• , .

JOBACCO

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

J. B. KILLEBREW, A. M., PH. D.,

For ten years state commissioner of agriculture of Tennessee, and author of exhaustive report*
on the crops and resources of that state. Special expert on tobacco for the tenth U. 8.
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 tobacco growers' organizations. Author of "Sugar, a New and
Profitable Industry," "How to Co-operate," "Money Crops," Editor of
other agricultural journals, etc., etc.

Assisted by successful tobacco growers, dealers in the leaf, manufac-
turers of tobacco, and by specialists in the sciences.

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1897 P .jf .

Copyright, 1897,
BY ORANGE JUDD COMPANY

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

Weed 16

CHAPTER III. Varieties of the Tobacco Plant 27

CHAPTER IV. Classification of Tobacco Grown in the United

States, and the Markets for it 46

CHAPTER V. Science in its Application to Tobacco 79

CHAPTER VI. Manures and Fertilizers 105

CHAPTER VII. The Seed Bed— Raising Seed 150

CHAPTER VIII. Transplanting 169

CHAPTER IX. Tobacco Barns and Sheds 179

CHAPTER X. On Curing Tobacco 208

CHAPTER XI. Pests of Tobacco— Diseases, Insects, the Elements. . 233
CHAPTER XII. Marketing of Tobacco 263

PART II.

HEAVY LEAF AND MANUFACTURING TOBACCOS.

CHAPTER XIII. Heavy Shipping Tobacco 290

CHAPTER XIV. The White Burley and Manufacturing Tobacco ... 333

CHAPTER XV. Yellow Tobacco 352

CHAPTER XVI. Perique Tobacco 370

PART HI.

CIGAR LEAF TOBACCOS.

CHAPTER XVII. General Considerations of Cigar Leaf 379

CHAPTER XVIII. Special Fertilization for Cigar Leaf 391

CHAPTER XIX. Culture of Cigar Leaf 404

CHAPTER XX. Cigar Leaf Tobacco at the West and South 433

PART IV.

TOBACCO MANUFACTURE.

CHAPTER XXI. On the Manufacture of Tobacco 452

CHAPTER XXII. Tobacco as a Remedy 475

APPENDIX, statistics, etc 483

Y

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
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

LEWIS K. CLARK.

SI. H. CLARK.

PKEFACE.

and verified the experience of the most successful
growers of cigar-leaf tobacco in all parts of America.

The authors have trav-
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
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

F. B. HOODIE, FLORIDA.

8. P. CARK, VIRGINIA.

PKEFACE.

»' SYLVAN I A.

assistance of the most experienced experts. "Without
the generous aid of these gentlemen, a work of this
character could not have
^Q |^^ been published. Their sen--

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

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 practical men
who have contributed valuable
aid, we would mention, in Vir-
ginia, in Richmond, Hon. S. P.
Carr of the Davenport ware-
house, James M. Gentry, Cam-
eron & Cameron, J. Wright Co.
and William M. Dibrell ; John
Sims of Maxwelton, Halifax GEORGE L. WIMBEKLY, N. c.
county, himself a successful planter, who has descended
through a long line of successful tobacco growers reach-
ing back nearly 200 years. Mr.
/;'. I- Carr has never failed to respond

promptly and cheerfully for any
information, and when the facts

'••r'^l^ were not at his command, he

has spared neither time nor ex-

JB pense in securing data for us,

v and his substantial and ready

^JL^T' ^ft^. assistance fully entitles him to

^^^BPrf ^^feb share with us in the authorship

of the work.

In Tennessee, our obliga-
tions are due to F. W. Taylor
1 *"*i'i**^?=™ and George C. Ourtlirons 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. Xi

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

THOMAS MASON, OHIO. ,...,. ,

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 *>HN BIMS, VIBG:
any request made of him for information pertaining to
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,

xii

PREFACE.

H. 8. FRYE, CONNECTICUT.

Kentucky's interest in this work, besides that
already mentioned, is represented by contributions from
Alexander Harthill, of Louisville, .^^^flfa^
whose name is familiar to the to-
bacco dealers of two continents;
W. C. Thompson, of George-
town, a large and most intelligent
grower of White Burley tobacco,
furnished 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,

|^k 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.
Isaac Sugg of Greenville, Hon.
H. G. Connor and James I.
Thomason of Wilson, and the
Hon. Julian S. 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 E. M. Pace of Marion, Sydnor &
Treadway and Bright Williamson of Darlington.

WALTER A. FORT, TENN.

W. F. ANDROSS, CONN.

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. S. Frye, of
the New England tobacco grow-
ers' association ; "W. F. Andross,
of the East Hartford section ;
John E. 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
Zimmer, of the Miami valley,

Ohio, and several AVisconsin planters. The chapter on
cigar -leaf culture in the South and West is largely based

ALEX HAKTHILL, KY.

xiv

PEEFACE.

on the successful practical experience of Col. F. B.
Moodie, president of the Florida tobacco growers' associ-
ation ; A. Alonzo Cordeiy, 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 uhoto-
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-
sent, for the first time in
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 much
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.

