This famous variety of the tobacco plant is by common consent the finest flavored tobacco for cigars now being cultivated. Some, however, consider Paraguayian, Brazil, and Mexican coast tobacco its equals, while, according to Tomlinson, Macuba tobacco, grown on the island of Martinica, stands at the head of all varieties of the plant. These statements may, however, be regarded as mere opinions rather than acknowledged facts.
Havana tobacco, according to Hazard,
"grows to a height of from six to nine feet, as allowed, with oblong, spear-shaped leaves; the tobacco being stronger when few leaves are permitted to grow. The leaves when young are of a dark-green color and have rather a smooth appearance, changing at maturity into yellowish-green. The plant grows quickly, and by careful pruning a fine colored leaf is obtained, varying from a straw color to dark brown or black."
The plant bears a pink blossom, which is succeeded by capsules not quite as large as those of seed-leaf tobacco. The finest is grown in the Vuelta de Abajo, which, for nearly a century, has been celebrated as a fine tobacco-producing district. When growing, a vega of Havana tobacco forms a most pleasing feature of the landscape. As the plants ripen, the dark, glossy green of the leaves is succeeded by a lighter shade and a thickening of the leaf. The plant ripens in from eight to ten weeks after being transplanted. The stalk and leaves are not as large as its great rival, Connecticut seed-leaf, but it far surpasses it in flavor. The plant emits a pleasant odor while growing, like most varieties of the plant grown in the tropics.
YARA TOBACCO.
This variety of tobacco, like Havana, is grown upon the island of Cuba, but is unlike it in flavor, as well as in the appearance of the plant. It is well known as an admirable tobacco for cigars, but is not sought after or grown to such an extent as Havana. The leaf when growing, is in color a fine green, and when cured is of considerable body and fine texture. A writer in alluding to Yara tobacco says:
"The most noted vega or tobacco plantation is situated near Santiago de Cuba and is called Yara. The choicest tobacco is that grown on the banks of rivers which are periodically overflowed. They are called Lo Rio, Rio Hondo, and Pinar del Rio, and the tobacco is distinguished from all other grown upon the island by a fine sand which is found in the creases of the leaves."
The flavor of Yara tobacco is so essentially different from Havana, that it is not cultivated as extensively, if indeed it could be. It is grown more particularly for home use and for exporting to Europe, where it is considered one of the finest of tobaccos. Of the other varieties grown in the West Indies such as St. Domingo, Jamaica, and Trinidad, much may be said both in praise and dispraise. St. Domingo and Trinidad have been cultivated for more than two hundred years. St. Domingo tobacco has a large leaf, but is of inferior flavor to most varieties of West India tobacco.
