a taste for it. At the end of the war, the soldiers went home and suddenly there was a national market for the local crop. Caswell and Pittsylvania counties were the only two counties in the South that experienced an ''increase'' in total wealth after the war.
 
 
 
[[Image:Tobacco blossom 1580.JPG|frame|Tobacco blossom: longtitudinal section [[Hemingway, South Carolina]]]]
 
 
 
===White burley===
 
 
 
In [[1865]], George Webb of [[Brown County, Ohio]] planted Red [[Burley (tobacco)|Burley]] seeds he had purchased, and found that a few of the seedlings had a whitish, sickly look. He transplanted them to the fields anyway, where they grew into mature plants but retained their light color. The cured leaves had an exceedingly fine texture and were exhibited as a curiosity at the market in [[Cincinnati, Ohio|Cincinnati]]. The following year he planted ten acres (40,000 m²) from seeds from those plants, which brought a premium at auction. The air-cured leaf was found to be mild tasting and more absorbent than any other variety. ''White Burley'', as it was later called, became the main component in chewing tobacco, American blend pipe tobacco, and American-style cigarettes. The white part of the name is seldom used today, since red burley, a dark air-cured variety of the mid-1800s, no longer exists.
 
 
 
===Shade tobacco===
 
It is not well known that the northern US states of [[Connecticut]] and [[Massachusetts]] are also one of the important tobacco-growing regions of the country. Long before [[Europe]]ans arrived in the area, Native Americans harvested wild tobacco plants that grew along the banks of the [[Connecticut River]]. Today, the Connecticut River valley north of [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Connecticut]] is known as [[Tobacco Valley]], and the fields and [[drying shed]]s are visible to travelers on the road to and from [[Bradley Field]], the major Connecticut [[airport]]. The tobacco grown here is known as [[shade tobacco]], and is used as outer wrappers for some of the world's finest [[cigar]]s.
 
 
 
[[Image:Shade grown tobacco in East Windsor Connecticut.JPG|left|thumb|Shade grown tobacco field in [[East Windsor, Connecticut]]]]
 
Early Connecticut [[colonist]]s acquired from the Native Americans the habit of smoking tobacco in pipes and began cultivating the plant commercially, even though the [[Puritans]] referred to it as the "evil weed". The plant was outlawed in Connecticut in [[1650]], but in the [[1800]]s as [[cigar smoking]] began to be popular, tobacco farming became a major industry, employing farmers, laborers, local youths, southern African Americans, and migrant workers.
 
 
 
Working conditions varied from pleasant summer work for students, to backbreaking exploitation of migrants. Each tobacco plant yields only 18 leaves useful as cigar wrappers, and each leaf requires a great deal of individual manual attention during harvesting. Although the temperature in the curing sheds sometimes exceeds 38 C (100 F), no work is done inside the sheds while the tobacco is being fired.
 
 
 
In [[1921]], Connecticut tobacco production peaked, at 31,000 acres (125 km²) under [[cultivation]]. The rise of [[cigarette smoking]] and the decline of [[cigar smoking]] have caused a corresponding decline in the demand for shade tobacco, reaching a minimum in 1992  of 2,000 acres (8 km²) under cultivation. Since then, however, cigar smoking has become more popular again, and in 1997  tobacco farming had risen to 4,000 acres (16 km²). However, only 1,050 acres (4.2 km²) of shade tobacco were harvested in the Connecticut Valley in 2006. Connecticut seed is being grown in Ecuador, where labor is very cheap. The industry has weathered some major [[catastrophe]]s, including a devastating [[hail]]storm in [[1929]], and an epidemic of [[brown spot fungus]] in [[2000]], but is now in danger of disappearing altogether, given the value of the land to real estate speculators. The older and much less labor intensive Broadleaf plant, which produces an excellent maduro wrapper as well as binder and filler for cigars, is increasing in area in the Connecticut Valley.
 
 
 
===Perique===
 
{{main |Perique}}
 
Perhaps the most strongly-flavored of all tobaccos is the Perique, from [[Saint James Parish, Louisiana|Saint James Parish]], [[Louisiana]]. When the Acadians made their way into this region in 1755, the [[Choctaw]] and [[Chickasaw]] tribes were cultivating a variety of tobacco with a distinctive flavor. A farmer called Pierre Chenet is credited with first turning this local tobacco into the Perique in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation.
 
