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United States Department of Agriculture,

BUREAU OF SOILS.—Circular No. 14.

MILTON WHITNEY, CHIEF OF BUREAU.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CIGAR-LEAF TOBACCO IN
EAST TEXAS AND ALABAMA.

A few years ago the attention of the Bureau of Soils was called to a
new tobacco industry in east Texas, where it was reported considerable
progress had been made in growing a domestic filler leaf from Cuban
seed. It was found that quite an extensive acreage was being planted
around Willis, Montgomery County, and that several warehouses and
cigar factories were in operation there.

An examination of the tobacco, made by the Bureau expert, showed
that some of the leaf produced was of excellent quality, surpassing in
aroma any domestic leaf examined up to that time, but that the crop
as a whole, for reasons not determined, was not such as to warrant the
prediction of any phenomenal development of the industry along the
lmes then being followed.

The matter was again given some study in 1899, when the Bureau
was engaged in making a collection of domestic tobaccos for exhibition
at the Paris Exposition. Included in this exhibit were a number of
samples of the Texas tobaccos, and the marked superiority of some of
the leaf was noticed, although, owing to the manner in which the col-
lection had been made, it was impracticable to determine whether this
quality was the result of the particular soil upon which the leaf had
been grown, of the kind of seed used, of any special system of fertili-
zation, or of care and skill in handling and curing.

In 1901 the Bureau made a survey of the soils around Willis, at the
same time investigating the condition of the tobacco industry, and
especially the relations of the quality of the leaf to the soil producing
it. The tobacco interests were then found in a languishing condition.
From a maximum acreage of 1,000 acres planted in 1898, the plantings
had declined to 506 acres in 1899, and thence to less than 100 acres in
1901; and the growers, although needing some crop, like tobacco, in
which to specialize, had become very much discouraged. In the fol-
lowing year the investigation was carried further by a tobacco expert,
who began experiments in growing tobacco which were not conclusive.
The causes assigned by the Bureau’s agent for the decline in the pro-
duction of this crop were mainly two—the lack of knowledge among
the growers as to the methods of handling the crop, and the peculiar
market conditions always to be met with in a trade so highly specialized

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as the tobacco trade. However, an important result of the soil survey
and experiments around Willis was the discovery that the type of soil
had a marked influence on the quality of leaf produced, and that the
leaf grown on the type given the name Orangeburg sandy loan (a red-
dish or grayish sandy loam with a red clay subsoil) possessed a much
finer aroma than the leaf grown on any other soil in the area.

Other surveys made during 1902, 1903, and 1904 have established the
fact that the Orangeburg sandy loam is a soil of wide distribution in
east Texas, as well as in the other Gulf and South Atlantic States. It
is associated with other Orangeburg soils, of which the Orangeburg
clay is also believed to be a good tobacco soil. In Anderson County
alone 102,800 acres of the Orangeburg sandy loam and: 35,904 acres of
the Orangeburg clay were mapped. In Nacogdoches County, in an area
of 100 square miles mapped around the town of Nacogdoches, 16,320
acres consisted of the Orangeburg sandy loam, and 16,704 acres of the
Orangeburg clay. In Houston County large bodies of this sandy loam
are found. In Alabama the Perry County survey showed 82,000 acres
of Orangeburg sandy loam, while surveys in South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana have included areas of this type.

There is thus an ample area of soil suitable for the growing of cigar-
leaf tobacco in Texas and other Southern States, and in Texas particu-
larly, and the thought occurred that whatever deficiencies in the leaf
formerly produced were due to an indiscriminating use of soils might at
once be eliminated in the light of knowledge of soil adaptation gained
during the Willis and subsequent surveys. Following out this idea,
the Bureau in 1903 conducted a series of tobacco experiments on the
Orangeburg soils around Nacogdoches, Lufkin, and Woodville, Tex.
Three acres of tobacco were grown near the first-mentioned town, 3
acres at Lufkin, and 34 acres at Woodville; the entire crop, after fer-
mentation and packing, amounting to 3,868 pounds. During 1904
further experiments were conducted at Nacogdoches, Crockett, and
Giddings, in all about 10 acres of tobacco being grown. Owing to
unfavorable conditions at some of the stations the tobacco on only 8?
acres was harvested, from which 5,461 pounds, or 624 pounds per acre,
were secured.

