Here wrapper leaf plantations are being prepared on both sides of the Rio Grande, a major river running through the highlands of Puerto Rico. The truck on the upper left is winding is way down the road from San Lorenzo to San Juan, over laden with tobacco plants. The long rows of cheese cloths have been stretched out and are being unfurled on the left, a sign that the growing season is commencing on this farm. On the other side of the river, similar work has already been completed. Records show that almost three quarters of Puerto Rico was used during this period to cultivate tobacco. Don Collins Cigars are made from thirteen different types of Puerto Rico Tobacco now under production by independent farmers on the island. The plants grow up to fourteen feet tall and the stems are three to five inches in diameter.

Puerto Rico was exporting about 35 million tons of tobacco a year on the books. Apparently another fifteen to twenty tons were sold privately by small farmers throughout the island and wound up as the contraband bought by Cuba and resold as Cuban tobacco. With 75 square miles of its land under production, Puerto Rico was the major source of tobacco in the western hemisphere. Tobacco Production is again on the rise in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Tobacco Corporation is currently processing over 100,000 pounds of very high quality leaf annually, much of which is being used to produce Don Collins Cigars.