 
 
The tobacco plants are manually kept suckerless, and pruned to exactly 12 leaves, through their early growth. In late November, when the leaves are a dark, rich green and the plants are 23-30 inches (600 to 751 mm) tall, the whole plant is harvested in the late evening and hung to dry in a sideless curing barn. Once the leaves have partially dried, but while still supple (usually less than 2 weeks in the barn), any remaining dirt is removed and the leaves are moistened with water and stemmed by hand. The leaves are then rolled into "torquettes" of approximately 1 pound (449 g) and packed into [[hickory]] [[whiskey]] barrels. The tobacco is then kept under pressure using oak blocks and massive screw jacks, forcing nearly all the air out of the still-moist leaves. Approximately once a month, the pressure is released, and each of the torquettes is "worked" by hand to permit a little air back into the tobacco. After a year of this treatment, the Perique is ready for consumption, although it may be kept fresh under pressure for many years. Extended exposure to air degrades the particular character of the Perique. The finished tobacco is dark brown, nearly black, very moist with a fruity, slightly vinegary aroma.
 
 
 
Considered the [[truffle]] of [[smoking pipe|pipe]] tobaccos, the Perique is used as a component of many blended pipe tobaccos, but is too strong to be smoked pure. At one time, the freshly moist Perique was also chewed, but none is now sold for this purpose. Less than 16 acres (65,000 m²) of this crop remain in cultivation, most by a single farmer called Percy Martin, in Grande Pointe, Louisiana. For reasons unknown, the particular flavor and character of the Perique can only be acquired on a small triangle of Saint James Parish, less than 4 by 10 miles (5 by 16 km). Although at its peak, Saint James Parish was producing around 20 tons of the Perique a year, output is now merely a few barrelsful.
 
 
 
It is traditionally a pipe tobacco, and is still very popular with pipe-smokers, typically blended with pure Virginia to lend spice, strength, and coolness to the blend. Perique may now also be found in the Perique cigarettes of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., in an approximately 1 part to 5 blend with lighter tobaccos. A similar tobacco, based on pressure-fermented [[Kentucky]] tobacco is available by the name Acadian Yellow River Perique.
 
 
 
===Oriental Tobacco===
 
 
 
[[Turkish tobacco|Oriental tobacco]] is a sun-cured, highly aromatic, small-leafed variety (''[[Nicotiana rustica]]'') that is grown in [[Turkey]], [[Greece]], [[Bulgaria]], and [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]]. Oriental tobacco is frequently referred to as "Turkish tobacco", as these regions were all historically part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Many of the early brands of cigarettes were made mostly or entirely of Oriental tobacco; today, its main use is in blends of pipe and especially cigarette tobacco (a typical American cigarette is a blend of bright Virginia, burley and Oriental).
 
 
 
==Tobacco products==
 
{{Unreferenced|date=March 2007}}
 
====Snuff====
 
{{Main|Snuff (tobacco)|Dipping tobacco}}
 
[[Image:copenhagentin.jpg|thumb|right|Copenhagen snuff tin]]
 
 
 
Snuff is a generic term for fine-ground smokeless tobacco products. Originally the term referred only to dry snuff, a fine tan dust popular mainly in the eighteenth century. This is often called "Scotch Snuff", a folk-etymology derivation of the scorching process used to dry the cured tobacco by the factory. Snuff powder originated in the UK town of [[Great Harwood]] and was famously ground in the town's monument prior to local distribution and transport further up north to Scotland.
 
