THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE DATE
INDICATED BELOW AND IS SUB-
JECT TO AN OVERDUE FINE AS
POSTED AT THE CIRCULATION
DESK.

EXCEPTION:

earlier if this iten

date due will be j
Vs RECALLED 1

APR0 8^<Wi

3 bo, ^oktfxoSu.

By
W. P. HEDRICK AND J. H. CYRUS

lOBt^CCQ MARKETING SPECIALISTS

1

'Z

., n

kM^mi

i^p

^

Hhi^l^E!

^

":,^ilPj^

rap

:fy«^ik'#v

4

NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
L. Y. BALLENTINE COMMISSIONER

For free distribution by Tobocco Section, Markets Division, N.C.D.A.
Raleigh, N. C.

iding the woikers and theiry

2i^

f,^ INTRODUCTION

Tobacco, its history and the devel-
jpment of its culture, pioduction and
'the manufacture of its products, are
closely connected with the faming and
ndustrial progress of North Carolina
One of the chief industries in the
State today is the tobacco industry.
Thousands of our citizens; farmers,
merchants, warehousemen and factory
workers are dependent upon its culture,
markedns and the manufacture and
sale, not only in North Canalina, but all
over the wo rid.

The farmer and his family receive
income, education, conveniences and
better rural living from the culture of
tobacco. About a half million people
living in 94 of our 100 counties, divide
500 million dollars annually received
from the tobacco crop. Wori<ers in the
manufacturing and processing plants
receive more than 70 million dollars
annually in gross wages. This part of t
the industry employs an average of
35,000 individuals, bringing higher liv- j
ing standards to more than 100,000
people, inclu(
families.

To the wholesale and retail sale^
people, and their families, the handling
of tobacco products means hundreds of
thousands of dollars in income and pur-
chasing power.

To the Federal govemmait, tobacco
is one of the richest sources of reve-
nue. Tax collections on cigarettes
manufactured in ISorth Carolina amount
to more than 700 million dollars annu-
ally, or more than 50 per cent of the
tax received by the government from
this source. Merchants and profession-
al people also derive benefits from to-
bacco and tobacco products by parti-
cipation in various phases of the thriv-
ing tobacco industry.

Tobacco is first mentioned in Amer-
ican History in the second voyage of
Columbus to the New Worid in 1515. As
Columbus approached shore he saw the
natives smoking a long stick with a
ho^ow end; he asked the natives what
ey were smoking. The reply was,
"tobago, " meaning the pipe. Since
then the leaves smoked in the pipe
have been referred to as, "tobag),",or
today, tobacco.

On Columbus' return to Spain he
carried some of the seed of the tobacco
plant with him, and introduced the cul-
tivation of tobacco to Europe.

It was believed that tobacco had
medicinal value and its first use in Eu-
rope was as medicine, rather than for
smoking. A famous doctor of that time
saidof tobacco, "as an ointment it has

/.

great healing powers.

Th^jise of tobaccjj^ for smokingjn
EuropTTTlrediteTlo^Jean NrcoTTa
PraicHminrwHo"slafted"its cultivation
in the year 1561. John Rolfe is given ^
credit for being the first farnier to raise .
tobacco commercially in the New World. /
He Uved on the James River in Virginia.
It was soon discovered that tobacco /
raised in America was superior in aroma •/
and flavor to any other, and this has i
accounted for the great strides that
have been made in the industry in the
South.

f During the first half of ^^ nine-
teenth century tobacco was air-cured
by hanging it in loosely built bams to
allow the passage of air while curing.
Later, fire curing became almpst unir
versal in the tobacco growing areas of
North Carolina. This was short-lived,
and many growers returned to air-curing.
Many stories are told about how
nue-cunrig C^ ^bacco started, but the
.11 . ' -* an old slave
most logical one is Dia^ , _ _--

was curing tobacco in the old manner
by maintaining a wood fire on the
ground in the bam. He fell asleep and
the fire~bumed down to a few coals.
The wood was too wet to catch readily,
so the slave ran to a charcoal pit at
the nearby blacksmith shop, got a sack
of charcoal and put it on the fire. It
caught readily and he continued to use
it. He and his owner noticed that the
tobacco was curing up a brigjit yellow.
This curing process made the tobacco
milder and produced a better smoke.
From this beginning in Caswell County
North Carolina in 1856, the present
flue-curing and production methods
have developed.

