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.
TOBACCO. LEAF
Its Culture and Cure, Marketing and
Manufacture
A practical handbook on the most approved methods in growing,
harvesting, curing, packing and selling tobacco,
also of tobacco manufacture
=BY—
JéB. KILLEBREW, A. M., PH. D.,
For ten years state commissioner of agriculture of Tennessee, and author of exhaustive reports
on the crops and resources of that state. Special expert on tobacco for the tenth U.S.
census, and author of its comprehensive report on the culture and curing of tobacco.
Author of “Sheep Husbandry,” ‘Grasses and Forage Plants,” ‘*Wheat
Culture,” “Elementary Geology for Schools.” One of the Editors
of the Standard Dictionary, Member of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, and
Honorary Member of the Clarksville To-
bacco Board of Trade.
—AND—
HERBERT MYRICK, B. S.,
Editor New England Homestead, organizer of the New England tobacco growers’ associa-
tion and of other tobaceo growers’ organizations, Author of “Sugar, a New and
Profitable Industry,” ‘How to Co-operate,”” ‘‘Money Crops,’’ Editor of
other agricultural journals, etc., ete.
Assisted by suecessful tobacco growers, dealers in the leaf, manufac
turers of tobacco, and 4 specialists in the sciences.
eg £9." ;
“
Prd 3 ei dns—1
i
§
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1898
ight, 1897,
Copyrig ?
JOMPAN ¥
ORANGE JUDD CO}
By
By (Transfer fron
Pet, Office Lib,
Aprii 1914,
ee
VUTY YP, ‘sti 9,116.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PART I.
ESSENTIALS IN TOBACCO CULTURE.
Page.
CHAPTER I. Origin and Spread of Tobacco Culture................. 3
CHAPTER II. Status of the Tobacco Industry—On the Use of the
AVVO sence torts ecayeretarote sl pewjabs ate ale) Siefe;'s o/s cet Sacelcis Masmiae ol ofelaveroisis's since siae, 5 16
CHAPTER Ill. Varieties of the Tobacco Plant... 0.0....5.....0..2005 27
CHAPTER IV. Classification of Tobacco Grown in the United
Shaves, aneh LNe Whamicets Or Lberies cme «cisteic: or efeleldiele arose ins omiais oe B
CHAPTER V. Science in its Application to Tobacco................. ie
CHAPTER, Vi. “Manires and Wertilizersy.. <0 0.- viscce. conie voces seeses 105
CHAPTER VII. “The Seed Bed—Raising Seed..... poet eee estat tere ees 150
CHAP ME Gs WILLIE) Draws lami eee. leaiste ele sctap ee cines dees «ele «aintelm (0 169
CHATTER, EX. > Tobaceo Barnsiand) SHES 7. sckiccs. 22. vce eemegianecanis 179
CHAE DE ox.) On Curing, TODACCOg acacia 2 elers veo. a vie) seen ie wiele nice = 208
CHAPTER XI. Pests of Tobacco—Diseases, Insects, the Elements.. 233
CHAPTER SiG) Marketing’ Of LODACCO sc. acco sc asics ckeidoadameccesce 263
PART II.
HEAVY LEAF AND MANUFACTURING TOBACCOS.
CHAPTER XIII. Heavy Shipping Tobacco.....................cee eee 290
CHAPTER XIV. The White Burley and Manufacturing Tobacco... 333
CHAPTER XV. Wellow TODACCO. 20.1.2. ces cee cscs ccs ence nece ence ss 352
CEES ET, SOVlee PERIGUG TODACCO.s 2.0. cise secs cen non s cncacesenn- Soceo Si!)
PART III.
CIGAR LEAF TOBACCOS.
CHAPTER XVII. General Considerations of Cigar Leaf........ wee OO
CHAPTER XVIII. Special Fertilization for Cigar Leaf ............. 391
CHAPTER xcbx. Culture of Cigar Leaf . on... tec. c nen ce ennseetenes 404
CHAPTER XX. Cigar Leaf Tobacco at the West and South......... e833
PART IV.
TOBACCO MANUFACTURE.
CHAPTER XXI. On the Manufacture of Tobacco...... occ cccccacccnce 452
CHAPTER XXII. Tobacco as a Remedy...............- ajatsio'lsletatefaleiisie.als LED!
ACP EEN DEXG SHAGISLICS, CLC. 050.5. c cc ccs cc cccccnces seeacecccccceccocess 400
PREFACE
The object of the authors of this work is to give a
comprehensive account of the tobacco industry in the
United States, and its relations to other countries.
Great efforts have
been put forth to
make exact and com-
plete the directions
for the culture, cur-
ing and marketing
of the different
kinds of leaf. The
aim has been to
make every chapter
in the first three
parts of the work
essentially com-
plete, though it has Lewis r. crark. M. H. CLARK.
not been possible,
in our limited space, to undertake a technical description
of all the intricate and manifold processes of manufac-
turing tobacco. The chapter on manures and fertili-
zers has been prepared with extraordinary care and full-
ness, Owing to prevailing misconceptions upon this sub-
ject among both growers and the trade.
The senior author has devoted years to the collec-
tion of facts and methods pertaining to the Heavy Ship-
ping, Bright, Burley and Perique tobaccos, and has
carefully verified disputed points by experimenting on
his own plantation. The junior author has compiled
vii
Vili PREFACE,
and verified the experience of the most successful
growers of cigar-leaf tobacco in all parts of America.
The authors have travy-
elled more than ten thou-
sand miles in pursuit of
trustworthy information for
this book, while thousands
of circulars have been used
for securing original data
and practical experience,
and hundreds of letters writ-
ten to insure accuracy, to
the end that the work might
stand for years as an au-
thoritative manual. No
pains have been too severe,
no distance has been too far,
no expense has been too
great, to
make the F. B, MOODIE, FLORIDA.
work one
that will commend itself to all
classes of persons who grow, sell,
buy, manufacture, retail, export,
import, or consume, tobacco.
Co-authors with us in the
preparation of this work, have
been the closest investigators into
the complex scientific problems
involved in the tobacco industry;
many of them the most observant
growers of the leaf, and expert
planters of long and successful experience in the field
and curing barn; while in preparing the very important
portions relating to the marketing of the leaf and the
manufacture of tobacco, we have enjoyed the invaluable
8. P. CARR, VIRGINIA.
.
PREFACE. 1x
assistance of the most experienced experts. Without
the generous aid of these gentlemen, a work of this
character could not have
been published. Their sery-
ices are entitled to the full-
est recognition, which is
most gladly accorded.
Among the scientists
who have aided in the prep-
aration of this book, special
credit is due Prof. William
Frear, in charge of tobacco
work at the Pennsylvania
experiment station, who is
the author of the admirable
treatise on the bacteriology
of tobacco; Dr. E. H. Jen-
kins, vice director of the
Connecticut experiment station, under whose manage-
ment the famous Poquonock experiments have been
conducted; Prof. H. Garman, ‘
entomologist to the Kentucky
experiment station, whose assist-
ance has been invaluable in the
preparation of the chapter on in-
sect pests; Prof. M. A. Scovell,
director of the Kentucky experi-
ment station ; Prof. W. C. Stubbs
and J. G. Lee, director and vice
director of the North Louisiana
experiment station; President
Le Roy Broun of the Alabama
agricultural college; Dr. C. A.
Goessman of the Massachusetts
experiment station and Prof. R. J. Davidson, chemist
to the Virginia experiment station. Full use has also
F.R. DIFFENDERFER, PENNSYLVANIA.
PROF. H. GARMAN, KENTUCKY.
\¢ PREFACE.
been made of the excellent work done by Prof. E. S$.
Goff, at the Wisconsin experiment station, by F. G.
Carpenter, at the North Carolina
experiment station, and by Dr.
S. W. Johnson of Connecticut,
and by Nessler, Schloesing, and
others in Germany.
Among the practica. mev
who have contributed valuable
aid, we would mention, in Vir-
ginia, in Richmond, Hon. 8. P.
Carr of the Davenport ware-
house, James M. Gentry, Cam-
eron & Cameron, J. Wright Co.
and William M. Dibrell; Joln
Sims of Maxwelton, Halifax GeorcE L. wiMRERLy, N. ©.
county, himself a successful planter, who has descended
through a long line of successful tobacco growers reach-
ing back nearly 200 years. Mr.
Carr has never failed to respond
promptly and cheerfully for any
information, and when the facts
were not at his command, he
has spared neither time nor ex-
pense in securing data for us,
and his substantial and ready
assistance fully entitles him to
share with us in the authorship
of the work.
In Tennessee, our obliga-
tions are due to F. W. Taylor
and George C. Carthrons of Mor-
WALLACE TAPPAN, NEw york. ristown, to C. Austin of Greene-
ville, Jack Crouch of Clarks-
ville, Hon. James G. Aydelotte of Tullahoma, Walter
Fort and Mr. Harned of Robertson county, Otto Giers of
.
PREFACE. © x1
Nashville. A. B. and J. P. Killebrew, of Montgomery
county, large and successful tobacco planters, have sup-
plied many valuable facts
regarding the more re-
cent methods in the
heavy-shipping districts
of fertilization, cultiva-
tion and _ harvesting ;
also Mr. J. C. Kendrick,
president of the Clarks-
ville tobacco board of
trade, and M. H. Clark,
the Nestor among to-
bacco dealers of Tennes-
see. Mr. Clark’s high
intelligence and exten-
sive and varied knowl-
edge of tobacco among
all civilized nations, and
his intimate acquaintance with the special types suita-
ble for consumption by the various peoples of the earth,
make his contribution to this work of
special and authoritative value. The
rich endowments of his mind are only
equaled by the excellence of his ad-
dress, his high courtesy as a gentle-
man, and his gracefulness and _ perspi-
cuity as a writer. His brother, Lewis
R. Clark, a full associate in the to-
bacco trade, is also a gentleman of rare
culture and of varied attainments. He
has never hesitated to comply with
any request made of him for information pertaining te
tobacco. Charles Dowell, of Robertson county, is enti-
tled to our best thanks for the admirable designs fur-
nished by him for building curing houses,
THOMAS MASON, OHIO.
JOHN SIMS, VIRGINIA.
xii * PREFACE,
Kentucky’s interest in this work, besides that
already mentioned, is represented by contributions from
Alexander Harthill, of Louisville,
whose name is Eatin to the to-
bacco dealers of two continents ;
W. C. Thompson, of George-
town, a large and most intelligent
grower of White Burley tobacco,
furnisbed minute details respect-
ing the culture and management
of that variety of tobacco;
Thomas E. Browder, of Logan
county, who for several years was
associated with a large tobacco
commission house, and subse-
quently became a successful grow-
: er of tobacco,
supplied valuable information respect-
ing the types used in foreign
countries. Single facts have
been obtained from a large num-
ber of the most intelligent plant-
ers and dealers throughout the
State.
In North Carolina, valuable
aid was received from G. L.
Wimberly, an intelligent grower
of Edgecombe county; Col.
Tsaac Sugg of Greenville, Hon.
H. G. Connor and James I.
Thomason of Wilson, and the
Hon. Julian 8. Carr of Durham.
The name of the latter is known and appreciated wher-
ever pipe-smoking tobacco is used. In South Carolina,
we are indebted to EK. M. Pace of Marion, Sydnor &
Treadway and Bright Williamson of Darlington.
H. 8. FRYE, CONNECTICUT.
WALTER A. FORT, TENN.
- PREFACE. xii
Thomas Mason of Cincinnati, the accomplished editor
of the Western Tobacco Journal, has never failed to
answer inquiries relating to to-
bacco, and this work is enriched
by many useful facts supplied by
him. Mr. Lockwood Myrick’s
deep studies, laboratory work,
and practical experience in the
manufacture, sale and use of fer-
tilizers, is largely responsible for
the completeness of Chapter VI.
A. W. Fulton assisted in working
up the valuable chapter on the
marketing of the various kinds
of tobacco.
In the cigar leaf portions of
the work, we are particularly in-
debted to W. W. Sanderson, one of the most careful and
practical experts in the culture of Havana seed in Mas-
sachusetts; Pres. H. 8. Frye, of
the New England tobacco grow-
ers’ association ; W. F. Andross,
of the East Hartford section ;
John EK. DuBon, field manager
for the Connecticut Tobacco Ex-
periment Company; Hon. Wal-
lace Tappan, of Onondaga coun-
ty, New York; Pres. W. C.
Morse, of the Chemung valley
(N. Y.) growers’ association ;
Mr. F. R. Diffenderfer of Lan-
caster county, and other Penn-
sylvania growers; Mr. Jacob ALEX HARTHILL, KY.
Zimmer, of the Miami valley,
Ohio, and several Wisconsin planters. The chapter on
cigar-leaf culture in the South and West is largely based
W. F. ANDROSS, CONN.
xiv PREFACE.
on the successful practical experience of Col. F. B.
Moodie, president of the Florida tobacco growers’ associ-
ation; A. Alonzo Cordery, vice president of the Cuban
tobacco growers’ company in Southern Florida, and to
Dr. Jenkins’ careful studies of the extensive operations
with tobacco in Florida.
It is also to the gentlemen enumerated that we are
mainly indebted for the large number of original photo-
graphs from which the en-
gravings for this work have
been produced. Pardonable
pride is felt in the complete-
ness of our illustrations. We
especially commend the read-
er’s attention to the plates §
illustrating the most perfect
plants of the leading varieties |
of tobacco. These plants were
grown specially for this pur-
pose by experts, from the
finest strains of seed true to
the perfected varieties, and
are believed to faithfully pre-
sen, torathe fire. time ino WoC eee
print, truly lifelike portraitures of variety-standards.
Even the cursory reader will observe that, after nearly
four hundred years of tobacco growing, there is yet muchi
to be learned. The increasing competition in raising
this crop in various parts of the world makes it necessary
that American tobacco planters employ to the utmost the
teachings of practical experience and applied science.
This, combined with good management and the closest
economy throughout the business, will enable the United
States to hold its lead for another century in the world’s
tobacco markets, besides supplying its own consumption,
with the cigar leaf heretofore imported.
PART I.
ESSENTIALS IN TOBACCO CULTURE.
i.
ek
aes
ESSENTIALS IN TOBACCO CULTURE.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN AND SPREAD OF TOBACCO CULTURE.
The truth of the assertion made by the Chinese
that they cultivated and knew the use of tobacco long
anterior to the discovery of America by Columbus, is
not sustained by any records entitled to credit by civi-
lized nations. When or where it was first cultivated or
used is one of the mysteries which rest in the unrelieved
darkness of unlettered history. Pipes from prehistoric
mounds in the United States, Mexico and Peru prove
the extreme antiquity of tobacco, and pipes are found
only in American ruins or mounds. Columbus, during
his first voyage, saw the natives smoking it, and in sub-
sequent voyages the fact was noted that it was used by
the aborigines in smoking, chewing and snuffing. It is
supposed to have taken the name tobacco, by which the
Spaniards called it, from the ¢odaco, which was the
inhaling apparatus of the Caribbees. Benzoni, who tray-
eled in America in 1542-1556, says the Mexicans called
the plant “‘tobacco.” On the continent of America it
was usually called ‘‘petum”; by the West India island-
ers, ‘ yoli.”
In 1558, Francisco Fernandes, a physician who had
been sent to Mexico by Philip II to investigate and re-
port on the natural productions of that country, brought
3
4 TOBACCO LEAF.
back with him the tobacco plant. The next year Her-
nando de Toledo carried some tobacco from San Domingo
to Europe.
During the same year Jean Nicot, the French em-
bassador to Portugal, sent some seeds to his sovereign-
mistress, Queen Catherine de Medici, and from this cir-
cumstance it was called herba regina. ‘To commemorate
the services rendered by Nicot, in spread-
ing a knowledge of the plant, the gen-
eric name Nicotiana was given to it.
Sir John Hawkins carried it from
Florida to England. Harriot, who was
in the expedition under the command
of Sir Richard Grenville, sent out by
Sir Walter Raleigh, which discovered
Virginia and North Carolina, mentions
the fact that the Spaniards called the
plant tobacco. In 1586, tobacco was
first carried into England from Vir-
ginia by the agents of Sir Walter
Raleigh, and its use soon became fash-
ionable among the courtiers and the
persons of quality.
John Rolfe, in 1612, became the
first civilized tobacco grower. He was
FIG. 1. TOBACCO
SMOKED THRovGH athe husband of Pocahontas, and grew
TUBE, AS FIRST SEEN {ohacco for export to the mother coun-
BY COLUMBUS. .
From Lobel's “History TY: Shortly afterwards Sir George
of Plants,” 1576. Yeardley, the deputy governor, en-
couraged the colonists to grow it for profit. In 1617,
the streets, market places and all the open lots of James-
town were planted in tobacco. But for tobacco, the set-
tlement of Virginia at that period would have proved a
failure, for it became the currency of the country, the
measure of all values and the sole product of Virginia
that would command articles of value in exchange.
ORIGIN AND SPREAD. 5
In June, 1619, twenty thousand pounds were shipped
to England. James I, a pedant in learning and a fool
in statecraft, made a furious attack upon the use of
tobacco in a paper which he called ‘‘A Counterblaste to
Tobacco.” His kingly influence caused a duty of six-
pence a pound to be levied on all importations of tobacco
to the United Kingdom. So far, however, from the
“Counterblaste ” proving an injury to the planter and a
check to the consumption of tobacco, it actually in-
creased the one and benefited the other. Prices went
up and the area of its cultivation was rapidly enlarged.
From this period on, the col-
ony of Virginia grew and ex-
panded, and the narcotic
which aroused the kingly ire
of James became the founda-
tion stone upon which was
erected one of the most pop-
ulous and prosperous com-
monwealths in the New
World. And so it came about
that the beginning of law,
the expansion of justice, the parc, supeny oF cHAvES BRING
increase of commerce, Civili- BROUGHT IN BY A FEMALE.
‘ From Be Bry’s “ Historia Brasiliana,”
zition,. culture, refinement 1590.
and progressive thought, rested upon the plant, the
fumes of which were compared by King James to the
“‘fumes of hell.”
Young women were brought into the colony after
this, to become the wives of the growers of tobacco. In
1620, and just before the Pilgrim Fathers landed on
Plymouth Rock, ninety young women were brought to
Virginia, chargeable with the cost of transportation,
which was at first one hundred and twenty pounds, and
afterwards one hundred and fifty pounds, of tobacco.
This expense was cheerfully borne by those who took
6 TOBACCO LEAF,
them for wives. And thus tobacco first riveted the
bonds of matrimony in the New World, and made con-
tented citizens of the little white band of adventurous
spirits that first peopled Virginia. But for the profits
of tobacco, the colony would, doubtless, have perished,
and British civilization would have lost its foothold in
the southern boundaries of North America.
The profits from tobacco proved so great that the
cultivation of the food crops was neglected. This con-
dition demanded strenuous regulations: by the Virginia
company. In 1621, the colonists
were restricted to the planting of
one hundred plants per head, and
| the number of leaves to each plant
7 was limited to nine. Afterwards,
the number of leaves was extended
{to twenty-five or thirty, and re-
sy duced, in 1629, to twelve. In
1629, 3000 plants per poll and 1000
=| plants each for women and children
<—| were allowed. The crop of 1621
was 60,000 pounds, 55,000 pounds
of which were exported to Holland.
Fic. 3. Toracconis’s “Lhe price in England for the same
SHOP, LONDON, 160. year, with the duty added, ranged
From Brat "from seventy-five cents to one dollar
per pound. In 1676, the mother country collected from
the duty on tobacco 120,000 pounds sterling. The whole
amount collected from the custom duties in 1590, during
the reign of Elizabeth, was only 50,000 pounds. This
increase is largely to be attributed to the trade in tobacco.
In 1731, the exports of tobacco from the Provinces of
Maryland and Virginia conjointly reached 60,000 hogs-
heads of 600 pounds each, which yielded 375,000 pounds
sterling, or $1,875,000. The imposts on this were 180,-
000 pounds sterling, or $900,000.
ORIGIN ‘AND SPREAD. 4
Warehouses for the inspection of tobacco were first
established in Virginia in 1730, the object of which was
to prevent the exportation of trash, bad, unsound and
unmerchantable tobacco. The minimum weight for a
hogshead was 800 pounds. So rapidly did this industry
grow, that in 1754 the exports from Virginia alone were
50,000 hogsheads. During this period, tobacco was
worth, in London, 11d to 124d per pound. Only 24,500
hogsheads were made in Virginia in 1758, and the price
rose as high as fifty shillings per hundred pounds in
that province. The a mm ||
annual average ex-
ports of tobacco from
Virginia from 1745
to 1755 inclusive,
were 44,000 hogs-
heads. The annual
exportation from the
American colonies
from 1763 to 1770,
was 66,780 hogsheads
of 1000 pounds each.
_For the four years
just before the Rey-
A\\
.
STANT
A\\
y
: FIG. 4. A TOBACCO “ DRINKER” INHALING
olutionary war, 100,- smoke AND EXPELLING IT BY THE NOSE,
000,000 pounds were AS PRACTICED BY THE DUTCH ABOUT 1600.
Copied from a rare book on tobacco published at
sent abroad annually. Rotterdam, 1623.
The average exports during the war of the Revolution
were 12,000,000 pounds.
Kentucky, now producing nearly one-half of all the
tobacco grown in the United States, was settled mainly
by Virginians, and the culture of tobacco was coeval
with its first settlement. As early as 1785, Gen Wilkin-
son, of Kentucky, entered into a contract with the Span-
ish authorities in New Orleans to supply them with sey-
eral boat loads of tobacco. It is believed that most of
8 TOBACCO LEAF,
this was grown in Kentucky. In the southern and cen-
tral parts of Kentucky, and in Tennessee, tobacco was
grown as a commodity as early as 1810. Prior to 1833,
by far the largest quantity of tobacco grown in Kentucky
and Tennessee was sent to the market in New Orleans,
where it was taken for foreign consumption. After that
time, local dealers established factories in Clarksville and
at a few interior points, and began to buy loose tobacco
and stem it (1. e., take out the midrib of the leaf) for
the English market. A few years after this, Henderson,
Ky., grew to be a great strip market, a position which
it stil] holds. From this time on, the Western markets
for tobacco sprang up in many places. Inspection ware-
houses were estab-
lished in Louisville
as early as 1839, and
in Clarksville in
1845. At these
markets, casks are
PIPE OF \AR. PIPE OF PEACE. stripped from the
FIG. .. PIPES OF AMERICAN INDIANS. tobacco, and sam-
ples drawn by sworn inspectors. These two places,
Louisville and Clarksville, are the pioneer inspection
markets of the Mississippi valley, and they opened the
first Inspection warehouses in the West. From the
establishment of these local markets in Kentucky and
Tennessee, the tobacco trade of the Mississippi valley went
on increasing, until now it stands second only to cotton
as a farm commodity for exportation.
The New England colonists grew some tobacco in
the decade embraced between 1640 and 1650, but the
cultivation of it was, for the most part, abandoned dur-
ing the 18th and the first three decades of the 19th cen-
tury, when, by experiments first made by B. P. Barber
of East Windsor, Conn., it was ascertained that a qual-
ity of tobacco could be grown, deficient, indeed, in
ORIGIN AND SPREAD. 9
sweetness and in nicotine, and in those qualities desired
in chewing tobacco, but in fineness and delicacy of tex-
ture, in strength of tissue, and in glossiness and smooth-
ness of surface, far superior to anything that had ever
been grown in the South. It proved to be highly valu-
able in the manufacture of cigars. Its culture brought
great wealth to the planters of the Connecticut valley,
especially in the years succeeding the Civil war, which
culminated in an era of speculation and extravagance
that was closed disastrously by the panic of 1872.
Meanwhile, eastern Pennsylvania and central New York
State, attracted by the profit in cigar leaf tobacco, em-
barked in it upon a constantly increasing scale, followed
by the Miami valley in Ohio, and by southern Wiscon-
sin, until now more than
100,000,000 pounds of to-
bacco are grown in these
states annually, not all of ‘
Ce
which may be classed a gee
cigar leaf. =
The industry gradu- FI. 6. PREHISTORIC PIPE USED BY
. THE MOUND BUILDERS IN THE MIS
ally revived from 1878 to gissippr VALLEY CENTURIES AGO"
1885, when the increasing From Smithsonian Report, 1848. :
importation of wrapper leaf from Sumatra curtailed the
market for domestic wrappers. Serious decline followed,
with virtual bankruptcy for many planters, until the
tariff of 1890 imposed a duty of two dollars per pound
on imported wrappers. The domestic cigar leaf indus-
try promptly rallied, quantity and quality of crop im-
proved, prices advanced, and prosperity seemed to dawn
again upon the wrapper-producing sections. Florida’s
capabilities as a wrapper leaf State were demonstrated,
although some excellent tobacco had been grown there
prior to the Civil war. Prices declined after the national
election in November, 1892, foreshadowing a change in
policy; but with a return to the former method, it is
10 TOBACCO LEAF.
believed that the home market for domestic-grown cigar
wrappers will once more make this branch of the tobacco
industry as prosperous as the culture of the leaf in other
States for other purposes.
The rise and progress of the yellow tobacco interest
in the Piedmont regions of Virginia and North Carolina,
and especially in the latter State, show one of the most
abnormal developments in agriculture that the world
has ever known. ‘This leaf is mainly used for wrappers,
chewing plugs, and also for making ‘‘fine cut” tobacco
and cigarettes. About the year 1852, two brothers, Eli
and Elisha Slade, owned farms which, in part, occupied
poor ridge lying between two tributaries of the Dan river,
: : in Caswell coun-
ty, North Caro-
| lina. Upon this
Wie ridge, during the
E> year mentioned,
they planted to-
bacco, and cured
FIG. 7. MOUND BUILDERS’ PIPES FOUND IN it with fires made
ROSS COUNTY, OHIO, U. S. A.
From Smithsonian Report, 1848. of chai coal, reg-
ulated in a definite manner. They succeeded, by this
means, in giving to it a beautiful lemon-yellow color.
Their neighbors caught the infection, and soon the to-
bacco from Caswell county began to arrest the attention
of the tobacco dealers by reason of its superior beauty
and sweetness. High prices were paid forit. During
the Civil war very little of this high-grade tobacco was
produced, but between 1870 and 1880 its production was
revived, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it did
more to build up the prosperity of North Carolina than
all other agencies combined. Old fields, that had been
abandoned because of their sterility, became the most
profitable farming lands in the State. Poverty in the
soil, for once, became the first principle of agriculture.
ORIGIN AND SPREAD. rT
The lands which grew the finest tobacco had light cream-
colored soils, 93 per cent of which was siliceous matter.
This porous, spongy, sandy earth, destitute of humus,
and incapable of growing any crop without the most
abundant application of manures, became the corner
stone of a new agriculture. ‘Tobacco was planted upon
it, with the addition of a very small quantity of manure,
from which the plant could derive sustenance until it
approached maturity. When the manure became ex-
hausted, the plant began to lose its vitality and take on
every day a deeper yellowish tinge. Just before they
were harvested, the plants turned to a beautiful color,
like hickory leaves in autumn, and fields of tobacco at a
distance looked more like those é
of small grain ready for the har-
vest than tobacco fields. .
The sterilized spots, worn i
out and abandoned, grown up in
bamboo briers, chinquapin bushes ""® * MAKING SPUN Ronn
and sickly, scrubby pines, that in From an old poster.
1860 could with difficulty be sold for fifty cents per acre,
were soon in demand at thirty to fifty dollars per acre.
Old towns that had been well-nigh deserted because of
the decay of agriculture in their vicinity, suddenly took
on new life. New streets were laid out, great blocks of
buildings were erected, railroads were constructed, and
the constant going and coming of hustling business men
made a transformation as great and almost as quick, and
certainly as profitable, as would the discovery of gold
mines. Indeed, the yellow-tobacco interests of North
Carolina proved far more beneficial to the whole popula-
tion than the finding of gold mines would have been:
Gradually the planting extended, first westward from
the Piedmont region to the steep ridges lying at the
foot of the lofty mountains in Buncombe and other
counties in western North Carolina. Many thriving
12 TOBACCO LEAF.
towns were built up, hundreds of prosperous manufac-
turing establishments of cotton and tobacco followed in
the wake of this new tobacco trade. In a few years the
soils of the Champaign regions were tested for their
capacity to grow this yellow tobacco, and the success
with such soils opened a new district for its expansion
and cultivation.
Then the culture extended still further westward
over the mountains, to the sunny slopes of Unicoi,
Greene and Washington counties in Tennessee, where
its growth rescued many villages from decay and planted
a prosperity in that region which it had never before
enjoyed. Nor is its progress yet
ended. North Georgia, western
South Carolina, the white lands
of the Highland Rim in middle
Tennessee and Alabama, the
white, sandy and clayey soils of
West Tennessee, and of the hill
}regions of Mississippi, Louisiana
and Arkansas, and the sides of
ap the Ozark mountains in Missouri,
FIG. 9. MAKING SNUFF, 1700. may all be transformed from re-
From Fairholt’s “Tobacco.” gions of comparative poverty to
regions of wealth, through the successful culture of yel-
low tobacco. Every year, new territory is being tested
for the growth of this tobacco. The thin, sterile, white
soils around Tullahoma, Tennessee, produced as fine
yellow tobacco in 1896 as was produced in North Caro-
lina, and this experiment opens a new field for its growth,
embracing 500,000 acres in the center of Tennessee.
Scarcely less interesting is the history of the culture
of the White Burley tobacco. ‘This variety originated
in Brown county, Ohio, upon the farm of George Webb,
living near Higginsport. In the spring of 1864, Mr.
Webb sowed the Red Burley seed. The plants came up
ORIGIN AND SPREAD. 13
and grew with the usual appearance of healthy plants,
except in one particular spot, where they had a whitish,
sickly look, so much so that they were left in the bed
for atime. In setting out his crop, however, Mr. Webb
found that he lacked plants enough of a healthy charac-
ter to finish his planting, so he drew the whitish looking
ones and set them out. For two or three weeks the
whitish plants grew but little, but after they became
well rooted they advanced with great rapidity, retaining
their creamy richness of color, and ripening two weeks
earlier than any other plants in the field.
When cured by atmospheric influences, the same
process used in curing the Red Burley, the underside of
the cured leaves was). ---—
of a whitish tinge, “~—-. 6 >-
while the upper side + OS
was of a_ beautiful ly, Ue
golden hue. Some
of these plants, when *
cured, measured six
feet in length, and
were so handsome in __ ; Ys
FIG. 10. TRANSPORTING TOBACCO IN THE
appearance, and the OLDEN TIMES.
tissue of the leaves was so fine, that Mr, Webb placed
them on exhibition in the Bodeman warehouse im Cin-
cinnati. Intelligent buyers gave encouragement for its
further cultivation, and the next year Mr. Webb, fortu-
nately haying saved some seed, planted ten acres of it,
which yielded 11,000 pounds of tobacco, very handsome
and silky, with all the characteristic coloring which the
sample of the previous year displayed. When offered in
the market it brought from twenty-five to forty-five
cents per pound, and a premium of three hundred dol-
lars, in addition, was awarded to the grower. From this
“sport,” which originated so unaccountably, there has
been developed an impetus in tobacco culture in southern
14 _ TOBACCO LEAF,
Ohio and northern Kentucky as great as in the yellow-
tobacco regions of North Carolina and Virginia. This
class or type of tobacco was found to be more suited for
manufacturing purposes and to the tastes of the Amer-
ican tobacco chewers than any other. It is very mild,
with a small content of nicotine, and its absorbent capac-
ity is greater than that of any tobacco hitherto grown.