 
 
Snuff has been found to be beneficial in some cases of [[hay fever]] due to the fact that the snuff may prevent allergens from getting to the mucus membrane within the nose.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}
 
 
 
=====Types of Snuff=====
 
'''European''' (''dry'') snuff is intended to be ''sniffed'' up the nose.  Snuff is not "snorted" because snuff shouldn't get past the nose, i.e.; into sinuses, throat or lungs. European snuff comes in several varieties: Plain, Toast (fine ground - ''very'' dry), "Medicated" (menthol, camphor, eucalyptus, etc.), Scented, and Schmalzler, a German variety.  The major brand names of European snuffs are: [[Bernards]] (Germany), [[Fribourg & Treyer]] (UK), [[Gawith]] (UK), [[Gawith Hoggarth]] (UK), [[Hedges]] (UK), [[Lotzbeck]] (Germany), [[McChrystal's]] (UK), [[Pöschl]] (Germany) and [[Wilsons of Sharrow]] (UK), [[TUTUN-CTC]] (Moldova).
 
 
 
'''American'''  (''moist'') snuff is much stronger, and is intended to be dipped. It comes in two varieties -- "sweet" and "salty." Until the early 20th century, snuff dipping was popular in the United States among rural people, who would often use sweet barkless twigs to apply it to their gums. Popular brands are Tube Rose and [[Navy tobacco|Navy]].
 
 
 
Moist snuff is also referred to as [[dipping tobacco]] or ''smokeless tobacco,'' and its use is known as ''dipping.'' In the Southern states, taking a "dip" of moist snuff is called "putting a rub in," the moist snuff in the mouth is known as a "rub." This is occasionally referred to as "[[snoose]]" in New England and the Midwest and is derived from the Scandinavian word for snuff, "[[snuff]]." Like the word, the origins of moist snuff are Scandinavian, and the oldest American brands indicate that by their names. However, snuff may also be called a "ding" in New England, and its user may "pack a ding."  American Moist snuff is made from dark fire-cured tobacco that is ground, sweetened, and aged by the factory. Prominent North American brands are [[Copenhagen tobacco|Copenhagen]], [[Skoal tobacco|Skoal]], [[Timber Wolf tobacco|Timber Wolf]], [[Chisholm tobacco|Chisholm]], [[Grizzly tobacco|Grizzly]], and [[Kodiak tobacco|Kodiak]].
 
 
 
Some modern ''smokeless tobacco'' brands, such as Kodiak, have an aggressive nicotine delivery. This is accomplished with a higher dose of nicotine than cigarettes, a high [[pH]] level (which helps nicotine enter the blood stream faster), and a high portion of unprotonated (free base) nicotine.
 
 
 
It has been suggested by ''[[The Economist]]'' magazine that the [[Smoking ban|ban on smoking tobacco]] indoors in some areas, such as [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and [[New York City]], may lead to a resurgence in the popularity of snuff as an alternative to tobacco smoking. Although the large-scale closure of British [[mining|mines]] in the 1980s deprived the snuff industry of its major market since snuff became unfashionable (miners took snuff underground instead of smoking to avoid lethal explosions and fires), sales at Britain's largest snuff retailer have reportedly been rising at about 5% per year.<ref name="Economist">[[The Economist]]: ''Thou shalt not inhale'', Issue 8465, February 18th, pg 28</ref>
 
 
 
==== Chewing tobacco ====
 
{{main|Chewing tobacco}}
 
[[Image:Mailpouch8466.jpg|frame|[[Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn|Mail Pouch Barn]] advertisement: A bit of Americana in southern [[Ohio]]. Mail Pouch painted the barns in return for advertising space.]]
 
 
 
Chewing is one of the oldest ways of consuming tobacco leaves.  Native Americans in both North and South America chewed the leaves of the plant, frequently mixed with lime. Modern chewing tobacco is produced in three forms: twist, plug, and scrap. A few manufacturers in the [[United Kingdom]] produce particularly strong twist tobacco meant for use in [[smoking pipe]]s rather than chewing. These twists are not mixed with lime although they may be flavored with whiskey, rum, cherry or other flavors common to pipe tobacco.
 
 
 
Twist is the oldest form. One to three high-quality leaves are braided and twisted into a rope while green, and then are cured in the same manner as other tobacco. Originally devised by sailors due to fire hazards of smoking at sea; and until recently this was done by farmers for their personal consumption in addition to other tobacco intended for sale. Modern twist is occasionally lightly sweetened. It is still sold commercially, but rarely seen outside of [[Appalachia]]. Popular brands are Mammoth Cave, Moore's Red Leaf, and Cumberland Gap. Users cut a piece off the twist and chew it, expectorating.
 