W. SANDERSON, MASS.

PART I.

ESSENTIALS IN TOBACCO CULTURE.

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 tbe 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 tobaco, which was the
inhaling apparatus of the Caribbees. Benzoni, who trav-
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 J .. , - , , _. ,

SMOKED THROUGH A the husband of Pocahontas, and grew
TUBE, AS FIRST SEEN tobacco for export to the mother coun-

BY COLUMBUS. O1 ,, ., , o. ~

From Lobei-s- History trJ- Shortly afterwards Sir George
or 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 SPEEAD. 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, ae
increase of commerce, civili- BROUGHT IN BY A FEMALE.
zation, culture, refinement From Be Bry'8 "ST" Brasl"ana>"
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

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
was limited to nine. Afterwards,
the number of leaves was extended
to twenty-five or thirty, and re-
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.
FIG. s. TOBACCONIST'S The price in England for the same
SHOP, LONDON, 1600. year, with the duty added, ranged

From Brathwait's "Smoking . „ , „

Age." 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.

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, lid to 12Jd 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
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 Rev-

, ,. 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 sev-
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 (i. 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 still 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

• , " lir 184:5. At these

[_^ \\ markets, casks are

PIPBOFWAB. PIPE OP PEACE. stripped from the

FIG. u. 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 SPBEAD. 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 1873.
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
which may be classed as
cigar leaf.

The industry gradu-FIG-6- PREHISTORIC PIPE USED BY

., • -i j? -inivn i THE MOUND BUILDERS IN THE MI8

ally revived from 1878 to SIS8IPPI 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
ridge, during the
year mentioned,
they planted to-
bacco, and cured

FIG. 7. MOUND BUILDERS' PIPES FOUND IN ft wj^ fireg
ROSS COUNTY, OHIO, U. S. A. ,

From Smithsonian Report, 1848. Of Charcoal, TCg-

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 for it. 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. 11

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
of small grain ready for the har-
vest than tobacco fields.

The sterilized spots, worn
out and abandoned, grown up in
bamboo briers, chinquapin bushes FI< TOBACCO noo
and sickly, scrubby pines, that in From an oid'poste'r.
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
i regions of Mississippi, Louisiana
and Arkansas, and the sides of
the Ozark mountains in Missouri,
FIG. 9. MAKING SN^F, noo. may all be transformed from re-
From Fail-holt'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 Ked Burley seed. The plants came up

OBIGIN 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 a time. 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 Bed Burley, the underside of
the cured leaves was
of a whitish tinge,
while the upper side
was of a beautiful
golden hue. Some
of these plants, when
cured, measured six
feet in length, and

were so handsome in Fm w TKAN8PORTING TOBACCO „ THE
appearance, and the OLDEN TIMKS.

tissue of the leaves was so fine, .that Mr. Webb placed
them on exhibition in the Bodeman warehouse in Cin-
cinnati. Intelligent buyers gave encouragement for its
further cultivation, and the next year Mr. Webb, fortu-
nately having 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 e^ery 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 av-
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%ady 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.

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, bams, 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 our 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 grown 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 talcing 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 BKOADLEAF (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.

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. S., 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 anaesthetic, is yet known which
would serve this purpose and do so little damage."
"Were tobacco not known," he continues, "the idiosyn-
crasies of snch 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 ^he 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.

VAEIETIES OF THE TOBACCO PLANT.

Tobacco belongs to the nightshade (Solanacece)
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, Tabacum, 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
27

PLATE III. HAVANA 8EEDLEAF (topped plant).

Photographed from same field and at same time as Plate IV. Hijiht
of plant, 4J feet; number of merchantable leaves on average topped
plant, 15 to 18. Top leaves are from 22 1o 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.

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 flavoj, and is
almost 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 LEAP.

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. Hlght 6 feet 7 inches.
Top leaves 20 to 26 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 25 inches.

VAEIETIES OF THE PLANT. 33

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 a cross 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 seeds
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 tobacco
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.

ADCOCK. — 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.

BADEN. — Short leaves, light, inclined to be chaffy ;
cures a fine yellow, but liable 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).

BAT. — Large, heavy leaf, red spangled and yellow
when cured ; used for manufacturing and shipping ;
grown in Maryland.

BEAT-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.

BULLFACE. — 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 PLAINT. 35

BULLOCK. — Broad, smooth leaf, with no ruffle on
stem ; yellow wrappers and plug fillers. North Carolina.

BTJBLEY, WHITE. — 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 Eegie 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 (East 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.

CUBA. — 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 ISLAND.— Broad leaf, fine appearance, full
grower ; originated from Havana seed ; cigar work.
New York, Pennsylvania.

PLATE v. Plant Topped. PLATE vr. Plant in Flower.

SUMATRA 8EEDLEAF.