The manufacturing of tobacco pro-
ducts began to expand with the dis-
covery of the flue-curing method.
Chewing tobacco was the first product
to be manufactured in a few small fac-
tories around 1850. Later a few fac-
tories manufactured granulated tobacco
for "roll your own " cigarettes and
pipes. However, the first real expan-
sion of the industry was '" 1^^ with
the invention of the ji garette_makij].g_
machine.

The production of flue-cured tobac-
co continued to expand in North Caro-
lina until today tobacco growers in the
State plant about 735,000 acres annu-
ally, or 67 per cent of the total grown
in the United States. The planted ac-
reage produces an average of 950,000,-
000 pounds of tobacco per year. Flue-
cured tobacco has been developed to
the point where it is used principally
in the manufacture of cigarettes; about
95% is used for this purpose. The
growth in the use of cigarettes ac-

counts for the increased production of
this type of tobacco.

There are five different types of to-
bacco grown in the United States. They
are -

1. Flue-cured, used principally in
cigarettes.

2. Burley, used in cigarettes, chew-
ing and smoking.

3, Fire-cured, used in snuff and
chewing.

4. Cigar filler and binders, used in
cigars.

5.agar wrappers grown under shade
for cigars.

If you will notice on any package of
cigarettes, you will see the word
"blended," which means that a certain
amount of several types of tobacco are
niised together to make the filler for the
cigarette. Flue-cured tobacco is the
meat or body and mildness of the
blend; burfey tobacco is added for fil-
ler and burning qualities and Turkish
for spice or aroma. Most cigarettes
contain these tobaccos in different pro-
'■■* !n standard brands, the
portions, uui ... — j__ f^^

real secret of one blend ditlenug --
another lies in the flavoring or casing
tiiat is put on the tobacco in tiie blend-
ing process.

The principal flavoring used in the
blending process are: Rum, Glycerin,
Saccharine, Maple sugar, Brown sugar,
Apple honey. White honey, and alcohol.
So, if you prefer one brand of cigar^
ettes to another, generally it is not
the tobacco used so much as it is the
flavor employed in the blending pro-
cess. The usual proportions of tobac-
co used are -

Flue-cured

50%

Buriey

30- 40%

Maryland Buriey

6- 10%

Turkish

6- 10%

Tobacco Plant Beds

The production of tobacco probably
seems rather simple to people who
have grown up with it, but to others the
many steps and processes involved in
producing, harvesting and marketing a
crop of tobacco may not be quite so
simple.

The first step in producing a crop
of tobacco involves the preparation of
a seed bed during the winter months
for the tiny tobacco seed. The seed
are so small that it takes 442,970
seeds to make one ounce, or three
tablespoon fuls. If all the seed in one
ounce should produce strong healthy
plants, til ere would be enough plants

h

Tofcocco seed bed covered with mesh cotton canvas to protect young seedling from cold.

'^i-j^s^M

Tofcocco plants in the bed ready to be transplanted fo the field.

field. It takes from 8 to 12 weeks frotr
the time the seed are sown until the
plants are ready to set.

Setting Tobacco

After strong healthy plants with
good root systems are developed in
the plant bed, they are then transplant-
ed to the field. The transplanting of
tobacco is usually started early in
April in the Southeastern part of North
Carolina and planting is continued in
the Piedmont and Mountain sections of
the State through the middle of June.
The plants are set 14 to 24 inches
apart in rows which are 3)2 to 4 feet in
width, and it takes from 6,000 to 9,000
plants to set an acre of tobacco, de-
pending upon the spacing.