 
 
Plug chewing tobacco is made by pressing together cured tobacco leaves in a sweet (often [[molasses]]-based) syrup. Originally this was done by hand, but since the second half of the [[19th century]] leaves were pressed between large tin sheets. The resulting sheet of tobacco is cut into plugs. Like twist, consumers sometimes cut, but more often bite off a piece of the plug to chew. Major brands are Days O Work and Cannonball.
 
 
 
Scrap, or looseleaf chewing tobacco, was originally the excess of plug manufacturing. It is sweetened like plug tobacco, but sold loose in bags rather than a plug. Looseleaf is one of the more popular forms of tobacco in modern times. Among those, popular brands are [[Red Man]], Beechnut, Mail Pouch and Southern Pride. Looseleaf chewing tobacco can also be dipped.
 
 
 
====Snus====
 
{{Cleanup-section|July 2007}}
 
{{main|Snus}}
 
Swedish [[snus]] is different in that it is made from steam-cured tobacco, rather than fire-cured, and its [[snus#Health consequences|health effects]] are markedly different, with epidemiological studies showing dramatically lower rates of cancer and other tobacco-related health problems than cigarettes, American "[[Tobacco#Chewing Tobacco|Chewing Tobacco]]", Indian [[Gutka]] or African varieties.  Prominent Swedish brands are [[Swedish Match]], [[Ettan]], and [[Tre Ankare]]. In the Scandinavian countries, moist snuff comes either in loose powder form, to be pressed into a small ball or ovoid either by hand or with the use of a special tool.  It is sometimes packaged in small bags, suitable for placing inside the upper lip, called "portion snuff". These small bags keep the loose tobacco from becoming lodged between the user's teeth; they also generate less spittle when in contact with mucous membranes inside the mouth which extends the usage time of the tobacco product.
 
 
 
Since it is not smoked, snuff in general generates less of the nitrosamines and other carcinogens in the tar that forms from the partially anaerobic reactions in the smoldering smoked tobacco. The steam curing of snus rather than fire-curing or flue-curing of other smokeless tobaccos has been demonstrated to generate even fewer of such compounds than other varieties of snuff; 2.8 parts per mil for ''Ettan'' brand compared to as high as 127.9 parts per mil in American brands, according to a study by the State of [[Massachusetts]] Health Department. It is hypothesized that the widespread use of snus by Swedish men (estimated at 30% of Swedish men, possibly because it is much cheaper than cigarettes), displacing tobacco smoking and other varieties of snuff, is responsible for the incidence of tobacco-related mortality in men being significantly lower in Sweden than any other European country. In contrast, since women are much less likely to use snus, their rate of tobacco-related deaths in Sweden is similar to that in other European countries. Snus is clearly less harmful than other tobacco products; according to [[Kenneth Warner]], director of the  [[University of Michigan]] Tobacco Research Network,
 
:"The Swedish government has studied this stuff to death, and to date, there is no compelling evidence that it has any adverse health consequences. ... Whatever they eventually find out, it is dramatically less dangerous than smoking." 
 
Public health researchers maintain that, nevertheless, even the low nitrosamine levels in snus cannot be completely risk free, but snus proponents maintain that inasmuch as snus is used as a substitute for smoking or a means to quit smoking, the net overall effect is positive, similar to the effect of [[nicotine patch]]es, for instance. Snus is banned in the [[European Union]] countries outside of Sweden (regular snus, not portion, is allowed in Denmark and snus is also becoming a regular among Norwegians, as cigarettes are seen by Norwegian popular culture as untrendy and much more unhealthy than snus{{Fact|date=March 2007}}). Although this is officially for health reasons, it is widely regarded, in fact, as being for economic reasons, since other smokeless tobacco products (mainly from [[India]]) associated with much greater risk to health are sold too.
 