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, 80.

VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 37

FLANAGAN". — Similar to Little Orinoco, but
broader leaf, finer fiber, silky and tough ; fancy wrap-
pers, plug fillers. Virginia.

FLORIDA. — 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.

GOOCH. — Broad, round leaf ; leaves thick on stalk ;
yellows on hill when ripe ; cures easily ; fancy, bright
export, and domestic wrappers and smokers. Virginia,
North Carolina. A favorite variety in North and South
Carolina.

GOURD LEAF. — Broad, short, fine and silky leaf,
yellows on hill ; plug wrappers and fillers, smokers.
Virginia.

GOVERNOR JONES'. — Long, narrow leaf, of good
body ; plug wrappers and fillers, and for common smok-
ing. Kentucky.

HAVANA SEED. — Very thin, fine leaf, fine texture,
delicate flavor; cigar wrappers. Connecticut, Massa-
chusetts, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio. Plates III, IV.

HESTER. — Broad-shouldered, heart-shaped leaf, fine
fiber, silky, cures very bright; plug wrappers, fillers
and smokers. A great favorite in North and South
Carolina for yellow tobacco.

HICKORY LEAF. — Fine fiber and texture, cures up
very bright; plug work, smokers and shipping. West
Virginia.

38 TOBACCO LEAF.

JOHNSON GREEN. — Said to be a cross of Orinoco
and White Stem ; large, heavy leaf, strong flavor ; strips
and shipping leaf. Virginia.

KITE-FOOT. — Bather short, wide leaf, thin, apt to
cure a greenish color unless fully ripe ; for very common
cigars ; culture decreasing. Indiana.

LACKS. — Heavy weight on strong soils ; used for
making yellow tobacco in Virginia, and heavy tobacco
in Kentucky ; well colored, broad leaf, fine fiber ; a
strong grower. Kentucky, Virginia. Plate XIV.

LITTLE DUTCH. — Very narrow leaf, small, thick
and short, in flavor resembling Yara tobacco ; for bind-
ers and fillers for cigars ; once very popular in the
Miami valley of Ohio, but now discarded, along with
seedleaf, and Zimmer's Spanish is mainly grown.

LONG GREEN. — Coarse and heavy, vigorous grower ;
heavy shipping leaf. Virginia.

LANCASTER BROADLEAF. — Upright grower, deli-
cate, silky fiber ; cigar wrappers, binders and fillers,
smokers. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

LOVELADT. — Long, dark, narrow leaf, very heavy ;
export, grown for African shippers. Virginia, Tennes-
see, Indiana.

MANN. — Leaf of good body, heavy and gummy;
plug wrappers and fillers, export. North Carolina.

ORINOCO, SHORT. — Broad leaf, upright growth and
open habit, light colored, much ruffled ; plug wrappers
and fillers, for strips and for export leaves. Virginia,
Missouri.

ORINOCO, BIG. — Short, broad leaf, doubtless orig-
inally same as last named ; sweet plug wrappers and
fillers, export. Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina,
Tennessee, West Virginia.

ORINOCO, YELLOW. — Long, narrow, tapering leaf,
fine texture, stands up well ; principally for plug work

VARIETIES OF THE PLAXT. 39

and smokers ; sweetest variety grown. Virginia, Mary-
land, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mis-
souri.

PENNSYLVANIA SEEDLEAF. — Coarser and darker
than Connecticut seedleaf ; used for some purposes and
grown in same States.

PEBIQUE. — Medium-sized leaf, fine fiber, small stem,
tough, gummy and glossy ; smoking, chewing, cigars
and cigarettes, for mixing with other kinds. Louisiana.

PITTSYLVANIA, YELLOW. — Medium size, leaves
elongated, good distance apart, fine texture, small, tough
stems ; fine wrappers and fillers, good export variety.
West Virginia.

PEYOB, BLUE. — Large, fine leaf, long, and well
proportioned, good color, slightly ruffled ; cigar and
plug fillers ; stemmers for export. Virginia, North Car-
olina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana.

PRYOK, SILKY. — Long, sharp-pointed leaf, grows
thin on the stalk, with a leaf very tough and pliant
when cured ; plug wrappers and fillers. North Carolina
and Virginia. See Plates XII and XIII.

PRYOR, YELLOW. — Heavy, wide leaf, fine texture,
fine, bright color, tough, weighs well ; cigar and plug
wrappers and fillers ; stemmers for export. Same as
last.

PRYOR, WHITE (or Medley Pry or). — Very broad
leaf, soft and silky texture and tough fiber ; a beautiful
grower ; plug wrappers and fillers. Virginia.

SHOESTRING. — Heavy leaf, rather narrow, long and
large stem ; dark navy plug ; good shipping leaf. Ten-
nessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia.

SLEEK STEM.— Large, long leaf, heavy weigher, no
ruffles; heavy, dark fillers, shipping leaf. Tennessee.