For many years the demand for it far exceeded the sup-
ply. The prices paid for the most trashy leaves ex-
ceeded the prices paid for the best crops of heavy ship-
ping tobacco. It soon invaded the famous blue grass
regions of Kentucky. Stock farms were converted into
tobacco farms. Blue grass pastures that had been the
ornaments of the farms and the pride and glory of many
generations of stock breeders, were plowed up and
planted in White Burley tobacco. Experiments were
made in its culture in every part of the tobacco-growing
area of the United States, but it was soon found, as it
was with the growth of yellow tobacco, that it may be
produced in its perfection only upon the soils adapted to
it. The blue limestone regions of Kentucky and the
drift soils of southern Ohio have almost a monopoly of
its culture, as the light, sandy regions and whitish, clayey
districts have the monopoly of the growth of the yellow
tobacco.
Within three hundred and seventy years the culti-
vation of tobacco has extended from the streets of
Jamestown to every quarter of the globe. Population
has moved westward, tobacco eastward. Of all the
stimulants and narcotics used by man, it is probably the
least injurious in its effects upon the human system.
Yet it may be injurious, and often is, so much so that its
culture and use has ever been bitterly contested. In
spite of all this, tobacco grows on every land and is used
by every people. From New England to Louisiana,
from Virginia to the prairies of the West, from the
ORIGIN AND SPREAD. 15
Indias of the West to the Indias of the East, from the
continental islands of the Indian ocean to the southern
continent of Australia, tobacco is grown and consumed.
Like its next of kin, the Irish potato, it has made the
conquest of the earth.
It is the greatest of all revenue-producers. It is
taxed by every government. It bears a heavier burden, °
in proportion to its cost of production, than any other
commodity. The governments of France, Spain, Italy
and Austria make a monopoly of its manufacture and
sale. England puts a tax upon it, averaging 1200 per
cent of its prime cost. It is the stay of nations, the
poor man’s luxury and the rich man’s solace.
CHAPTER II.
STATUS OF THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY—ON THE USE OF
THE WEED.
The demand for prime quality tobacco is constantly
increasing, because of the increased rate of consumption.
In the United States, while population in 1896 is
only two and one-half times greater than in 1860, con-
sumption of manufactured tobacco is fivefold greater, and
of cigars tenfold, to say nothing of five hundred cigarettes
per capita consumed annually, which were unknown be-
fore the war. In the twelve years ended with 1892, do-
mestic consumption of cigar leaf tobacco increased forty
per cent, while the quantity of manufactured tobacco
consumed (smoking, chewing and snuff) just about
doubled. Exports have doubled within two decades,
and now average one-third larger than ten years ago.
The per capita consumption in France has trebled
in little more than half a century, while a somewhat
similar rate of increase is apparent in England and
other European countries. In other parts of the world,
for which statistics are lacking, it is believed that the
per capita consumption is increasing even more rapidly.
Add to this the growth of population, and it is evident
that the market for tobacco is certain to be an expanding
one. This is in marked contrast to the staple necessi-
ties of life, such as wheat, rye and potatoes, the consump-
tion of which for each unit of population appears to be
comparatively stationary.
An advance in the value of tobacco has been coinci-
dent with this increased demand. If 100 is taken to
16
THE USE OF THE WEED, 17
represent the average wholesale market price of Ameri-
can tobacco in leaf during the year 1860, its value for
1891 averaged 140 in the United States, in England
163, and at Hamburg, Germany, 85 (see table in Ap-
pendix). The advance noted in America and Great
Britain is partly due to the improvement in quality,
only the better grades being included in the quotations
averaged, while the decline observed at Hamburg may
be ascribed to the bulk of low-grade leaf imported, in-
cluding, of late years, increasing quantities from new
centers of production south of the equator.
The advance of 40 per cent in market value of the
better grades of American leaf is all the more remark-
able because of an average decline of 12 per cent in the
value of wheat during the period under review, a decline
in wool of 25 per cent, and of cotton 20 per cent. The
general average for all farm products shows a decline of
three per cent (see table in Appendix). In other
words, tobacco alone, of all the great staples, maintained
an advance in value in the three decades since the war.
Nearly all values have declined since the exhaustive
study of prices was made, in 1891-3, by the finance com-
mittee of the United States Senate, but the general ay-
erage for tobacco shows a less falling off than most other
crops, except in the more speculative cigar wrapper leaf.
The tables of quotations in the Appendix, upon the
standard grades of leaf in the principal home and for-
eign markets, confirm the foregoing.
Increased production in the United States, of leaf
and of cigars, cigarettes and manufactured tobacco, has
fully kept pace with increased consumption and export.
The United States now devotes over 700,000 acres to this
crop annually, about one-third more than forty years
ago, with a crop twice as large as then, for it exceeds
500,000,000 pounds in a year of average production.
Nearly 300,000,000 pounds are manufactured for chew-
2
18 TOBACCO LEAF,
ing, smoking and snuffing, a tremendous increase—ten
times as much as was returned for internal revenue tax-
ation three decades ago. The cigar output is also ten
times larger and bids fair to soon reach five billion a
year, while eight billion cigarettes have been made in a
single twelve months.
The development of the cigar making and tobacco
manufacturing industry in the United States has like-
wise been rapid. It employs about 150,000 people in
about 12,000 establishments, against only 25,000 em-
ployees and 2000 factories in 1860. The wages now
paid are ten times as much as then, materials used cost
five times as much, while the annual product of these
factories represents seven times the value of 1860. In-
deed, these tobacco products in 1890 exceeded in value
the total of the printing and publishing trades. The
people pay more for tobacco than for newspapers, books,
or other literature—almost as much as for foot wear, and
about twice as much as they pay for sugar. With a to-
bacco factory product valued at $200,000,000, the last
census affords this comparison with the values of the
product in other manufactures: Boots and shoes, $220-
000,000; carpentry, $281,000,000; carriages and wag-
ons, $114,000,000 ; cotton goods, $268,000,000 ; woolen
and worsted, $225,000,000; liquors, $300,000,000; flour
and mill products, $514,000,000 ; slaughtering and meat
packing, $433,000,000; sugar refining, $123,000,000.
Government revenues from the tobacco industry
have kept pace with this marvellous growth, although
the rate of taxation has been downward. Almost $50,-
000,000 of revenue was obtained by the federal govern-
ment from tobacco in the fiscal year 1891. Two-thirds
of this vast sum was derived from the direct or internal
revenue taxes on domestic leaf, and the balance from
duties on imports (Appendix). Until internal revenue
taxes were reduced by the law of 1883, tobacco yielded
PLATE I. CONNECTICUT (East Hartford) BROADLEAF (topped plant).
This beautiful engraving is of a plant grown in a field of several acres
raised by W. F. Andross, an experienced planter in the famous
East Hartford district. The seed has been carefully selected and
inbred for years, this specimen representing average perfection of
the variety. This plant is topped and is nearly ready for harvest-
ing. When photographed, August 10th, it was 5} feet high ; length
of stalk, 3 feet 1 inch; top leaf, 28} inches long and 13 inches wide;
largest leaf, 34x19} inches; number of perfect or merchantable
leaves on plant, 14, only one being a thick top leaf, three good leaf
binders, and ten fine wrappers. Many plants are larger, some hav-
ing top leaves 36 inches long, with largest leaves 43x23 inches—a
truly royal plant.
1
20 TOBACCO LEAF.
one-third of the total receipts from internal revenue tax-
ation, and it now yields about one-fifth. Tobacco also
yields ten per cent of the total customs receipts, against
four per cent under the tariff of 1883. Altogether,
tobacco now furnishes fifteen per cent, or nearly one-
sixth, of government’s total net ordinary receipts.
The present status of the tobacco industry thus rep-
resents immense financial interests. Many millions are
invested in tobacco lands, barns, fertilizers, culture, im-
plements, labor and warehouses. About $100,000,000
are engaged in making cigars, cigarettes and snuff, and
in manufacturing tobacco. The growers get, say, from
$40,000,000 to $50,000,000 for the crop in its raw state.
Aside from vast sums paid for help in the domestic
trade, our tobacco factories alone pay in wages over
$60,000,000, and their annual product exceeds $200,-
000,000 in value. ‘Tobacco is exported, in its raw state,
to the average value of $30,000,000, while imports rep-
resent about half that sum. Add to this something
like $50,000,000 of revenue paid to government, and it
appears that the annual stake in the United States to-
bacco crop and industry represents the stupendous sum
of more than $400,000,000. The duplication in this
total is much more than offset by items that manifestly
are not included, such as the permanent investment in
farms, warehouses, factories and the like.
Certainly the investment in this tobacco crop and
trade, and its annual product, are sufficiently large to
raise it to the dignity of one of the most important of
American industries. As such, it is well worthy of the
most profound attention on the part of planters and
agricultural scientists, of dealers and manufacturers,
and of statesmen. .
All evidence and experience demonstrates what
every intelligent tobacco planter knows—that only the
best quality, except in rare instances, pays a real profit.
- THE USE OF THE WEED. 21
And with the increasing competition of foreign leaf in
the markets of the world, it is evident that the suprem-
acy of American tobaccos will depend, in great measure,
upon their quality. Present profits and future prosper-
ity will be governed by the quality of the leaf produced.
This fact cannot be too often reiterated. To this end,
our scientists must cooperate most earnestly with plant-
ers, while much is yet to be learned about preservation
and improvement of quality in the processes of packing,
handling and manufacturing.
Our statesmen must also be educated to pursue a
policy that shall develop, instead of discourage, this
great industry. This country’s policy of removing
every possible obstruction in the way of domestic tobacco
culture, trading and manufacture, is the only right
method. The product can stand a reasonable amount
of direct taxation, when imposed and collected by the
comparatively simple and effective system now in vogue.
It imposes on growers no restrictions of any moment,
while taxes on the finished product and on licenses are
moderate, and are collected with little friction.
While we should jealously guard ouy interests in
the foreign market for the surplus of American leaf,
the certain increase in production and quality in other
parts of the world must be reckoned upon. The idiotic
restrictions on tobacco culture in other countries (it is
prohibited in Great Britain and Spain, and seriously
hampered in other European States), are likely to be
succeeded by the American system, which is equally
successful as a revenue producer, without depriving farm-
ers of the benefits of growing this profitable crop.
The longer those restrictions are maintained abroad,
the better the opportunity for American leaf in for-
eign markets. But it is inevitable that these older
nations will gradually encourage tobacco culture, while
newer lands possess vast areas of soil, now virgin to
22 TOBACCO LEAF.
this crop, where it is destined to be grow’ on a com-
mercial scale.
Thus the present status of the tobacco industry
throughout the world emphasizes the wisdom of guaran-
teeing the home market to the American producer.
How important this is, appears from the fact that within
less than two decades our imports of tobacco have
jumped from a nominal figure to equal half the value of
our tobacco exports—the latter a fruit of four hundred
years of effort! To buy foreign leaf at an average of
sixty cents a pound, and pay for it with domestic to-
bacco at eight cents per pound, is a policy that cannot
be justified by any economic theory, when the truth is
that leaf of the same quality as the imported can be
grown in the United States.
IS TOBACCO INJURIOUS TO THE HEALTH OF THE
BODY, THE MORALS, OR THE INTELLECTUAL
FACULTIES ?
The enormous increase in the consumption of to-
bacco, previously outlined, has been accomplished in the
face of what was formerly the bitterest opposition.
During the past twenty years this feeling against the
tobacco habit has somewhat waned, until the campaign
against the weed is now mainly directed against its being
indulged in by the young, or to excess by the old.
Snuff taking is on the decrease, it is a question whether
chewing is not also on the decline, and the vast increase
is in the various ways of consuming tobacco by smoking.
Tobacco has, on the one hand, been denounced as
the fruitful parent of all that is physically injurious or
morally depraved, and on the other hand, its use is re-
garded as innocent, wholesome, pleasing and comforting,
adding to the happiness, while subtracting nothing from
the health of the body, or from the elevation of the mor-
als or the clearness of the intellectual faculties. ‘The
PLATE II. CONNECTICUT BROADLEAF (in flower).
Complete or perfect plant of the variety shown in Plate I. This plant
was slightly wilted when photographed a few minutes after being
lifted from the soil.
23
24 TOBACCO LEAF,
truth seems to lie between these extremes. With per-
sons of weak bodies or nervous temperaments, the use of
tobacco is unquestionably injurious, while persons of
full habit and sluggish minds frequently derive great
benefit from its use.
Norman Kerr, M. D., F. L. 8., of London, Eng-
land, who is probably the highest authority among the
English-speaking peoples in all matters pertaining to
the effects of narcotics and stimulants upon the human
system, says: ‘‘ With persons of a certain temperament
the use of tobacco produces concentration of thought,
mental satisfaction, protection against infection, and
domestic happiness.” ‘‘'There are persons,” he says,
‘*so constituted that the intellectual powers require to
be arrested and concentrated before any definite intel-
lectual effort can be even entered upon. To such per-
sons tobacco smoking has proved invaluable, the advan-
tages far outweighing the disadvantages. No other
substance, narcotic or anesthetic, is yet known which
would serve this purpose and do so little damage.”
“* Were tobacco not known,” he continues, “‘ the idiosyn-
crasies of such individuals would interfere with the
achievement and excellence of their work. All those
with whom tobacco does not disagree realize fully the
pleasure and mental satisfaction afforded by its use.”
‘“No language,” says Dr. Kerr, ‘“‘can accurately
describe the comfort enjoyed from a pipe, when exposed
to severe weather in trenches, or the power it has to
stay the stomach-crave when no food is to be had, and
this action of tobacco, under such circumstances, cannot
be harmful.”
Tobacco, as a powerful and efficient disinfectant,
has long been known, and within recent years this has
been fully demonstrated by an ingenious series of exper-
iments performed by Tazzinari, of Rome, which are
reported in the Annual of Universal Medical Science for
THE USE OF THE WEED. 25
1892. ‘Tobacco smoke was passed from ten to thirty min-
utes through the interior of hollow bells lined with gelatin
containing disease germs, and it was found that the bacilli
of Asiatic cholera and of pneumonia were destroyed.
Dr. Kerr says that, though not having used tobacco
for many years, he would not think of going through a
yellow-fever ward, unless after a full meal, without a
lighted pipe or cigar or cigarette. ‘‘There are many
persons,” he continues, ‘‘cultured and uncultured, but
especially the former, who, after an exhausting day’s
work with head or hands, are so worn out and irritable
that everything appears wrong, from the cooking of the
food to the playfulness of the children, but who, when
they have had a smoke, are pleased with themselves and
all the world besides.”
Dr. Kerr, after long and patient investigation, car-
ried on through years under the most favorable condi-
tions for arriving at the truth, declares that tobacco
never impairs or destroys moral capacity or leads to of-
fences against morality or to acts of criminal violence.
“‘The poison of tobacco,” he says, ‘‘ has effected phys-
ical injuries, but appears to leave untouched the con-
science and the moral sense.” Nor does he believe the
habit of using tobacco increases the desire to use other
stimulants or narcotics. Indeed, it would seem, from
the concurrent testimony of all nations, that among
those in which tobacco is most generally used there
appears to be the least liability among the inhabitants
to contract the habit of using morphine, opium, cocaine,
hasheesh and other obnoxious and more injurious drugs.
So it may, with truth, be said that if tobacco has no other
merit, it at least diminishes the desire among those
habituated to its use of wishing to substitute more dele-
terious substances in its place.
An almost complete answer to the assertion that
tobacco is highly injurious to the health of those who
26 TOBACCO LEAF.
use it, is found in the fact that probably seventy-five per
cent of the male population in Europe and America uses
tobacco in one or some of the many ways it is prepared
for consumption, while not over one-tenth of the female
population uses it in any form whatever. Yet statistics
show that men are as healthy as women in every
country.
In view of all these facts, there is every reason to
believe that the consumption of tobacco will continue to
increase in far greater ratio than population. It there-
fore appears to be one of the safest, surest and most
profitable crops for the planter, and equally established
as a success for the manufacturer and retailer.
CHAPTER III.
VARIETIES OF THE TOBACCO PLANT.
Tobacco belongs to the nightshade (Solanacee)
family, which embraces in its genera a number of well-
known plants and vegetables. Among them are red
pepper, Jamestown or jimson weed, petunia, Irish po-
tato, tomato, egg plant and tobacco. The genus Nico-
tiana is of American origin, and embraces fifty or more
species, one of which, Zabacum, supplies nearly all the
tobacco of commerce. ‘The tobacco plant (Nicotiana
Tabacum) grows from two to nine feet high, with wide-
spreading leaves, ovate, oblong or lanceolate in form.
The leaves are alternately attached to the stalk spirally,
so that the ninth leaf overhangs the first, and the tenth
leaf the second. The distance between the leaves, on
the stalk, is about two inches, in ordinary varieties.
The flowers are in large clusters, with corollas of rose
color, or white tinged with pink, and about two inches
long, funnel-shaped, with inflated throats. Tobacco is
a rank, acrid narcotic, viscidly pubescent, leaves and
stalk covered with soft, downy hair. The seed pods
have two valves.
In Mexico-and tropical countries the tobacco plant
becomes perennial. The writer has seen it growing in
the deep, narrow valleys, or barrancas, of the Sierra Madre
mountains in Mexico, without cultivation. The same
stalk sends forth new sprouts from year to year, the
leaves from which are gathered by the natives just before
the seed matures, cured in the sun to a dull, greenish
color, and when crumbled, are used by the peons and
a7
PLATE III. HAVANA SEEDLEAF (topped plant).
Photographed from same field and at same time as Plate IV. Hight
of plant, 44 feet; number of merchantable Jeaves on average topped
plant, 15 to 18. Top leaves are from 22 to 27 inches long, and from
14 to 16 inches wide; middle leaves 28 to 34 inches long, 16 to 19
inches wide; bottom leaves 20 to 25 inches long, and 11 to 15 inches
wide.
28
VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 29
Indians for cigarette smoking. The inner, or softer
portions, of the corn shucks, or husks, are employed for
wrappers for the cigarettes. The species found in Mex-
ico growing wild is very much branched, and is supposed
to be the Nicotiana rustica, which was extensively cul-
tivated by the ancient Mexicans, and gradually spread
northward. It is stated that a plant of this species,
even now, is occasionally found growing wild in New
York, and is looked upon as a relic of the cultivation of
tobacco by the Indians. It is more hardy than the com-
mon species, and it has ovate leaves attached to the
stalk by long, naked stems, similar to those of the fern.
It has dull greenish-yellow flowers. Some of this spe-
cies is cultivated in Germany, Sweden and Russia, by
the peasantry. The Turkish, Hungarian and Latakia
tobacco is probably of this species.
Another species is cultivated in Shiraz, Persia,
known as Nicotiana Persica. It has white flowers, and,
unlike the last mentioned, the leaves, at the point of
junction, almost enwrap the stalk. This tobacco, when
cured, has a yellowish color, is mild in flavor, and is
wlmost exclusively used for pipe smoking.
A variety known as Yara is cultivated in Cuba. It
is probably the species known as Nicotiana repanda.
It has a totally different flavor from the Havana. It is
mostly grown for home consumption. One or two other
species have been cultivated, to some extent, but they
hardly deserve mention.
No plant is so easily modified by climate, soil, and
different methods of cultivation, as tobacco. Climate
imparts flavor; soil determines texture. The nearly
inodorous product of the seedleaf districts of our North-
ern States (north of the 40th degree of latitude), if
planted South, acquires, in a few generations, the sweet-
ness of the Southern tobacco. In amplitude of leaf it
decreases, but increases in thickness, sweetness, and in
30 TOBACCO LEAF,
the time required for ripening. On the other hand, if
the sweet Havana or Virginia tobacco is grown in Con-
necticut or Pennsylvania, it becomes, year by year, more
delicate in texture, and_ more leafy and less sweet. The
fibers grow small, but the thickness of the leaf decreases,
and in time it makes a fine wrapper, but a poor filler.
It also grows quicker and ripens earlier than it did
further South. Attempts have often been made, in the
South, to grow the seedleaf tobacco, but always with
failure. The writer once sowed seed of the best Penn-
sylvania seedleaf variety, and planted a crop upon soils
in Tennessee, resembling, in all particulars, the soils
upon which it is grown in Pennsylvania. The very first
year, the leaves narrowed and became too thick for cigar
wrappers ; the color, from a dark brown, became a cin-
namon red ; the aroma changed from that of the damp-
ish cigar odor to that of sweet chewing tobacco. The
comparatively gumless leaf of the parent became a rich,
waxy leaf with the offspring. And this was the result
of an experiment lasting for one year only. The modi-
fication was so pronounced that no one would have taken
it for a seedleaf variety. The Florida seedleaf, so
called, resembles the tobacco of Cuba more than it does
the tobacco of the seedleaf districts of the North. It
is thick, heavy, less expensive, and not so delicate of
fiber, but often very fragrant, with an odor not unlike
that of the Cuba tobacco, but not so strong.
The long period of growth, in the Southern States,
gives tobacco ample time for the elaboration in its vesic-
ular system of the oils and waxes and gums that contrib-
ute to its sweetness and fragrance. Even saccharine juices
have been found stored up, in large quantity, in some of
the yellow tobacco of North Carolina and Virginia. We
infer, therefore, that two causes are constantly in opera-
tion to increase the number, or modify the character,
of existing varieties. ‘These are soil and climate,
VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 31
Another cause, still greater, perhaps, and one that
has a more powerful effect in determining the shape of
the leaves and the peculiarities of the plant, is the cross-
fertilization of different varieties. From two varieties,
the one with a narrow leaf, and the other with a broad
leaf, by cross-fertilization may be produced one partak-
ing of the character of both. Planted on the same farm,
and even in the same field, they will produce some
modification of variety in the succeeding crop, although
the utmost pains may be taken to prevent this, by turn-
ing out the seed heads of the two varieties as far apart
as possible. Any one who has grown a few hundred
plants of Cuba tobacco, for domestic use, on a farm
where the heavy export tobacco is produced from the
Big Orinoco, the Medley Pryor, or the Beat-All, knows
that in the crop of the succeeding year many growing
plants will be found with the sweetish odor of the Cuba
tobacco, growing side by side with the heavy varieties.
It is exceedingly important, therefore, in conse-
quence of the readiness with which the varieties mix, that
in order to keep a desirable variety from deterioration,
no two varieties shall be planted upon the same farm.
Hundreds of modifications of varieties have thus been
made. Darwin made some exceedingly interesting ex-
periments in the cross-fertilization and self-fertilization
of the tobacco plant, from which he drew the conclusion
that cross-fertilization from plants grown from the same
seed produces deterioration of variety, both in size and
weight.
On the other hand, when a plant is cross-fertilized
with a totally different variety, grown under different
conditions of climate and culture, and on different soils,
the improvement was manifest, both in size and
weight. This improvement was shown in several ways,
**by earlier germination of the crossed seeds, by the’
more rapid growth of the seedlings while quite young,
PLATE IV. HAVANA SEEDLEAF (complete plant in flower).
Grown in Connecticut valley, Massachusetts. Hight 6 feet 7 inches.
Top leaves 20 to 25 inches long, 12 to 15 inches wide; middle leaves
15 to 17 by 28 to 33 inches; bottom leaves 11 to 15 by 20 to 26 inches.
82
VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 53
by the earlier flowering of the crossed plants, as well as
by the greater hight which they ultimately attain.
The superiority of the crossed plants was shown still
more plainly when the two lots were weighed, the weight
of the crossed plants to that of the self-fertilized being
as 160 to 37. Better evidence,” he concludes, ‘‘could
hardly be desired, of the immense advantage derived
from across with a fresh stock.” But Darwin neglected
the most important point, and that is, the relative value
of the cured products. Strong vitality in the tobacco
plant does not ensure a high quality of products.
While this tendency of the varieties to mix is accom-
panied with trouble in preserving the purity of the sceds
of desirable varieties, it also offers opportunities for im-
proving old, or of creating new, varieties. The plant
may be bred for qualities desired for specific purposes.
In the districts growing wrappers, width and fineness of
the leaf may be increased by cross-fertilization. Where
the product is thick and heavy, but not large, the cross-
fertilization with a plant of larger leaf may result in a
decided improvement. This should be one of the duties
of those having charge of agricultural experiment
stations.
In the investigation of the culture and curing of
tobacco, by the census of 1880, more than one hundred
names of varieties were mentioned in the schedules re-
turned. Probably half of these were synonyms. In the
list below are given the names, uses, places where grown,
and peculiarities of growth of such varieties as com-
mended themselves to growers. A few new varieties
have been introduced since 1880, of which the names,
uses and qualities are given at the close of the chapter.
New ‘‘varieties” are frequently brought to notice,
but in most cases prove, upon investigation, to be merely
variations of established kinds. Indeed, it is difficult
to mark the line between distinct and indistinct varie-
3
34 TOBACCO LEAF.
ties. We by no means contend that absolute perfection
has yet been attained in any of our varieties of tobacco,
and feel confident that the great development of tobacce
culture which is coming in America, will be character-
ized by marked improvements in the desirable features
of the different classes of leaf.
PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF TOBACCO GROWN IN
THE UNITED STATES.
Apcock.—Wide space between leaves; ripens uni-
formly from top to bottom; used for yellow wrappers
and fillers for plug; excellent fine smokers; grown in
North Carolina.
BapEN.—Short leaves, light, inclined to be chaffy ;
cures a fine yellow, but lable to green spots; used for
plug wrappers and fillers, smokers ; grown in Maryland.
BALTIMORE CuBA.—Long leaf, good body, fine,
silky texture, tough ; yields well ; sweats a uniform color ;
disseminated by the United States agricultural depart-
ment; used for cigar wrappers and fillers; grown in
Ohio (Miami valley).
Bay.—Large, heavy leaf, red spangled and yellow
when cured; used for manufacturing and shipping;
grown in Maryland.
Berat-ALL (same as Williams).—Large, spreading
leaf, fine fiber, dark, rich and gummy; export to Great _
Britain and Germany; well cured, makes fine Swiss
wrappers. ‘Tennessee, Virginia,
BELKNAP. —Sub-variety of Connecticut seedleaf ;
same as Connecticut seedleaf. Connecticut, Massachu-
setts, New York.
Buiurace.—Sub-variety of the Pryor; large, heavy
leaf, oval shaped, tough, small stems and fibers; a lux-
uriant grower; heavy shipping, makes good wrappers
for cheap plug. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee.
VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 35
Buttock.—Broad, smooth leaf, with no ruffle on
stem ; yellow wrappers and plug fillers. North Carolina.
Bur.tey, Wuitrt.—Long, broad leaf, white in ap-
pearance while growing; grows flat, with points of
leaves hanging down, and often touches the ground ;
fancy wrappers, plug fillers, and for cutting purposes.
Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, Indiana.
Plates VII, VIII. There is another variety of the White
Burley with narrow leaf, twisted bud, not so tender, and
the ends of the leaves do not touch the ground.
Plate IX.
CLARDY.—Large, smooth, heavy leaf, extremely
broad ; stalks long; common plug, exported for Swiss
wrappers and consumption in the Regie countries.
Kentucky, Tennessee.
CoNNECTICUT SEEDLEAF.—Broad leaf, strong, thin,
elastic, silky, small fibers, sweetish taste, light in
color; cigar wrappers, lower grades for binders and
fillers. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire,
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
also in Indiana, Illinois and Florida.
CONNECTICUT BrOADLEAF (Hast Hartford Broad-
leaf).—Modification of above; leaves broader in propor-
tion to length; fibers more at right angles to midrib;
same as above. Connecticut, New York, Wisconsin.
Plates I, II.
Cusa.—Small leaf, grown from imported seed ; re-
tains much of the aroma of Cuba-grown tobacco; cigar
wrappers, fillers and binders. Pennsylvania, New York,
Wisconsin, Florida and Louisiana.
CUNNINGHAM.—Short, broad leaf, thick and stalky
growth ; fillers and smokers. North Carolina.
Duck Istanp.—Broad leaf, fine appearance, full
grower; originated from Havana seed; cigar work.
New York, Pennsylvania,
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SUMATRA SEEDLEAF.
From a photograph taken in August, 1896, of a field in Columbia county,
northern Florida. Hight of plant,6 to 8 feet when topped, or 8 to
10 feet when in flower. Length of longest leaf, when cured, 18 to
20 inches; length of shortest leaf, 7 to 8 inches; average length, 14
inches. Width of longest leaf, 10 to 12 inches in the middle; width
of shortest leaf, 5 to 6 inches; average width, 8 inches. Greatest
number of leaves on best plant, 40; lowest, 20; average, 30.
36
VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 3%
FLANAGAN. —Similar to Little Orinoco, but
broader leaf, finer fiber, silky and tough; fancy wrap-
pers, plug fillers. Virginia.
FioripA.—Fine texture, silky, thick and elastic ;
becomes spotted when grown upon certain soils, with
white specks when ripening; cigar wrappers, binders
and fillers.
FREDERICK.—Akin to White Stem; rough leaf,
heavy and rich, stands up well; mainly for export to
Europe. Virginia and Tennessee.
GLESSNER.—Large, handsome leaf, fine texture,
soft and elastic; cigar wrappers and fillers, smokers.
Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin.
Goocu.—Broad, round leaf; leaves thick on stalk ;
yellows on hill when ripe; cures easily ; fancy, bright
export, and domestic wrappers and smokers. Virginia,
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ANALYSES OF MANURES AND FERTILIZERS EMPLOYED IN FEEDING THE TOBACCO vRoP.—Continued.
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS.
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Names of fertilizing substances used
for tobacco and their composition.
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113
114 TOBACCO LEAF.
WHAT TO USE AND HOW TO APPLY IT.
{For analysis of manures, manurial substances, etc., used on tobacco,
consult Table IV, Pages 112 and 113.]
Manure.—In former times, the excrement of do-
mestic animals was the only plant food at the command
of the grower; it was the only dependence, and its use
has not ceased, for it is still largely relied upon, although
it is now generally used in conjunction with other fer-
tilizers, as a sort of foundation upon which to build. It
is still one of the most important fertilizing materials at
the command of the tobacco grower, and it is more
universally used than any other single substance. It
is surely entitled to receive the first consideration. But
it is now applied with an understanding of its deficiencies
as well as excellences, and often for different purposes
in a different way than formerly.
Barn Manure is a general term covering the mix-
ture of the excrement of cattle, horses and swine, or
that of cattle and swine only, or that of cattle only.
Horse manure, when kept distinct from the general
mass, is separately classed, and is used for special pur-
poses. On the ordinary farm, manure is a mixture of
the excrement of the leading farm animals. There are
several striking characteristics that are peculiarities of
barn manure. The most noticeable of these is the large
quantity of vegetable matter it contains ; and inciden-
tally the large amount of water. This organic matter is
the greatest peculiarity of manure, and from it certain
effects are produced in the soil that cannot be obtained
from any other fertilizer. Another peculiarity is that
manure is a complete fertilizer, it contains some of
every element that is required by growing crops,—ni-
trogen, phosphoric acid and potash, as the more impor-
tant plant food elements, as well as lime and magnesia.
A third peculiarity is the variability of the quantities of
these food elements, depending upon the classes of
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 115
animals contributing to its formation,—cattle, horses
and swine,—some one or two of which may be absent ;
upon the fodder rations employed in feeding the stock ;
upon the export of milk from the farm ; upon the quan-
‘tity of foreign matter incorporated as bedding, or ab-
sorbents; upon the percentage of the urine and dry
excrement, and upon the way in which it has been pre-
served, whether properly housed, or exposed to the
leaching of rains and winds.
The Value of Manure as a fertilizer has been appre-
ciated for generations. The investigations of science
have not displaced its standing, or curtailed its use.
For it is both the cheapest, and, all things considered,
the best general manure at hand. It will always be
FIG. 13. PLANT BED ARRANGED TO SHED WATER (Germany).
used whenever the soil requires fertilizing, and where
live stock is kept. It meets the wants of the general
farmer better than any other fertilizer, and its appli-
cation is understood, and its general effects are well
known.
The feed has a great effect upon the quality of the
manure. In its passage through the animal, the food
loses what is taken out by the growth of the animal and
by the milk. A good deal of carbonaceous matter,
which has no fertilizing value, is also burned in the sys-
tem to supply animal heat, but all the rest of the food
passes into the dung or urine. The digested food is
voided in the urine, the undigested in the solid manure.