The process of transplanting tobac-
co is done in several different ways by
different farmers over the State. Many
of the larger tobacco growers use
tractor drawn transplanters that will
set two rows at the time, others use
one row horse or tractor drawn planters,
but most of the smaller growers use
hand planters to set thar crops. All
of these transplanters, whether tractor
or horse drawn, or hand planters, are
equipped to supply water to each plant
as it is set in the row. However, some
farmers still follow the old back-break-
ing practice of setting tobacco with a
short peg after a rain has wet the soil.

The average number acres of flue-
cured tobacco planted in North Caro-
lina each year ranges from about 650,-
000 to 750,000 acres, dep«iding upon
the adjustments made in quotas under
the tobacco control program, which
keeps the supply in line with demand.

to set approximately 64 acres of tobac-
co. Actually, many of these delicate
seed will fall on rough ground and die,
others will be killed by the cold weath-
er and some plants will be killed by in-
sects and disease. Therefore, the av-
erage grower usually sows about 1/3 of
an ounce, or one tablespoonful of seed
per 100 square yards of plant bed, and
he usually prepares about 100 square
yards of plant bed for each acre of to-
bacco ile intends to plant so that he
can be assured of having enough plants
to set his crop.

The plant beds, which are sowed in
different sections of INorth Carolina
from December through the early part of
Niarch, are covered with mesh cotton
canvas eady in the spring before the
seed sprout, to protect the seedling
from the cold and frost. After danger
of frost, the cover is removed and the
seedlings are developed and toughened
so that they can be transplanted to the

Transplanting tobacco

th a mule drawn planter.

Transplanting tobacco to the field with a hand planter.

growers of most crops to mechanize
and do less hand work, but with tobac-
co, almost every step to improve qua-
lity has called for more instead of less
hand labor. It takes approximately 440
man-hours of labor to produce, harvest
and market an acre of tobaccc^ of
which about 132 man-hours are account-
ed for in the harvesting.

The laborious job of harvesting
flue-cured tobacco begins during the
latter part of June in Southeastern
North Carolina and continues thn3ugh
the middle of September in the Pied-
mont section of the State. In harvest-
ing flue-cured tobacco, each leaf has
to be primed individually as they ma-
ture and ripen. This is accomplished
by priming the crop over each week,
pulling 2 to 4 leaves from each plant
every week, depending upon the ripe-
ness of the leaves. As the leaves are
piimed, they are put in narrow sleds
which are pulled between the rows.
When a sled has been filled it is car-

Cultivation

Growing good tobacco is a highly
specialized business which is guided
largely through experience and re-
search. Tobacco is a clean cultivated
crop which requires a large amount of
fertilizer, 800 to 2,000 pounds per acre,
and much hard work. Cultivation of
the crop is started soon after the
plants are set in the field. The rows
of tobacco are harrowed or plowed from
3 to 5 times, during the first 5 or 6
weeks after transplanting, to keep the
grass and weeds down, and to loosen
the soil and push it to the tobacco
plants. The last plowing, known, as
"laying the crop by," is usually done
about the time the plants are knee
high.

A few weeks after the crop has
been "laid by" the plants of tobacco
begin to bloom. These blooms are bro-
ken out so that the top leaves on the
plants will develop^

There are njany insects and pests
that prey on tobacco during the grow-
ing season, which must be kept under
control or the crop of tobacco will be
destroyed. Growers have^o spray and
dust their tobacco with poisons several
times dbring the growing and harvesting
season to keep these insects and pests
under control.

Harvesting

Harvesting tobacco is one of the
most laborious tasks that exists in
Morth Carolina, and probably in the
United States. Competition has forced

eit

^^V.

Tobocco fields are plowed to keep grass down and to push dirt to the plants.

A field of tobacco in full bloom i

be topped.

In harvesting Hue cured fofcacco, 2 to 4 leaves are primed each week as tney .Tiar

Crews of banders picking the leaves up in hands at 2 to 3 leaves and
handing them to stringers w/io loop the hands of tobacco to a stick.