SPANISH SEED. — Uniform, dark color, medium
size leaf, ripens ten days earlier than other varieties;

PLATE VII. WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO (topped plant).

Ready for cutting, slightly wilted. Hight, 4 feet 4 inches. Fifteen
leaves on plant; top leaves, 28 inches long; center leaves, 38 inches
long; bottom leaves, 36 inches. Grown in Greene county, east
Tennessee.

VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 41

highly prized for dark cigar wrappers. New York, Illi-
nois, Wisconsin.

SUMATRA SEED. — Newest of all varieties of cigar
leaf. Grown in Florida, from seed imported from Su-
matra. Leaf light in weight and color; not long, com-
pared to other seedleaf, and much narrower, with fine
ribs. Promises to be very popular with cigar manufac-
turers. See article on Tobacco in Florida, also Plates
V and VI.

THICKSET. — Leaf long, pointed, narrow, coarse
fiber'; very short stalk, coarse and heavy ; common plug-
work and shipping. Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland,
West Virginia, Tennessee, eastern Ohio.

TWIST BUD. — Heavy, large leaf, screw-shaped, ter-
minal stem ; export mainly, also plug fillers. Kentucky,
Missouri, Maryland.

VALLANDIGHAM. — Large, pointed, smooth leaf ;
cigar wrappers and fillers, smokers. Wisconsin.

WAND. — Another name for Lacks, which see.

WHITE STEM ORINOCO. — Leaf long, slender, droop-
ing, tough and fibrous, largest leaf grown ; yellow plug
wrappers, strips and shipping leaf. Virginia and North
Carolina.

WILLIAMS. — Same as Beat-All. Grown in Tennes-
see for twenty-five years as Williams ; British and Ger-
man export. Tennessee.

WILSON'S HYBRID.— Said to be an improved Ha-
vana. Erect habit, easy of cultivation ; cigar wrappers,
binders and fillers. Grown very generally in New York.
"Little Spanish," and "Corn-Cross Havana," are varie-
ties of this type that have a local popularity.

YELLOW MAMMOTH. — Very large leaf ; rapid grower,
yields largely ; stemmed for export, and used for Swiss
wrappers. Tennessee. Plates X and XI.

42 TOBACCO LEAF.

ZIMMER'S SPANISH. — Much like Wilson's Hybrid
Havana. Generally grown in the Miami valley, in Ohio,
and also in Wisconsin.

NEW VARIETIES.

Since 1880, the following new varieties for the grow-
ing of yellow and mahogany manufacturing leaf have
been originated by cross-fertilization.

RAGLAND'S CONQUEROR. — Grown in Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. This
is now a standard variety.

BONANZA. — A White Burley cross on the Yellow
Orinoco, said to possess the qualities of both parents ;
beautifully blended, and very popular with manufactur-
ers, being tougher than the White Burley, and more
porous than the Orinoco ; very hardy.

SAFRANO. — A cross of the Hyco on White Burley.
The color resembles the saffron rose, it being a rich saf-
fron color ; it has a soft, silky texture, and delightful
flavor.

GOLD FINDER. — Another cross of the Yellow Ori-
noco and the White Burley. It is almost as white as
the White Burley, and has the shape and habits of
growth of the Orinoco.

BULLION. — A White Burley cross on the Hester ; a
broad leafed, stately plant, well formed and fine fibered.
It resembles the Hester in habit, but the leaves are
larger and grow farther apart on the stalk. It has a
fine texture and great absorptive capacity.

CLIMAX. — A cross of the White Burley on the Ster-
ling. This has not been much tried, but it is thought
to be an acquisition to the bright list.

RAGLAND'S IMPROVED YELLOW ORINOCO has been
more extensively planted in recent years for the yellow
type than any other variety. In its habit of growth it
does not differ very much from the Yellow Orinoco.

VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 43

HONDURAS. — Used in the yellow-tobacco districts
for growing the bright mahogany. It is a vigorous
grower and very healthy.

Several old varieties, as the Yellow Pryor, the Hes-
ter, the Gooch, and the original White Burley, are said
to have been improved by careful culture and cross-fer-
tilization, by the late R. L. Ragland, of Virginia, for a
long time the best known and one of the most successful
tobacco growers in the yellow belt.

Among the new varieties of merit for dark, rich ex-
port tobacco recently originated, may be mentioned the
Kentucky Yellow, one of the largest varieties known,
combining weight with fine texture.

Every one of the varieties mentioned in this list has
its excellences and its advocates. Two farmers, living
side by side, upon the same soils, will often differ in
their preferences, and will grow continuously for many
years different varieties from each other. Each variety
has some good points, and is deficient in others, and
from this cause the great difference in opinion as to
merits arises.

