Abstract

The tobacco plant has advanced from the status of a weed to that of a highly cultivated plant of major social and economic importance. As a source of revenue this has gradually become supreme so far as the plant products are concerned. In all civilised countries it is now an important source of revenue. The advancement of tobacco is due to its smoking qualities. A perusal of its history reveals the high place it occupied in religious ceremonies in the past, and the present high status in medical and social fields. It was introduced into India about 1605 (Watt), and the earliest experi- ments recorded on this crop date as far back as 1786 (O'Connor, 1873). The habit of smoking has increased so much that since 1914 there has been a sudden increase in the consumption of tobacco in the form of cigarettes.

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