The 1903 crop is now being sold and distributed among the principal
cigar manufacturers of the country, who express satisfaction with the
leaf. It is the general feeling of the trade that this tobacco will fill an
important place in the market, if produced in sufficient quantities and
at reasonable prices. The tobacco being an entirely new product, and
having at the present time no fixed status in the market, it is to be
expected that its introduction will be more or less slow and tedious,
and the growers of this Texas leaf must not at first look for the highest
prices. On the other hand, judging from the character of the leaf grown
and cured under the supervision of the Bureau, the prices should increase

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considerably as the trade becomes acquainted with the tobacco, and
channels for its distribution become established.

The value of this tobacco, as far as the Bureau has informed itself to
the present time, varies considerably, the prices for the finished product
ranging from 25 to 40 cents a pound, according to the grade and qual-
ity of the leaf, but the grower can not expect to obtain at the outset
more than 15 or 20 cents for the unfermented leaf. From computations
based on the past work of the Bureau, it is estimated that the cost of -
growing the tobacco, under normal conditions, should not exceed 10
cents a pound. The average yield is estimated to be 600 pounds or
more per acre.

During the past two years the Bureau has also conducted experiments
in Perry County, Ala., and in Darlington and Orangeburg counties, 8. C.,
upon the same types of soil as in Texas.

The tobacco grown in Alabama, while not considered quite so good
as the Texas product, meets with much approval from the trade, but
the leaf so far produced in South Carolina is pronounced less satisfac-
tory, and while the Bureau will continue its experiments in that State
on a small scale, in the hope that methods for the improvement of the
leaf produced there may be discovered, it does not for the present:
recommend that the farmers enter into its production.

In Texas and Alabama, on the other hand, the indications are so
favorable that the Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of
Soils, will encourage the farmers to undertake the growing of the
crop to a limited extent. As a preliminary step an effort is to be made
to have a limited number of farmers undertake the production of a rela-
tively small area of tobacco, with the advice and supervision of the
Bureau experts. It is not thought advisable to grow more than 150
acres in Texas, to be distributed on the Orangeburg soils in Nacog-
doches, Anderson, and Houston counties; nor more than 50 acres in
Alabama, to be limited to the same soils in Perry County, Ala.; and
the area planted by one person should not exceed 10 acres or be less
than 2 acres.

As indicated above, it is the plan of the Bureau to give, during the
present season, expert advice and general supervision to those growers
in Nacogdoches, Anderson, and Houston counties, Tex., and in Perry
County, Ala., who apply for such advice and supervision. Those who
desire to cooperate with the Bureau must be men of means adequate to
take care of a crop of filler tobacco, for the Bureau will assume no
financial responsibility and will render no financial assistance. They
must ‘have soils of the Orangeburg types within their farms and barns
suitable for curing the tobacco. In the event that such barn facilities
are wanting, they should erect buildings for the purpose. A barn at
least 60 feet long and 30 feet wide would be required to accommodate
the tobacco from a 5-acre field. Such a building would cost about $400.

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For a crop from 10 acres, a building 100 feet long by 40 feet wide, with
a distance of 20 feet between sill and plate, would suffice, and in the
localities referred to such a structure should not cost over $600.

Copies of the soil survey reports showing the location of the Orange-
burg sandy loam and Orangeburg clay—which the Department believes
to be the best soils for this southern tobacco—so far as these surveys
have been extended around Nacogdoches and Palestine, Tex., and in
Perry County, Ala., can be obtained upon application to the Bureau.
The report on the survey of Anderson County, Tex., has not yet been
published, and the survey of Houston County is still in progress.

Inquiries regarding the cooperation of the Department in the growing
of tobacco in any of these areas, including the two areas for which the
reports are yet unpublished, may be made of the Chief of the Bureau of
Soils, or of Mr. G. T. McNess, the chief tobacco expert of the Depart-
ment in Washington, or Mr. W. M. Hinson, expert in charge of the
work in Texas, whose present headquarters are at Nacogdoches, Tex.

MILTON WHITNEY,
Chief of Bureau.
Approved:
JAMES WILSON,
Secretary of Agriculture.

WASHINGTON, D. C., December 29, 1904.

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