In the South, the favorite selections among a ma-
jority of planters, for the purposes indicated, are the
following: For yellow tobacco: Gooch, Broadleaf
Orinoco, or White Stem Orinoco, as it is sometimes
called, Yellow Orinoco, Hester, Bradley, Tilly, Ster-
ling, Yellow Pryor, Lacks, Primus, Tuckahoe. For
manufacturing purposes, flue, sun and air cured : Bo-
nanza, Flanagan, Little Orinoco, Sterling, Hyco, Hes-
ter, Sweet Orinoco and Bradley on siliceous loams, and
White Burley on strong limestone soils. For mild chew-
ing tobacco and smokers: Sweet Orinoco on siliceous
soils, and White Burley on limestone lands. For heavy
shipping leaf: Blue Pryor, Medley Pryor, Beat-All,
Yellow Mammoth, and Kentucky Yellow; the Shoe-
string is largely grown for shipping abroad, though very

PLATE vni. WHITE BARLEY TOBACCO (complete or seed plant).

From same farm as Plate VII. Hight, 6 feet. Top leaves, 22 incht

llong; center leaves, 30 inches long.

VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 45

narrow. For heavy stemming: Lacks, Yellow Mam-
moth, Beat-All, Orinoco Broadleaf, Blue Pryor, Mor-
row and Kentucky Yellow. For mahogany wrappers,
cutters, fillers and bright smokers, the same varieties
are grown as for yellow tobacco, though some growers
believe that a greater proportion of good wrappers is
made from some of the new varieties bred by Mr. Rag-
land. Among those most heartily commended are :
Conqueror, Eagland's Improved Yellow Orinoco, Bullion
and the Long Leaf Gooch. It should always be remem-
bered that varieties grown, even for specific purposes,
will do better on some soils than on others. And every
planter ought to test several varieties on his farm, in
order to ascertain just which will give the best results,
quality, quantity and demand considered.

CHAPTEK IV.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE TOBACCO GROWN IN THE
UNITED STATES, AND THE MARKETS FOR IT.

The cured product only of the tobacco plant is of
marketable value. Each distinct soil formation, aided
by climatic conditions, gives peculiar qualities to the
cured leaf, as to texture, flavor, color and special fitness
for varied uses and for different markets. The ability
to cultivate the plant, or to cure the product, so as to
give it such qualities as to make it desirable, is of the
utmost importance to the grower, and upon his skill in
this depend his profits.

In its green state there are many varieties of tobacco
in which peculiarities of growth, size, or time of matur-
ing, are the distinguishing features. Commercial cir-
cles recognize in the cured product classes, types and
grades. The basis of a class is its adaptation for a cer-
tain use ; the basis of a type is the combination of cer-
tain qualities, or properties, in the leaf, as color,
strength, elasticity, body, flavor, etc., or in the meth-
ods employed in curing, as sun-cured, air-cured, flue-
cured, or cured by open fires. Grades represent the
different degrees of excellence in a type, as lugs, low-
leaf, medium, good, fillers, binders and wrappers.

To illustrate more fully : The heavy shipping to-
bacco is a class adapted to the requirements of the con-
sumers in foreign markets. The yellow tobacco is a type
that may be used for exportation, for smoking and for
chewing, thus belonging to several classes. There may
be eight or ten grades of yellow tobacco, each differing
46

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 47

from the other in points of excellence, but all belonging
to the same type.

A district may produce only one type, which may
be referred to several classes ; that is, it may be suitable
for exportation, for chewing, smoking, or the making
of snuff.

A district may produce many types of the same
class, as in New England, where several types of seed-
leaf and Havana seed are grown, yet all belong to the
class of cigar tobacco and are used solely for that pur-
pose. A district may also produce only one class of one
type.

The classification first made in the census reports of
, 1880 has given the greatest satisfaction to the tobacco
trade, and it is appended below, with a few changes ren-
dered necessary by changes in demand. It must be
observed, however, that many of these classes are
interchangeable.

CLASS I.

CHEWING TOBACCO.

(a) Tobacco for fine cut and plug fillers.

Fine cut Burley.

Fine cut Mason county.

White Burley fillers.

Red Burley fillers (plug work).

Virginia sun and air cured fillers.

Virginia flue-cured fillers.

North Carolina flue-cured red fillers.

Carolina and east Tennessee flue-cured yellow fillers.

Missouri air-cured fillers.

Fire-cured fillers.

Tennessee and Kentucky air-cured fillers.

Green River fillers.

(6) Tobacco used for plug tvrappers.

Virginia yellow and mahogany.
North Carolina yellow and mahogany.
South Carolina " " "

East Tennessee " " "

West Virginia

Clarksville and Missouri dark and red.
Kentucky and Ohio Burley.

PLATE IX. WHITE BTJBLEY (topped).

Wilted when photographed, but the peculiar appearance of the nar-
row-leafed or twist-bud sub-variety is well represented. Grown at
Kentucky experiment station, Fayette county, on soil not espe-
cially adapted to tobacco. The crop on this exhausted soil, when
fertilized with potash, is as large as on typical tobacco land.
Hight 'of this plant, 35 inches ; average top leaf, 21 inches long, 8
inches wide; middle leaves, 32x11 inches; lower leaves, smaller
and variable. This sub-variety holds its leaves straight up, while
in the White Burley, shown in Plates VII and VIII, the leaves hang
down, often touching the ground when ripe.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 49

CLASS IL

TOBACCO FOB EXPORTATION,
(a) English shippers.

