Liz Connell, age 10, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for her question:

 Where did tobacco originate?

As far as we know, the first European to see a person smoking was Columbus. This was in the Caribbean Islands and Columbus was astounded to see an Indian puff¬ing smoke through his nose. The Indian was peacefully smoking a Y shaped pipe which he called a tabaca. This is how the stuff he was smoking came to be called tobacco. Later visitors and explorers from the Old World came across tobacco plants in many parts of Central and South America. Some decided to try a puff or two for themselves. Europe was waiting for novelties and samples of new plants so it was natural to ship tobacco back home.

Tobacco originated in the Americas where the native plant grew in many mild cli¬mate regions. The leafy shrub may be two to eight feet high, depending on the spe¬cies. The leaves vary in width from six to 15 inches and in length from 12 to 40 inches. The first shipment of tobacco grown in Virginia is said to have been sent by John Rolfe to England in the year 1613. Sad to say, the smoking habit was quick¬ly learned by the people of the Old World and also by the settlers who came here to the native home of the tobacco plant.