Of the two, the urine is the more valuable ; it is also
116 TOBACCO LEAF,
more difficult to preserve. Other things being equal,
the richer the food, the richer the manure. It is calcu-
lated from Table IV of fertilizer analyses, that a ton of
uverage manure contains about 1350 pounds of water,
475 pounds of organic matter and 175 pounds of ash. —
The latter contains, of potash eleven pounds, phosphoric
acid eight pounds, lime six pounds, magnesia four
pounds and the rest is sand, carbonic and sulphuric
acids, iron, alumina and soda. The organic matter con-
tains about ten pounds of nitrogen. Manure from
poorly fed stock, especialiy if absorbents are not used on
the manure pile, if exposed to the weather, may not con-
tain half these quantities. On the other hand, richly fed
stock, carefully bedded, may yield manure twice as rich
in plant food as the average just stated. This shows the
wide variety that may exist in manure.
Comparing the actual requirements of a crop of to-
bacco of 1800 pounds cured leaf and stalks, with the
amount of plant food contained in barn manure, it ap-
pears that 15 tons (or about four cords) of average ma-
nure contain the 154 pounds of nitrogen required ; 60
tons, or 15 cords, contain the 488 pounds of potash,
and four tons, or one cord, contain the 26 pounds of
phosphoric acid. This comparison is for the total crop
of tobacco, both leaves and stalks, but if the stalks are
returned to the land on which they were grown, the ap-
parent amount of manure is much less. To supply the
80 pounds of nitrogen removed in the leaves only, 10
tons, or two and one-half cords, of manure appear to be
all that is necessary; 34 tons, or eight and one-half
cords, contain the 291 pounds of potash required, while
two tons, or half a cord, contain the 12 pounds of
phosphoric acid that is necessary.
But every tobacco grower knows it is simply impos-
sible to obtain a crop of 1800 pounds of cured leaf from
a dressing of only eight and one-half cords of manure,
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 117%
which is the largest quantity that the figures show is
necessary. ‘I'he trouble is, that the fertilizing elements
of manure are not rapidly set free; their action is
proverbia ly slow, and from this slow action comes the
great ‘‘lasting power” of manure. It is lasting because
it cannot be quickly used. The availability of the ma-
nure is increased, but at the loss of considerable of the
nitrogen, by rotting, especially when assisted by work-
ing over the pile, breaking up the lumps, and allowing
the air free access to all parts of the heap.
But eight and one-half cords of manure, however
short and well rotted it may be, will not satisfy the re-
FIG. 14. WOODEN FRAME FOR PLANT BED (Germa)).
quirements of the crop. It is likely that not more than
thirty per cent of its fertilizing elements can be used by
tobacco the first year, although this percentage is gov-
erned considerably by the length of time the manure re-
mains in the soil before the plants are set, and upon
temperature and moisture. Yet the longer it thus re-
mains in the soil, the more likely is the loss of nitrogen
from evaporation and leaching. This loss is again offset
by the uniform distribution of what nitrogen is not thus
lost, and the more available form in which it exists.
It is, therefore, very difficult to tell how much
manure to use, if that, alone, is to be depended upon,
118 TOBACCO LEAF.
not because the quantity of plant food it contains is
unknown, but because of the impossibility of determining
how much of it is available for the demands of the rap-
idly growing tobacco crop. If all the plant food is not
consumed the first year, especially the potash and lime,
it remains in the soil for the use of future crops.
Owing to the very slow action of manure, and the great
demands of tobacco, occasioned by the very rapid growth
of the plant, it is difficult to bring about a satisfactory
state of fertility from manure alone. And in the great
majority of instances, manure is no longer expected to
supply the entire amount of plant food, but is supple-
mented by the use of other materials.
Effect of Manure on Soul.—While manure is thus of
questionable dependence, alone, for tobacco food, it
possesses certain valuable qualities arising from the large
quantity of vegetable matter which it contams. This
vegetable matter is beneficial in many ways. It supplies
a stock of vegetable mold, or humus, that is often
lacking in the light soils on which tobacco is grown.
This humus absorbs moisture and heat, and retaims the
nitrates set free in the soil. This valuable adjunct to
the proper state of fertility, is too often overlooked by
the advocates of exclusive chemical fertilizers. The
mechanical effect of manure is also of great consequence,
as it lightens very heavy soils by making them open,
porous and easy of cultivation, while it supplies moisture
and body to lands that are naturally of too light a
nature.
Manure also promotes a quick fermentation that is
congenial to all plants, one of the results of which i8 the —
conversion of nitrogen from a raw state to nitrates that
are suitable for plant consumption. On this aceount it
is used with benefit in conjunction with other nitrogen
supplies, especially as it also, in a measure, fixes and
retains this soluble nitrogen and thus prevents waste.
MANUTURES AND FERTILIZERS. 119
When used with other quick-acting fertilizers, manure
keeps land in good heart, moist, mellow and friable, and
in a condition admirably suited to the best develop-
ment of plant roots. In addition to these peculiarities,
the plant food which manure contains is of great conse-
quence, especially as this may come in at the last of the
season, when the more available plant food of the chem-
icals may have been consumed. The lasting quality of
manure, which makes it undesirable as an exclusive
dependence, becomes a matter of importance when used
with other quick-acting fertilizers. For these reasons it
is important to use a liberal dressing of manure.
The Best Time to Apply Manure is in the fall,
piowing it under slightly, but not too deep. If preferred,
FIG. 15. PLANT BED FRAME WITH CLOTH COVER PARTLY REMOVED.
the dressing can be applied after plowing, when it
should be well harrowed in. The rain, snows and frost
of fall, winter and spring diffuse the fertilizing elements
evenly through the soil, break down the coarse, woody
matter of the manure, reducing it to the condition of
vegetable mold so essential as an absorbent and for its
powers of fixation of other forms of plant food. From
eight to ten cords, thirty-five to forty loads, of manure
should be thus applied when other fertilizers are to fol-
low. If not done in the fall, it should be applied as
early as possible in the spring, that the mellowing
influence of air and moisture may transform it from a
crude, raw state to one congenial to the most favorable
plant growth. If coarse, rank manure is applied late in
120 TOBACCO LEAF.
the spring, it is apt to promote a coarse-fibered leaf,
deficient in elasticity and texture.
The Amount of Plant Food to Apply depends upon
soil fertility, variety to be grown and quality and quan-
tity of leaf desired. The amounts specified in this chapter
are those used by the best growers in the Connecticut
valley, on land of fairly good fertility. These men want
at least a ton of cured leaf per acre, of the finest quality,
and then have the soil left rich enough to yield two to
four tons of hay per acre when seeded to grass. Such
high cultivation is not yet practiced on old soils in other
tobacco-growing districts of America, while on newer
lands it is not necessary. Asa rule, however, the average
FIG. 16. MOVABLE FRAME FOR PLANT BED, WITH CLOSE FITTING
CLOTH COVER PARTLY REMOVED.
planter stands more in danger of applying too little
plant food than too much. On the other hand, the
Poquonock experiments confirm much experience to the
effect that, under the intense cultivation referred to,
more plant food is put into the soil than is really
profitable.
NITROGEN FERTILIZERS.
Their Necessity.—It has been shown by analyses of
the plant, and by experience in the field, that tobacco
requires a large quantity of nitrogen. It does not seem
to possess the ability to get its nitrogen from the air, as
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 121
do clover and certain leguminous plants. However,
tobacco must get its nitrogen from the soil. This ele-
ment must, therefore, be present in sufficient quantity,
and also in a thoroughly available form, and intimately
diffused throughout the soil, owing to the short period in
which the plant development can be effected. Nitrogen
is obtained from a number of waste products and chem-
icals, prominent among which are cottonseed meal,
castor pomace, linseed meal, tankage, dried fish scrap,
dried blood, dried animal matter, sulphate of ammonia,
and nitrate of soda. Many growers use these and other
chemicals, while others prefer the prepared fertilizers of
\ Cy WS
FIG. 17. PERMANENT BED, WITH BOTH GLASS AND CLOTH FRAMES.
commerce that are rich in available nitrogen, and are pre-
pared expressly for this crop.
Availability.—Tests have been made at the Con-
necticut experiment station to find out the crop-pro-
ducing power of nitrogen, supplied in various forms.
This was determined, not by chemical analysis, which
practically fails to throw much light on the subject, but
by the quantity of nitrogen which the crop took from
the fertilizer. The crops were grown on artificial soil
that contained only traces of available nitrogen, but all
the other elements of plant food were present in excess
of the crop needs. Of course, a single crop cannot take
122 TOBACCO LEAF.
all the nitrogen from the soil, even when it is supplied
in nitrate of soda, which is the most soluble form,
because, for one reason, the plant roots do not reach
every particle of the soil. Still less can one crop take
all the nitrogen from animal, or vegetable, matters, that
decompose but slowly in the soil. In any case, there-
fore, more or less of the nitrogen contained in the fer-
tilizer fails to enter the crop. The tests were made with
oats and corn in 147 pots, and resulted for the two years,
as follows (Johnson, Britton and Jenkins) :
AVAILABILITY OF DIFFERENT NITROGENOUS MANURES.
Column A shows the per cent of the total nitrogen furnished the
erops of 794-5 that was available—that is, was actually taken up by
these crops, the balance of the nitrogen being left in the soil. In Col-
umn B, the amount of available nitrogen in nitrate of soda represents
100, and the figures beneath show the proportionate availability of
nitrogen from the other fertilizers. A B
Nitrate of soda, 68 100
Castor pomace, No. 4545, 53 77
Avy. of castor pomace, Nos. 4545 and 4546, 50.5 74
Cottonseed meal, _ 49.5 72
Castor pomace, No, 4546, 48 70
Linseed meal, 47 69
Dried blood, 46.5 68
Dried fish, 45 66
Dissolved leather, ° 44.5 64
Horn and hoof, : 42.5 62
Tankage, 40.5 59
Steamed leather, 6.5 9
Roasted leather, : 6.5 9
Raw leather, 1.5 2
It will be seen that the nitrogen of castor pomace
No. 4545 has shown the highest availability of any form
of organic nitrogen. 'The other sample of pomace con-
tained more oil, and its nitrogen was not quite as avail-
able. Cottonseed meal, linseed meal and dried blood
were about equally available, thus scientifically confirm-
ing the experience of some of our most careful tobacco
growers, who have found linseed meal fully as quick act-
ing and effective as a fertilizer as either cottonseed meal
or dried blood. Dried fish comes next in order, but it
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 123
will be surprising to many that tankage, a popular
nitrogenous fertilizer, gave up only forty per cent of its
nitrogen to crops in two years, thus standing in avyail-
ability at fifty-nine, compared to nitrate of soda as one
hundred.
Ammonia should not be confused with nitrogen.
Seventeen parts of ammonia contain fourteen parts of
nitrogen. Oftentimes manufacturers give the equiy-
alent proportion of ammonia, instead of the actual
amount of nitrogen, for the same reason that the term
phosphate of lime is used—because it looks bigger.
Expressed in decimals, one part of ammonia contains
0.8235 of nitrogen. Thus, if a fertilizer contains five per
cent (or one hundred pounds per ton) of ammonia, the
nitrogen is only 4.12 per cent, or eighty-two and one-
third pounds. For quick calculation, ammonia can be
reckoned to contain four-fifths of nitrogen, and by de-
ducting one-fifth from the quantity of ammonia, the
amount of nitrogen actually present will be reached
quite closely.
Cottonseed Meal.—Of all the sources of nitrogen,
the most popular is cottonseed meal. As a concentrated
food for cattle its value is highly appreciated, and it is
one of the leading meals for milch cattle. But, apart
from the tobacco crop, it is not much used as a fertilizer
at the North. In the southern States cottonseed, fer-
mented, to destroy the germ, has long been a favorite
dressing for cotton fields, especially when mixed with
plain superphosphate and kainit. Of recent years the
practice of selling the seed to oil mills, and buying back
the dry meal, has gradually spread, and in sections
adjacent to railroads in these States, large quantities of
meal are annually consumed for fertilizing purposes.
In the preparation of the meal, the cottonseed,
which is about the size of a coffee bean, is taken as it
comes from the gin, covered with a short fuzz of cotton
124 TOBACCO LEAF.
fiber. In this shape the seed resembles the small cocoons
in which the larve of many insects are encased. ‘This
downy fuzz is removed by machinery, the lint finding a
sale for certain industrial purposes. The seed is then
almost bare. It is next decorticated ; that is, the hard
flinty shell is split openand then sifted from the pulp.
The pulp is rich in oil, and the shell contains enough fat
to make it readily combustible. The shell, or hull, is
burned for fuel under the engine boilers, sometimes
being the only fuel, but more often used with wood, and
occasionally with coal. The resulting ash is called
cottonhull ash, described under potash fertilizers. The
pulp of the seed is subjected to heavy pressure, which
expresses the oil, and the dry cake is then ground. Its
final condition is that of a fine dry powder of an olive or
yellowish green cast. Occasionally, the hulling process
is omitted, and the entire seed is crushed and ground,
the result being undecorticated meal. This product is
darker than the nsual brand, from containing fragments
of the black hulls. Such meal is inferior to the normal,
both as a fertilizer and as a fodder. Theshells, or hulls,
are much used in the South for feeding cattle, and though
it may appear incredible, cattle fed on them are kept in
good condition.
Cottonseed meal is admirably suited to fertilizing
purposes ; itisa fine dry powder, of excellent mechanical
condition, free from odor, and very easily applied. It
can be distributed very evenly, which insures a thorough
distribution through the soil, and owing to its fine
mechanical condition, it is easily disintegrated, and the
fertilizing elements soon become available. It is not so
rapid in its effects as the nitrate and ammonia salts, but
it compares favorably with any animal matter. Chem-
ically it is quite uniform, as appears from the analyses in
Table IV, Page 112. A clearer idea of its constituents
is obtained from the following more complete analysis :
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 125
ANALYSIS OF COTTONSEED MEAL OF STANDARD QUALITY.
Moisture, 10.50
Organic matter (including 6.72 per cent of nitrogen), 83.67
Lime, 0.29
Magnesia, 0.72
Soda, 0.25
Potash, 1.83
Phosphoric acid, 2.35
Insoluble matter, 0.39
Total ash, ; 5.83
100.00
Of course the fertilizing value of cottonseed meal
depends mainly upon its nitrogen, but potash and phes-
phoric acid are also important. It is such a popular
fertilizer and feed that in years of scarcity and high
prices, cottonseed meal is adulterated by adding rice
meal, etc., or by grinding the hulls into it. This impure
meal contains only half or two-thirds as much nitrog-
enous matter as the pure article, and, if bought at all,
it should be at a reduction of twenty-five to fifty per
cent from the price of straight goods. The meal with
hulls is dark and contains hard, black fragments of hulls.
As the Connecticut station truly says, ‘‘In ordinary
meal, to use as feed or fertilizer, purchasers should re-
quire decorticated upland cottonseed meal, containing at
least six and one-half per cent of nitrogen, unless they are
willing to use the other greatly inferior meal, which can-
not be economically done unless it can be got for a
greatly reduced price.” Oftentimes this meal ferments
and sours, which renders it unfit for cattle food, and it
is then sold at a less price. This damaged meal is
almost, if not quite, as good for fertilizing purposes as
the sweet meal, and a considerable saving in first cost is
made by using it.
This meal is such an excellent cattle food that it is
almost a waste to use it directly as a fertilizer, especially
as by far the most of its fertilizing elements are found
in the manure, after feeding. For general farm pur-
126 TOBACCO LEAF,
poses, it is more economical to feed it; but tobacco is an
exceptional crop, and this meal has been found so con-
genial to this plant that it cannot be considered wasteful
to use it directly. And laying aside its feeding value,
and considering it solely as a fertilizer for direct appli-
cation, it is one of the most economical fertilizers.
Cottonseed meal, however, is not a very rapid ferti-
lizer, and it should be applied as long as possible before
the setting of the plants, to allow it to decompose. When
the land has been dressed with ten cords of manure in
the fall, one thousand pounds of meal should be broad-
casted after plowing in the spring, and gently harrowed
in. This should be done a month or six weeks before
the plants are set, by which time it will be well diffused
throughout the soil, especially if moist weather has pre-
vailed. When no manure is used, one ton of meal
should be applied. Some growers apply it in the fall,
but this is not a general custom, although it is a good
plan to follow. At Poquonock, 1500 pounds of cotton-
seed meai per acre, with 1500 pounds of cottonhull ash,
made an average crop of 1611 pounds per acre, contain-
ing 956 pounds wrappers; when the meal was increased
to 2500 pounds, the total crop was not much larger, but
it yielded 1065 pounds wrappers; and 3000 pounds of
meal made an average crop of 1835 pounds of cured leaf
per acre, containing 1226 pounds of wrappers; the ash
used was the same in all cases.
Linseed or Flaxseed Meal is also a popular ferti-
lizer in seasons when, because of its abundance, it can be
sold at as low, or lower, a price as cottonseed meal. It
is not quite so rich in plant food as cottonseed meal, but
the difference is slight. The new process linseed meal
contains only about three per cent of fat or oil, while
old process contains twice as much. At Poquonock,
the tests made were with new process only, and results
in quantity and quality of leaf from a moderate applica-
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 127
tion are such that this meal is now largely employed for
tobacco. About a ton per acre is used, with potash salts
or ashes. To what extent the increased oil or fat in old
process meal would injure or benefit leaf tobacco has not
yet been determined.
Other Meals rich in nitrogen might be used on to-
bacco when their price permitted, but in the absence of
experiments to show their effect, they should first be
tried on a small scale. Gluten meal contains five per
cent of nitrogen, pea meal three per cent, wheat bran
two to three per cent.
Castor Pomace.—This article is used to some extent
as a tobacco fertilizer, although a prejudice exists
against it among some cigar manufacturers, as the claim
is made that the tobacco does not come out of the sweat
in good shape. This trouble arises from carelessness in
application, and not from any inherent peculiarity of the
pomace. The castor bean is grown quite extensively in
this country. The oil is expressed by pressure and the
crushed beans are known as castor pomace. It is a
coarse, lumpy material, poisonous as a food, and having
an offensive odor. Because of its coarse condition, it is
difficult to spread evenly, and it should always be ap-
plied in the fall and gently harrowed in. By spring it
will be brought into a suitable condition for tobacco
growing. If its application is delayed until spring, this
process of reduction cannot be accomplished before the
plants are demanding the food. It is, however, used
with excellent results applied in spring. . Its use in a
fresh, raw state produces bad results, but when applied
at the proper season very favorable results are derived
from it. .
Castor pomace is much more difficult to manage
than cottonseed meal and the latter is rightfully much
more popular. Castor pomace is liable to vary in compo-
sition. and should be bought on a guarantee of five or five
128 ‘ TOBACCO LEAF.
and one-fifth per cent nitrogen. The large amount of
organic matter it contains gives it more value than nitro-
gen salts, especially for ight soils. As it contains about
one-fourth less nitrogen than cottonseed meal, the ap-
plication should be correspondingly larger, or 2500
pounds per acre where no manure is used and 1250
when used with manure. When manure cannot be ob-
tained, castor pomace makes a fairly good substitute,—
perhaps the best the market affords, as its organic mat-
ter acts similarly to that of manure. At Poquonock,
leaf grown on this pomace compared favorably in quan-
tity and quality with crops grown on other fertilizers.
Tankage is the name applied to the residue of meat
entrails, fine bone, etc., that settle at the bottom of the
large tanks in which such refuse is steamed, or rendered,
for extracting fat. When the percentage of bone runs
large it is called cracklings. It is a dry powder varying
considerably in mechanical condition, the meat generally
being ip a very finely pulverized condition, while much
of the bone is considerably coarser. Fertilizer manufac-
turers use this material quite largely, and they generally
make a distinction between beef and pork tankage. The
latter contains considerable fat, which retards decom-
position, and it is held in less esteem than beef tankage,
which is almost entirely free from fat. This distinction
is not understood by farmers and they are probably sup-
plied with the less marketable pork tankage.
~The quantity of water in tankage varies consid-
erably, ranging from ten to thirty per cent, and the
amount of bone also varies. Of course the larger the
percentage of water, the smaller is the percentage of
nitrogen ; when bone is largely present the nitrogen runs
low. It is generally sold on a guaranteed analysis, how-
ever, aud the price varies according to the contents.
The average amount of water is twelve per cent; nitro-
gen ranges from four to eight per cent, averaging about
a
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 129
six per cent, while phosphoric acid ranges from seven to
eighteen per cent, averaging eleven per cent. It is cus-
tomary to sell the phosphoric acid as bone phosphate of
lime, which runs much larger than the actual phosphoric
acid, and farmers often confuse the term, thinking they
are the same. Phosphoric acid is combined with lime
in the ratio of one to 2.183; that is, one per cent of
phosphoric acid is equivalent to 2.183 of bone phos-
phate of lime. And when tankage contains eleven per
cent of phosphoric acid it contains twenty-four per cent
of bone phosphate. The term phosphate of lime looks
big and is often used by manufacturers to describe the
phosphoric acid present in commercial fertilizers, thereby
conveying the impression that a much larger quantity of
phosphoric acid is contained than is actually present.
It is one of the ‘‘tricks of the trade.” A similar con-
fusion exists between nitrogen and ammonia, as explained
on Page 123.
When tankage runs largely to bone, there is little
difference between it and ordinary bone meal. For to-
bacco, the presence of bone in tankage is of little ad-
vantage, since the crop requires but a small quantity of
that element. In selecting tankage for this crop, care
should be taken to choose that which runs high in
nitrogen and low in phosphate. The presence of the
bone increases the selling price, especially when a fair
proportion of nitrogen is present, so that taunkage cannot
be considered an economical nitrogen supply, since it
requires the purchase of a large quantity of unnecessary
bone. For other crops, however, where phosphoric acid
is needed, it is a good purchase,—a better one than bone.
The meat of tankage is in a very fine state and is
easily disintegrated in the soil. It has been supposed
to be more readily available for plant food than the
organic matter of cottonseed meal and castor pomace,
as animal matter appears to ferment and disintegrate
9
130 TOBACCO LEAF.
more quickly than vegetable matter, but this is now
doubted. Tankage should be applied broadcast in the
spring and harrowed in. Tankage and all animal
fertilizers give the best results when used with manure,
for the latter is rich in organic matter while meat is
deficient in it.
Dried Blood.—A better article than tankage, be-
cause of its more uniform analysis, is dried blood. There
are several grades of blood, since it is often mixed with
tankage, when it is called blood and meat, but in the
wholesale fertilizer trade, there are but two grades, the
soft red blood and black blood. Both of these products
arise from the coagulation of liquid blood by steam
Under this heat the solid portion settles and the liquid
is drawn off. The residue is then dried. If too much
heat is used in drying, the blood solidifies into a solid
black mass, hard and brittle. This, when ground,
separates into small, black, glittering particles, having
a gritty feeling, and constitutes the black blood of com-
‘ merce. A lesser application of heat prevents the melt-
ing of the blood, and it comes out as a red powder, soft
to the touch. It is difficult to dry this blood success-
fully, and dried meat or tankage is frequently added to
facilitate the drying, which makes the blood and meat
so generally sold, and which more properly should be
classed as tankage.
Black and red blood differ materially in their action.
The latter has acquired quite an insoluble condition that
detracts from its agricultural value. It runs from
twelve and one-half to fourteen and one-half per cent of
nitrogen. Red blood contains less, only about ten per
cent or eleven per cent of nitrogen, but it is a beautiful
nitrogen preparation and admirably suited for fertilizing
purposes, being soluble, while not too much so. It is,
undoubtedly, the best animal ammoniate. Unfor-
tunately, however, it rarely gets into farmers’ hands, for
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 131
fertilizer manufacturers appreciate its value and take all
that is produced. It is sold in the trade by the unit of
ammonia. | = ae = Ao V_=pnp = NA =! TF
FIG. 31. GROUND PLAN OF MODERN FRAMED BARN SHOWN IN
FIGS. 29 AND 30.
When the land is prepared for using this machine, it is
only necessary to harrow it until it is finely pulverized,
then roll or firm the soil with a planker. It is better
for the ground not to be very moist when it is used, as
the heavy driving wheels, in that case, compact the
soil too much. Where the ground is very loose, or ashy
dry, the work will not be so good. A field laid out in
1%6 TOBACCO LEAF.
model style for transplanting by machine is shown in
Fig. 24.
Time of Transplanting.—When this work is done
by hand at the South, or in the shipping tobacco
districts, it is customary to wait for gentle spring rains,
or a ‘‘season,” as it is called, to put the land in moist
condition to permit the transfer of the plants from the
seed bed to the fields without endangering their vitality.
Usually, in the great shipping tobacco districts, the
first general planting is done about the 10th to the 20th
of May. In the yellow-tobacco districts of eastern
North Carolina and South Carolina, tobacco is often set
FIG. 32. ANOTHER STYLE OF FRAME.
in April. If the weather should be seasonable, with
gentle showers, drawings from the bed may be made
once a week. It is the greatest folly to set out small
plants on old land after the first of June, unless the
ground is very moist, in the latitude of Kentucky, Vir-
ginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. After that
period, very vigorous, stocky plants must be used. It is
more and more becoming the custom among the best
growers to have plants enough to set out the entire crop
the first ‘‘season” that comes after they are large
enough.
TRANSPLANTING. ale hg
Some southern planters do not wait for a ‘‘ season.”
During the month of May, tobacco plants may be set out
in freshly made hills late every afternoon, with fair
chances of living. If the dirt is pressed closely to the
roots with the fingers, and if the leaves are pulled to-
gether over the bud, and the dirt pulled up around them;
19 out of 20 plants will live and thrive. New lands, when
well prepared, may be set out at any time. Very small
plants will live on such lands that would perish on old
lands. If possible, throughout the great heavy shipping
districts in all the States, this crop should be planted not
later than the 10th of June, though many will plant as
FIG. 33. WELL BRACED FRAME.
late as the 1st of July. Such late planting rarely proves
satisfactory or profitable. It ought to be remembered
that ‘‘a bud in May is worth a plant in June.” The
later the planting is deferred after the 25th of May in
Tennessee and Kentucky, the more difficult it is to get a
“stand,” and the risk of making a good crop increases
more and more as the season advances.
This last remark is equally true in setting tobacco
for cigar wrappers and fillers at the North. Then the
best time to transplant must be governed by circum-
stances. Between June 5th and 20th is the best time
12
178 TOBACCO LEAF.
in southern New England, in an ordinary season, also in
New York and Wisconsin. Earlier planting than June
5th rarely gives as large growth of leaf, or as fine qual-
ities in the cured leaf, or as large a yield per acre, as
plants set during the medium season. The plant needs
the most favorable portion of
the growing season in which
to develop toadvantage. ‘The
warm nights of early August
are especially favorable to the
production of the crop, and
‘the more advanced settings
\ have so far matured, at this
» season, as not to receive the
“ greatest benefits. Again, the
“ condition of the weather dur-
‘ing the curing season has
much to do with the outcome
FIG. 34. END OF FRAME sHown Of the crop. Very early to-
ei Saar bacco must be housed propor-
tionally early, and at a season marked at the North by
hot, dry weather, which causes the leaf to dry, rather
than cure ; and it also runs greater risk of pole sweat.
On the other hand, late-set tobacco is Hable to be dam-
aged by early frosts; it has the advantage that it
doesn’t have to contend with the cutworm, which
usually disappears early in July. About the 10th of
June is usually the best time in New England, New
York and Wisconsin, or a week or ten days earlier in
Pennsylvania and Ohio. ‘Tobacco will then ripen while
the nights are cool, and the leaf will have greater body,
character and weight.
In the extreme South, or with certain varieties of
tobacco, the time for setting is quite different, as stated
in connection with those topics.
CHAPTER IX.
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS.
The gradual improvement in the style, convenience
and character of tobacco barns and sheds during the
past thirty years is very marked in all the tobacco-grow-
ing districts of the United States. It was an unusual
thing, at that date, to see any other structure in the
heavy-tobacco growing region for the hanging and cur-
ing of tobacco, except a pen built with logs, which was
often shedded with a hip roof, leaving the sheds open.
Fig. 26 gives a good idea of these old-fashioned barns.
In the cigar-leaf sections, also, the crop, in early times,
was hung to dry and cure in any vacant shed or barn, or
unused stalls. But with the progress of the crop, these
haphazard arrangements have been superseded by sub-
stantial buildings known as tobacco sheds or barns, that
are constructed for the sole purpose of hanging and cur-
ing tobacco. But it will be seen, from the portions of
this work on the curing of the various kinds of leaf,
that the perfect structure is yet to be devised, though
for its purposes Snow’s modern barn is certainly a great
step in advance.
BARNS FOR HEAVY LEAF AND MANUFACTURING
TOBACCO.
The size of the old log barns in the South varied
from twenty to twenty-four feet square on the inside,
containing five to six ‘‘rooms.” A ‘‘room” is the ver-
tical space included between two sets of tier poles ex-
tending from bottom to top. These tier poles are placed
179
TOBACCO LEAF,
es
BARN FOR CURING WHITE BURLEY.
BIG. 35.
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 181
about three feet ten inches apart horizontally, and three
feet apart vertically. The log barns were usually built
high enough to contain five of these tiers, besides those
in the roof. Many of these log barns were chinked and
daubed with mud all the way to the top, the only opening
left being a window in each of the gabie ends. Other
farmers preferred to have the cracks between the logs
closed only as high as the first set of tier poles. When
the firing is kept up to a good degree of heat for three
or four days, the tight barns are aa nesnonably the best,
but where the firing is gentle, the barns should be open,
otherwise there will be injury to the tobacco from ‘‘ house
burn,” which is a breaking down of the vesicular system
position of the leaf, which destroys the oily and gummy
matter and renders the tobacco nearly worthless.
The body of a barn that is tw enty- -four feet square
will contain thirty tiers for firimg, six across and five
high. The sticks are usually placed eight inches apart,
so each tier will hold thirty sticks. The body of sucn a
barn, not including the roof tiers, is capable of holding
1080 sticks of tobacco. The roof tiers, or collar beams
as they are called, hold from 200 to 250 sticks more,
according to the pitch of the roof. This makes the
entire capacity of such a building about 1300 sticks,
each containing eight plants, thus giving room enough
to house about three acres of tobacco. The lowest tier
upon which the green tobacco is put is about eight or
nine feet from the floor. Sometimes a set of tier poles
is arranged below those containing tobacco, but this is
done for convenience of standing upon when lifting the
tobacco to the higher tiers. A barn five tiers high in
the body and 20 feet square will hold about 900 sticks,
or it has the capacity to house two acres of tobacco.
One built 16 feet square and four tiers high and wide
will house about one acre of tobacco,
182 TOBACCO LEAF.
FIG. 36. CURING BARN FOR YELLOW TOBACCO,
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS, 183
Originally, barns were built of round logs, about
ten inches through, but such were not durable and soon
rotted down. ‘The first improvement was to hew the
logs and extend the roof, so as to give protection to the
sides, and hoods were put on the ends for the same pur-
pose, as shown in Fig. 27. Two of these pens were
sometimes built with a passageway between. ‘The next
improvement was to build hipped-roofed sheds around
an
Cay
=e
apres
Sr
cna
FIG. 37. FIVE-TIER SIX-ROOM BARN, FOR YELLOW TOBACCO.
the single log pen (see Fig. 28). These sheds fully
doubled the capacity of the barns. They were generally
12 to 15 feet wide. A shed 12 feet wide, if built around
a pen 24 feet square, has 36 ground tiers 12 feet long,
and if the shed is built three tiers high, such a building
will provide 118 firing tiers, besides the collar beams,
which will be equivalent to 18 additional ones, making
136 tiers. A shed so built is capable of holding 2448
184 TOBACCO LEAF.
Sea ee
Sit ea
seve
FIG. 38. FIVE-RUOM FIVE-TIER BARN, FOR YELLOW LEAF.