Bird's-Eye cutting leaf.

Brown roll wrapper.

Spinning leaf.

Heavy cutter.

Plug wrapper.

Plug fillers.

Navy leaf.

Irish filler.

Scotch Elder.

Scotch and Irish spinners.

A large portion of English shippers are sent abroad
deprived of the stem or midrib, and are called strips.

(6) Continental shippers.

French Regie, A's, B's and C's.

Italian, " " " "

Austrian, " " " "

Spanish, " " " "

Germany : German Saucer, German Spinner, Spangled tobacco

from Ohio, Maryland and "West Virginia, and fat lugs for smokers.
Switzerland : Swiss wrappers and Swiss fillers.
Holland or the Netherlands : Dutch Saucer.
Belgium : Belgian cutter.
Denmark, Norway and Sweden : Heavy Kentucky and Tennessee

types.

(c) African shippers.
Liverpool African.
Boston "
Gambia "

(d ) Mexico, South America and West Indies.
Baling wrapper.

Baling filler.

CLASS III.

PRODUCT SUITABLE FOR THE MAKING OF DOMESTIC CIGARS,
OR FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SMOKING TOBACCO.

Seedleaf and Havana seed grown in New England, Pennsylvania,

New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and Florida.
White Burley iugs.
American-grown Havana.
Perique.

Lugs from the yellow and heavy tobacco growing districts.
Indiana and Kentucky cheroot and stogy wrappers.

4

50 TOBACCO LEAF.

Fine-flbered Clarksville wrappers.
Indiana Kite-Foot.
Little Dutch, of Ohio.

Going into a more minute description of the various
members of the different classes, we begin with —
CLASS I.

CHEWING TOBACCO.

Fine Cut and Plug Fillers. — White Burley is the
product of a new variety which originated in Brown
county, Ohio, in 1864, as has been already described.
There are two sub-types now produced from the White
Burley :

1. A thin, chaffy leaf, almost destitute of gum
and oils. This is used for manufacturing fine-cut
tobacco.

2. A heavier leaf, with more body and more gum,
used for plug fillers, and generally called, in the com-
mercial world, Red Burley. This sub-type is soft, elas-
tic, spongy, with a large capacity for absorbing the sauces
with which it is treated in the process of manufacture.
It has about three per cent of nicotine, which is about
half the quantity contained in the heavy-shipping to-
bacco. It will absorb, without dripping, two and a half
times its weight of water. It is not naturally so sweet
as the flue and sun cured tobacco of Virginia, or the
air-cured product of Missouri. The fine-cut Mason
county tobacco has less gum than any other tobacco
grown in the Burley district.

The Red Burley fillers are not so bright in color as
the White Burley cutting leaf, but they have a charac-
teristic cinnamon color.

The Virginia sun and air cured fillers, which are
chiefly grown in the counties of Caroline, Hanover,
Louisa, Spottsylvania and Fluvanna, in Virginia, consist
of a leaf of medium size, light brown in color, very
sweet and fragrant, with u fair proportion of gum and

CLASSIFICATION AXD MARKETS. 51

oils. This sun and air cured tobacco is very popular
for chewing, on account of its peculiar richness of flavor
and pleasantness of taste. It contains about 3.2? per
cent of nicotine, and will absorb, without dripping,
about twice its weight in water.

The most popular and the highest priced brands of
tobacco are manufactured from the flue-cured Virginia
fillers grown, for the most part, in Henry and Patrick
counties, Virginia, but mainly in Henry county. This
product is of medium size, brown or mahogany in color,
fine in texture, delicate in fiber, oily and elastic. It is
usually made from the variety known as the Little Ori-
noco, which is peculiar in the irregularity of its veins, or
smaller fibers, and the frequent bifurcations of these
fibers.

The best North Carolina Bed fillers, resembling
somewhat those grown in Henry county, Va., come from
Eockingham, Guilford, Forsyth, Surry, and to a
smaller extent from several other counties in the west-
ern section. They are flue-cured, of a cherry red in
color, with whitish fibers. They are sweet, tough and
leathery, but of small leaf and delicate fibers. They are
made from thoroughly ripened plants, and while not
great absorbers of the sauces with which they are
treated in the process of manufacture, yet they are
highly popular because of their peculiarly sweet, natural
flavor. When the plants are cut before they are ripe,
the product is subject to "gray veins," which are highly
objectionable, inasmuch as such veins do not disappear,
or blacken, when manufactured, and reveal the imma-
turity of the product.