 
 
Although it lacks the carcinogenicity of high levels of nitrosamines, however, any harmful effects of nicotine will still be seen with snus usage. Current research concentrates on nicotine's effect on the circulatory system and on the pancreas.{{Fact|date=March 2007}}
 
 
 
On [[June 11]], [[2006]], [[Reynolds Tobacco]] announced that it would be test marketing Camel brand snus in [[Portland, Oregon]] and [[Austin, Texas]] by the end of the month. The product would be manufactured in Sweden, in conjunction with [[British American Tobacco]], manufacturers of BAT snus.  <ref>[http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june112006/smokeless_ashtrays_61106.php Reynolds Makes Big Move Into Smokeless Tobacco]</ref>
 
 
 
===Creamy snuff===
 
 
 
[[Creamy snuff]] is a tobacco paste, consisting of tobacco, clove oil, glycerin, spearmint, menthol, and camphor, and sold in a toothpaste tube. It is marketed mainly to women in [[India]], and is known by the brand names [[Ipco]] (made by [[Asha Industries]]), [[Denobac]], [[Tona]], [[Ganesh]].  It is locally known as "mishri" in some parts of Maharashtra. According to the U.S [[NIH]]-sponsored [http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/TCRB/stfact_sheet_combined10-23-02.pdf 2002 Smokeless Tobacco Fact Sheet], it is marketed as a [[dentifrice]]. The same factsheet also mentions that it is "often used to clean teeth". The manufacturer recommends letting the paste linger in the mouth before rinsing.
 
 
 
===Gutka===
 
{{main|Gutka}}
 
 
 
Gutka (also spelled gutkha, guttkha, guthka) is a preparation of crushed betel nut, tobacco, and sweet or savory flavorings. It is manufactured in India and exported to a few other countries. A mild stimulant, it is sold across India in small, individual-size packets. It is consumed much like chewing tobacco, and like chewing tobacco it is considered responsible for oral cancer and other severe negative health effects.
 
 
 
Used by millions of adults, it is also marketed to children. Some packaging does not mention tobacco as an ingredient, and some brands are pitched as candies - featuring packaging with children's faces and are brightly colored. Some are chocolate-flavored, and some are marketed as breath fresheners.
 
 
 
===Tobacco water===
 
[[Tobacco water]] is a traditional [[organic farming|organic]] [[insecticide]] used in domestic [[gardening]].  Tobacco dust can be used similarly.
 
 
 
It is produced by boiling strong tobacco in water, or by steeping the tobacco in water for a longer period. When cooled the mixture can be applied as a spray, or 'painted' on to the leaves of garden plants, where it will prove deadly to insects.
 
 
 
[[Basque people|Basque]] ''angulero'' fishermen kill immature [[eel]]s (elvers) in an [[infusion]] of tobacco leaves before [[parboil]]ing them in salty water for transportation to market as ''angulas'', a seasonal delicacy.<ref>[http://www.buber.net/Basque/Food/food1.html Angulas]</ref>
 
 
 
===Tobacco paste treatment for stinging insects===
 
Topical tobacco paste is sometimes recommended as a treatment for wasp, hornet, fire ant, scorpion, and [[bee sting]]s.<ref>[http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/c782-w.html Beverly Sparks, "Stinging and Biting Pests of People"] Extension Entomologist of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension Service.</ref>  An amount equivalent to the contents of a cigarette is mashed in a cup with about a 0.5 to 1 teaspoon of water to make a paste that is then applied to the affected area. Paste has a diameter of 4 to 5 cm (1.5 to 2 inches) and may need to be moistened in dry weather. If made and applied immediately, complete remission is common within 20-30 minutes, at which point the paste can be removed. The next day there may be a some residual itching, but virtually no swelling or redness. There seems to be no scientific evidence, as yet, that this common home remedy works to relieve pain.<ref name="glaser">{{cite web | last =Glaser | first =David | title = Are wasp and bee stings alkali or acid and does neutralising their ph them give sting relief? | work = | publisher = www.insectstings.co.uk | date =  | url =http://www.insectstings.co.uk/sting-acid-or-alkali.shtml | accessdate = 2007-05-03}}</ref> For about 2 percent of people, allergic reactions can be life-threatening and require emergency treatment. For more on this, see [[bee sting]]s.
 