*
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 185
sticks of tobacco. This, added to the capacity of the
pen, will give a total capacity of 3748 sticks, equal to
the housing of between eight and nine acres of tobacco.
In the heavy-shipping districts of Kentucky, Vir-
ginia and Tennessee, very few log barns are now built.
They are more troublesome to build than framed barns,
FIG. 39. FLUES FOR CURING YELLOW LEAF, USED IN THE BARNS
SHOWN IN FIGS. 36 AND 37.
and cannot be provided with so many conveniences. At
present, framed barns are constructed of all dimensions,
from 20 to 48 feet square, with doors entering through
the three divisions of the barns high and wide enough
to pass through with a loaded wagon. Figs. 29, 30 and
31 give a good idea of a modern framed barn in the
186 TOBACCO LEAF.
heavy-tobacco regions. The passageways are about 124
feet wide between the sills, though from outside to out-
side is 40 feet. These passage ways are separated by
sills set on stone pillars. The posts set on the
outside sills are 15 feet high, capped by a stout plate
4x6 inches. At the hight of nine feet from the level of
the sill, the first set of girders, 4x3 inches, is let in the
posts from the outside. The second set of girders is
placed three feet above the first, and the plate, which
answers in the place of a girder, three feet higher on
FIG. 40. CIGAR LEAF BARN.
The type most commonly used in the Connecticut valley.
the top of the outside set of posts. The two sets of
posts set on the inside sills are 21 feet high, and girders
are let in at 9, 12, 15 and 18 feet from the level of the
sills, and stout plates put on the top of these central
parts. Tier poles are arranged 3 feet 10 inches apart on
the girders. Between the high central posts there are
10 tiers arranged horizontally and 5 vertically, besides
the collar beams in the roof, thus giving 50 tier poles in
the center of the barn and 10 collar beams, each of the
latter 7 feet long.
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 187
On each side there will be 10 tier poles arranged
horizontally and three vertically, giving for both sides
60 tier poles 13 feet long. Add the collar beams, which
will average about half the length of the tier poles, and
there will be 10 additional ones. These, all added to-
gether, will give 125 tiers, ca.
pable of holding each about 20
sticks, making the capacity of
such a barn about 2500 sticks,
or with room enough to house *
about six acres of heavy tobacco. ©
In such a barn, doors are made ,
to enter between the four sets
of sills. This makes a great
convenience in driving a load of pte. 41. cross-SECTION OF
tobacco immediately under the BARN SHOWN IN Fic. 40.
tiers to be filled. There are no end sills. The planks,
or boards, for inclosing the barn are nailed to the sills,
girders and plates. In arranging the tier poles, which
are 3x4 inches, every alternate one should rest on the
girder beside a post, the posts on the sides of the barn
being eight feet apart. The tier poles are arranged per-
I pendicular to the sides. ‘The
entire cost of such a barn is
ss
about $250 to $300, varying
somewhat according to the prices
of lumber and the wages of
rough carpenters.
: Sa Many barns are constructed
FIG. 42. SECTIONAL VIEW. without any sills whatever, the
posts resting upon flat rocks. These seem to be as dur-
able as those in which sills are used. The bracing must
be well done, however. Several of this style are shown
in Figs. 32, 33 and 34.
A method of building barns with excavations, or
cellars, has recently been practiced in some of the heavy
188 TOBACCO LEAF.
tobacco districts. A log or framed barn is erected, with
the first tier poles put in about three feet from the sur-
face of the ground. The center is then excavated to the
depth of seven or eight feet. It is claimed that the fires
built in the bottom of such an excavation or cellar may
be better regulated, that they are not disturbed by
FIG. 43. BASEMENT OF SNOW BARN, SHOWING STOVES SET IN BRICK
ARCHES, AND PIPES THROUGH WHICH HOT AIR IS DISTRIBUTED.
winds, and that the danger of setting the barn on fire is
greatly lessened. A large amount of valuable space is
secured also. It is likewise claimed that the moisture
arising from the cellar will bring the tobacco in condi-
tion to be handled without the necessity of waiting for
rains or humid weather.
Experiments made as to the best localities for build-
ing barns justify the conclusion that low places, free
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 189
from overflows or standing water, are to be preferred.
High situations dry out tobacco too rapidly, and it is
much more difficult in such places to have the cured
product come into uniform condition for handling.
Land sloping to the east is thought to be a good situa-
tion for a barn, if furnaces are to be used for curing the
FIG. 44. ELEVATION SNOW BARN.
tobacco. The reason for such a selection is that the
western winds are most prevalent during the curing sea-
son, and the smoke issuing from the chimneys or flues
should be blown away from the barn.
In the White Burley district all the tobacco is air
cured, and the tobacco houses are, or should be, so con-
structed that the air may be freely admitted or excluded,
190 TOBACCO LEAF.
as the necessity of the case may demand. Many of the
barns of that region, however, are built of logs, but are
not chinked or daubed. ‘They are poorly fitted for cur-
y POLI
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FIG. 45. INTERIOR OF SNOW BARN.
ing fine tobacco, as it is exposed very much to beating
rains or drifting snows, and to the damaging effects of
winds. The best Burley planters are discarding such
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 191
barns and are erecting frame barns, like that in Fig. 35,
with such conveniences and appliances as will enable
them to regulate the curing. In damp weather, it is
the practice to give all the ventilation possible by open-
ing all the doors and windows ; in dry weather, close the
barn during the day, and open at night. Too much
wet weather or too much dry weather is equally hurtful
in curing tobacco. It is very necessary that the ventila-
FIG. 46. ONONDAGA TOBACCO BARN.
tion of the building should be under perfect control
while the process of curing is going on.
The tobacco barns in common use for curing yellow
tobacco by means of flues are very inexpensive and sim-
ple in construction. They are usually built of logs or
poles cut from the woods. Sometimes these logs are
hewn, but oftener they are put up with the bark on
them. It requires about 68 logs, or 17 on a side, to
build a barn with four firing tiers in the body. The
logs are large enough so that one of them, including the
192 TOBACCO LEAF.
space between the logs, will raise the barn a foot in
hight. A barn with four firing tiers will therefore be
17 feet high. When the barn is five firing tiers high if
requires 80 logs for its construction.
The first firing tiers are usually put nine feet from
the ground, and the remaining tiers about two feet and
nine inches apart vertically. Ground tiers are some-
times put below the first firing tiers, for convenience in
SEES
ia
FIG. 47. AN ELABORATE PENNSYLVANIA BARN.
elevating and taking down the tobacco. Usually, there
are one or two tiers in the roof. When there are four
rooms, or four vertical spaces, between the tier poles,
the logs are cut about 17 feet long. When there are
five rooms, the length of the logs is 21 feet, and for six
rooms 25 feet long. Fig. 36 is a barn with four rooms
four tiers high, with ground tiers. Fig. 37% represents
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 193
a barn five tiers high, with six rooms. Fig. 38 contains
five rooms five tiers high.
The most approved barn in size is one with four
firing tiers in hight, and the same in width. In the
‘‘rooms” next to the walls, tier poles are put which lie
against the walls. This is preferable to nailing a strip
on the walls to support the ends of the sticks holding
the tobacco plants.
The barns are not always square. It is necessary
that one of the inside dimensions, or rather the width
of the barn on the inside, should be some multiplier of
four in feet, so as to accommodate the width of the
rooms to the length of the sticks, but the length of the
tier poles need not be so restricted. Some barns are
therefore constructed 16, 20 or 24 feet in width in the
FIG. 48. HANGER FOR LEAVES IN SNOW BARN.
interior, but they may be of any reasonable length in
the direction in which the tier poles run. Many plant-
ers prefer barns five tiers wide and five high and of equal
width and length, with the door on the side and the
furnaces and smoke escape pipe on the end.
Barns built of round logs are chinked and daubed
with mud. If the logs are hewn, after the cracks are
chinked they are usually pointed with a mortar made of
lime and sand. This latter manner of closing the spaces
between the logs, while much neater in appearance, is
not so effective in making the structures tight as when
the cracks are closed with mud.
A square barn containing four firing tiers and four
rooms in the body, will hold 500 sticks of tobacco, or
3000 plants. One with five firing tiers and five rooms
13
194 TOBACCO LEAF.
will hold between 700 and 800 sticks, or from 4200 to
4800 plants.
Flues are variously arranged. The illustration
given in Fig. 39 shows the arrangement most commonly
used. Two holes are cut in one end of the barn, 36
inches wide and some three feet high. These openings
must be 18 to 20 inches from the side walls of the barn,
as at e ee e in Fig. 39. Brick or stone is used for
the furnaces, which are built with walls 18 inches apart,
20 inches in hight at the openings, @ a, and arched.
The spaces above the arches are closed with brick and
FIG. 49. PATENT VENTILATED BARN, WISCONSIN.
mortar. These furnaces project on the outside 18
inches, and are extended on the inside some three feet.
The lateral walls of the furnaces should be extended
around from & to ¢ and covered with sheet iron. At
cc, flues made of iron pipe 10 to 12 inches in diameter
are inserted, with a gentle inclination upward, so as to
imsure draught. They come out of the barn two feet
higher at d d than they are at cc. No. 16 sheet iron
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 195
should be used for covering the brick flues for a short
distance, and then No. 18 or 20 will suffice.
Recently the flues have been greatly simplified and
are now made of iron pipe from 10 to 15 inches in diam-
eter. The flues run continuously from J to ¢ and from
eto d, coming out on the side of the barn where the
furnaces are fed and some three feet higher than the
furnaces. Sometimes there is only one pipe for convey-
ing the smoke outside the barn. In this case, the gap
between ¢ and ¢ is filled with a flue pipe, into which a
single pipe for the escape of the smoke is inserted. Or
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FIG. 50. VERTICAL LENGTHWISE SECTION OF FIG. 49.
the two pipes, ¢ d and c d, may be united near the
exit into one discharge pipe.
Cheaper flues are made by digging ditches in the
floor of the barn, from 15 to 18 inches wide and about
an equal depth, and covering them with sheet iron. A
pipe for conveying the smoke outside must be inserted.
Mud walls are sometimes built by packing moist
clay between two boards and beating it down. ‘These
mud walls are from 12 to 18 inches apart, and some 10
to 12 inches high. When covered with sheet iron, and
196 TOBACCO LEAF.
the boards burned away, the hardened clay walls will
stand a long time, if the clay is suitable for making brick.
The inquiry is often made why the barns for curing
yellow tobacco are made so small. The reason is that
unless the barn is filled with tobacco within the period
of twelve hours and the firing begun, it is impossible to
cure it of uniform color. Fora portion of the tobacco
in the barn to remain for twenty-four hours longer than
the rest will so impair its quality as to seriously dimin-
ish its value. Another reason why small, inexpensive
‘| it
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FIG. 51. SECTIONAL PLAN OF HOUSE IN FIG. 49.
Showing inspection walk, ventilating funnels, and distributers of the fresh air
directly upon the leaf.
barns for curing are preferred is the danger from fire.
The loss by fire of a barn which contains the growth
of one acre, is not so disastrous as the loss of one con-
taining a large portion, or, possibly, all the crop. The
tobacco in a small barn cures more rapidly, more
aniformly and more perfectly, and may be removed to
the packing room within a week, and the barn refilled.
The Snow Barn.—Capt. W. H. Snow, of North
Carolina, has recently patented a barn with flues, or
stoves, for curing yellow tobacco. Like many other
attempts to patent methods of hanging or curing to-
bacco, the patentee’s claims are ignored or disputed by
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 197%
many, though Mr. Snow stoutly maintains their validity.
Figs. 44 and 45 will give a good idea of the structure.
In the Snow barn the leaves only are cured after having
been stripped green from the growing stalk. The
leaves are brought to the barn in baskets, and strung on
the points, Fig. 48, about the width of a finger apart.
As the sticks are filled, they are put on a movable rack,
shown in Fig. 45, which, by a simple device, is lifted to
its proper place in the building.
Captain Snow claims for his process of housing
tobacco the following advantages: 1. The planter can
begin to house his crop from two
to four weeks earlier, as the bot-
tom leaves, which ripen first, can
be taken off and cured as soon as
they are ripe. 2. As the lower
leaves are pulled off, those left on
the stalk ripen more rapidly,
which enables the planter to get
in his crop earlier in the season.
3. The tobacco can be stored in
a much smaller space, and with ©
. ° FIG. 52. END VIEW OF
no risk of losing color or mold- Se i Sea
ing when bulked down. 4. ‘Tobacco can be cured with
a more uniform color. 5. Less fuel will be required,
and the risk of setting fire to the barn will be greatly
lessened.
A hillside, with a slope of two and one-half inches
to the foot, should be selected for the site of the barn.
The most convenient size for the barn is 16x20 feet, and
an excavation should be in the hillside of these dimen-
sions. The upper side of the excavation will be some
four feet above the surface. A trench is then dug
around the four sides of the excavation on the inside,
one foot wide and deep. The trench should be filled
with coarse gravel, which acts as a drain, and also as the
Q has
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—————————————
198 TOBACCO LEAF.
foundation for the barn. An eight-inch wall of stone
or brick is built with strong cement upon the gravel
foundation. This wall is built about five and one-half
feet high, which makes a basement. A door should be
left on the lower side of the wall and in the center of it.
On each side of the space left for the door, two
other openings should be left, three inches from the
ground and 22 inches from the side wall, through which
FIG. 53. BALLOON FRAME TOBACCO BARN.
The sill is on stone posts 18 inches above ground, with an 18-inch door lengthwise;
as shown in Fig. 40. The sill, c, is 6x6 inches, the plate 2x6, d, the studding 18
feet high of 2x4 set four feet apart, and flush with sill and plate on inside,
firmly nailed at bottom and spiked through plate at top. Then nail on sides
two strips of 2x6 flat, aa, which will come flush with owtside of sill and plate;
upon these four surfaces nail the weather boarding, or covering. Brace
across each side and end, by nailing on 2x6 flat inside, as shown in the cut. A
barn 34 feet wide allows a 10-foot driveway and bays on each side 12 feet deep.
The poles, 0, for holding the lath on which plants are hung are also 2x4 stuff,
every four feet, beginning even with the plate; the next three tiers below are
each four feet apart; this brings the bottom permanent tier 744 feet from the
ground, or high enough not to interfere with driving in a loaded team. An-
other tier four feet below this will allow 344 feet for hanging plants. A tier
may’be put in the roof also, nailed to rafters. Rafters, p, are 24 feet long.
the ends of the stoves should come to within the dis-
tance of four inches of the outside face of the wall. The
doors of the stoves open outwards. The stoves (Fig. 43)
are elevated three inches above the ground floor of the
basement, and are covered with brick arches, with an
air space of six inches between the arches and the stoves,
forming jackets, but the rear ends of the jackets are left
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 199
open. The arches, however, are extended two feet be-
yond the ends of the stoves. Openings are left above
the crown of the arches and immediately above the stove
doors, to admit fresh air between the arches and the
stoves. These openings are closed with coverings when
not needed. Conduits are provided, also, for admitting
cool air to the basement.
For the superstructure, sills are set in the walls four
by six inches, the four-inch sides resting on the walls.
if y
| NI
al te ia St aunt
FIG. 54. SIDE VIEW OF GERMAN FRAME.
Joists are put in, on which a slatted floor is laid, with
spaces one and one-fourth inches wide between three
and one-half inch slats. This slatted floor extends only
to within two feet of the walls on two sides and one end.
The remainder is closely laid, except on the end contain-
ing the door, which is laid in strips. The studding is
placed 18 inches apart. The roof is one-third pitch.
The sheeting is composed of square-edge boards, or
planks, one inch in thickness. Shingles are used for
roofing. A ventilator 15 feet long and eight inches
wide, is placed on the crest of the roof.
200 TOBACCO LEAF.
Sheeting paper is nailed on the studding, and the
whole barn is ceiled and weatherboarded. Collar or
wind beams are put in the roof. The first set of scaffold
beams is set about seven feet from the floor on two
sides and one end of the building; the next set, six feet
above the first. Windows are put at each end with
12 lights of 10x12 glass.
In the barn of the size given, five pieces two by
eight inches are placed upright, three and one-half feet
it : ji a
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7) 7 7M 2 7) wih
FIG. 55. SIDE ELEVATION, GERMAN BARN.
apart, and extending from bottom to top of the barn.
In the center of each two by eight piece is nailed a piece
one and one-half by two inches, which makes a groove
on each side of the original piece for confining the racks
as they slide up and down, as shown in Fig. 45. The
racks, shown in the same illustration, are light frames
14 feet long, and, taking their places in the grooves,
make five complete stanchions, or rooms, in the barn, of
nearly four feet width each. Each rack has 14 notches
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 201
on the sides, for holding 14 of the wired, or Snow sticks
(Fig. 48). The sticks are one inch square, with holes
six inches apart bored through the center. Through
these holes pointed wires, nine inches long, are put and
doubled over at right angles to the stick, making 12
points to the stick, upon which the leaves are strung
for curing.
BARNS FOR CURING CIGAR LEAF TOBACCO.
This operation, at the North, is somewhat different
from that in the heavy leaf sections of the South. Con-
siderable controversy has arisen, as to what js the best
pattern of a barn for cigar leaf, but the one first de-
scribed is the type in general use throughout the Con-
necticut valley and New York state, while it is but
slightly modified in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The location should be on slightly elevated ground,
well drained, convenient to the field, and sufficiently
removed from other buildings to allow a free circulation
of the air, from all directions. As a rule, the barn
should stand east and west, for it will thus have the ben-
efit of the drying and dampening winds, which, coming
from the south, will draw through the barn, with the
best effect. In this position, it will be less liable to be
blown over, for the strongest winds, or gales, come
from the west, and would, therefore, only strike the
end of the barn. This may vary, however, in different
localities.
A barn 30 feet by 45 feet long, three tiers high,
will hold an acre of heavy Havana seed cigar-leaf to-
bacco, or nearly an acre and a half of seedleaf. ‘Three
tiers is now considered high enough, though the cost of
a like capacity is a little greater than in a four-tier
barn. The expense of hanging and taking down to-
bacco each year from the fourth tier would soon amount
to more than the extra expense of the building. More-
202 - TOBACCO LEAF.
over, the fourth, or higher tiers, do not cure as well as
the lower ones, the colors are not as good or uniform,
and the leaf is more hable to have white veins. The
illustration, Fig. 40, is an outside view of a barn, 30x45
feet, three tiers high, or 17 feet from the sill to the
plate. Fig. 41 gives the cross section of the end of the
barn, with the boards removed. Fig. 42 is a sectional
view, lengthwise, through the middle of the barn, show-
ing the posts through the center, and the girders on
which the poles rest. A width of 30 feet is very con-
venient for a three-tier barn, and a building so con-
structed is easily and thoroughly aired. The first tier
of poles, as shown in Fig. 41, dd, should be 7 feet from
the ground, which will allow of free ventilation from
beneath, after the plants are hung, thereby lessening
the hability to stem rot, pole or cold sweat, or injury
from moisture arising from the ground. ‘The two tiers
above the first one should be five feet apart, which will
bring the second tier 12 feet from the ground, and the
third 17 feet. About a foot or two before the second
tier, cc, at each end of the barn, and at each bent, a
stout. tie girder, 5x5 inches in size, should extend
across the barn, which will strengthen it very much ;
some, however, think that no tie girders are necessary
on the ends of the barn. ‘This tie girder is shown in
Tig. 41, a a. The middle girders, lengthwise of the
barn (Fig. 42, aa), should also be of 6x6 timber.
They are sometimes made smaller, but the great weight
on them, when the barn is full of tobacco, requires this
size, at least. The upper girders should be braced, but
the lower ones need not be; the latter can be made to
take out at will, when it is called a slip girder. The
posts, plates and beams should be 7x7 inches, and the
outside girders, on which the boards are nailed, should
be 4x6 inches. Sometimes 4x4 inch timber is used for
these, but it is too small and will be likely to spring,
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 203
AE POE ULE LOMM LD SLIT ltd VLE ELIAS LILLIA EVAS EMULIUUA IP LILIAN LY Hie
eS SS id
fal
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AMMAN LODE DD DS NOAOII ALP LLUEENALAUE DIED WAI ELLMEN OMIM MALAI iia SS [sz
FIG. 56. GERMAN TOBACCO BARNS,
204 TOBACCO LEAF.
thus weakening the barn. It is better to use timbers of
good size, and build a substantial structure at a some-
what increased cost, than to erect a frail structure that
the first big wind might blow down.
The poles on which the tobacco is hung by tying
should be 24x5 inches, of good timber; spruce is the
best. These are cheaper in the end than round poles,
even if the latter cost nothing, if the plants are to be
tied to them; when laths are used, however, the round
poles are just as good. Ina barn 30 feet wide, the 15-
foot poles should be placed crosswise of the barn, one
end resting on the middle girder, and the other end on
the outside girder near the boarding. Roof tiers, if
there are any, should be hung lengthwise of the barn.
When tobacco is hung on slats, the bents should be 16
feet long, so as to take four lengths of four-feet slats.
This would make a three-bent barn 48 feet long.
The covering should be of good boards, of uniform
width. They should be lined, so that the barn can be
made tight. Every other board should be hung fora
door and left as long as will swing under the eaves.
These may be hung in two ways; either on two hinges,
to open outward in the usual way, at d (as shown in
Fig. 40), or the door may have one hinge at the top and
open outward at the bottom, as seen at a, Fig. 40. The
latter door will keep the sun and rain off the tobacco
hanging next to the boarding, but the two-hinged door is
generally preferred, as giving the least trouble and better
circulation of air. The eaves should extend two feet
over the outside of the barn, so that the water will fall
clear of the boards, and thus be prevented from tric-
kling through upon the tobucco. Many pounds of fine
leaf are every year damaged by the barn being faulty in
this particular. The end of the barn needs doors for
ventilation only at the top, where four are all that are
necessary, as shown in Fig. 40. Some growers advocate
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 205
giving as much ventilation as possible at the top bya
ventilator. The sill should be about one foot from the
ground, resting on a good-sized stone at each post. On
this, boards about a foot wide should be hung, to turn
up and let air under the tobacco after it is nearly cured,
and the long doors are closed, as shown in the side view
of Fig. 40. A four-tier barn may be constructed on the
same plan. It should be 36 or 39 feet wide, to use poles
12 or 13 feet long, there being three lengths of poles
across the barn, instead of two lengths, as in the three-
tier barn (Fig. 40). The middle girders need not be
braced and all the lower ones should be slip girders.
Upon the lower tier the middle bent should be left
unhung, to admit of better ventilation. Above the sill
there should be a row of doors, three or four feet long,
to ventilate with after the long doors above have been
closed, or before that, if necessary.
Jacob Zimmer, an authority on this crop in the
Miami valley, Ohio, says a better plan is to have the barn,
even for cigar-leaf tobacco, as air-tight as possible, by
nailing strips over all cracks, except to cut away six
inches lengthwise at bottom, to admit fresh air, and
leave an open space at top, under the eaves, thus pro-
viding constant circulation of air. Screen space at bot-
tom with wire netting to keep out vermin. Fig. 29
shows such a space under the eaves, and Fig. 40 shows
the open space alongside at bottom.
In Pennsylvania, barns are of all sizes, fromm 20 feet
square to 40x150 feet, and a width of 36 feet is generally
preferred. Fig. 47 shows an elaborate affair, 41x184
feet. There is a cellar nine feet high in the clear,
under the whole of it, containing a dampening room,
into which the tobacco is lowered through trap doors in
the floor, where it is bulked after being stripped.
A smaller room is used for stripping; around its four
sides are permanent tables or counters, with a raised
206 TOBACCO LEAF.
wooden floor immediately behind them, on which stand
the men when stripping. The barn is 29 feet high from
floor to plate, with room for seven tiers of tobacco.
Ventilation is provided at the sides, at the gables and at
the roof. At intervals of four feet, there are horizontal
openings along the entire sides of the whole building, as
shown in the illustration, Fig. 40, each opening just
where the tier of tobacco begins. These openings are
about a foot wide, the doors being operated by levers.
This ornate affair cost $4,000 about 20 years ago, and is
far more expensive than necessary.
In the rest of the Northern cigar-leaf growing sec-
tions, barns are generally constructed on the principle
above described. The Snow barn was used in Suffield,
Ct., for one season, but H. Austin, under whose auspices
the trial was made, says: ‘‘It cured our cigar leaf too
quickly, and left the stem hard and woody, the leaf was
of poor color, and had a smoky smell, which spoiled it
for cigar leaf.” Although this single test is no criterion
for judging the method, it should be said that it is yet
a serious question to what extent artificial heat can
safely be applied to the curing of cigar-leaf tobacco.
In Florida, barns for cigar leaf are made like those
in the Connecticut valley, but plants must not be hung
on the bottom tier, as the leaf might mold in wet
- weather. Instead of single board doors for ventilation,
windows are made every 8 feet, 24 or 3 feet wide and
10 feet long, hung by a hinge at the top. This is nec-
essary to admit air more freely at night, being closed
every dry day. The balloon frame tobacco barn is more
preferred in Florida. As matters of interest for com-
parison, views are given of the tobacco barns used in
Germany.
A Wisconsin barn that has been patented is shown
at Figs. 49, 50, and 51. This building is 60x334 feet,
divided into two sections of 24 feet each, and these cut
TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 207
into two divisions of 12 feet each. It is four stories
high and has four tiers four feet in width each side
of the center walk, making eight tiers in all. In the
center, between the two sections, is a driveway of 12
feet. Midway between the second and third stories is
an inspection walk, 18 inches wide, the length of the
building, with a door at each end, which enables one to
inspect the condition of the upper tiers. The building
is perfectly air-tight, with no ventilating doors, but
ventilation is furnished by the air shafts between the
hanging tobacco; by the vertical air shaft in center
of building its whole length; by the air distributers in
each section, with pipes connecting them with funnels
outside of the house; a rotary turret on the roof, with
double vanes for upward or downward draft ; arrestors
to be hung in the center if each section to force an
upward draft, and by outside ventilating doors at the
bottom, to admit air. Arrangements are made for venti-
lating the different rooms independent of each other.
We believe only one such barn was ever constructed, but
there are some suggestive features about it.
A Balloon Frame Tobacco Barn is shown and de-
scribed at Fig. 53, that can be put together with simply
a hammer and saw, no mortising is required, and yet it
will stand the severest cyclone. Long, narrow windows
along the bottom, just above the sills, are advised by Mr.
Chapman, also a big window in each gable and three
cupolas, 4x4, with slats to keep out rain and inside shut-
ters to exclude air when necessary. This barn, 34x64,
will hold about three acres, requires 22,000 shingles and
17,000 feet of lumber. It has no loose poles inside to be
lost, or to expose men to bad falls by a misstep when
hanging tobacco.
CHAPTER X.
ON CURING TOBACCO.
This is one of the most delicate and important op-
erations, but the method of doing it varies with the
kind of leaf grown, and the object for which it is to be
used. The object is to cure the leaf to the desired state
without sacrifice of its good qualities, and yet to avoid
or get rid of bad qualities. But this involves far more
than merely drying the leaf, for (says Frear) a marked
loss of dry matter occurs during the process, as well as a
loss of water. ‘‘If the leaf be killed by chloroform or
frost, the changes ordinarily observed to result from
curing do not occur. Curing, then, is probably a life
process, due chiefly (if not wholly) to the activity of the
cells of the leaf.”
The process of curing is, therefore, much influenced
by the structure of leaf. and by conditions of tempera-
ture and moisture. Nor does it appear that the same
method of curing can by any means be applied, with
safety, to different types of tobacco... Cigar leaf is praec-
tically ruined by the quick-curing process used for yel-
low tobacco. Pole burn and white veins also appear
under apparently or somewhat different conditions in
different classes of leaf, and even with the same variety
in different years. All these matters are now being sci-
entifically investigated, but we must confine our atten-
tion to such practicai details as have thus far been proven
to give the best results. We are confident, however,
that science and practice together will greatly improve
upon these methods.
208
CURING TOBACCO. 209
CURING THE YELLOW TOBACCO.
Probably in no other tobacco region in the world
are so much experience and good judgment required in
the curing of the crop as in the yellow-tobacco States.
Barns are purposely built small in order that they may
be filled quickly. A difference of one day in cutting
the plants will be hazardous in the curing of the tobacco
a uniform color. Every plant, if possible, should be
put in the barn the same day, and heat applied before it
is wilted.
Very minute directions have been given as to the
regulation of the heat at varying intervals of time, and
these directions, though valuable, are rarely ever appli-
cable as a whole to the curing of a barn full of tobacco.
They require to be modified to suit the change of condi-
tions. ‘Tobacco cut full of sap, superinduced by a rainy
season, requires a different formula for curing to that
cut after a season of dry weather. ‘The sole object, in
curing, is to expel the sap in such a way as to make the
desired colors, and to prevent the exudation of the juices,
which give flavor and suppleness, by improper or too
rapid curing, or in drying preceded or accompanied
by fermentation. The cells of the leaf must not be
broken so that the contents are dissipated. This is
done in tobacco that is house burned or pole sweated.
Nor must the process of curing be so rapid as to destroy
the colors.
Mr. R. L. Ragland, of Virginia, first laid down a
plan to be followed in curing yellow tobacco, and this
has been the basis of all subsequent formulas. The
agent fcr curing is dry, artificial heat. The heat is either
made by having heaps of charcoal on the floors under-
neath the tobacco, or by means of flues running around
three sides of the barn and heated by wood fed from
the outside in a furnace (see Fig. 58). A thermometer
is put inside the barn, so as to determine and regulate
14
210 TOBACCO LEAF,
the degree of heat required at the various stages of the
curing process. ‘The Snow barn principle is preferred
by the North Carolina experiment station, because it
enables temperature and moisture to be more closely
regulated than in old-fashioned barns. Approximately,
a pound of water for each plant must be driven out in
about 100 hours. According to Mr. Ragland’s methods,
there are four stages in the operation :
1. The yellowing process, requiring 90° of heat
and lasting from 24 to 30 hours.
2. Fixing the color, requiring from 16 to 20 hours
at a temperature ranging from 100° F. at the beginning,
to 120° at the close.
3. The curing process, requiring for 48 hours a
temperature of 120° to 125°.
4, The curing of the stalk and stem, which re-
quires from nine to ten hours with a heat of 125° to 175°,
increased at the rate of 5° an hour.
Mr. Ragland himself subsequently modified these
regulations, by advising the heat to be put under the
tobacco as soon as cut, and the temperature put at 90°
for three hours and then advanced rapidly to 125°, or as
high as the tobacco will bear without scalding, letting
the heat remain at this high temperature for only a few
minutes, and then allowing the temperature to descend
to 90° again. This process he calls ‘‘sapping.” The
sap cells are opened, the water comes to the surface of
the leaves, and the yellowing process is hastened, requir-
ing only from four to eight hours, instead of from 24 to
30 hours by the old formula.
Mr. George L. Wimberly, a successful tobacco
grower of Edgecombe county, lying in the Champaign
district of North Carolina, gives some information which
is appended. Mr. Wimberly strips the leaves from the
stalk in harvesting, and the method of curing is varied
somewhat from that used in curing tobacco on the stalk.
CURING TOBACCO. 211
He says: ‘Our barns are simple structures, 20 feet
square, 16 feet from the ground to the plate, with a roof
not too sharp, a moderately flat roof being, in the opin-
ion of experienced tobacco farmers,
the best. In curing, we generally
start at 95°, and consume from 24 to
30 hours between that heat and 110°.
From this point, advance two and
one-half degrees per hour until 120° is
reached, where that degree of heat is
retained for about four hours. Then
it is advanced to 125°, where it re-
mains about the same length of time.
From that point, the heat is advanced
slowly to 135°, where it remains until
the leaf is thoroughly cured. When
this is done, the critical point is past,
and the heat can be moved up five
degrees an hour until it reaches 170°,
where it should remain until the stem
is cured so perfectly that it will break
like a dead twig. The fire is then
drawn, the door opened, and in 24
hours the tobacco is ready to come out
of the barn and go to the pack house.