The yellow fillers of Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and of east Tennessee, though used, to some
extent, in the manufacture of chewing tobacco, are yet
wanting in the natural sweetness and toughness of
leaf, which are so much to be desired in chewing tobacco.

PLATE IXa. WHITE BURLEY (topped).

This is a picture of a plant of this variety somewhat different from
the plant shown in Plate IX, although belonging to the narrow-
leaf variety and finer type of the White Burley. It is grown on a
field having a typical blue grass soil, in Fayette county, Kentucky,
well suited to the growth of White Burley. This plant was 3J feet
high; top leaf, 28 inches long and 8 inches wide; middle leaves,
31x9 inches.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 53

The Missouri air-cured fillers make what is called a
"tough, sweet chew," that is pleasant to the taste, but
the texture of the leaf is not so delicate or silky as that
of the Henry county flue-cured tobacco, nor does it com-
mand such high prices in the market.

A chewing tobacco with a large percentage of nico-
tine, much used by miners, sailors, lumbermen, farm
laborers, and others employed in outdoor work, is made
of the strong, new-land tobacco grown in the heavy-
shipping districts, and even, to some extent, of that
grown on heavily manured plots. This product rises
sometimes as high as six per cent in nicotine, and is
totally unfit for use by delicate persons, or those having
weak nerves. Owing to the large amount of gummy
substances stored away in its vascular tissue, it rarely
has the capacity of absorbing, without dripping, more
than an equal weight of water.

The air-cured fillers of Tennessee and Kentucky,
other than the Burley, are of light to medium weight,
not coarse in texture or fiber, but far from being as del-
icate as the flue-cured products of Virginia. This prod-
uct is not gummy or waxy, but it has a mild, sweet
flavor, free from acridity or bitterness, porous in struc-
ture, and generally of a brigbt, pale- red color. It
possesses a high absorptive capacity. It is distinguished
from the Burley fillers by having more body, with less
delicacy of fiber, and by being darker in color.

Plug Wrappers. — Equally as essential for making
plug tobacco, are plug wrappers. The yellow and ma-
hogany types of Virginia, North and South Carolina,
east Tennessee and portions of Kentucky, may be con-
sidered grades of the yellow type. The highest grade of
yellow wrappers is small in size, lemon-yellow in color,
soft and silky to the feel, with yellow or white fibers.
It sparkles with minute, golden colored granules, appar-
ently sprinkled on the upper surface of the leaf, that

54 TOBACCO LEA.F.

give a splendor to its appearance, especially in the sun-
light. Other grades, less perfect in the yellow color, fol-
low this, by almost imperceptible gradations, to the ma-
hogany or mottled yellow and brown. The lemon
colored leaf stands at the head as a wrapper for plug,
especially if it will withstand heavy pressure without
blackening. The mahogany and red wrappers are gen-
erally larger than the yellow wrappers. They usually
contain a large proportion of oily substances in their
composition, and will blacken the more readily under a
heavy pressure. The absorptive capacity of the yellow
wrapper is over two and a half times its weight. The
dark and red wrappers of the Clarksville (Tennessee)
district, as well as those of Missouri, have a strong and
elastic texture, heavy in body, soft, smooth and flexible
in structure, of fine stem and fiber, varying in color from
a light brown to that of port wine. The leaf must be
free from worm cut or field fire, of good width, and of
well rounded proportions. These wrappers are in de-
mand for the Canada trade, and sometimes by the man-
ufacturers of stogy cigars.

The Burley wrappers grown in Mason county, Ken-
tucky, are distinguished for their fineness, softness,
strength and elasticity. In color, they run from a red •
dish-yellow to a dark brown. The best grades of the
White Burley product of Mason county make excellent
wrappers for plug work.

CLASS II.

EXPORT TOBACCO.

English Shippers. — Great Britain furnishes the best
foreign market for American tobacco. The United King-
dom, composed of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales,
took the following quantities of American tobacco for
the years named : For 1891, 62,945,623 pounds ; 1892,
54,594,449 pounds; 1893, 69,493,638 pounds; 1894,

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 55

83,273,149 pounds; 1895, 89,945,565 pounds. Both
leaf and strips are taken, and a variable quantity is re-
exported. Among the requirements are about 40,000
hogsheads of Western tobacco, of which there are some
28,000 hogsheads of Western strips, and 10,000 hogs-
heads of dried leaf, and about 2,000 hogsheads of White
Burley. From 8,000 to 10,000 hogsheads of Virginia
and North Carolina leaf, and from 10,000 to 14,000
hogsheads of Virginia, North Carolina and East Ten-
nessee strips are also included in the demand for the
trade and consumption in the United Kingdom. Within
recent years the consumption of leaf tobacco has in-
creased in the English markets, under an arrangement
with the revenue department by which the manufac-
turer is allowed to return the stems into the hands of the
proper officer, for destruction or exportation. In some
forms of manufacture, the stem is compressed in the leaf
into a thin plate, and then split, so as to divide the leaf
into two parts.