 
 
 
 
==See also==
 
*[[Chewing Tobacco]]
 
*[[Cigarette]]
 
**[[Shag (tobacco)]]
 
*[[Cigar]]
 
*[[Dipping tobacco]]
 
*[[Tobacco company]]
 
*[[Tobacco industry]]
 
*[[Tobacco plantations and slaves]]
 
*[[Tobacco mosaic virus]]
 
*[[Tobacco smoking]]
 
*[[Turkish tobacco]]
 
*[[Nicotine]]
 
*[[Health effects of tobacco smoking]]
 
*[[Smoking cessation]]
 
**[[Quitline]]
 
*[[Smoking ban]]
 
*[[Passive smoking]]
 
*[[Smoking]]
 
*[[Smoking culture]]
 
*[[Tobacco advertising]]
 
 
 
==Notes==
 
{{reflist}}
 
 
 
==References==
 
* Breen, T. H. (1985). ''Tobacco Culture''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00596-6. ''Source on tobacco culture in eighteenth-century Virginia pp. 46-55''
 
* W.K. Collins and S.N. Hawks. "Principles of Flue-Cured Tobacco Production" 1st Edition, 1993
 
* Fuller, R. Reese (Spring 2003). Perique, the Native Crop. ''Louisiana Life''.
 
* Gately, Iain. ''Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization.'' Grove Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8021-3960-4.
 
* Graves, John. "Tobacco that is not Smoked" in ''From a Limestone Ledge'' (the sections on snuff and chewing tobacco) ISBN 0-394-51238-3
 
* Killebrew, J. B. and Myrick, Herbert (1909). ''Tobacco Leaf: Its Culture and Cure, Marketing and Manufacture.'' Orange Judd Company. ''Source for flea beetle typology (p. 243)''
 
* Poche, L. Aristee (2002). ''Perique tobacco: Mystery and history''.
 
* Tilley, Nannie May. ''The Bright Tobacco Industry 1860-1929'' ISBN 0-405-04728-2. ''Source on flea beetle prevention (pp. 39-43), and history of flue-cured tobacco''
 
*Rivenson A., Hoffmann D., Propokczyk B. et al. [http://intl-cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/23/6912 Induction of lung and pancreas exocrine tumors in F344 rats by tobacco-specific and areca-derived N-nitrosamines.]  Cancer Res (48) 6912-6917, 1988. (link to abstract; free full text pdf available)
 
 
 
==External links==
 
{{Commons|Nicotiana_tabacum}}
 
* [http://www.cigreviews.com Database of user submitted cigarette & shag tobacco information and reviews]
 
* [http://www.tobacco.org/resources/history/Tobacco_History.html/ Timeline of tobacco history]
 
* [http://www.plot55.com/growing/nicotiana.html Growing Nicotiana species (Plot55.com)]
 
* [http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/survey/mm4819fs.htm Nicotine, pH, and Moisture Content of Six U.S. Commercial Moist Snuff Products [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] tobacco research]
 
* [http://www-cie.iarc.fr/htdocs/indexes/vol83index.html Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking, Summary of Data Reported and Evaluation 2004] by the [[International Agency for Research on Cancer|IARC]].
 
* [http://www.greenfacts.org/tobacco/ A summary of the IARC report] by [[GreenFacts]].
 
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3300769.stm BBC report on questions re European Union partial ban on some smokeless tobacco products (''i.e.'' snus)]
 
* [http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2005-11-30-voa79.cfm Scientists Search for Healthy Uses for Tobacco]
 
* [http://www.lsc.org/tobacco/farming/growing/curing.html Science behind tobacco - Curing]
 
* [http://www.archive.org/details/tobaccoarchives UCSF Tobacco Industry Videos Collection]
 
[[Category:Entheogens]]
 
[[Category:Herbal and fungal hallucinogens]]
 
[[Category:Herbal and fungal stimulants]]
 
[[Category:Monoamine oxidase inhibitors]]
 
[[Category:Nicotinic antagonists]]
 
[[Category:Tobacco|*]]
 
[[Category:Plants poisonous to equines]]
 
 
 
<!-- interwiki -->
 

Latest revision as of 04:58, 26 January 2008

Redirect to: