The only place where perique tobacco is grown in the United States for commercial use is in St. James Parish, Louisiana, in what is known as "magnolia soil", a deposit of the Mississippi River
The tobacco was cut in the fields last evening and left to collect the morning dew. The workers are preparing it to be hung in the barn for drying. Later, it will be taken down from the barn, the stems stripped out, and packed in barrels, then handled three more times before it is finally cured in a year's time. It is a very strong tobacco first discovered by the native American Indians in Louisiana some 400 years ago and is used as a blend with other tobaccos. It is very labor intensive.