FIG. 57.
It takes four days to cure a barn of *prsycuromerer.
tobacco, and in a 20-foot barn there will be about 800
pounds.”
Mr. R. B. Davis, who raises yellow tobacco very
successfully in the Piedmont district of North Carolina,
*The instrument consists of two accurately graduated thermome-
ters, of which the bulbs are placed at some distance apart. The bulb
of one is surrounded by thin muslin, which is connected by a wick of
clean cotton to a cup hung a short distance below, and which, while
ihe instrument 1s in use, should contain more or less of distilled, or
clean, rain water. The water from this cup is drawn upward through
the wick to the muslin that surrounds one of the bulbs, and thus the
surface of this bulb is kept constantly moist, while that of the other
bulb is dry. Now, the water on the surface of this wet bulb wili evap-
orate into the air about it more or less rapidly, according as the air
212 TOBACCO LEAF.
says that the yellowing process should be done at 90°
(80° if the weather is cool), and should last from 18 to
30 hours, until the desired color is obtained. The dry-
ing, or curing, is then effected by regulating the tem-
perature so as to have 95° for two hours, 100° for two
hours, 105° for two hours, 110° for two hours, 115° for
two hours, 120° for six hours, 130° for two hours, 140°
for two hours, 150° for two hours and 160° for 24 hours,
the last temperature being kept up until the stalks and
stems are cured.
A very interesting case was reported by the Border
Review. A barn 18 feet square, four firing tiers high,
and containing 450 sticks, or 3150 plants, was success-
fully cured by the following process: The tobacco was
of old-field growth, long leaf, but thin and light. The
temperature was run up to 90° in six hours, then to 100°
in six hours, then 110° in six hours. The leaf was thor-
oughly yellowed at the expiration of 18 hours. The
temperature was then advanced 120° in six hours; to
125° in six more; to 130° in six hours; to 140° in three
hours, where it was allowed to remain for six hours.
At the end of this time the leaf was cured. Then the
temperature was run up to 150° for three hours and
held at that point for three hours, then to 170° in 12
hours, where it stood for 12 hours, until the stalk was
already contains more or less of moisture,—the more moisture the air
contains, the less rapid will be the evaporation, and vice versa. Since
water, in evaporating, absorbs heat, the ten:perature of the wet bulb
is lowered more or less, according as the evaporation is more or less
rapid. Hence, by noting the difference in the temperature registered
by the two thermometers, we form an idea of the moisture of the air,
—the greater the difference registered, the dryer the air, and vice
versa. When the two thermometers register alike, the air in contact
with the wet bulbis saturated with moisture, so that it can hold no
more, and hence evaporation has ceased. In dry, summer weather,
the difference registered by the two thermometers may amount to fif-
teen or more degrees. By using prepared tables, the absolute relative
humidity of the air may be determined by the psychrometer, but for
our present purpose, the depression of the wet bulb is all that is nee-
assary touse. The tobacco leaves while in process of curing being
moist, the evaporation from them will follow the same law as from
the wet bulb, hence a psychrometer hung among the plants in the
euring house will give an indication at any time of the rate at which
the moisture is passing off from the tobacco.
CURING TOBACCO. 213
dry. The result was a perfect cure of a lemon color
requiring only 75 hours.
Another modification of the process was made by
Mr. T. C. Anderson, of the Champaign district of North
Carolina, which he says will always give good results if
the tobacco yellows well and is allowed to remain on the
hill until it is thoroughly ripe. His instructions are,
that it must be cut and put in the barn as soon as possi-
ble, from five to seven plants on a stick, arranging the
sticks in the barn ten inches apart in warm weather and
eight inches in cool weather. Start the fires at once.
In warm weather run the temperature up to 100°; in
cool weather to 75°. Keep the heat to this point for six
hours; raise to 105°, hold at this point for five or six
hours; raise to 110°, at which point hold for 10 or 12
hours, until the tobacco is yellow enough to commence
drying the leaf; then raise to 118° or 120°. When this
temperature is reached, throw the doors open and reduce
the heat to 105°; then run the heat up to 120°; open
the doors and let the temperature fall back to 105°.
Repeat this four or five times. This dries off the sweat
that causes trouble at this stage of curing. Close the
doors then and hold the heat at 120° for three hours, or
until the leaves on the bottom tier are about half cured,
then raise the heat to 128°. Open the doors and reduce
the heat to 115°; then close the doors and elevate the
temperature to 130° in three hours; then to 135° in five
hours, or until the leaves are cured; then to 145° for
three hours; then to 150° for two hours; then 155° for
three hours; then to 160° for two hours, and so on to
180°, and hold at this until stalk and stems are cured.
It is apparent, from a careful study of these differ-
ent formulas, that every curer must exercise judgment
as to when to increase and when to decrease the heat.
He must watch some particular plant and be governed
by its condition. The greatest danger to be feared is
214 TOBACCO LEAF.
the reddening, ‘‘splotching” or sponging of the leaf
during the second stage, when the color is fixed. The
sweating of the leaf at this period must be checked, by
admission of air to the barn by the opening of all doors
and windows, and by opening a space between the logs
on the side opposite the door. Mr. Ragland says, just
at this point more failures are made than at any other
stage of the process. ‘‘ Five curings are spoiled by fore-
ing too fast, to one from going too slow.”
Captain EK. M. Pace, of South Carolina, gives the
following directions for curing when the leaves are
FIG. 58. STOVES AND FLUES FOR CURING SEEDLEAF.
stripped from the stalk. ‘Take off the thoroughly
ripe leaves after a light shower, or early, when the dew
is heaviest ; string and run the tobacco in the barn be-
fore it has time to wilt. In case there is no light
shower, use plenty of water around the sides of the barn
below the first tiers. Suspend a plank over the main
flues, to keep the heat from scalding the tobacco on the
lower tiers (these can be removed after the sweating).
Use pans filled with water on the flues and furnace.
This will assist in producing a moisture, or warm vapor,
thereby aiding the leaf to sweat. The entire barn must
sweat freely. Heat and water will do it. Stop the use
of water on the sides and floor as soon as the leaf begins
to sweat. When the leaf begins to sweat, say at 110°,
CURING TOBACCO. 215
115° or 120°, as the case may be, stop the fire and hold
as long as the leaf will sweat. When the leaf begins to
dry off, you know then that you have sweated, or
steamed, all the water or foreign matter out. Draw all
the fires, open both your doors, ventilators and gable
windows and give cold, fresh air. Use such fuel as to
be able to draw the fire quickly.
The cold air will ‘‘yellow” the barn in, say 30 or 60
minutes, or maybe one and one-half hours, or longer.
Watch it closely, and when it is sufficiently yellow, be-
gin a dry heat at once, and advance your heat fast
enough to keep it from sponging, but not too fast, to
splotch it. Right along here you are the sole judge.
Simply apply to the symptoms which are apparent. If
not fast enough, the leaf will sponge; if too fast, the
leaf will splotch. Always advance as fast as the leaf
will bear, and rest a few hours at 130° or 135°. This is
immaterial, and is only done as a safeguard, for when
you once pass the sponging and not splotching points,
you may go ahead and kill out the barn at 150° to 160°.
It is a well-established fact that tobacco, at the time it
is ripe and ready for curing, contains 80 per cent of
water, and that water must come out before the plant
can assume an artificial yellow. You cannot cure
green tobacco by this method; it will coddle and turn
black before it will sweat. By this process it requires
from 24 to 30 hours, and maybe a little longer, to cure
a barn.
The object should be to make as little green tobacco
as possible. Curing tobacco yellow is now regarded as
an art, which demands the closest attention, the best
judgment and the most painstaking experience to attain
the perfect results. No novice can succeed without un-
dergoing an apprenticeship, however minute in details
the instructions he may receive.
Curing in Leaf vs. Stalk.—On this point the North
216 TOBACCO LEAF.
Carolina station conducted an elaborate experiment, and
concluded : ,
1. ‘If the first priming leaves upon the tobacco
stalk be saved, they can be cured at a considerable saving.
The remaining leaves upon the stalk ripen at different
times, commencing from below, and if these leaves be
cured separately the experiment would indicate that it
can be done advantageously and remuneratively. Curing
by the leaf process, the plant will require at least three
separate curings in the barn, whereas only one curing is
required to cure the entire stalk with its leaves still
upon it, but the results justify the additional labor. It
is believed, also, that by removing the lower leaves the
remainder mature more rapidly, and so the danger of
being hurt by frost is decreased.
2. ‘The manipulation in handling the leaves sepa-
rately is considerably more than in the stalk cure, but
the greater part of it is of such a nature that it can prof-
itably be done by children, and at various times during
the season.
3. ‘There is a less consumption of wood for heat-
ing by the leaf cure than by the stalk cure. There is
apparently no satisfactory cause for consuming wood to
drive off 473 pounds of water (or 946 pounds, or 124
gallons, per acre) contained as moisture in the green
stalks, when results would indicate that there is no good
reason for the outlay.”
CURING HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO.
If the tobacco has been on the scaffold for four or
five days, fires should be kindled under it as soon as the
barn is filled. The heat should not be over 90° for 12
hours. After that time, it may be carried up gradually
to 150°. The leafy part and one half the stem should
be cured in three days and nights. After this, the
tobacco should be allowed to come in ‘‘order” (that is,
CURING TOBACCO. 217
to become pliant from the absorption of moisture), and
dried out by fires. This alternation should be kept up
for two or three weeks; and, indeed, whenever, during
the fall months, the tobacco gets very damp, it should
be dried out with fires.
When the tobacco is taken directly from the field,
it should remain hanging in the barn for four or five
days. Slow fires should then be kindled under it, and
at the expiration of 24 hours, the heat may be increased,
as in the case of tobacco taken directly from the scaffold
to the barn.
In the heavy shipping districts, at least 90 per cent
of the leaf is cured by open, wood fires. ‘Two logs are
FIG. 59. HORIZONTAL VENTILATORS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST POLE
BURN OR POLE SWEAT.
placed side by side and the fires kindled between them.
Small sticks of wood are supplied, to lay at the point of
contact of the logs, so as to keep them burning. Some
flue-cured tobacco is made in the heavy shipping dis-
tricts, but scarcely enough to make note of. The prin-
ciple and method of flue curing will be fully discussed
under the head of yellow tobacco. Flues may be built,
in a barn 20x20 feet, for about $15.00, including chim-
neys for carrying off the smoke.
218 TOBACCO LEAF.
It should never be forgotten that the object in
curing is not so much to dry the leaf as to fix, as far as
possible, the qualities of the leaf as to color, strength,
elasticity and flavor. Even the texture may be improved
by judicious management in curing. To begin the fires
too early, makes the leaf starchy and stiff. To make
the fire too hot in the beginning, makes a bluish, unde-
sirable color. The desired flexibility and softness of the
stem, fiber and tissue of the leaf cannot be secured
unless the curing process is made gradual. To make
hot fires under the plants, before they have sufficiently
yellowed, would be to impair the value of the article
fully one half, if not more. Gentle fires for the first 24
hours are positively necessary, to bring about the best
qualities in the leaf. To delay firing too long would
increase the liability of injury from ‘‘house burn.”
Care should be taken that the fires are managed so as
not to emit much blaze, for there is always a danger of
setting the dried tobacco on fire. Tobacco cut in wet
weather, when full of sap, requires a longer time to
cure. The danger from ‘‘ house burn” is also increased.
Sometimes, after the tobacco has been cured, it is
necessary, in humid weather, to keep up fires to prevent
a change of color by the running of the sap in the
leaves. Piebald or yellow tobacco should be dried out
whenever it grows very limp. Otherwise, the color will
change to ared, or a reddish-brown, or yellow. When
all the stalks and stems are thoroughly cured, the
tobacco may be packed down, and in this way all colors
may be preserved. Small barns for fire curing are better
than large ones, because they can be filled in a short
time, and the curing will begin with all the plants
simultaneously. The quality of the crop will be made
uniform as to color and softness of leaf.
Open fire heat is preferred for all tobacco to be
shipped abroad. ‘The pores of the leaf are filled with a
CURING TOBACCO. 219
carbonaceous matter that has a preservative effect. It
has long been known that fire and smoke cured tobacco
will withstand an ocean voyage, and go through the
sweat, or fermentation, much better than tobacco that
is air cured. The firmness and solidity of structure of
leaf, as well as its strength, are preserved. ‘The porous
system is filled with creosotic compounds, and the
absorptive capacity of the leaf is greatly diminished from
what it would be by air, sun or flue curing.
In air-cured tobacco, of which there is a consid-
erable amount made in heavy shipping districts, the
natural flavor of the leaf is better preserved, and its
porous system is greatly developed, so as to absorb and
retain a large percentage of the artificial flavorings with
which it is tested in the process of manufacturing.
CURING WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO.
As a general rule, no artificial heat is employed in
curing White Burley tobacco. From six to eight weeks
are required to complete the process, by the ordinary
methods of air curing in the barns provided with ample
facilities for ventilation. If the weather is very dry, to
prevent curing too rapidly, all openings should be closed
during the day and opened during the night. During
wet weather and when house burn has begun, or is
feared, all possible ventilation should be given, by
throwing open the doors and windows. Passages
through the tobacco hanging in the barn should also be
made, in order that the air may find free access to every
part. Sometimes, when house burn is_ threatened,
small charcoal fires are built in the barn, during very
wet weather, though this is an unusual practice, and is
rarely resorted to. If the season should be very dry,
during the period of curing, the tobacco will be variable
in color; if too wet, the color will be too dark ; but after
being housed, if the weather is fair, with occasional
220 TOBACCO LEAF.
FIG. 60. MOTHS OF CUTWORMS.
A, Moth of dingy cutworm (Feltia jaculifera); B, another species of dingy cut-
worm (Feltia subgothica), both one and one-half times natural size; C, moth of
traveling cutworm (feltia gladiaria), two and one-fourth times natural size.
Other varieties and species of these moths differ but slightly from these in the
eyes of all except the scientist.
CURING TOBACCO. 221
showers, the tobacco will cure a beautiful bright, golden-
red color. Much the same methods are to be followed
in curing Burley as is the case with cigar leaf or seed-
leaf.
CURING SEEDLEAF TOBACCO.
The method of curing practiced in the cigar tobacco
sections of the United States, also Cuba and Sumatra,
is entirely air curing,—it is accomplished by regulating
the air and moisture, by opening or closing doors or
shutters in the barn. Fire curing, that is, by the aid of
artificial heat, or sun curing, by exposure to the direct
rays of the sun, is seldom practiced. The modified
Snow process has been tried with doubtful results,
although at the Pennsylvania experiment station ‘‘the
general character of the rapidly cured leaf was not
inferior to that more slowly cured, and the dangers of
disease were removed.” The Wisconsin experiment
station favors artificial control of temperature and
humidity, after two years’ experience with it, but does
not state how leaf so cured came out of the sweat, or
fermentation process, necessary after curing to fit the
leaf for cigar making. In the Miami valley, a few
planters put small, coal stoves into their barns, with
pipe running up through the roof, and keep up a gentle
heat during very rainy weather or a long-continued
damp spell, admitting cold air at bottom and opening
ventilators at top to carry off the hot, moist air. Un-
doubtedly this same method of artificial control will be
perfected to reduce pole sweat, pole burn or white veins.
But the system now in vogue is that which has pre-
vailed for years. It has been improved by greater care
in the construction of barns, but it is at best a crude
and imperfect method, and one requiring vigilant
attention to details, and a nice perception of alterations
of temperature and moisture, to properly carry out. Yet
222 TOBACCO LEAF.
so skillful have the growers become, even with this
crude process, that a good cure can be expected in the
vast majority of cases, unless the crop has been dam-
aged, or improperly grown in the field, and unless exces-
sive fogs and dampness prevail at curing time. It isa
phase in the existence of the crop that is looked forward
to with great anxiety, and the grower breathes a sigh of
relief when the curing is safely over and the crop is
stripped and cased without injury.
The first point to avoid is the too rapid drying of
the leaf. Drying is not curing, and the terms are in no
way synonymous. The change of color and condition
in the leaf is largely due to a process of fermentation,
which takes place in the hanging tobacco, and for which
a certain amount of moisture in the leaf is necessary.
If the leaf is dried too rapidly, this fermentation is
either prevented altogether, or checked to some extent,
thereby affecting the result disastrously. As far as pos-
sible, the air in the shed, during the whole curing proc-
ess, should be kept in such a condition that the tobacco
will never become quite dry and brittle ; it should never
crumble when handled. ‘To this end, after the first two
weeks following the hanging, the sheds should be kept
tightly closed during dry weather, and if opened it
should be at night, or for a while upon damp and misty
days. If the buildings are kept closed, the great amount
of moisture evaporated from the tobacco will keep the
air sufficiently damp, even in dry weather.
The second principle is to keep the air in the shed
from excessive dampness, which, with heat, causes a
destructive fermentation or rotting, which is entirely
different from the fermentation of the curing process.
For this reason, the buildings should be kept well
opened and ventilated the first week or two after hang-
ing, that the fresh currents of air may carry off the
large amount of moisture evaporating from the tobacco,
CURING TOBACCO. 223
and also check any tendency to excessive heating. Dur-
ing the whole time of curing, after any protracted time
of damp or warm, muggy weather, the sheds should be
opened, until the tobacco is partially dried off. To
carry out both these principles, the shed should be so
constructed as to permit of its being tightly closed and
also of its being opened and thoroughly ‘ventilated.
Light should be carefully excluded during the curing
process, especially in its later stages, as it is found that
FIG. 61. TRAVELING CUTWORM. One and one-half times natural size.
strong light has an injurious effect upon the color of the
leaf.
Even under the most favorable conditions, a suc-
cessful cure will depend largely upon good management.
Tobacco is very rapidly dried out by means of a constant
current of air, especially if this air is heated, undergoes
very little if any chemical change, and retains to a
greater or less degree its green color. Moreover, since
the process of fermentation in bulk, accompanied by
heat, depends upon and must be preceded by the
changes in the leaf produced by gradual curing, it
224 TOBACCO LEAF.
follows that tobacco that has been too rapidly dried
loses, to a large extent, its ability to pass through the
subsequent sweating process, and the tobacco remains
permanently of a greenish color. If the tobacco is cured
in acurrent of air, care being taken not to drive the
moisture out too rapidly, a change takes place in the
interior of the leaf that changes the color from green to
brown. Finally, if tobacco is hung too closely, so as to
prevent the free access of air, the color still changes from
green to brown, but by a different process of fermentation,
the leaf loses its tenacity and elasticity, becomes subject
to pole burn and is more or less spoiled by rot.
The time required for ‘‘curing down” tobacco
varies very greatly from year to year. Some seasons it
progresses very rapidly,—so much so that a cure is com-
pleted in from six to eight weeks; again, it is slower,
and three or four months are required. Asarule, quick
curing is the best. It can only be accomplished when
all the conditions are favorable. ‘The seasons of 1891
and 1892 were remarkable for the rapid cures, and the
result of the cures in these years was unusually satis-
factory. Some years, however, the conditions are ab-
normally bad, such as was the case in 1872, when dense,
heavy fogs settled over the Connecticut valley during
the curing season, and the crop rotted on the poles, in
spite of all that could be done to save it. This has gone
down in the legends of the tobacco growers as the ‘‘ bad
year of *72.” It is thus seen that very much depends
upon the temperature and moisture of the outside
atmosphere, although these conditions can be controlled
to some extent, and often to a sufficient extent to effect
a cure. But even with the best of care and the most
favorable management, atmospheric conditions may pre-
vail that render any curing abortive.
Goff has shown that in Wisconsin green seedleaf
tobacco loses about 71 per cent of its weight during the
CURING TOBACCO. 224
curing process. The rate at which the water passes off
gradually increases from the time the leaves are well
wilted until they assume the brown color. The water
appears to be set free by the leaves, rather than ex-
tracted from them by drying. The changes in color of
tobacco leaves during the curing process are not the
result of: drying, but of certain changes within the
leaves themselves. Riper tobacco yields a lighter color
of cured leaf than that which is less mature. Leaves
FIG. 62. BUD WORM (Heliothis armiger).
The eggs enlarged; the worm, or larva; the pupa in its cell underground; male
and female moths.
that become spotted with yellow before cutting, will
produce a cured leaf that is mottled with varying shades
of brown. The lower leaves on the plant usually cure
lighter than the upper ones, because they are riper.
The period of most rapid escape of water from cur-
ing tobacco is in the browning stage, 1. e., while the
color is changing from yellow to brown, while with
tobacco that is well wilted at the time it is hung, the
15
226 TOBACCO LEAF,
escape of water from the leaves is at first comparatively
slow. Goff thinks this ‘‘ furnishes a warrant for the
practice of many intelligent tobacco growers, who hold
that it is better to keep the curing house nearly closed
for a time after the tobacco is hung, and that it should
be gradually opened as the curing proceeds,” but of
course this point depends to some extent upon atmos-
pheric conditions, if the leaf is to be cured naturally.
Artificial Curing.—Frear modified the yellow cur-
ing process for seedleaf at the Pennsylvania station
(referred to heretofore), as follows, getting a complete
cure in about 16 days:
Temper- | Humid-
Period.| Hours. Advancement of Curing. ature. ity.
Deg. F. |Per cent.
A 42 To first yellowing, 76-91 69-85
B 28 To first browning, 91-96 78-86
Cc 24 To development of tobacco odor, 96-97 85-93
D 72 To end of sweating, 92-99 92-96
E 216 To completion of cure, 98-108 95-41
318
In this work, no ereat difference in yield of cured
leaf was found in artificial over natural curing. But
the former gave a leaf tissue and veins as thin as the
slow air-curing process does. ‘The final thickness seems
chiefly determined by the conditions under which the
plant was grown.
Wisconsin EHaperiments.—Two years’ work at the
Wisconsin experiment station, by E. 8. Goff, have
brought out the following valuable points.
Moist air is lighter than dryer air at a given temper-
ature, and hence tends to rise. Comparatively dry air
entering the curing house near the ground and coming
in contact with tobacco that is giving off moisture, as it
absorbs this water will gradually rise through the build-
ing, absorbing more and more moisture in its course,
until it reaches the roof. It is important, therefore,
not only that the curing house shall contain ventilators
through the roof or in the gables, but that these be so
CURING TOBACCO. 224
made that they can be opened and closed at will, because
these furnish an efficient means for controlling the hu-
midity, providing the weatherboarding of the building
is tight, as it should be. In ordinary weather, it is
probably better to use only the ventilating doors near
the ground, and the roof ventilators, leaving the higher
side doors closed, except as an emergency seems to require
special ventilation, and the control may be mainly exer-
cised by the roof ventilators, since by opening or closing
these more or less, the air, as it rises between the hanging
tobacco plants, may be compelled to rise more or less
rapidly, as desirable. But it should be remembered,
that when the external air is very moist, as in rainy
ry
FIG. 63, TREE CRICKET (@ecanthus niveus).
The plate at right is the male, viewed from above. At the left, female, side view.
weather, this upward current of air will largely cease,
because the absorption of water from the tobacco will be
greatly checked. At such times, the temperature of the
air between the platits must be raised, to restore normal
absorption, and the only way to do this is to provide
artificial heat. Placing lighted lamps beneath the roof
ventilators will help to produce an upward current of
air, as was proved in our experiments, but this will not
avail to prevent pole burn if the air that enters the
building is already on the verge of saturation.
The curing house should be enclosed in such a man-
ner that the amount of external air that enters it is un-
der control, and should be provided with some kind of
heating apparatus that renders it possible to reduce the
humidity of the air in wet weather. To ascertain
228 TOBACCO LEAF.
whether the air is too humid, hang a psychrometer
(Fig. 57) between the plants in a central part of the
barn. The wet bulb in this instrument should show a
depression below the dry bulb of not less than one and
one-half or more than two degrees. If the wet bulb
shows a greater depression, it indicates that the air is so
nearly saturated with moisture that it can no longer
take up the water given off by the leaves. This is the
condition that induces pole burn. Now apply artificial
heat to dry the air, opening the upper ventilators to
carry off the heated moist air, and the danger will be
averted. Keep up the heat until the psychrometer gets
back to the desired standard—wet bulb not less than
one or more than two degrees below dry bulb.
From these Wisconsin experiments, the conclusion
seems warrantable, that with a temperature within the
curing house of not exceeding 75° F., a degree of atmos-
pheric humidity represented by a wet bulb depression of
one and one-half degrees, when the psychrometer is be-
.tween the plants, and is not exposed to unusual air cur-
rents, does not endanger the tobacco to pole burn, and
that an occasional variation to one degree is safe, at
least if not prolonged. But a wet bulb depression of
less than one degree is dangerous, and if prolonged, is
almost sure to result. in pole burn. It will be wise to
make one and one-half degrees of depression for the wet
bulb the minimum, rather than one degree, not because
one degree is dangerous, but because it provides too lit-
tle margin between the safety and danger limits. The
atmosphere throughout the curing house cannot be
changed immediately by starting the fires, and if these
are started as soon as the wet bulb depression becomes
less than one and one-half degrees, if the weather is
becoming rapidly damper, it might sometimes be
difficult to prevent the atmosphere within from _ be-
coming so damp as to register less than one degree
CURING TOBACCO. 229
of depression for the wet bulb before the fires could
prevent it.
After two seasons’ trial of this, what may be called
scientific, method of curing, Goff feels warranted ‘‘in
commending it to the attention of all who aim to pro-
FIG. 64. LEAF INJURED BY RED-LEGGED GRASSHOPPER.
duce the first quality of air-cured cigar tobacco. It has
the advantage of curing the crop under the best known
conditions, and hence, of developing the highest possible
quality. It demands a somewhat more expensive build-
230 TOBACCO LEAF,
ing, and a greater amount of care and intelligence than
the average Wisconsin tobacco grower has been accus-
tomed to devote to his crop. But ‘what is worth doing
at all is worth doing well,’ and as a rule, a business
will prove most profitable when conducted in the best
manner.”
On a single morning during the curing season, a
very perceptible odor of pole burn pervaded the build-
ing, and the wet bulb depression was considerably less
than one degree. But fire was immediately started, and
in twenty-four hours the ominous odor was almost en-
tirely dispelled, while the psychrometer registered a frac-
tion over one degree. A very slight amount of pole-
burned tobacco was found in the crop, but not more
than is usually found in dry seasons, while the general
quality, so far as the curing was concerned, was pro-
nounced superior.
The heating apparatus for this purpose may be like
that used in the Snow barn (see Fig. 43), or in the Yel-
low tobacco barn (Fig. 39). Another arrangement is
that suggested by Goff, as shown in Fig. 58, which is
especially adapted to tobacco barns now in use. It can
be put in at a first cost of $25 to $75, according to the size
of the rouse. The increased value of a single crop saved
from a severe attack of pole burn by this system would
more than repay the cost, and if, by being able to ex-
clude hot and dry winds, the crop may be cured slowly
in dry seasons, the apparatus may be made to pay for
itself every year. We are not aware that the experiment
has ever been tried in this country, but it would be feasi-
ble to provide pans, or tubs, of water on the floor of the
tobacco house, which, by evaporating, would furnish
the necessary humidity during a hot and dry period
that otherwise might cure the tobacco too quickly.
With the heating apparatus, tobacco may be hung a
little closer than would otherwise be prudent, thus
CURING TOBACCO. 231
permitting a somewhat smaller building for a given
acreage.
If a new curing house is to be provided with the
heating apparatus, it would be well to build it two feet
higher than the needs of the tobacco alone would re-
quire, to provide more room for the pipes beneath the
lower tier. Goff thinks a curing house 100 feet long
would be sufficiently warmed with four 36-inch box
stoves, carrying seven-inch pipe, placed as shown in
Fig. 58. The stove should be let into a little basement,
bricked or stoned up beneath the sills. The pipes
should start from the ground level, and rise eight or ten
inches to the rod. Jf they come in the way of hanging
tobacco, remove a sufficient number of plants to make
room. They may be supported on temporary brick
piers, or suspended by wires from the poles carrying the
tobacco. That portion of the pipes extending outside
of the building will be more durable if made of galva-
nized iron, and should be capped with spark arresters,
but the remainder may be of common sheet iron. No
difficulty is experienced in securing a good draft, and if
the tobacco is not hung too thickly, the humidity of the
air in a tight tobacco barn will be found to respond read-
ily to the heat from the stoves, even where a very little
fire is used. After the curing is completed, the pipes
are taken down and stored for use next year.
Curing Leaf Alone vs. Curing on Stalk.—The bulk
of the cigar leaf grown in the United States is cured on
the stalk,—that is, the plant is cut up at the bottom,
allowed to wilt, and then the entire plant is hung in the
barn, as described in the chapter on cigar leaf. In Flor-
ida, however, the crop is largely harvested leaf by leaf,
as described in the chapter on Florida tobacco. The
cost of handling each leaf separately was about one-third
higher than by the stalk system, at the Pennsylvania sta-
tion, and was quite as large at the North Carolina station
232 TOBACCO LEAF.
(see Page 216). Wagner declares that ‘‘if the leaf is
picked before it is ripe, it needs a process of subsequent
ripening to give it a good quality. This is impossible if
the leaf is separated from the stalk, but it takes place to
perfection under the American method” (the leaves
eured while still attached to the stalk) ; but if the leaf
process is used, the leaf would certainly not be picked
before it is ripe. German authorities maintain that the
weight of tobacco leaves cured on the stalk is 15 per
cent greater than that of leaves cured separate from the
stalk, due to the translocation of matter from stalk to
leaf during ripening after the harvest. Behrens, how-
ever, has shown that the current of solids is from leaf to
vein, thence to rib, and thence to stalk, and not the
reverse. rear found nothing to indicate any marked
gain in weight as the result of slow ripening or curing
on the stalk. Results by Carpenter, in North Carolina,
on yellow leaf, point in the same direction. Nessler
long ago pointed out that the leaf cured on the
stalk, and separate from it, showed no appreciable differ-
ence in weight. At the Pennsylvania station, 1000
leaves cured on the stalk weighed, when stemmed, 116
ounces; 1000 leaves harvested more nearly ripe, and
cured leaf by leaf, yielded 151 ounces of stemmed leaf,
the precise gain varying with the ripeness of the leaves.
It will be seen, therefore, that opinions are widely
divergent, among both practical tobacco growers and sci-
entists, concerning the good and bad points of the single
leaf system. Yet the fact that it is but little employed
in the seedleaf sections is no argument against it. rear
found that the ripest of the stalk-cured leaves were
thinner than the less mature leaves harvested separately.
CHAPTER XI.
PESTS OF TOBACCO—DISEASES, INSECTS, THE ELEMENTS.
Following the chapter on curing, we will first dis-
cuss the troubles or diseascs that are met with in curing
tobacco. Chief among these is pole burn. ‘“This trouble,”
says E. S. Goff, ‘‘appears as dark spots near the mid-
rib or vein; under favorable conditions it spreads rap-
idly, discoloring and rotting the whole leaf, and often
destroying the entire crop in 24 to 36 hours. It is
caused by two fungous enemies: First, a sort of mold,
which attacks the outside of the leaf and lays the inte-
rior open to the invasion of bacteria, which (second)
then develop rapidly, causing the principal mischief.
The development of the disease is chiefly controlled by
atmospheric conditions, being most probable in rather
warm, very humid air. A nearly cured, dry leaf is not
liable to attuck. A temperature above 100° F., or below
40°, greatly retards its activity; but one of 70°-90° is
most favorable. If we can control moisture and tem-
perature conditions, we can prevent injury from this
otherwise menacing enemy.” Examination shows that
the leaves have changed from a greenish-yellow to a
dark brown or almost black color, that the fine texture
has disappeared, and that instead of being tough and
elastic, the whole leaf is wet and soggy, and tears almost
with a touch, falling of its own weight from the stalk.
