(1) When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americans, he found the native using tobacco much the same way as it is used in many parts of the world today. At least partly because it was thought to have medicinal value, it was soon carried to France, Spain, and Portugal and from there to the rest of Europe. By the 16th century Spaniards had established tobacco plantations in the West Indies. Colonists in Virginia began successful tobacco cultivation in 1612. Production gradually spread to the rest of the world. (2) Today tobacco is grown in more than 120 countries. The largest growers are China (with 25% of the world’s production), the United States, India, Brazil, Turkey, and several European countries. Because China is also the largest consumers of tobacco, very little of its crop is sold on world markets. (3) Tobacco belongs to the genus Nicotiana, which is named for Jean Nicot, who was the French ambassador to the Portugal from 1559 to 1561. It was he who first sent tobacco to the rest of Europe. A South American species, N. tabacum, is the source for most of today’s commercial varieties. (4) Tobacco contains nicotine and other alkaloids. Alkaloids are nitrogen-containing organic compounds that are generally recognized as habit-forming and narcotic. To a great extent, this accounts for the worldwide appeal and use of tobacco products. (5) Tobacco seeds are black and extremely tiny. One teaspoonful can grow into enough seedings for 6 acres (2.5 hectares). More than 350,000 seeds have been counted in a single ounce (28 grams). One mature plant has a potential yield of a million seeds. (6) Transplanting machines are used extensively, but most of the world’s tobacco plants are planted by hand. Spacing in a field varies according to the type being planted. Rows of Burley and cigar tobaccos are 3 to 3 1/2 feet (0.9 to 1 meter) apart, and the plants are spaced from 15 to 27 inches (38 to 68 centimeters) from one another. Perique plants are spaced the farthest, with rows 5 feet (1.5 meters) apart and 3 to 3 1/2 feet between plants. (7) Harvesting, which takes place 70 to 130 days after transplanting, is doing when the leaves are still green. Two methods are used. The entire plant mat be cut and the stalk split and hung on a tobacco stick or lath, or the leaves may be removed one at a time as they mature. To prevent breakage and bruising, it is desirable for the leaf to wilt without sun burning. Sometimes tobacco may be left in the field to wilt from a few hours to two days. (8) The majority of the approximately 7 million tons of tobacco grown in a typical year in the1980s went into the manufacturing of the more than 3.5 trillion cigarettes that were sold in each of those years. At first cigarettes were made by hand. In 1880 James A. Bonsack patented paper was filled with tobacco, formed, pasted, closed, and cut to proper lengths by a rotary knife. The machine was soon being used in other countries. Improvement in cultivation and processing the lowered the acid content of cigarette tobacco and that made the smoke easier to inhale led to a major expansion cigarette smoking early in the 20th century. (9) The cigar is a cylindrical roll of tobacco consisting of cut-leaf filler rolled in a binder leaf, with a wrapper lea f rolled spirally around the outside. In 1600 the cigar was introduced into Spain, where it was the symbol of wealth for two centuries before it came into wide use in other countries. The names corona, Panatela, Lonsdale, Londres, and cheroot are used to describe the size and shape of cigars. Cigars are also classified by color-from light to very dark. (10) The suspicion that smoking can be a health hazard dates back at least to 1604, when King James I of England issued a condemnation of tobacco. The modern concern over the health of smokers emerged after World War II. Then medical evidence began to accumulate that eventually established that cigar and pipe smoking cause cancer of the mouth and that cigarette smoking is directly linked to lung cancer. Today it is also known that smoking increases the risks of other diseases of the heart and lungs and that chewing tobacco and snuff increase the risk of cancer of the mouth. (11) Since Jan. 1, 1996, all cigarette packages sold in the United States and a few other nations have carried health warning. Cigarette advertising on television was banned in the United States beginning on Jan, 1, 1971, and some health agencies have amounted television campaigns against smoking. In 1985 the American Medical Association called for a ban on all cigarette advertising. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had long argued that the nicotine in cigarettes was an addictive drug, and in 1996, it was given the power to regulate tobacco and to limit cigarettes advisements aimed to minors. In many Western, industrialized countries, growing concern over the risks associated with non-smokers breathing the tobacco smoke of smokers led to widespread restrictions on smoking in workplaces and public buildings. In some cases, smoking in certain public areas, including on some airline fights, was banned entirely. Which of the following does tobacco contain?
What are two types of leaves used for cigars?