5

bam will hold 600 to 800 sticks of to-
bacco which contain 60,000 to 80,000
leaves. A bam of tobacco has 7,000 to
8,000 pounds of water imbibed in the
tiny cells of the leaves. Therefore,the
main objective in curing tobacco is to
eliminate the excess water from the
leaves in such a way as to give the to-
bacco a bright golden color, and this
is done by the use of artificial heat.

Artificial heat is supplied to tobac-
co bams in various ways. Some grow-
ers use the old conventional method of
stoking a wood fired furnace 24 hours
a day by hand. Other growers use au-
tomatic themiostatically controlled coal
and oil burning stokers, but in recent
years the trajority of the growers in
North Carolina have used manual con-
trolled oil burning units which vary
considerably with make, or brand name.

The process of curing flue-cured to-
bacco is divided into three phases.
First is the yellowing period in which
the green color in the leaves is chang-
ed to a golden yellow color. The next
step is the color setting and leaf dry-
ing phase. Then comes the stem drying
phase. It usually takes 65 to 75 hours
to cure a bam of tobacco.

After a bam of tobacco has been
cured, the doors are opened to allow
the bam to cool. Then the tobacco,
which is very porous, absorbs moisture
from the night air which brings it into
case or order, so that it can be remov-
ed from tlie bam without breaking and .
packed in a packhouse.

Sorting for Market

After curing, the tobacco is removed
from the curiing bam and stored in a
packhouse until all of the crop has

ried to the curing bam where a crew ot
tv\o handers pick the leaves up in hands
of 2 to 3 leaves and hand them to a
stringer, who loops the hands of tobac-
co to a stick. The sticks of tobacco
are either piled or hung in racks, later
the sticks of tobacco are hung in the
curing bam which are 5 to 7 tiers high.
There are 100,000 to 150,000 leaves
in an acre of flue-cured tobacco, and
all of these leaves have to be handled
about 10 times during the harvest sea-
son. It usually takes 5 to 8 weeks to
harvest a crop of flue-cured tobacco.

Curing Bright Tobacco

The process of curing a bam of to-
bacco to a rich golden color requires
a skill which is developed only through
years of experience. An average size

A rack full of tobacco ready to be placed in the curing barns in the background.

Wof/cers grading or sorting and bundling Uue cured tobacco for market.

The tobacco auction is unique in
the sale of farm comrrodities, and an
experience worthwhile to the uninitiat-
ed. Prior to tlie beginning of the sale
a Federal tobacco grader inspects each
lot of tobacco on tlie warehouse floor
and places a U. S. Standard grade on
it. The significance of this operation
is that under a price support program
each Federal grade is supported at 90
per cent of parity. If any lot placed on
the floor by the grower does not bring
a price in the auction sale above the
support price, the Stabilization Corpo-
ration pays the grower the support
price established for that particular
grade, and then the tobacco is taken
over by the Stabilization Corporation
for future sale.

The actual auction sale is partici-
pated in by buyers representing domes-
tic and foreign companies. 'At the be-
ginning of the auction the buyers line

been harvested and cured. The next
step is sorting the leaves into uniform
grades for maiketing. The procedure
is to remove the leaves from the stick
on which they were cured and to pick
out the leaves that match in color,
thickness and length. When twenty to
twenty-five matching leaves are found.
they are then tied into a "hand" or
bundle at the "butt" or stem end with
another leaf. This process is followed
until the entire bam or curing has been
sorted into matching grades. Usually
there are three different grades to a
curing, such as the best grade, medium
grade and those leaves with green, or
immature tobacco going into a low or
common grade. These lots are kept se-
parate and maiketed as three different
grades.