Something has been done at the Wisconsin exper-
iment station to combat this disease (as described in the
preceding chapter), and considerable has been accom-
plished at the Connecticut station by Dr. W. C. Sturgis.
233
3 Raa TOBACCO LEAF.
It appears from his work, as well as from the experience
of practical growers, that a crop is very seldom cured at
the North without showing some traces of disease.
Even during the most favorable seasons, the disease
makes its appearance in the center of the curing barn,
where the temperature is higher, and the moisture more
retained in and about the leaves, whereas, in unfavorable
seasons, the loss often amounts to practically the entire
crop. Nor is it confined to the seedleaf sections, being
common in the heavy shipping and yellow districts. It
is not the mold (Cladisporium) that does the mischief
so much as the bacteria, which cause the rapid decay.
Sturgis found that warmth as well as moisture is con-
ducive to pole burn, and this fact emphasizes the neces-
sity of securing good circulation of air in the curing
barn, and especially when artificial heat is employed.
All attempts to inoculate thoroughly cured tobacco with
bacteria of pole burn were failures. Sturgis regards
this as partial confirmation of the generally expressed
view, that when tobacco has cured to a certain degree,
the period varying from ten days to three weeks after
hanging, there is very little danger of pole burn.
The remedy for pole burn has already been de-
scribed in the chapter on cnring. It is to get rid of the
excess of warmth and moisture, which can only be done
by a complete system of ventilation. For this purpose,
Sturgis strongly endorses horizontal ventilators near the
ground, a similar row for each tier of tobacco and one
or more large ventilators along the ridgepole. The ven-
tilators in the walls should open horizontally at inter-
vals of about four feet, as shown in Fig. 59. They
should be from five to ten feet long, one foot high, hung
from the upper edge by strap hinges, so as to be raised
and hooked up, and occupying the full length of the
building. When these are all open, the air will enter
freely, not only near the ground, but also just below
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 235
each tier of tobacco. Free ventilation in the roof is
absolutely essential to allow of the escape of warm,
moist air, any of the systems outlined in the chapter on
barns being available for this purpose.
‘< White Vein” or “ Stem Rot” appears in the latter
stages of curing cigar leaf, in the form of white, velvety
patches of long-piled mold, first affecting stalk and rib,
and later destroying the tissue near the veins and ribs
and causing the peculiar white veins. This disease is
also due to a fungus (Botrytis longibrachiata) that
thrives upon drying vegetation. ‘‘The fungus seldom
reaches maturity on the curing stalks,” says Sturgis,
‘*for it requires some days and considerable moisture for
FIG. 65. RED-LEGGED GRASSHOPPER (Pezotettix femur-rubrum).
Enlarged one-fourth.
its complete development, hence by the time its vege-
tative threads are ready to produce the fruiting branches,
the stalks are too far dried to afford the requisite
nutriment. After the curing process is completed, how-
ever, the tobacco is taken down, and the stalks and
leaves most seriously affected with stem rot are
thrown down on the floor with the refuse which always
remains after the curing of a crop of tobacco. Here on
the damp, earth floors and in company with decaying
stalks and leaves, the stem rot fungus finds all the
conditions favorable to its further development. The
fungus spreads among the refuse, and produces its spores
in enormous quantities. It is not unusual upon enter-
236 TOBACCO LEAF,
ing a barn, even during this process of curing, to find
the floor partially covered with the refuse of the pre-
vious year’s crop, the latter often looking as though a
fall of snow had whitened it, so densely is it covered
with the mold and spores of this fungus. The slightest
current of air serves to separate the spores from their
attachment, and carry them through the barn, some
finding lodgment upon and at once infecting the curing
stems and leaves, others being deposited on the beams
or walls of the barn and there remaining to propagate
the disease another year.
‘Against such a pest, absolute cleanliness is the best
and simplest precaution. After the crop is cured, all
the diseased stems and leaves should be carefully col-
lected and at once burned, before the fungus has
reached maturity. All the refuse remaining on the
floor of the barn should then be thoroughly gathered to-
gether and burned, and the floor should be liberally
sprinkled with a mixture consisting of equal parts of
dry, air-slaked lime and sulphur. If the floor is of
earth, covering it to the depth of an inch with clean,
dry earth would prevent the dissemination of the spores
through the air. A more effectual method of reaching
the spores in all parts of the barn would be fumigation
by means of sulphur, kept boiling for two or three
hours in any iron vessel over a small kerosene stove. In
the larger barns it would be advisable to have three or
four such stoves, and keep the sulphur boiling simul-
taneously in different parts of the barn; of course dur-
ing the process of fumigation the building must be
kept tightly closed, so that the fumes may thoroughly
penetrate every part. If this were done once, after the
removal of the cured tobacco, and again the following
season, a fortnight before the tobacco is harvested, the
danger from stem rot or white vein would be largely
decreased, if not entirely obviated.”
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 237
White veins, as a disease, is confined to the seed-
leaf and Havana-seed varieties, and is much dreaded,
because it greatly impairs the value of the tobacco in
which it occurs. White veins in the districts growing
yellow tobacco are desired, because they add to the
beauty and value of the yellow product.
Leprosy is the common name applied to a greenish
fungous growth that attacks curing tobacco in the lower
FIG. 66. TOBACCO MINER.
a, Adult moth; 6, worm; and c, part of leaf damaged by this worm.
Ohio districts of Kentucky. The fungi increase with
amazing rapidity, and they extend even to sound, dry
tobacco in proximity, seriously damaging it. This isa
disease that is doubtless propagated from spores, which
find congenial lodgment in badly kept barns or tobacco
sheds, or packing houses. All old trash left in such
?
238 TOBACCO LEAF.
places should be either hauled out and spread upon the
fields, or burned, while the disinfecting of barns as just
described for stem rot or white vein, is also advised.
DISEASES OF THE GROWING PLANTS.
There is probably no crop produced of the same
magnitude that suffers so little from disease as does
tobacco, and nearly all these diseases may be avoided by
proper care in the selection of the soils, in the judicious
application of manure, and in the cultivation of the
crop. The greatest number of diseases to which the to-
bacco is liable, come from a want of drainage in the
soil. The diseases rarely affect more than a fraction of
one per cent of the plants in a field. These diseases are
largely of a fungous nature, and are now being tardily
_ studied by scientific experts. Their efforts will ulti-
mately give us a scientific explanation of the form or
cause of the various diseases, but this book being mainly
of a practical nature, for popular use, we content our-
selves with a popular rather than a mycological and
physiological treatment of the subject.
Rust or Fire Blight.—The most common disease of
tobacco is known as ‘‘ Brown rust” or ‘‘Red field
fire.” This arises from three causes, viz: First, over-
ripeness in the plant; second, a deprivation of moisture
while the plant is in vigorous growth, making the leaf
perish in spots for want of sustenance, and, third, the
use of too much heating manure applied in the hills,
with supervening dry weather.
Another field fire called ‘‘ Black fire,” which is
totally different from the red field fire, is caused by
excessive humidity, and occurs only after continued
rains of several days’ duration, with hot weather. This
black fire is much more to be dreaded than the brown
rust or red field fire, for it attacks the plant while
immature, involving all the leaves, and necessitates the
23
PESTS OF TOBACCO
FIG. 67.
FIELD OF TOBACCO DESTROYED BY TOBACCO HORN WORMS (Kentucky).
240 TOBACCO LEAF.
cutting of it before it is ripe. Sometimes this disease
will spread over a field in two or three days and ruin
the crop, making black, deadened spots as large as a
silver dollar, but this rarely happens. Good drainage
and a sufficient depth of soil to carry off all superfluous
rain water, are the only safeguards against the blight-
ing effects of this disease.
Spotted Leaf.—There is another disease, similar to
the last, called ‘‘Frog eye” or ‘‘ White speck,” often
occurring in tobacco thoroughly ripe. It is sometimes
caused by too much potash in the soil, and sometimes
from the taproot of the plant coming in contact with
an impervious water plane. This disease is most fre-
quently seen in the tobacco grown in Florida. It was
once regarded as a sure indication of the fineness of tex-
ture in the leaf. Forty years ago the Florida wrappers
affected with this blemish commanded the highest
price with the manufacturers of domestic cigars. A
similar trouble at the North causes what are called
*“calico plants,” in cigar tobacco.
Frenching (from the French word friser, to curl)
attacks tobacco grown upon old, clayey lands inclined to
be wet, that have been much compacted by the tramp-
ing of stock, or through other means. Rainy weather
is also a predisposing cause to this disease, and it some-
times manifests itself over a considerable area, but if the
tobacco is closely plowed and a vigorous pull is given to
the plants so as to break the taproots, a large majority
of them will recover, if treated before the disease: has
gone too far. The first appearance of the disease is seen
in the buds of the plants, which turn to a honey-yellow
color. As the leaves expand, they become thick and
fleshy, growing in long, irregular, narrow strips with
ragged outlines, the leaves often cupping downward.
When cut and cured, such leaves are lifeless, with a
dingy, dead color, and are very light in weight.
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 241
‘‘Frenched” tobacco is worthless for any purpose ex-
cept as a substitute.
Walloon or Waterloon, is a disease that affects the
appearance of the plant and causes the leaves, instead of
curving in graceful outlines, to stick up like ‘‘ foxes’
ears,” by which name the disease is known in some
localities. This disease, though akin to Frenching,
does not injure the tobacco to the same extent, though
it reduces the weight of the cured product and impairs
its quality and color. It results probably from deficient
drainage.
Hollow Stalk.—The overflowing of any part of a
tobacco field, though the water may stand on it for only
a few hours, will produce ‘‘ Hollow stalk” and ‘‘Sore
shin.” Some careful observers think hollow stalk re-
sults from the attack of the wireworm or the cutworm ;
others think it arises from the bruising of the young
plant or of injury done to the epidermis, so that the sap
is not able to ascend in full force. It most probably
arises from the absorption by the pith of an undue
amount of water, while partially overflowed, and the
effects of the subsequent exposure to the hot sun. The
disease is rarely seen upon a well-drained or porous soil.
The plants attacked with it should be cut at once, for
they will never grow or improve in any respect
thereafter.
A New Disease of tobacco is described by J. Van
Breda de Haan (in Med.’s Lands Plantentuin, No. 15,
pp. 10%, pl. 1.). It has appeared in Java. The leaves
become dark spotted and greatly depreciate in value.
The cause is attributed to the fungus, Phytophora
nicotiana n. sp. A study of the biology of the parasite
has been made and various attempts undertaken for the
repression of the disease. The author thinks it can be
prevented from spreading, by careful attention to, and
frequent change of, the plant beds, and by spraying the
16
TOBACCO LEAF,
242
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PESTS OF TOBACCO. 243
plants with Bordeaux mixture, otherwise the disease -
threatens to become a serious enemy to tobacco culture.
2.—INSECTS.
The tobacco plant, from the period of its germina-
tion until it 1s cured, is preyed upon by a variety of in-
sects, and the utmost diligence and watchfulness are
required by the grower to guard against their depreda-
tions. The first of these to make their appearance are
the so-called ‘‘Snow fleas,” which are peculiar to the
seedleaf districts of the North, and are rarely seen south
of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. The snow flea has a
large head and a small abdomen, without any segmental
divisions. It is known to entomologists as Smynthurus
hortensis or ‘‘Springtails.” The antenne are three-
fourths as long as the body. It is called springtail be-
cause of a forked member, which lies folded up against
the underside of the abdomen near its end, which gives
the insect its great leaping power. Its power of rapid
locomotion resides in this spring tail. These insects can
stand very cold weather and are the first to feed upon
the tobacco plant, beginning when the two first tiny
leaves appear above the surface of the ground. Appli-
cations of the flour of sulphur are said to have the effect
of driving them away. They are rarely ever seen upon
beds that have been well burned.
The Flea Beetle is far more destructive to the young
tobacco plant, and its ravages extend through every
part of the United States where tobacco is grown. It
belongs to the genus Hpitriz, family Halticide. Two
species are described that attack tobacco, —Hpitriz
cucumeris, and Hpitrix pubescens. The first is black,
with the exception of the feet and antenne. The
second is more oblong in form, but is otherwise
about the same in size and of a dull black color. The
feet and antenne are of a honey-yellow color, as well as
244 TOBACCO LEAF.
‘the upper part of the body, except a portion of the wing
covers, Which are black. The upper and lower parts of
the whole body, with the exception of the thorax, are
covered with a slight down, from whence it takes its
specific name of pubescens. These insects are from one-
sixteenth to one-tenth of an inch in length. This latter
species is especially fond of the young tobacco plant,
though it will feed upon young cotton, cabbage and
potato plants, and the tender leaves of all leguminous
plants. When disturbed, the flea beetle will leap from
FIG. 69.
TOBACCO WORM OF THE SOUTH (Philegethontius Carolina),
reduced one-fourth.
It differs from P. celews mainly in not having so long a tongue, while its “jug
handle” is not so long or so arched as in P. celeus.
the plant and hide itself among the clods and in the dry
dirt. Frequently the plants will be seen covered with
them and the depredations are made rapidly, a whole
seed bed being often destroyed within a few days.
The only certain protection to the young plants
against this destructive insect is to cover the bed closelv
with canvas as soon as the seed is sown, and close up all
openings between the canvas and the ground. Plants
in beds are also sprinkled with powdered lime moistened
with turpentine, or soot, wood ashes or fine road dust
may be used instead of lime, A decoction of tobacco
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 245
stems, heated to 125° F., will kill all the fleas it touches,
without injuring the plants. Until the practice of
using canvas coverings was adopted, this beetle was
more dreaded eyen than the horn worm. ‘The flea
beetle at the North is frequently as destructive to half-
grown tobacco as to the potato plant, the lictle holes it
eats into the leaves ruining their quality, if not kill-
ing them outright. The potato crop is protected against
this pest by spraying with Bordeaux mixture,* and in
bad attacks the same remedy may be sprayed upon
tobacco.
Cutworms (Fig. 60) are occasionally troublesome
to seed beds when they are made near old land infested
with them. Canvas covering is no protection against
them under such conditions. Prevention in this case,
by preparing the beds on new land some distance from
the old, is the best remedy. But cutworms are some-
times very destructive to the plants after they are set
out in the fields. They sever the stalks of the plants
beneath the surface. Their work is performed at night,
or in the cool of the morning, before the sun begins to
shine upon the ground, or late in the evening, after the
sun has set. They take refuge beneath the surface of
the ground when the sun is shining, where they may be
easily found lying in a coil. When grown, they are from
one and one-quarter to one and one-half inches long,
plump and greasy looking. ‘The common, white grub is
familiar to all, and the traveling cutworm, Fig. 61,
may be even more destructive.
* Bordeaux mixture is made by combining six pounds of copper
sulphate and four pounds of quicklime, with water to make fifty gal-
lous. The copper sulphate is dissolved in water (hot, if prompt action
is desired) and diluted to about twenty-five gallons. The fresh lime is
slaked in water, diluted to twenty-five gallons, and strained into the
copper solution, after which the whole is thoroughly stirred witha
paddle. Both the copper and the lime mixtures may be kept in strong
solution as stock mixtures, but when combined should be promptly
used, as the Bordeaux mixture deteriorates on standing.
246 TOBACCO LEAF.
Burning the trash from the fields before plowing,
and breaking the land in the fall of the year, are both
very destructive to the cutworms. Clean culture, leay-
ing nothing to harbor worms during the winter, is im-
portant. When they are found in the soil, however,
there is no better remedy than to hunt them out about
each hill of plants, and destroy them. Cutworms dis-
appear upon the advent of hot weather. Enclosing
plants with stiff collars of brown paper, stuck well into
the earth, is effective, but involves much labor. Cut-
worms may be caught by putting on each hill, or every
few hills, at night, a bit of clover, cabbage or other
tender green stuff the worms relish, first covering the
same with a mixture of Paris green, one part to flour
twenty parts, or dipped in a pail of water containing a
tablespoonful of the poison; the poison sickens the
worms so they won’t eat, or kills them outright. Birds,
chickens, turkeys and pigs are very fond of cutworms,
and may, under some circumstances, be utilized for
their destruction. ‘The common bluedird is known to
have a special fondness for them, and will do valuable
service in field and garden if left unmolested. Exam-
ination of the contents of the stomachs of the bluebird
shot in Tennessee during February, showed that 30 per
cent of the food consisted of cutworms. During March,
also, its food has been found to contain a large percent-
age of these insects.
Like the chinch bug, cutworms are subject to dis-
eases, which appear to be caused by attacks of bacteria
and other parasitic enemies. The Kentucky experiment
station reports that those affected with the trouble
would often go into the ground as if to change to pupe,
but instead died, becoming flaccid and discolored, and
when recently dead were filled with a clear, yellowish
fluid, in which were large numbers of bacilli, some of
them in active motion. It is hoped that practical
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 247
means may be found for spreading the disease among
cutworms, and thus kill them by the wholesale.
Wireworms, the larve of the ‘‘Click beetle” or
‘‘Snapping bug” (Zlateride), sometimes bore into the
stalks of the plants, but they never attack the leaves.
The ‘‘Bud Worm” (Heliothis armigera), Fig. 62,
attacks the bud and tender leaves at the top of the to-
bacco plant before they are unfolded, and sometimes
work the greatest injury. One of these worms may ruin
a dozen young leaves ina few days. Hand picking is
the only remedy for tobacco, though carefully spraying
with Paris green is suggested. These worms are always
most destructive in cloudy weather. This is the dread-
ful bollworm of the cotton planter and corn worm of
the North. The tobacco bud worm has been observed
on weeds belonging to the same family as tobacco, but
has not been generally accounted a tobacco insect. At
the Kentucky station, worms left tobacco and went into
the ground August 10, and adult moths came out
August 24 and 25. Since their original food plant was
probably some one of the weeds known as ground cherry
and horse nettle, it would be well always to destroy such
plants when growing about tobacco.
Crickets.—There is a greenish tree cricket (Cican-
thus niveus), Fig. 63, that occasionally does much
injury to the leaves of tobacco, by eating round holes in
them. It does not kill the leaf or arrest the growth,
but the small holes increase in size longitudinally, as the
leaves grow in length. This iasect begins its depreda-
tions in July in the southern tobacco regions, and in
August in Pennsylvania. Tobacco planted near trees
suffers most from its depredations. This pest infests
blackberry and raspberry canes, and tobacco should not
be set near them.
Grasshoppers.—The meadow grasshopper (Orcheli-
mum vulgare) is sometimes very destructive on the to-
248 TOBACCO LEAF,
bacco plants when first set out, and before they have
become established in the ground. One part of Paris
green mixed with twenty parts of wheat flour and a
small quantity dusted on the plants while the dew is on
them, will destroy these pests. Frequent workings of
the land will also drive them from the field. All weeds
and other unnecessary growth likely to harbor these
pests during the early part of the season, should be de-
stroyed as a precaution against late summer injury.
Several species of grasshoppers are likely to be so
starved for forage that in July or early in August they
are often forced to attack tobacco, but in Kentucky the
greater part of the holes gnawed in leaves (Fig. 64) is
the work of the red-legged grasshopper, shown in
Fig. 65.
To kill the grasshoppers, the mixture of Paris green
above mentioned is put in a bag made of thin cloth,
which is tied to the end of a pole four or five feet long.
Walking between the rows when the dew is on the
plants, the bag is held over each and a slight tap given
to the stick. A portion of the mixture falls upon each
plant, and adheres to the surface of the leaves. This
application is said to destroy the grasshoppers com-
pletely. Too much of this mixture should not be put
on a plant, not enough to make it whitish.
Sucking Bugs.—In Pennsylvania, and other seed-
leaf growing districts of the North, there is a class of
hemipterous insects that puncture the leaves of the
tobacco plant and suck out the juices. One of these is
a small, gray insect or bug, about a quarter of an inch
long, known among entomologists as Phytocoris linearis.
In Tennessee, and other southern States, this species
feeds upon the parsnip, the tomato and the cabbage
plant, but rarely on the tobacco plant. A larger insect,
belonging to the family Scutelleride, known as the
Euschistus puncticeps, preys upon mullens, thistles and
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 249
other weeds as well as upon the tobacco plant, but its
injuries do not seem to be so decided as the first named.
These bugs make very small holes in the leaf, but the
damage resulting from them is inconsiderable.
The Tobacco Miner is a new pest that attacked to-
bacco for the first time in 1896, being noticed in three
townships in one county in North Carolina. The cater-
pillar is about half an inch long, and greenish, with
adark brown head. It makes an irregular or blotch
mine by eating the green matter between the two sides
of the leaf, leaving the skins intact and the leaf trans-
parent. The caterpillar is extremely voracious and as
several usually mine one leaf, the leaf is soon rendered
worthless, and it is feared that the pest may be widely
prevalent. It has been carefully studied by Gerald
McCarthy, botanist North Carolina experiment station,
and the facts and illustrations (Fig. 66) are from its
bulletin 133.
The insect is a native whose common food plant has
been the perennial weed, Solanum Carolinense, com-
monly called horse or bull nettle. This weed is rather
common on dry, sandy soil from Connecticut southward
along the coast to Florida, and westward to the Missis-
sippi. The range of the insect is co-extensive with its
host plant, and includes nearly the entire tobacco-grow-
ing area of the United States. It is well known to
economic entomologists that the natural increase of any
insect is chiefly regulated by the abundance of its food
plants. Insects which subsist upon a few species of
weeds of waste ground must necessarily lead a very
precarious existence, and do well if they hold their num-
ber from year to year.. When such an insect changes
its wild food plant for a cultivated species, the rela-
tively almost infinite abundance of the latter causes a
parallel increase of the insect, which, soon overflowing
its natural boundaries, or the range it occupied before,
250 TOBACCO LEAF,
spreads into all regions where the new host plant is
cultivated. This has been the history of the Colorado
potato beetle, which originally subsisted upon another
solanaceous weed.
Description of the Tobacco Miner.—G@elechia pici-
pellis, Zett. General color, yellowish gray. Head and
thorax paler than wings, inclining to cream color.
Palpi simple, not exceeding the vertex. Primaries
variegated, with a few smoky streaks and a marginal
row of minute black spots at base of cilia. Wing
expanse 0.45 to 0.50 inch. Length 0.20 inch. (After
Miss M. Murtfeldt, 1881.) The insect belongs to the
natural order Lepidoptera, sub-order of moths. Family
FIG. 70. TOBACCO WORM, LIFE SIZE.
of Teneids, of which the more important are the clothes
and fur moths, and the Angoumois grain moth or ‘Fly
weevil” ( Gelechia—Sitotroga—cerealella), so destructive
to corn and grains in the crib. The latter species is
very closely related to and greatly resembles our tobacco
miner.
Remedies.—None have been tried as yet. From the
nature of the case, the treatment must be preventive.
The parent moth deposits her eggs within the substance
of the leaf or stem of the plant. The resulting cater-
pillar eats the green matter of the leaf, leaving both
epidermes intact. These surfaces, in the case of to-
bacco, are oily and will readily shed any liquid, and
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 251
they also prevent any powder from penetrating or touch-
ing the insect within. It is within these mines that the
caterpillar appears to pass its whole larval and pupal
life, issuing as a winged moth to lay eggs as before.
The number of annual generations is yet unknown, but
is probably not less than three. The insect is believed
to hibernate in the imago or winged state, though it
may also lie dormant, either as caterpillar or pupa, hid-
den in the stumps of tobacco or the roots of the bull
nettle. The most promising remedy at present is the
extirpation of the bull nettle in all tobacco-growing
sections, and the prompt plowing under or removal of
tobacco stumps as soon as the crop has been gathered.
Watch for leaves showing the miner’s transparent
blotches, and when found, remove and burn them.
The Tobacco Worm.—This is the great arch enemy
of the tobacco plant and absolutely sets a limit to the
culture of tobacco. It reduces the acreage fully one-
half. But for its destructive power six acres might
easily be cared for by one man. There is no remedy for
them, but to search every leaf and destroy them. The
worming of the crop, when they are numerous, is the
most disagreeable and tedious work attending tobacco
growing. Some seasons there are comparatively few,
again, they seem to infest every leaf. Worming has been
done so persistently in many places in the Connecticut —
valley that this pest is well-nigh exterminated. But un-
der more careless methods at the South, immense injury
is done by the tobacco worm, as may be inferred from
the photograph in Fig. 67, of an entire crop utterly de-
stroyed by this pest. Fields of tobacco that give prom-
ise of making the finest wrappers may be totally ruined
for that purpose through a week’s neglect: in catehing
the worms. It matters but little how rich the soil may
be, or how well cultivated, the crop will be a total
failure unless these worms are destroyed. So important
is this work regarded by the snecessful tobacco planter,
that he will negleet every other duty om the farm and
pay three er four times the ordinary prices for farm
hands im order to fight this pest, for the profits of to-
bacee eulture will be, other things being equal, pre-
portioned te the ability te destroy this imveterate and
imsatiable enemy.
The fruitful mother of the devourtng and desirec~
tive tebaceo worm is a kepedopéerows insect of the hawk
moth or Sphingide family, alse called the Sphinx moth,
It derives the mame Sphinx from the aiiitade which the
eaterpillar assumes im raising the fore part of the body,
and remaining im this state ef immobility for hears
tegether. Im this the hvely imagination of Linnzus
pereeived a resemblance to the sphimx of the Egyptians.
There are two species of these moths—the tobacea worm
of the North—Phleyethontius celeus, shown in Fig. 68.
and the tebacce worm of the South—Philegethentius _
Carolina, Fig. 69. Both species may oeeur in the Mid-
dle South, and for the purpose ef the practical planter
may be considered as ome, theagh entomelegisis have
had adispate over their proper mames, the one shove
adepted having by far the weight ef evidence and
authority im its faver.
The worm enters immediately upon its work of
destruction, making a small hele im the leaf, and grad-
ually enlarging this, confining itself te the urder sar
face of the leaf if the weather & clear. About the
seventh day it passes through another change, doffing
its old skim and putting on the habihments of maturity.
While this change is goimg on, the caterpillar loses its
appetite. bat Ima day or two it reeovers and becomes
endowed with greater viger, activity and veraciousmess,
passing readily from leaf to leaf, or from plant te plant, .
growing in size and its capacity for eating, uniil it will
consume half a large leaf withim twenty-four hears. As
~
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 253
it approaches its full growth, it takes refuge, during the
heat of noontide, among the ruffles of the plants, or
screens itself from the ardent rays of the sun by pene-
FIG. 71. LEAF ATTACKED BY TOBACCO WORM.
trating the soft earth under the plant. At this stage of
its growth (Fig. 68, better shown in the engraving from
a photograph, Fig. 70) it is a hideous looking creature,
between two and three inches long, and as large as the
254 TOBACCO LEAF,
little finger. It has a dark, green color, with a sharp,
pointed spikelet upon its tail resembling the sting of a
bee. This is often called a ‘‘horn,” hence the name
horn worm. Oblique, whitish, dotted stripes point
downward and backward, and ornament its sides. It
has twelve segments or rings; six true legs, coming out
from the second, third and fourth rings, and four
double, fleshy suction protuberances from the seventh,
eighth, ninth and tenth segments, with a prop leg on
the twelfth. The fifth, sixth and eleventh segments
have no legs. When touched, the worm manifests its
irritability by throwing its head from side to side, eject-
ing from its mouth a stream of masticated tobacco, and
chafing its mandibles, emitting a sound like the chatter-
ing of teeth. Though threatening in appearance, it is
perfectly harmless, and can be handled with impunity.
This moth rarely makes its appearance in the day
until about sunset, when it may be seen with its long
tongue probing the deep corollas of the petunia, evening
primrose, and of the jimson or Jamestown, weed, at
which time it is easily caught. This moth (Fig. 68)
measures across the wings from four to five inches, has
a gray color, variegated with wavy black lines across the
wings, and fine orange colored spots on each side of the
abdomen. ‘The tongue is five or six inches long, and
when not in use is coiled up spirally, like a watch
spring. Its first appearance is about the middle of May.
From this time, the number increases until the last of
August. From their large size, the manner of their
flight and method of feeding, they are often mistaken
for humming birds and are called ‘‘ Humming bird
moths” and ‘‘ Horn flowers.”
The eggs, about the size of a mustard seed, and of a
pea-green color, are deposited both upon the upper and
under surface of the tobacco leaf, being kept in place by
a viscid fluid resembling glue. ‘The moth, in depositing
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 255
the eggs, flies rapidly from plant to plant, giving each
leaf upon which it deposits an egg, an audible tap.
This is done usually at twilight, and after, in clear
weather. The eggs gradually change their color to a
milky white, and even before the tiny worm breaks from
the shell, its spiral form is distinctly visible through
the transparent encasement. When first hatched, it is
of a delicate cream color, with a white, thornlike append-
age. When it has attained its full growth, which
occupies the period of about twenty days, it descends
into the ground, when its body contracts and shortens,
the skin meanwhile changing from a dark green to a
brown color and increasing in hardness; within a
week or two it will assume the chrysalis state, with
a long tongue case bent over circularly from the
head and touching the breast, making a complete loop
(Fig. 68), hence they are sometimes called ‘‘ Jug handle
grubs.”
Entomologists usually concur in the belief that in
this condition it remains in the ground, below the
freezes, through the winter. Many practical, observant
farmers, however, are of the opinion that this is true
only as applied to those that appear later in. the season,
just before, or after, the appearance of frost. It is be-
lieved that those coming to maturity in June and July
throw off the chrysalis state in August and September,
and appear as moths. In this way only can the large
number of worms that appear in these months be
accounted for.
There is another moth, the Sphinx quinque-mac-
ulata, that resembles the latter so much that an ordi-
nary observer will scarcely distinguish the difference.
This is another species of the same family, and the
larvee of the moth prefer the tomato vine, especially in
the Southern States, but they are very destructive to the
tobacco plant in higher latitudes,
256 TOBACCO LEAF.
FIG. 72. DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG BROOM RAPE. Three-fourths
natural size.
a, A plant which is just beginning to put out the stalk bud and the fibrous roots;
b, a later stage when the closely placed fibrous roots form conspicuous prom-
inences which conceal most of the surface; c, two parasites at a still later
stage, the right one turned so as to show the bud, now of considerable size;
d,a still later stage, with a short stem and bracts; e, a well-grown young par-
asite as it pushes through the ground at the surface, its long, fibrous roots not
yet attached to those of the host plant; f,a young plant which was grown in
packed soil, with seyeral lateral buds which would have produced branches.
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 257
Worms having cocoons attached to them, resembling
grains of rice, should not be killed, as these cocoons he-
long toa family of parasites called Microgaster congre-
gata, which destroy the horn worms in great numbers.
Catching the moths in traps, or poisoning the blos-
soms of petunia and Jamestown weeds with a sweetened
solution of cobalt (water one pint, molasses or honey
one-fourth pint, cobalt one ounce), diminishes the num--
ber of worms, but there will always be left enough to be
troublesome. A drove of turkeys kept in the tobacco
field will destroy a great number of the worms, but the
only safety is in going over the field at least once a
week, or oftener, picking off the worms and destroying
them. The worms usually stay on the underside of the
leaf ; if a hole is seen in the leaf, no matter how small, a
worm will usually be the cause of it. The work cannot
be done too carefully, for if one or two worms remain
on a plant, they will completely riddle it in a very short
time. If they are well cleaned out when they first ap-
pear, much time and labor would be saved.
Spraying tobacco with Paris green to destroy the
tobacco horn worm has engaged the special attention of
the Kentucky experiment station. The proportion used
was one pound green to 160 gallons of water. Plants
were thoroughly sprayed July 27 and August 3. There
were fewer worms on sprayed than on unsprayed plants.
As to the amount of arsenic, only one-third of one grain
of arsenious oxide per pound of tobacco was the largest
quantity recovered by careful chemical examination.
Only four per cent of the arsenic originally applied was
recovered. As two to three grains of arsenic are required
for a fatal dose for an adult man, the station officials see
no harm in making these sprayings during a dry season.
