LATAKIA TOBACCO.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 2180, 4 July 1890, Page 5

LATAKIA TOBACCO.

Latakia, which gives its name to the famous tobacco, is a small seaport in Northern Syria, which occupies the site of the ancient Laodicea, but the port has been blocked up with sand, so that only small, lightly laden boats can enter. Behind the town extends a vast plain to the south I beyond Jibleh as far as the range of hills, in which live the Ansareih, the descendants of the sect of assassins so famous in the time of the Crusades. This tribe is specially engaged in tbe cultivation of Latakia tobacco. At the end of December the ground is irrigated, and the sowing takes place in January, ten or twelve seeds being placed in a single hole made with

jytick. As soon as the sprouts appear ■rofe the ground they are covered with mats, which are raised only when tbe sun is up. The woman and children are employed in keeping off the birds and in weeding out the weaklings. In February the sprouts are transplanted to another field, where the earth is piled up well about them ; in March they are kept well watered, and in April the harvest commences. The first leaves form what is called the new tobacco, and is smoked with delight by the fellahs themselves, it being stronger than that obtained subsequently. From April to August the plants must be watered according to the etate of the weather, and must receive general attention. The real harvest takes place in August and September. The plait is cut, the leaves removed, tied in bundles, acd placed on mats to dry in the barn. In November this process is finished, the tobacco is placed in horsehair sacks, and put on the market. The merchants subject the leaves to a new drying, and then sort them out according to colour, perfume, and general quality. There are in all three qualities, of. which the finest is obtainable only from the more elevated plantations of the Ansariehs.