Selling Tobacco by Auction

lobacco is maAeted under the auc-
tion system of selling. In North Caro-
lina there are mail<ets located in 47
towns throughout the State. Each lo-
cal marl<et has several auction sales
warehouses for the farmers' conven-
ience. Upon arrival at the market the
grower has his tobacco unloaded by a
warehouse employee and packed upon
a wicker basket, aoout 38 inches
square, according to the grade he sort-
ed out at iiome. Each lot is then
weighed by a weigh-master licensed by
tlie State for weighing tobacco. The
weigh-master places a ticket on each
lot with tlie farmer's name, weight of
the tobacco and basket number for
identification. The tobacco is then
placed on the warehouse floors in rows
ready for the auction to begin.

A tobacco auction sale in process. In the foreground a Federal tobacco inspector can be
seen puffing a standard grade on each lot of tobacco before it is sold.

To&occo buyers signifying iheir bids fcy winks, signs or sounds.

A modern cigarette maldng machine copob/e of makina J2 to ?5 hvndrpd cigarettes per minute.

up on one side of the row of tobacco
directly across tlie row from the ware-
housemen, tlie auctioneer, and a ticket
niariter. The warehouseman starts the
auction with the first bid, based on his
judgment of tlie market price of each
lot according to quality. However,
like any article being sold at auction,
the buyers have different ideas of the
value. At this point the auctioneer
cries the warehouseman's bid and buy-
ers take over, signifying their bids in
various ways: by winks, signs or
sounds, until in the judgment of the
auctioneer, the lot of tobacco has
brought the top dollar. The auctioneer
then names the buyer and the price paid
for the lot sold. This procedure con-

tinues at a rate of 300 to 400 piles per
hour until Uie warehouse has sold
its allotted number of piles for the
day.

As the auction sale goes along,
directly behind the sale, comes the
book and clip men. These two are ra-
pid calculators, who figure the number
of pounds by the price paid by the buy-
er and have the complete transaction
figured for the buyer and seller within
a matter of seconds.

Every buyer has a crew following
the sale to pick up his purchases and
place them together according to the
grade. Each grade of the buyer is
placed together for movement to a re-
drying plant.

Redryed tobacco being packed in a
hogshead by hydraulic press.

Redrying for Storage

Al though tobacco has been cured
before it is sold, it still has to be re-
dried before it is stored for aging. As
tobacco is sold on the warehouse
floors it is in tlie "raw" stage, that is,
it contains too much moisture to pack
into "hogsheads" for the aging pro-
cess. This excess moisture must be
removed and a predetermined amount of
moisture left in to insure pioper aging
for the manufactured product. To re-
move the excess moisture the tobacco
is run through a redrying machine.
This machine is similar to a 1 arge oven
through which the tobacco passes, re-
moving all n-oisture. Then it passes
into a live steam chamber where the
exact amount of moisture is rqalaced.
The tobacco is then packed into
"hogsheads" or large casts, weiring
about 900 to 1,000 pounds, and pressed
ti^tly by hydraulic press. These
hogsheads are then ready for storage
and aging. Tobacco usually is left in

The process of cigarette making, packaging, and placing the packs
cartons ready hr the consumer.

storage from two to three years. Dur-
ing the aging period the tobacco
sweats or goes through a slight feimen-
tation which mellows the flavor for use
in the finished product.

Manufacturing Process

Cigarettes are by far the leading
manufactured tobacco pioduct in this
Country. The pioduction of cigarettes
utilizes about 95 per cent of the crop
of Hue-cured tobacco in making more
than 400 billion cigarettes annually.
If all of this 400 billion cigarettes
were laid end to end around the world
at the equator, there would be enough
to reach around the world more than
700 times. This is an average of about
2,500 cigarettes for every man, woman
and child in the United States annually.

The modem cigarette machines will
make 1,200 to 1,500 cigarettes per min-
ute. The following diagram outlines
the general process of making cigar-
ettes.

^i

t

A nearly perfect leaf of golden flue-
cured tobacco of the very best cigar-
ette quality. This leaf, known as a cut-
ter, will be cut into fine threads with
a machine that will make 60 to 100 cuts
per inch of leaf. Cigarette tofaocco is
threaded to keep it from falling out the
open ends of the cigarette.

PROCESS OF /AAMHG CIG^RETFES