There are usually what farmers call two ‘‘showers”
of these worms, one coming about the last of June and
the other about the middle of August, or, rather, dur-
17 .
258 TOBACCO LEAF.
ing the light of the moon in August, at which time the
moth is most industrious in depositing its eggs on the
plants. The first influx is easily destroyed, for the
tobacco is then small and there are but few hiding
places for the worms, until the suckers begin to put
out. It is the second influx that is to be dreaded. The
large size of the tobacco leaves at this time, the presence
of the suckers and the disposition of the worms, as they
grow older, to shift their places, all makes it very diffi-
cult to rid the tobacco of this devouring and destructive
enemy late in the season.
3. OTHER TROUBLES WITH THE CROP.
Broom Rape.—In central Kentucky, there is a
parasitic flowering plant called broom rape, that at-
taches itself to the roots of hemp and tobacco and de-
rives its nutriment from that source. It is known to
botanists as Phelipewa ramosa, and grows to the hight
of about ten inches. As described by the botanist of
the Kentucky experiment station, ‘‘ The stems are thick,
whitish, fleshy, pubescent, generally branched and bear
small scale like bracts, in place of leaves, which, when
old, turn brown at the tips. The flowers are white with
a faint purplish tinge ; sometimes of a decidedly purple
color. They are borne in loose spikes in the axiles of
the bracts. The flowers are all perfect, and as many as
forty are produced on a single branch.” A_ section
through a young plant and the root to which it is at-
tached, shows that they are very closely united. ‘The
young broom rape pushes an elongated cell into the
root of the host plant, and soon spreads out into a
fibrous bundle, robbing the host plant of the nutritive
elements which it derives from the soil and atmosphere.
The result is an enfeeblement of the infested plants,
shown in retarded growth, weakness of the stems, and
reduced yield and quality of leaf,
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 259
When the land is badly infested with broom rape,
the director of the Kentucky station thinks that a rota-
tion with crops which are not attacked by it is the best
means of avoiding injury. The seeds of the broom rape
are very small, far smaller, indeed, than tobacco seeds,
and they seem to possess great vitality, remaining several
years in the ground without losing their power of
germination, which appears only to take place when
brought near the host plant. This parasite cannot be
removed by hand, for its roots are so intimately inter-
twined with the roots of the host plant, that one may
not be pulled up without pulling up the other. It is
said that an application of gas lime to the soil will some-
times prove successful in destroying the seed of the
noxious plants. The lime looses this property after
being exposed to the air for some time. The application
should be made to the land in the fall of the year, at the
rate of two tons per acre, and plowed, or harrowed, into
the ground. A stimulating manure applied to the land
will aid the hemp or tobacco plant in resisting the
onslaught of the broom rape. . The station does not
recommend stable manure, however, for this purpose.
Whatever renders the soil friable, stimulates the broom
rape to greater activity, when its host plant is present.
It does not push its way readily through a closely com-
pacted soil. The danger to tobacco on infested land is
greatly increased when the soil is loose and porous.
Rolling the land witha heavy roller is recommended
when the land is infested with the broom rape. This
should be done immediately before setting out the
tobacco plants.
Hail isa much dreaded enemy from which there is
no escape, as it is not practicable to cover a field so that
a hail storm would not cut the leaves. The best plan is
for growers to mutually insure against damage by hail
or wind, through a cooperative insurance company
TOBACCO LEAF.
‘ATIIANGAGUD LV sasnoHa
UVA LAMUVW ODOVEOL “EL
ara) tc |
PESTS OF TOBACCO. 261
organized for this special purpose. Such insurance is
usually cheap, and is limited to the actual loss incurred.
After a hail or wind storm, it is well to go through
the field and prop up all plants that have been beaten
down, removing the leaves that are most badly crt and
stained with earth. Make the most of a bad situation
and save all that can be saved.
Wind whipped tobacco is much injured. It can
only be insured against as just stated. But where
severe wind storms are common, a‘ hedge, or some tall
and close crop, to break the wind’s force, is advisable
next to the tobacco field.
Early Frost.—Since the perfect quality of the to-
bacco depends upon curing it at proper maturity, and
since such maturity may not be reached until danger of
frost, it is highly important to guard against this con-
tingency. Even the slightest frost will destroy the
intrinsic quality and market value of an otherwise per-
fect crop. The more valuable the crop and the greater
the risk of frost, the more effort and expense may be
safely put into means of protecting against frosts. A
famous California orange grove is equipped with a sys-
tem of iron pipes, through which water is conducted to
nozzles at frequent intervals, the idea being that the
spray will ward off light frosts. Barrels of tar and rub-
bish, in different parts of the orchard, are available for
making a smudge of smoke, which is the most practica-
ble means yet devised. In the case of a freeze, neither
of these methods is of much avail. Smoke is good
against all light frosts, and is easily obtained. Strawy
manure, leaves, rubbish, etc., should be piled in the
lowest places and about the sides, and covered with hay
caps, or ducking (previously painted with two coats of
linseed oil, and dried), so as to be always dry. Havea
barrel of kerosene oil handy, some cans, and torches.
When frost threatens, set a night watch to inspect
262 TOBACCO LEAF.
thermometers placed on stakes in various parts of the
field, especially in the most exposed places. If the mer-
cury drops to 35° by one or two in the morning, it is
likely to mean a frost of more or less severity before sun-
rise. Then call up the folks, light the torches, and let
each person take torch and oil can (previously filled)
and set fire to the row of rubbish heaps previously
assigned him, If the wind blows the smoke away from
the field, carry some rubbish over to that side, so the
smoke will be blown on to instead of off from the field.
If the danger never comes, no expense worth mention-
ing has been incurred, as the piles can be scattered and
plowed under for manure, or burned, the ashes making
excellent fertilizer. No prudent person thinks of leay-
ing his buildings uninsured against fire. Certainly it is
just as important to insure against frosts, so far as it
can be done, by such simple means as smoke coverings,
or water. Mr. E. P. Powell, a successful and brainy
horticulturist in western New York writes: ‘‘The very
best preventive against frost is not fires, but thorough
spraying with water during the evening and night.
When this can be done, we can overcome the danger
from a fall of two or three degrees. This will often
save our whole crop. This last spring J lost my grapes
by a margin of not more than two degrees, but on a pre-
ceding night anticipated the frost by deluging the
trellises with water.” The same plan will work equally
well on tobacco.
CHAPTER XII.
‘ON THE MARKETING OF TOBACCO.
In the cigar-leaf growing States there is not, as yet,
any organized system of marketing tobacco, such as has
been developed so admirably in the heavy leaf, Burley
and yellow districts of the South. Numerous attempts
have been made by cigar-leaf growers in the New Eng-
land and Middle States to organize cooperative exchanges
for the sale of their crops, but so far without success.
The method followed at present, and for years, is for the
planter to wait for the buyer to come to his farm.
Buyers usually inspect the crop very carefully while
it is growing, and under unusual conditions may even
contract for the growing crop. Such contracts are usu-
ally verbal, and are a frequent cause of dissatisfaction
‘and complaint. The buyer agrees to pay a certain price
for the crop delivered to him in good condition, but if
the market goes down before the leaf is delivered, he
will claim that it is not of the quality represented, and
he will not pay the stated price for it. On the other
hand, should the market advance, the buyer of a crop
contracted for in the fields will insist upon haying the
leaf delivered. If such contracts are made at all, they
should be in writing, with all the conditions plainly set
forth, so that there can be no mistake, and 10 per cent:
of the amount should be paid to bind the bargain. This
caution also applies to tobacco sold on the poles before
stripping.
The great bulk of the cigar leaf, however, is sold
after being stripped and put in the bundle. The buyer
263
264 TOBACCO LEAF,
comes to the farmer’s barns, inspects the crop, and a
price is agreed upon for the crop delivered at the buyer’s
local warehouse, or shipped to his headquarters. Some
farmers, however, when dissatisfied with offers made by
traveling or local buyers, case the crop themselves and
hold it for higher prices.
These buyers of the cigar-leaf crop may ke traveling
agents sent out by dealers in New York, Chicago, or
other cities, or they may be the representatives of cigar
manufacturers. Very often, too, some enterprising
planter and business man combines the assorting and
sale of his own crop with purchases of his neighbors’
crops. Buyers usually prefer to take the crop in the
geal
in
il
i il
ec iil
i) Hi: ii
I, hata li
FIG. 74. NORTH CAROLINA TOBACCO WAREHOUSE.
bundle and assort it themselves, to suit their special
trade.
It will be seen that, by this system, there is very
little competition for the crop on the part of buyers,
except in seasons of scarcity or excitement. The tobacco
grower is largely at the mercy of the buyer, especially as
many sales are kept secret because made on so-called
“private terms.” Indeed, it is quite difficult to accn-
rately report the price at which cigar-leaf growers sell
their crops, as buyers make every effort to keep the high
prices secret, while the grower is equally anxious not to
have it known if he has accepted a low price. The
whole system is mischievous, illogical, unjust, unbusi-
nesslike, expensive. It is apt to rob the farmer, it
MARKETING TOBACCO. 265
sometimes operates to the disadvantage of the buyer,
and at best, it maintains an unnecessary number of
middlemen.
If public warehouses for the sale of the crop, accord-
ing to the system so successful in the South, could be
provided at central points in the cigar-leaf sections, and
carefully regulated by law, that system could not fail to
revolutionize the old method, and greatly to the satis-
faction of all concerned. A large quantity of tobacco,
divided into established grades or descriptions, offered
at certain established dates, could not fail to attract
large numbers of buyers. Each crop would thus have
the benefit of competitive sales at auction, and would
thus get the best price the market affords. Such ware-
houses would also provide for sales other than by auc-
tion. It is singular that the North, usually so enter-
prising, should be so lacking in a businesslike method
for selling its tobacco crop, since the South has brought
the method to such a high state of perfection.
The Warehouse System.—By this system in the
South, warehouses are erected at a point that is the cen-
ter of a large tobacco-growing district. There is much
strife among towns to secure the location of tobacco
warehouses, because the large daily sales of leaf during
the season distribute immense sums of money to the
planters in the vicinity, and the town’s general business
is greatly benefited thereby. This warehouse system is
building up many towns in the South. Within the past
ten years, eight markets for the sale of tobacco have
been established in as many different towns in the ten
counties constituting the ‘‘uew golden belt” of North
Carolina. These towns contain 20 warehouses of spa-
cious size. They engage from 60 to 80 large prize
houses, ranging from 80 to 120 feet in length and 30 to
50 feet in width, three to four stories in hight, each
equipped with all the best methods of keeping and re-
TOBACCO LEAF,
266
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‘OOOVEOL AAVAEH WOUT
‘S€dVHHSDOH YO
V ILVNNIONIO ‘ONITTOS AONV ONIId
‘SUSVO HHL DONIddIULS
gL
“SIL
MARKETING TOBACCO. 267
prizing tobacco. Upon the floor of each of these ware-
houses may be seen daily from 15,000 to 50,000 pounds
of bright tobacco. Fig. 73 is from a photograph of the
warchouses in the section referred to, that are building
up the prosperous town of Greenville. In the older and
heavy shipping districts, the warehouse system has at-
tained still larger dimensions, involving great ware-
houses, tobacco boards of trade, banking facilities, and
all the appurtenances to a large commerce. Clarksville,
Tenn., is an example of a town being rapidly developed,
because it is a center for tobacco sales by the warehouse
method, while Danville, Va., has long had a national
reputation in this respect. Much of the vast commerce
of Cincinnati and Louisville is due to these cities being
great tobacco markets.
Selling ‘‘Loose” Tobacco.—In the heavy leaf dis-
tricts, large quantities of tobacco are sold ioose, the other
method very generally employed being that of selling
the leaf in hogsheads under inspection regulated by law.
Heavy shipping and manufacturing tobacco, when sold
loose, usually changes ownership after it has been exam-
ined by purchaser in growers’ barns, and price is usually
fixed according to weight, with the condition that the
amount of lugs must not exceed a certain agreed per-
centage. In other words, a fixed price is paid for the
good grades, and another set figure for the lugs. Ware-
houses for the sale of loose tobacco are now established
in Virginia and North Carolina, but no such provision
for sales is made in the Mississippi valley. The ware-
houses for the transfer of loose tobacco are quite differ-
ent in construction and arrangement from those where
prized tobacco is sold.
An important requisite, in the construction of a
warehouse for the sale of loose tobacco, is plenty of floor
space, and plenty of light from above and also from all
sides. Attached to one side of the warehouse is a cheaply
TOBACCO LEAF,
v=)
‘AVAT AAVAH AO
SHTIdAVS DNIMVUC YOLOAdSNI
MARKETING TOBACCO. 269
constructed shed, into which wagons with the loose to-
bacco are first driven. The floor of this shed is about three
feet lower than the floor of the warehouse. The tobacco
is taken from the wagon and placed in long piles on
trucks, with the heads outward and the tails in the cen-
ter. This loaded truck is then wheeled upon the plat-
form scales and weighed, after which it is taken to an
open floor space to which it is assigned, and the tobacco
skilfully dumped. A card bearing the warehouse num-
ber, weight of the pile and name of owner is fastened in
the cleft of a stick, which, in turn, is fixed in the top of
the pile of tobacco. As far as possible, the various
grades are kept separate. The tobacco is then ready
for the auction, and the owner, if bid prices are not sat-
isfactory, reserves the option of rejecting these, and may
subsequently sell privately or offer his tobacco at another
time at the same place publicly.
The charges for handling loose tcbacco in this char-
acter are not burdensome. That for weighing each pile
is 10 to 15 cents; the auction fee is at the rate of 10 to
15 cents per 100 pounds, and if the pile weighs more
than 100 pounds, a set figure of 25 cents. Finally, there
is a commission of two and one-half per cent on the
amount of sale, which goes to the warehouse. Immeii-
ately following the sale the tobacco is removed in large,
flat-bottom baskets, each holding 200 to 300 pounds.
Sales of Prized or Inspected Leaf.—Licensed ware-
houses for the sale of tobacco prized in hogsheads are
numerous throughout the heavy shipping and manufac-
turing districts, and are governed by certain wise restric-
tions under State laws. These are generally very rigid,
and properly require that everything shall be done by
the warehouseman to insure fair dealing between buyers
and sellers. It is the purpose of the law that these reg-
ulations will so cover every case as to make it unneces-
sary to carry disagreements to the courts, Provision is
TOBACCO LEAF.
270
‘ATANVS AD NOILONV LV
OO0VSOL GVAHSNOH ONITTAS
“LL ‘OIA
MARKETING TOBACCO. 271
made that no warehouseman, or any one of his employees,
is allowed to participate in the profits or losses from the
purchase or sale of any tobacco in the warehouse with
which he may be connected.
The inspectors of tobacco are either appointed by
some State authority, or elected by a tobacco board of
trade. - In Tennessee, the warehousemen are created
inspectors by law, but they may appoint inspectors, or
samplers, for whose acts the warehousemen are held
responsible, by the regulations of the tobacco board of
trade. These deputy inspectors are elected by the vote
of the warehousemen and buyers, who have an equal
voice in their selection. In cases where differences and
slaims arise, these are settled by an arbitration commit-
tee. The latter consists usually of three persons, who
are appointed by a committee of the board of trade, one
member of which is a warehouseman and another a
buyer, these two selecting a third to complete this com-
mittee. Provision is also made for a committee of ap-
peal, which has the power to confirm or reject the decis-
ion of the committee of arbitration. The warehouseman
is obliged to keep his house in good condition and re-
pair, the floors fitted with platforms, or skids, which
will elevate the hogsheads at least four inches.
Drawing Samples.—In order to secure fair average
samples from a cask of tobacco, the top head is first
taken out, the cask then turned bottom upward and
lifted from the closely packed tobacco, as illustrated in
Fig. 76, this leaving the entire contents of the cask in a
solid column exposed to view on all sides. The tobacco,
by means of an iron lever supported by an adjustable
fulcrum, is divided in at least four places. At each
‘*break” four or more bundles from different courses
are drawn by the inspector (Fig. 77), so as to get a fair
idea of the quality and condition of the leaf. These
bundles are tied in one sample, to which is affixed a tag,
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MARKETING TOBACCO, 277
thority by law to reject any bid offered, but in such
cases they are charged with the fees. A lien is usually
given on the tobacco for warehouse charges and fees.
Buyers may make reclamations on the inspectors,
when the tobacco in the hogshead is inferior to the sam-
ples by which itis sold. Each inspector, before enter-
ing upon his duties, is required to give bonds for the
faithful performance of his duties, and for prompt pay-
ment of all reclamations granted. Inspection fees range
at 40 cents to $1 per hogshead. At the larger centers
of the warehouse system the “breaks,” or sales, are at-
tended by buyers from all parts of Europe, and the
principal cities of America, interested in the export
trade, as shown in the illustration, Fig. 79. The
methods of conducting these sales are practically the
same at other markets, at Cincinnati and Louisville, as
may be seen from Figs. 80 and 81.
Ordinarily, there is keen competition for the better
grades of leaf. Sometimes there is a fancy demand for
the first of the new crop, or for some special mark, or
for some special purpose. An instance in point was the
public sale by Mr. 8. P. Carr, at the Richmond tobacco
exposition of 1888, of a fine hogshead of Kentucky
White Burley for the remarkable price of $4,555.90, or
at the rate of $3.10 per pound.
In the Yellow Tobacco Districts of North Carolina
and Virginia, the bundles of leaf after stripping are put
on sticks and hung in the barn until taken to market,
but much leaf goes to market directly from the strip-
ping room. Most growers, however, prefer to wait until
spring, when the tobacco is ordered and either packed in
wagon beds, and thus taken to market, or, what is re-
garded as much better, is packed in tierces (as in east
Tennessee) about four feet high, three feet in diameter
at the smaller head, and three feet two inches at the
larger. In such tierces the tobacco is packed loosely,
TOBACCO LEAF,
278
‘ydi1osapuou pue opeis WINTIpeU aouR[Rq ‘s1994n9 pue sdriy4s ystpsugq oor ques sad AVUOMY
‘ssnjd 1oJ stoddvim uous, autos ‘saqjoaesi0 1Oy saaqqno OP¥1s WNIPIUL PITYI-9u0 ynoge seam yvoaq 0998q0 04} ‘pazerisn{{t apes ot FW
“VNITOUVO HLYON NI ‘ATVS NOILOOV HO « MVGUd,, OOOVEOL MOTTAA ‘TQ ‘O1a
MARKETING TOBACCO. 279
and cazried to market. The weight of such a tierce,
packed, is about 250 pounds. Larger tierces are used in
Virginia and North Carolina, which hold from 400 to
600 pounds of loosely packed tobacco.
The day it is offered for sale, the larger head is
taken out and the tierce inverted. The tobacco slips
out and stands without support on the floor of the ware-
house. If two different grades are put in the same
tierce, some strips of paper are laid between them.
Each grade is placed in a separate pile on the floor of
the warehouse, with a card showing the owner, weight,
warehouse, number, etc. The leaf is sold according to
the farmer’s grades, and just as he directs. The prin-
cipal markets, however, prefer to have the leaf carefully
assorted in grades of a specified character, established
by the rules of the board of trade, No receipt is given
a farmer if he comes in a wagon and delivers his to-
bacco, attending to the sale himself. But if shipped in
hogsheads, tierces, or open crates, by freight, the farmer
sends to the warehouse his bill of lading. The ware-
house then pays the freight, deducting it from his
sales account.
On auction days, these warehouses are filled with a
crowd of buyers and curiosity seekers. The auctioneer
stands on a box set on wheels, which admits of its being
easily moved from pile to pile. At each one he solicits
bids; that is, you are told, if you are a stranger, that he
is doing so. At all events, he is using his tongue, his
hands, and his body to the best advantage. His jargon
is unintelligible to all but the initiated. Meanwhile,
the buyers are pulling the piles apart, and examining
the character of the tobacco, as the bids are made and
cried by the auctioneer. As fast as a pile is sold, a
clerk takes down the price and puts upon the card the
name of the buyer. The bired employees of each buyer
take up the piles as they are sold, in large, square bas-
280 TOBACCO LEAF.
kets, four feet long and wide and six inches deep, and
carry them away. Everything is cleaned up at once, so
as to leave the floor space empty for the next sale. All
is activity and motion, some 150 piles being sold in an
hour. The same thing is repeated, until the contents
of the warehouse have all been disposed of at auction, to
FIG. 82. WEIGHING TOBACCO HOGSHEADS PREVIOUS TO SAMPLING.
the highest bidder. The engraving in Fig. 82 is from a
photograph of a typical scene at a sale of yellow tobacco.
Five hundred sales in a warehouse in a morning is
not an uncommon occurrence. Generally, the first sale
is followed by other sales at other warehouses, the crowd
going from one to the other. Latterly, the system has
been adopted of letting the owner withdraw his tobacco
after the sale, if the price does not suit him. This is
done to prevent effective combines between the buyers,
or to beat the trusts. A certain hour is fixed at which
MARKETING TOBACCO. 281
the bids must be cashed. Failure to comply with this
rule puts the buyer on the black list, and his purchas-
ing ability is at anend. The farmer goes to the office
in the building, gets his money, less the handling and
selling commission, and goes where he pleases.
The piles rest on warehouse baskets made for the
purpose, and are circular in shape and pyramidal in
form, the hands being laid in a circle and in layers, the
butts out. These piles vary in size from a few pounds
to hundreds. After the sale is over, the floor is cleaned,
and the work of filling it for the next sale begins. Im-
mediately after the sale, bills are made out by clerks and
an account of the sale given, or sent, to the owner, gen-
erally the same day. The buyers at these sales are both
manufacturers and speculators. The manufacturers
prefer to get their stock direct from planters’ hands.
It is then not bruised or broken by handling, and is not
stuck together when prizing in the hogsheads. The
warehouse sales are fair and open, where the farmer gets
cash and where the article is always sold to the highest
bidder. 'The warehouse charges are as follows, with two
per cent commission additional: One to 50 pounds, 20
cents ; 50 to 100 pounds, 25 cents; 100 to 200 pounds,
50 cents; 200 to 300 pounds, 75 cents; 300 to 600
pounds, $1; 600 to 1000 pounds, $1.50, and 1000
pounds and upward, $2. These sale warehouses are
well lighted from the roof, so that the colors of the to-
bacco may be easily seen. The proprietor of the ware-
house receives a commission on each sale for the use of
his warehouse, and codperative warehouses are also
feasible.
The Export Trade.-—Numerous concerns, individ-
ual or corporate, are engaged in buying and shipping
yellow tobacco, for both the home and foreign trade.
After buying it, the hogsheads are replaced on the
tobacco and it is conveyed to the dealers’ warehouse,
282 TOBACCO LEAF.
from which it is shipped to domestic manufacturers as
ordered, or exported to tobacco factors in foreign coun-
tries. When resold in the dealers’ warehouse, it may be
again inspected and is always reweighed, as shown in
Fig. 82. Some dealers take pride in carrying a large
and varied stock, so as to be able to supply an order for
FIG. 83.
VIEW OF TOBACCO IN STORAGE READY FOR SHIPMENT TO ANY
PART OF THE WORLD.
This engraving, and Fig. 82, from photographs of the extensive establishment of
S. P. Carr & Co at Richmond.
any quality or quantity of leaf. Fig. 81 affords a glimpse
at the interior of such a dealer’s storage house for
tobacco.
Stemmeries and Strips.—Strips are made by remoy-
ing the midrib from the leaf. They are then tied up in
large bundles and hung in the drying room, completely
MARKETING TOBACCO. 283
dried out, and then re-ordered. They are rarely taken
down from the racks before the last of May or the first
of June, when no mistake can be made as to the amount
of moisture they contain. They should be in a dry con-
dition, barely pliable enough to prevent injury in
handling and prizing. When in this condition, they
are put in bulks and afterwards packed and prized in
casks, 1200 to 1300 pounds in each. Before packing,
the bundles are untied and the strips laid in regular
layers in the hogshead and pressure from screws brought
to bear upon them.
The work in stemmeries goes on from November,
when the new tobacco begins to come into market, until
June, and consists of stemming and ordering the stock.
For the remainder of the season, tle employees are kept
busy in putting the tobacco in bulk and prizing in casks
for the English market.
The method pursued in recent years in ordering
strips is much more effectual and safe. The strips are
either hung up in a drying house or put in broad, flat
trays made of laths, and exposed to a drying heat of
160° for eight to ten hours. When the tobacco is thor-
oughly dry, the windows of the drying room are opened
and the tobacco cools off. The windows are then closed
and steam is turned into the room through pipes that
are perforated, which soon puts the tobacco into a con-
dition to be handled without breaking. It is then
taken down and ‘‘cooped,” or shingled, on the floor,
but the sticks are not withdrawn. Enough of one grade
is put inacoop to fill a tierce, or hogshead. After
remaining in the coops a day or two, it is made ready
for packing in the cask by putting a few sticks at a
time filled with tobacco in a steam box, where it
remains for a minute or two, and is then packed
without delay, after untying the bundles and straighten-
ing the tobacco.
284 TOBACCO LEAF.
In making strips, the loss of weight by drying is
from eight to 12 per cent; by removal of midrib, or
FIG. 84. STREET SCENE IN THE LOUISVILLE (KY.) TOBACCO MARKET.
stem, 20 to 25 per cent; by waste, five per cent, mak-
ing a total loss of from 33 to 42 per cent.
The making of strips employs a great number of
MARKETING TOBACCO. 285
persons, mostly those of a dependent class, such as
women and children. They are paid from 25 cents to
40 cents per hundred pounds of strips made. 22 | 8.3} 3.0] 11,401
Sia ess. st =| 347. (85 | 35 | 13.0] 3.4] 16,531
1867 | 47.6} 106] 378) 484/59 @ 34 | 16.0] 3.6] 19,765
1868 | 46.7) —| 590) 590) ou> 34 | 15.6] 2.9] 18,730
1869 | 64.3) 991 2} 993/92 97 | 17.3) 4.9] 23,431
1870 | 90.2] 1,139} 14) 1,153;/ae$ -| 27 | 24.3) 5.7] 31,351
1871 | 95.1] 1,314, 19] 1,383/28-5.8 | 27 | 25.5) 6.5] 33,579
1872 | 95.2/ 1,507, 21) 1,528; a S|] 26 | 24.5] 7.5] 33,736
1873 | 114.7) 1,780] 27) 1,807 |S SZ] 20 | 23.3] 8.9) 34,386
1874 | 107.7| 1,858] 29) 1,887] 2535] 20 | 21.9) 9.3) 33,243
1875 | 119.4] 1,927} 41) 1,968/5°-3° | 21 | 25.2) 10.2} 37,303
1876 | 110.3] 1,829] 77| 1,906)/2sm°] 24 | 26.7) 11.1) 39,795
1877 | 116.1] 1,800] 149] 1,949]2 232 | 24 | 28.1) 11.0) 41,107
1878 | 108.8] 1,905] 165) 2,070) 5&5] 24 | 26.3) 11.7| 40,092
1879 | 120.3| 2,019] 238] 2,257;|%@ S45] 21 | 25.6) 12.5) 40,135
1880 | 136.2] 2,368] 409) 2,777 61.2| 16 | 21.8) 14.9] 38,870
1881 | 147.0] 2,683} 567] 3,250 66.4] 16 | 23.5] 17.0] 42,855
1882 | 161.3) 3,041) 556) 3,597 73.6] 16 | 25.8) 19.2] 47,392
1883 | 170.3] 3,228) 640) 3,868 77.2| 13 | 22.8) 17.8) 42,104
1884 | 174.1] 3,456] 908] 4,364 79.4| 8 | 13.9] 10.8] 26,062
1885 | 180.7] 3,359) 1,05°\ 3,417 76.7| 8 | 14.4] 10.6] 26,407) 7,356/33,763
1886 | 191.5] 3,511) 1,311| 4,822 84.9] 8 | 15.3] 11.1) 27,907] 8,311/36,219
1887 | 206.4) 3,788] 1,584) 5,372 82.9] 8 | 16.5] 12.1) 30,108) 9,128/39,235
1888 | 209.3] 3,845] 1,863] 5,708 83.5] 8 | 16.7] 12.4] 30,662] 9,735/40,398
1889 | 221.5) 3,867] 2,152] 6,019 83.5| 8 | 17.7] 12.6] 31,867/11,195/43,061
1890 | 238.2] 4,088] 2,233] 6,321 91.7| 8 | 19.0] 13.3] 33,959)13,318|47,276
1891 | 253.8] 4,475] 2,685| 7,160 94.5| 7 | 17.8} 14.7| 32,796|16,172/48,969
1892 | 265.1) 4,549] 2.893] 7,442] 100.8] 6 | 15.9) 15.0| 31,000/10,265|41,266
1893 | 264.3] 4,814] 3,177] 7,991 96.9| 6 | 15.9| 16.0) 31,890)14,832|46,722
1894 | 247.1] 4,067] 3,183] 7,250 89.9] 6 | 14.8] 13.7] 28,618]13,669|42,286
1895 | 259.1) 4,164] 3,328] 7,492] *90.4] 6 | 15.6) 14.1) 29,705
Total!4,725.6|82,369 30,417!108,536 | +1,322.3 113 av'618,9!349.2' 998,479 |
+ Total for 16 years. *Partly estimated.
494 TOBACCO LEAF.
The United States internal revenue tax for the two years ended June
30, 1864, was $1.50 per thousand on cigars valued at not over $5 per M,
increasing to $3.50 om eigars valued at $20, an average of $2.37 per M
on eigars of all descriptions. After June 30, 1864, the tax was in-
ereased, for war purposes, to $3 per M, on cheroots and cigars valued
at not over $5 per M; valued at over $5 and not over $15 per M, $8;
valued at $15 to $30, $15 per M ; valued at $30 to $45, $25 per M. Cigar-
ettes valued at not over $6 per 100 packages of 25 each, $1 per 100 pack-
ages; valued above that sum, $3; cigarettes made wholly of tobacco,
$3 per M. By the act of March: 3, 1865, cigars, cheroots and cigarettes
made wholly of tobacco, or any substitute therefor, were taxed $10
per M, and cigarettes, valued at not over $5 per 100 packages of 25
each, were taxed 5 cents per package, and if valued above that, 5 per
cent. These war taxes were reduced by the act of July 13, 1866, and
March 2, 1867, and again July 20, 1868. Under the latter act, cigars and
cheroots of all descriptions were taxed $5 per M; cigarettes weighing
not over 3 pounds per M, were taxed $1.50, and heavier than that, $5.
These rates prevailed until March 3, 1875, when cigars and cheroots
were taxed $6 per M and cigarettes $1.75. These rates were again re-
duced March: 3, 1883, to $3 per M for cigars and cheroots of all deserip-
tions and 50 cents for cigarettes weighing not over 3 pounds per M.
These latter rates are still in effect.
The tariff on tobacco imported into the United States on leaf, or man-
ufactured, was 6 cents per pound and on snuff 10 cents per pound
from 1789 to 1794, when it was advanced to 10 and 12 cents respec-
tively, and remained there until 1846, except that it was 20 and 24 cents
from 1812 to 1816. [In 1846, a tariff of 30 per cent ad valorem was im-
posed on leaf tobacco, which was made 24 per cent in ’57 and 25 per
cent in 761, but in ’62 was raised to 25 cents per pound, and in 1866 to
35 cents per pound, continuing at that rate until 1874, when it was
made 30 per cent ad valorem. From 1866 to 1883, the duty on snuff and
manufactured tobacco was 50 cents per pound. The import duty on
cigars and cheroots was $2.50 per thousand until 1842, when the rate
was fixed at 40 cents per pound, which was changed to 40 per cent ad
valorem in 1846 and 30 per cent in ’57, but in 1866-7 was $3 per pound
and 50 per cent ad valorem. This was changed to $2.50 per pound, and
25 per cent ad valorem, in 1868, and continued at that figure until 1883.
