production was regulated and prices were
fixed by the agents of the government, in utter disregard of the welfare
of the producers. As a result, several serious riots occurred. In 1723,
a large number of planters refused to accept the terms offered by the
officials, and destroyed the crops of those who did accept, a condition
repeated in the State of Kentucky a few years ago, the only difference
being that in the Cuban experience the monopolist was the Government, and
in Kentucky it was a corporation. A few years later, in 1734, the Cuban
monopoly was sold to Don Jose Tallapiedra who contracted to ship to Spain,
annually, three million pounds of tobacco. The contract was afterward given
to another, but control was resumed by the Crown, in 1760. Finally, in
1817, cultivation and trade were declared to be free, subject only to
taxation.

[Illustration: STREET IN CAMAGUEY]

In time, it became known that the choicest tobacco in the market came from
the western end of Cuba, from the Province of Pinar del Rio. It was given a
distinct name, _Vuelta Abajo_, a term variously translated but referring
to the downward bend of the section of the island in which that grade is
produced. Here is grown a tobacco that, thus far, has been impossible of
production elsewhere. Many experiments have been tried, in Cuba and in
other countries. Soils have been analyzed by chemists; seeds from the
_Vuelta Abajo_ have been planted; and localities have been sought where
climatic conditions corresponded. No success has been attained. Nor is the
crop of that region produced on an extensive scale, that is, the choicer
leaf. Not all of the tobacco is of the finest grade, although most of it is
of high quality. There are what may be called "patches" of ground, known
to the experts, on which the best is produced, for reasons not yet clearly
determined. The fact is well known, but the causes are somewhat mysterious.
Nor does the plant of this region appear to be susceptible of improvement
through any modern, scientific systems of cultivation. The quality
deteriorates rather than improves as a result of artificial fertilizers.
The people of the region, cultivating this special product through
generation after generation, seem to have developed a peculiar instinct for
its treatment. It is not impossible that a time may come when scientific
soil selection, seed selection, special cultivation, irrigation, and other
systems, singly or in combination, will mak