The United States tariff of 1883 imposed a duty on cigar wrappers
of 75 cents per pound, if unstemmed, and $1, if stemmed. Other to-
bacco in leaf 35 cents per pound, stems 15 cents per pound, snuff or
manufactured tobacco 50 cents, cigars, cheroots and cigarettes $2.50 per
pound and 25 per cent ad valorem. These rates were greatly changed
by the McKinley act of 1890, which imposed a duty of $2 per pound on
cigar wrappers if not stemmed, and $2.75 if stemmed. Other leaf to-
bacco 35 cents unstemmed and 50 cents stemmed; snuff, etc., 50 cents
per pound; other manufactured tobacco 40 cents per pound; cigars,
cigarettes and cheroots $4.50 per pound, and 25 per cent ad valorem.
Under the Wilson tariff of August 28, 1894, the rate on wrapper leaf was
reduced to $1.50 per pound, or $2.25 if stemmed, on filler leaf 35 cents
per pound and 50 cents if stemmed, other leaf 40 c2nts, cigars, cigar-
ettes and cheroots $4 per pound and 25 per cent ad valorem, snuff 50
cents, all other manufactured tobaceo 40 cents per pound. The high
duty on wrapper leaf, in the act of 1883, was evaded by the loose con-
struction of the law; the act of ’92 was ironclad in this respect, and
the act of 1894 was very specific, and stood the test of the highest
courts. The Dingley tariff of 1897 increases the duty on wrappers,
and possibly on fillers, but makes no other changes in rates.
Besides these duties, imported tobacco has to pay the same inter-
Hal Zev enHe taxes that are imposed upon domestic tobaccos of like
grade.
Books on Tobacco Culture.
The student is referred to the wonderfully complete Bibliotheca
Nicotiana, compiled by William F. R. Bragge, published at Birming-
ham, England, in 1880.
United States reports from the internal revenue and agricultural
departments contain much on this subject. The Department of
State’s consular reports, especially since 1880, give many reports on
tobacco in other lands. Several of the State agricultural experiment
stations have printed bulletins on the subject.
References to works on tobacco, [dates of whose publication are
lacking: Kissling, Tabakkunde; Bere, Le Tabak; Nessler, Der Tabak,
seine Bestandtheile und seine Behandlung; Hofmann, Die Cultur des
Tabakes in Oesterreich; Nessler, Landwirthschaftliche Versuchsta-
tionen ; Kraift, Lehrbuch der Landwirthschaft; Blomeyer, Die Culture
der landwirthischaftlichen Nutzpflanzen.
A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS ON TOBACCO.
Neavaer, J. Tabacologia. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1622
Stella, B. 1 Tabacco. Rome, 1669
Winther, P. Tobaks-plantning. Kjoebenhavn, 1773
Carver, J. Culture of the Tobacco-plant. London, 1779
Villeneuve. Culture, Fabrication et Vente du Tabac. Paris, 1791
Tatham, W. Culture and Commerce of Tobacco. London, 1800
Becker, Jens Fr. Kort anyiisning, til tabaks-plantning. Viborg, 1809
Normann, J. E. Tobaksplantens, dyrkningi Norge. Christiania, 1811
Canja, A.J. Tobacco. Habana, 1812
Truchet, M. de. Culture du Tababae en France. Paris, 1816
Watterson, Geo. A memoir on the history, culture, uses, etc., of
the tobacco plant. Washington, 1817
Flor, M.R. Om Tobakavl. Christiania, 1817
Hermbstadt. Griindliche Anweisung zur Cultur der Tabakpflan-
zen. Berlin, 1822
Brodigan, T. Art of Growing and Curing Tobacco in the British
Isles. London, 1830
Jennings, J. Practical Treatise on Tobacco. London, 1830
Meller, H. J. Nicotiana. London, 1832
France. Rapport sur la fabrication et la rente, exclusives du
tabaec. Paris, 1833
Antz, K.C. Tabachi historia. Berolini, 1836
Demersay, L. A. Du Tabac du Paraguay. Paris, 1851
Babo, August., Baron Von and F. Hoffacker. Der Tobak und sein
Anbau. 1852
Demoor, V. P.G. Culture du Tabac. Luxembourg, 1853
Tiedemann, F. Geschichte des Tabaks. Frankfurt, 1854
Steinmetz, A. Tobacco. London, 1857
Fermond, C. Monographie du Tabac. Paris, 1857
Fairholt, Ered W. Tobacco. London, 1859
Cooke, M.C. The Seven Sisters of Sleep. London, 1860
L’Ange, H. Raibaud. Du Tabac en Provence. Paris, 1860
495
496 — TOBACCO LEAF.
Cooke, John H. Tobacco. Richmond,
Févre, J.L.P. Le Tabac. Paris,
Guys, C. E. Culture of Latakia Tobacco. Technologist. London,
Maling. Tobacco Trade and Cultivation of the district of Cavalla,
Technologist. London,
Saxton, Chas. W. Handbook of Tobacco Culture. New York,
Coin, R. de. History and Cultivation of Cotton and Tobacco.
London,
Holzschuher. Der Tabakbau. Gotha,
Henreick, B. A. Du Tabac. Paris,
Courbeyre, A. Imbert. Lecons sur le Tabac. Clermont-Ferrand,
Johnson, $8. W. Tobacco.—Report of Chemist to the Connecticut
State Board of Agriculture.
Billings, E.R. Tobacco. Hartford, Ct.,
Bec, A.de. Culture du Tabacen France. Aix,
Allart, F. A. Culture du Tabac. Abbeville,
Creighton, B. T. Culture of tobaceo in Ohio. Pharmaceutical
Journal. London,
Décobert, D. Culture du Tabac. Lille,
Hofacker und Babo. Der Tabakbau. Berlin,
Nouvel, A. Le Tabac. Brive,
Nouvel, A. Notes sur la Culture des Tabacs. Paris,
Dunning, John. Tobacco. London,
Burton, R. E. Cultivation of Tobacco. Sugar Cane. Manchester,
Gilmore, E. H. History of Tobaceo. Washington,
Vicente G. L’Industria del Tobacco. Annali di Agricoltura.
ome,
Schiffmayer, K. Tobacco and its Culture. Report of Agricultu-
ral Department, Madras Presidency. Madras,
Alfonso, F. Tabacehi della Sicilia. Palermo,
Anderegg, F. Tabakbau in der Schweiz. Chur,
Comes, O. Tobacco in Italia. L’agricolt. meridionale. Portici,
Cameron, J.D. A sketch of the Tobacco Interests in North Car-
olina. Oxford,
Van Gorkom, K. W. De Oost-Indische Cultures. Amsterdam,
Zimmermann, J. H. Tabaksbaubiuchlein. Aarau,
Killebrew, J. B. Report on the Culture and Curing of Tobacco,
U.S. Census. Washington,
Clark, J. Composition of Tobacco. Journal Soc. Chem. Industry.
Manchester,
Meyer, F. H. Havana cigars. Philadelphia,
Taylor, Philip M. Tobacco. London,
Lock, Chas. G. W. Tobacco. London,
Beale, Edw. J. English Tobacco Culture. London,
MacDonald, A. Le Tabac dans les Etats-Unis. Paris,
Popovici, M. Tutunul. Bucharest,
1860
1863
1863
1863
1863
1864
1864
1866
1866
1873
1875
1875
1876
1876
1876
1876
1876
1876
1876
1877
1878
1879
1879
1880
1880
1881
1881
1881
1881
1883
1884
1885
1886
1886
1887
1889
1896
LIST. OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PIAL OSS OV Bein iclcce + aicieit.s ocsye siers.e xiii
Assorting heavy SHIPDInS- WApatie 450
Balloon frame barn............. 198
Barn for White Burley.......... 180
RSPR RING ias)- wly= chains 2 cise eiorejes 30 176
Basement Snow barn........... 188
Basket for plants 151-357
Box shop and Botng office .. 470
Bud worm. - h 225
Bush for burni ing j Sem LOD
Carotte of Perique tobacco 375
(CHT Rs Sit! 62s So CAO ee ne viil
Carrying tobacco to market.... 319
Misa TNett MARIN: cccech <6. Feo ens 186
NOC RMB ENVIS Btieicicic Fever seen sibies vii
CEES NEC 8 Clea eee ee vii
Connecticut broadleaf. ...19, 93, 400
Cross section cigar bar he 187
Curing barn for yellow tobacco 182
Cupins Beniques. 22.02.6500... 372
Cutting heavy tobacco......... 298
Development broom rape...... 256
Dittenderxrter, FOR. ....-2..... Beaten b.<
MDMA CUWASU cn J cle wcc eee sss cess 3638
Elevation Snow barn........... 189
End of framed barn.....<....... 174
iD) CPL TE 0 eA Reena eee 178
Factory for manufacturing .... 452
Field destroyed by horn worms 239
Field heavy leaf ready to hang 300
Field ready for transplanting. 162
Five-tier, five-room barn....... 185
Five-tier, six-room barn ....... 184
Flues in yellow tobacco barn.. 185
MUOUGMVUILEIA 220)... ese ces xii
LMR Gs] Sine Hee Se ore xii
CUNT UME OL se EL ccc cere «2's «oie ix
German. Roo og ory Als
Greenville warehouse .......... 260
Ground plan framed barn.!.... 175
Growing Cuban tobaceco........ 442
Hanger tor leaves ..........4 193, 360
Hanging unwilted tobacco. .... 420
Tailor. 2 arene, © 0
Harvesting Havana............. 416
Harvesting Sumatran.......... 436
Harvesting yellow...........2.. 367
Hauling White Burley to barn. 341
Havana seedleaf.. ....28, 32, 378, 416
..56, 60, 292
Heavy shipping. .
Heavy shipping tobacco on
rei llmeatiatts cos seas. hae «ane 303
Heavy tobacco for shipment.. . 316
OCIS MACHINE .. 0.2.0. cc la 413
Hooksjon:lathy hc. eee 361
Horizontal ventilators.......... 217
Inspecting and sampling ...... 276
Inspector drawing samples
héanyileatsi css. 5 keene 268
Interior Snow barn ............. 190
Irrigating tobacco .............. 107
Kentueky barns, ...-5.s..505 170, 171
Killebrew, coibeses 4 acer ii
Leat attacked Dye NORM) cel sce 253
Leaf injured by red- legged
grasshoppers. ..... ane 229
Leaf room in plug factory. errr 45
ikeySiZECWOrMmincseser cee ee 250
OSD ARIE seen corel. eer eetole eae 172
Making SHUT eecr ee eee 12
Making spun roll tobaceco...... 11
Mason, DNOMmaS ic 7s eee xi
Method of fixing cloth ......... 132
Modern framed barn for heavy
MOA LD rc wetientwyereyie cise eerie 173
Moodie, FB aa ecen cebu oeeee viii
Moths of cutworms.. 220
Mound builders’ pipes.. 10
Movable frame for plant ‘bed. - 120
Myrick; Herberti 25 -aceceeienis ii
North Carolina warehouse..... 264
OMee IMeLACtOLY.. =. eee ae ae 480
Onondaga tobacco barn........ 191
Packing room in factory . ..470, 476
Packing the hands...:5..... 2.0. 311
Patent ventilated Wisconsin
Jorhat aan ACA MEH ean antic ues bc 194
Pennsylvania barn: 2... 20-226. 192
Pennsylvania leaf in barn..... 426
Pennsylvania seed bed......... 121
Pipes, American Indians’...... 8
Plant bed to shed water........ 115
Plant bed frame with cloth
COM ON a aiaca stepe tte area aaee salman ies 119
Pole with hands of leaves on
either sides .nem.-- 5
Poquonock experimental field 393
Prehistoric pipe.........
PMA CTOLY cs onciesw coma teeta 462
Pressing cigar leaf into case... 429
Press room in plug TeCtOry pindoe 460
Pryor, Silky.. siaaiers 64, 68
Bi sychrometer. Srigtios (are aatemamtice 211
Removing cloth cover from bed 148
Sale of shipping tobacco....... 272
Sandersonis Wa Warccs ossclesec ce Xiv
Serew press for prizing......... 308
Sectional plan Wisconsin barn 196
498 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Sectional view cigar barn...... 187
Selling hogshead tobacco at
auction by sample............ 270
Setting plants by hand......... 157
Setting plants in Tennessee.... 154
Side elevation German barn... 200
Side view German frame....... 199
Sims; yO eroks oe ae ees xi
Spearing tobacco onto lath .... 423
Stamping room in factory...... 478
Stoves and flues for curing
BGEGICAES. ences cla heck Sestenieet 214
Street scene in Louisville mar-
KOU SrctecieP agen s eke kt Gaye | aekie 284
Stringing Sumatran seedleat.. 489
Stripping casks for inspection
AUICHICIMIAUE 3. he ew cles acne 266
Sucker, heavy shipping........ 296
Sumatran seedleaf.......... 36, 434
Sweated wrapper............... 386
RAPPAD,) WaLlACSs once assistive s x
Tobacco drinker’ .3535.-.0 lec. 7
Tobacco field in old Virginia... 328
Tobacco in storage..........-... 282
Wopacco miner oe. cesses eee 237
Tobacco sale at Clarksville ..:. 274
Tobacconist’s shop, 1600........ 6
Tobacco smoked through tube. 4
Tobacco worm of the North.... 242
Tobacco worm of the South... 244
Topping heavy shipping leaf .. 294
Transplanting machine........ 160
Transplanting tobacco in olden
GUNN EES geseles ot «nines ecole agate entero 14
Traveling cutworm ............ 223
Tree Cricket.3.ce hoe emanate 227
Typical negro helper........... 324
Vertical section Wisconsin
UTED oS coy cfspu wince aratela olotar sree stale 95
Wareltia Apay Oeics ccesegesenes 446
Wagon for hauling......:....... 306
Watering set plants............. 165
Weighing hogsheads ........... 280
Well braced frame......:...5.0. 177
White Burley...40, 44, 48, 52, 346, 349
White Burley hung in barn.... 349
White Burley hung in field .... 334
White Burley on seaffold....... 338
Wamiberly.(Geo wit. -ccme-aeee Xx
Wooden frame for plant bed... 117
Wrapper room in plug factory. 456
ee
INDEX.
POMREMSESI aoe hiacccdsce de cccs cess
Chemical, of plants........... 485
Cottonhull ash ................ 139
Cottonseed meal.............. 125
Manures and fertilizers em-
[OLG REC | SSS BG. c aco nn DeOSe pods 112
(2G acs 22 dc SUAS OO RER aT InSEaods 485
Sialste Gan ecice GSD On ae OIaDeaeS 336
Yellow tobacco soils.......... 359
PAIULEES OE Wah @ric sevice c's s nice. oe 213
PRMELCU EOS Seta stele ices ye ais «6's xiii, 401
Area devoted to tobacco .......
Heavy shipping. .....-........ 291
In United States .............. 17
TEL SEIG (U2) G6, oO DU EDO COD BERROBEE 76
NVIAUGRBUTIGN\ ase cc. os enc). ce ee 333
PVE MLO eriiedaicrtcjenesccecees 12
PRISER EV Eten lalere ie nial cisia's/ein isa. 2 ieee
Ong: WEEN Se oppacric ones eISEDEDAne 430
UGAYRLE Mi Batee isccisicie cesses 318, 450
White Burley..... scdgbecmoeue 347
BPS Gavin rete cat ataisy cyan or ess viele - 0.0 aie's:e 367
LATS UGLY, Lech Se Bee epee eeORpOr geen 206
Bacteria and tobacco...........
Curing and manufacture. ...91-104
In sweating tobacco.......... 103
TIO Eo. Be sl ee 91
JOS 1a) (Or pene Seoe 95
Office in fermentation........ 99
Reproduction of............. 92
Special cultures............... 102
MEaAshHTerMeNtS,...5..-.-.....- 91
ISH DMS! 3 chcncbdyGkeOdU One oDenaee
Arrangement flues............ 194
Prep OO TMED ARIE 0. oo. ceiciziee wie o's 207
Best localities for building... 188
Capacity square............... 193
Cigarilcabene cc css. ss: 186, 187, 201
Clarksville district heavy
IGBTs Agee SORE eeee 173-175
EPICA Meet I occ e ales c<, 2 c.ciapcicini 206
Flues for curing yellow ...... 185
PREC UIVAR ettctetsietcte ie sie.c lees. ersices 176-178
Framed in South ............. 185
Mores TEMA pele ratte ' cea 110
Poquonock experiment. ...83, es
Results by Nessler............
SCIIGGSING@ ee anette eterna 33
Cameron and Cameron,........ De
Carpentier B.' Gefen cee ewe X, 486
CavTry MUMLATU wi tacle ale ajenice staecteniet xii
Carr SH Pe tran tees viii, xX, 277
Chapman, Mirtecien eee cern 207
Clearettes ess. macs ccm oes
Methoa of manufacture cents 465,
Number made per day........ 466
Production in United States. 465
TODACCOMORe ns: ccs ost aeeee 465
Cigar leate. ine eet ectecee
Ability of United States to
produce its own............. 381
Amount paid for imported... 381
ASSOXbING Stas cece le cieae 72, 430
BinGers hice. cece tates son cea 73
Biryine leafiassecisoccast cists 72
Casing or boxing...... ....... 431
COlOTS Rasiece denice cis ssineleisaets 73
Cost of producing........,..5.: 385
Cultivation (see Chap. on Cul-
LDIN(S) pe ebtdcau or donne e ance
Culture at South and West... 385
Distribution of crop.......... 389
Millers sts csanakeacise ec aetine 73
General considerations....... 379
Gunimpleaties crate teleecevs cess 75
Hanging. ...-----..+seeeeeeeee 424
UN VES TIO ot tscleic cles sfelclasiesie.s 421
Hawaiian Islands............. 381
Importance of attention to
Geta aes eries seeeemeeeae 389
IMGRIGAMIS) ca aeteys decane alas ates 381
Pennsylvania experience .... 408
Preparation of soil............ 409
Prices for..:.... Beare neces -- 387
500 INDEX.
Legh ¥edosnnodoodausondon aaa dic 415 Plant in flower.........:...... 23
(Qype n bin nddo oc adenodocds 385, 387, 395 Topped Plante «jo ntenceineseener 19
Cigar leaf at the West and South Connor, HiGies: sec. eee xii
Calforniaice.s vcs se os eeeeaee 435 | Constituents of leaf ............
(Ofoy Kay ves (RS ponama gaan dea so a 435 Ash or mineral s.)..<. s..siee9 82, 89
Fermentation house in Fla... 443 Hiechiot .7e.cckestiecck eee 82
Fertilizers used in Florida... 444 Howsto supply «... 0s. ..an sear 84
WOTIGA SOM ee cnt lesen) heey 446 IMAP R CSI. 2502.00 ee ene 397
TO Voraks ERA aed sosadop oo no OsdeanS 435 INI@ OIG TC. jem estes eee 79, 291, 295
CGR on asi gansoeacebon sbnedone 435 INIGTOREIIG, © ecizcistes eerie 89, 101
Harvesting in Florida........ 448 STALIN c sfoin viejsin ciciele cima ep reeenernte 81
INGIEAS Kal uses recteteG Geran ari dies 433 SUQAMN: «is:. << ciesislercioin ogi Cemeheee 81
Planting in Florida........... 44 WiOOOW TDD. «.tcc-jse ieee al
Quantity fertilizer applied .: 392 | Consumption.................s00
ispholey ou beVes Besa on ae Se SOs Shanes 418 European countries........... 16
Rotation of crops............. 407 FNP AN COs. 4k ie ciele chs viseresis capac 16
ies Bes SEA aoeo mobs Sshneone oe 405 ICT OAS eremteiaiasicriate steric 16, 26
Special fertilization.......... 391 Per Capita ..ccccccuessm epee 16
Status of industry ............ 379 United States 16, 492
sili oy ovo) Saheniaeaso ao geisanorqenes 425 | Commercial distinctions. ...... 46
SUCHKENING fe saree pac artis bi ckaeyeiels 418 || Guiltumes........ce-8 soccunne eee
SW GAUUTINONs acciuieicinseinierys mete RE ase 431 Cigar leaf tobacco......... 404, 432
ROA S a racareibininels siete se erelnisi ss S155/6 435 Cross fertilization ............ 31
ATIGULOS S etcimispintelth bis: picisiaipig. os 71, 409 Keentuehkiysr na: sch lates sane 7
WaSDim Stone: 472 Préparakhion: Of SOilss, nese 409
Handmade Cigars. ............ 471 IPVPMAN Pi. cieleseunee ee eee eee 417
INTO TIN OD en corsleyats el evetole ty istersiora'e 468 Rotation of Crops . 22.2 22-1 case 407
PACKING) stirs ssa ease cei ects 473 SOUlSigssu:c. located hae eee 404
Preparing for work........... 471 TOPPING 2. swecie ewes wee tenes 417
PRG OC APIOMS 270 cima rceielelew winisisie ere 467 Wari tIGS 5. cn ceseias cies eet 409
EDU DUN ee rericieneeeeienieepste cig 469 i UTI sao aieiere ie ace atoms leenre rs a ice
WiASTC) DEOMI se pienc esis oisinresiarts 474 7 Nag ab ikoe) PARA paed Soest. 226
Olaris, MoO WISE sic s seis). 6:e)sje15< vii, Xi ASSOLUNE 7 eejenseyei vesieins A 430
(GIES CIN) Bits ARR ote Gengecr cs ten vii, xi @asin sO DOMINO... nee eae 431
Clingman, Gen. T. L............ 475 Escape of water in............ 226
Glassitication)... a. moar an. cece 46, 78 RR PUN oie vis saree cinisteln sleeleteaae 424
African, Shippers .:.4...6c.56 49, 69 ETAT VESUM Ess ecclesia 421
ONS WAM Sis piscleire eis deus sce raciele 47, 50 Heavy shipping ......... , 216, 217
(OE Aiba Geer ¢ Oopodbb aoe Bae EoOr 49, 71 HI GUSCy, Sepysicr cc ehonsle[as soem
Cigar and smoking............ 71 Ini Teativs Stalls. sce sas 215
Continental shippers........ 49, 58 Leat alone vs. on stalk.. 231
English shippers............. 49, 54 Loss of weight in............. 224
Fine cut and plug fillers...... 47 Object in.-..5-..- BO ars ff)
HOME XPOLlAtION: © ey. oe oly ee 49 Pennsylvania resulig. «eee 226
Mexico(see Americaand West REOTASrINE mec. a. sicele econ 825
Inagies Shippers): ic iq 2 47, 70 IRPeNIN Seen eis wnevraaerosieiee 418
INAV DI UE? ee aeeteins att eeelayee ate 58 SOGCUEAE ccisctetsreto:sisicleyarcieiets oir 221
INONGESSETIP G5. Necis sith seine /as mie 71 Stripping . 425
PIMOS WLAPDSTS:. ccs sens sno 47, 53, 57 Suckering 418
PLONE Ne ety Con AGUGES Meee 49 ASE 0 1 ane annn sy ane e 215, 431
SUGGS ye jacume Bus beech Rireresios fil Teniperature........... 209, 215, 219
StOgy WLAPPerS ... 2... eee 77 Time TEQUINEA).% 4... 45ers 211, 224
MeO Wispisss sve ep viele cs Maras 282
EU MIM poaler tah ia/e'a vio ss cient seins eateeteerae
GOL bee caret ae 224, 226, 230, 233 WiTPINIG). 2c) occlsicleerisiecis meMeeine
Gummy Buneices asa Sara oeec Wihihe TRUnIG yj cere awteeici= = (e(enenee
Affected by distance in plant- WISCONSIN <2 c ss asieciete selsmeate
DIVO oe teens feieles oe ics siow atatinieted low 301 Yellow tobacco....
Belgian cutter................. 67 | Hoeing machine
Chewing tobacco............. bO;53 |) HOesheads, |. pcca.- «cts saneeeee
Cirarleaic. 2 sone dens< cosets 75 SDP Ine tobacco. oss» ce O2O
Destroyed by house burn . 181 SICA nos onda DoD Cpogrsdd 0955 326, 348
Germab ty Pes... ...scece sos 63, 65 Wiel SG iiss «sin'e cle ols sens eae 7
Heavy shipping... ....295, 310, 319 Wood MadeloL. & as. etwsie sees 327
In Southern States............ SO EEO POLGS tee oor sieeten eliseleele wearer
Perique contains...... 2... .... 371 INCREASE ANG ce cise esinicileeiteee
PAIS AWLAP DTS. — =e teec lena ees 54 Leaf tobacco
Present in tobacco............ 81 Sumatran ....... sie miners aintesietee ;
SCOUCHHIGSr tee. c cubs sees see BS NUS CCUG sane steht aeelesiets
SHAG ere tere eeeekeeeenk sce es. 57 Crickets?. 2-2...
Shippers for Mexico.......... 70 lea DEetle seers cera esis aeeee
Pane inG +. see vase enews sence Grasshoppers
Clioarleatn. vases osleie tei sol 424 SNOWMICAS. ces. escent
Distance of poles apart....... 424 See Pests... c..25 ci moles emer
TIGER VAR poaceeosobaoac icadoe ases SiR Ribye tint Wegem ose oasocos onos 106, 107
Number of plants on pole.... 424 Florida tobacco. ....+........- 447
VST MED Hels Goa dooeeG OeOnOoaECk 424 | Jenkins, Dr. E. H....ix, 392, 443, 486
SWiltiin ctiwANGat presios siswiew cies ie cai 424 | Johnson, Dr. $8. W. x, 88, 90, 161, 486
Harthill, Alex... 5..-:.....- xii, xiii Kendrick, Jat Che SerG rica cao oS xi
A CANVELIN ns lain atuto tented iotoe mcleleim ak ieve eo UROUINGS so cec's vain aisisioiseislelsisisinctaets 356
Orne BonageouOdG. 2036 Soe ace S821) Kerr WNORWUAN sn «oss ccs lvieisiniessei tenes
(Cri hit tres Ae Goo idgnopodsc ogee 414 | Killebrew, A. B..........06 Spas sat
CUUIGURS cechice. cemecuine see aise rs 387 | Killebrew, J. P xi
IDESCLIPTIONIOL sc se caw sce bare SY OIE y 15" Cm csambsoc sao DosascuC ic ii
Management of crop........-- Ald | LOWELL sO. ccc cseisieisieiale ate comers
Plante NOWeL Aas. ss e\sex =e se 32 | Manufacture ..........2.ceseeees
TOP Pea leamitejewenieaci sce eke 28 Amount for chewing........-- 17
Heavy SHIPPING were e ote es 5 vac Cigar io cten's uscwcoeen emai 18, 467
Assorting and prizing..... 320, 321 Cigarettes. .....cecccess 18, 464, 488
Color of soil for... .5. .-<. 4... 294 Development .........<- ove~ 18, 488
Cul tiviatiiee lec asiedein see 303 Favorite varieties for ........ 43
MOUUGURG geo wasccite ce ieee ee 298, 313 BING GW. 5 sens elacle tenets 488
Curine Geese ee eee ee 290 Money invested. .............. 20
Cutting and housing.......... 310 Pipe-smoking tobacco........ 462
Distance between plants..... 301 Plug. tobacco. ...........+5. 453, 488
US GEUC US re cietelcleloin weiss iets sine eal 291 SMOKING cece sasha ese aceeee 489
Favorite varieties ............ 43 SDULE. Aceerecee ence ee ae eet 459
Field ready to be hung....... 300 Snuff, lugs and smokers... .66, 489
Hangin ekrwensechch as bsheRre eee 314 Varieties for smoking.......- 49
Kentucky field of............. 292 Varieties for cigars........... 49
Laying off land for........... 299M) Mane eles rei cieinvarclalelaletote Siemens
IMUATMUITIUTICY Fawr moe afore siete 297 ATNALYSOS eels ce + ci sieleieaiee'sis 112, 113
INES TOE AER thine aap abaad Spies aad or 290 IBALI iclosinisnine nae oe cae eee 114
Number of leaves left ........ 308 Content of average ton....... 116
MOrnrderine yl soe. cs seel-eioe ehieee 323 IDERDILIONLS co exis cis oe) tesislaie kal sleie= 114
Preparation of new ground for 302 Hection SOU)... c2m sable mets 118
Preparation of soil for........ 295 Feed affects quality .......-.. 115
Seediplanttiis x oscccsueeebiee ces 60 Fertilizing slow to act.......- 117
SOL] LOX, .cerevrcecvvcveveveeves LL
Promotes quick fermentation 118
INDEX. 503
Wie eGordcopabeuoT CUOGCROGE 115 (Dyin(e(o!-40) (of0\0 Bapgoaeeeouoanc 122, 130
UT IR GES Sh rao's o wc sie wie a's, ja 0je eimai ccayst DMriedetishiec accel ae'aageeres 122, 131
PRPS TS he eles: «19; 5,6 ics ators « sieleisiels 62 Giutensm Gallina.) seaceriae atic. 127
Biv NNER Ifa ote cle lalo)el-hscels\cisioisisia'sit 6 67 Linseed or flaxseed meal..... 126
AOA Mes WO) oe cele ene vine <0\<\0, -1<1 8 Necessity Of. 762\.025 66.2.2 120
HUSPRIB NUD tro ciaicycis,ciesere «6 faraestesistors's 67 Nitrogen salts.............. 135, 136
ER NAACED irteretelalatcialaisfo's) lp c\siclctsiw cies 58 Other substances......-.---.-. 133
For heavy shipping.........-.. 286 See Fertilizers . epee
GOUMANY iiss sisi e520 Fantctorce's 57, 65 peer Capt. E. Er MeeEL ORS: 214
Great Britain......2....5...... 54 | Pac king Seth tartoacpendekiotan secs 327
Ugh": SS Sepnaeercoede caso pepotS 61) | Perique tobaceo..-..-..... 2...
MUA SWARM ier aie o's (a piniele ee ic:eroiniotaieye 8 ATCRse aces c cae etstasise Oe dan sats 370
Netherlands ................- 66, 67 Carottes.......... be Wale western eke
IBIS & Seong seer oods neodTates 65 @ultivatiomobin.- +a. -jaea- 372
SST Gove Sead.orppecneenacopeeos 62 COnmiah eyo aa auiagy bana encoreccos ac 372
Sweden and Norway .......-. 66 DESCMPLLOM aes etetele tila eater 39
MWIOZCLIAN ON renee cies o 475, 419
BOLGIOVES wc aisle sclsesosiied oe 475
PELATS PUAN Gees sbi ciec ce Ses side
Field ready for ne eet weet 162
TSG 0 Se ee 170
Machine at work............-- 160
Machine-set plants........-.. 173
Preparation for. ..ci.. 6.2 35. 169
MeEplantin g z=. 0.05.66. vies oe 173
PUD ES RON tars ai ctclete secs. vce sees 58
German saucer ............ 63
German spinner .............. 63
PACOGCIIM CIO ET ra iie. ccce eos otic oe 58
Snuff lugs and smokers....... 66
MMVI NSMNVIE CLD PENG fore toie «2 «o's 6 66
Res Rees falorsic der era's a ele wie
ASIGISINEGCtAI LS... ...0020:--2 24
UUIDST) «2 ac Beast oe eee 3
Is its use injurious?... .14, 22, 24
As a remedy (see Chapter on
Tobacco as i mercy) Be.
Wie SS en eee
29 \EO CAS EE Bees ee Se eeaeiae 16
PMELETERS COE S cicic-cipicls ciclo) Sesateiarable's
PANE OO et ei iete ais tosis cis)e'« we wr eisic atstere 34
USSG Tae ERT ORR are 34
Baltimore Cuba............... 34
505
BBY syayaiat atateysicrelalaieloe eis elaleldieiae 54 34
BEATA ras Sa tyatee saute te clans 34
Belknap 34
Bonanza 42
BullgaGess.c.tieseens cos vemtee kek 34
Bullion sna. deccseime eet eee 42
Bullo@hkias ss ceccasecd a ese 35
Burley, White...... 35, 40, 4, 48, 52
Chewin gis sees.