The Bird's-Eye cutter is the only type used exclu-
sively in the leaf in English consumption. It consists
of a very bright, smooth, thin and clean leaf, with as
little gum and oil as possible. The color of both the
upper and under sides of the leaf must be of uniform
and similar shades of bright color, and the stem must be
of a brightish brown color on the outside, and white on
the inside, or upper side, of the leaf. Each section into
which the stem is cut presents an appearance on the cut
surface of the eye of a bird, and hence its name. This
type, formerly grown only in the lower Green River dis-
trict of Kentucky, and in the Clarksville district, is now
largely grown in the Burley districts, and in Virginia
and North Carolina.

Fine Roll wrapper is a bright red or full bright leaf,
of good breadth, thin and smooth in texture, almost
destitute of oil, resembling the leaf used by our domes-

PLATE x. HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO (topped ready for harvesting).

Name of variety, Yellow Mammoth. Might, 30 inches; bottom leaves,
30 inches long and 19 inches wide; middle leaves, 34x20 inches; top
leaves, 35x22 inches wide. The lower leaf is 10 inches from the
ground ; the upper, 30 inches from the ground. Distance between
each leaf on the stalk, 2 2-9 inches. Grown in Robertson county,
northern Tennessee.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 57

tic manufacturers for making fine cut. It is used in
England as a wrapper for spinning brown roll. The
wrapper is filled with suitable fillers, and the whole spun
into a strand about one inch in diameter. This is coiled
like a rope, from which sections are cut for retail. The
filler for the brown roll is of the same type as the wrap-
per, but of a lower grade. The midrib for this roll is
always removed.

Spinning leaf, or strips, is a type consisting of a
long, rich and oily leaf, of full brown color, good weight
and body, strong and elastic in texture, and of general
smoothness. Brighter colors are growing in demand for
spinning leaf. Formerly the "fatty" types of the
Clarksville district were in demand for this purpose, but
the requirements of the German market depreciated
their value so much that less oily types are now substi-
tuted. The strand into which this is spun is of a
smaller size than that of the brown roll. A still smaller
strand is spun, called Lady's Twist, which is consumed
principally in Scotland, Ireland and in the north of
England. The wrapper for the latter consists of a smaller
and shorter leaf, but of the same general quality as that
used for the larger strand.

There is a coarsely cut manufactured product, known
as Shag, much used in England. The supply of to-
bacco for this is drawn mainly from southern Indiana
and the Green Eiver district of Kentucky. This tobacco
has but little gum, but more than has the leaf used in the
United States for making fine cut. It is called a heavy
cutter. Substitutes for it came from Japan, Java, Para-
guay and the Dutch possessions.

Plug wrappers for the English market consist of
rich brown leaves, smooth in structure, medium in size,
and strong and elastic in texture. Plug wrappers are in
limited demand in the United Kingdom because the
consumption of plug tobacco is very small. Plug fillers

58 TOBACCO LEAF.

used in England are the short, common and imperfect
leaves of the same general character as the wrappers.

The Navy plug, for use in the English navy, was
made of the best of Green River redried fillers, until the
substitution, in a large part, of the White Burley fillers.
These now compose the largest portion of the material
used in the manufacture of Navy plug in quarters, half
pounds and pounds. A short, fully ripened, clean and
oily leaf is used in Ireland for fillers. The Bird's- Eye
and Irish fillers are sold in the English market in the
leaf for the special consumption to which they are
adapted.

Scotch Elder is a type very popular in England and
Scotland. It is a leaf of good size, and reddish in color.
It has great absorptive or drinking capacity, very porous,
containing a small content of gummy matter, with a
medium texture as to fineness. The cause of its great
popularity is that as much as fifty-five pounds of water
may be added to one hundred pounds of tobacco before
it is sold to consumers. As the tax on every pound of
tobacco imported to England is about seventy-six cents,
it will be seen that the greatest profits to the retailer
come from the capacity of the tobacco to absorb and
retain moisture.

The Scotch and Irish spinners are almost identical
in character with the English spinners.

CONTINENTAL SHIPPERS — REGIE TYPES.

French Regie Types. — The exports of American
tobacco to France were, 35,363,885 pounds in 1891;
39,773,013 pounds in 1892; 39,508,592 pounds in 1893;
38,268,008 pounds in 1894; and 34,943,161 pounds in
1895. This amount is usually made up of about 11,000
hogsheads of Western tobacco, 1000 hogsheads of Vir-
ginia, 4000 hogsheads of Maryland and a variable quan-
tity of eastern Ohio tobacco, possibly 2000 hogsheads.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 59

Of the Western tobacco, about half is Barley, and the
demand for that type is rapidly increasing. This is
manifested in the changes made for the requirement of
the French Regie, for 1896, which called for 8,038,530
pounds of Burley, as against 5,894,922 pounds in 1895;
1,339,755 pounds of heavy Kentucky, as against 1,607,706
pounds in 1895; 8,842,383 pounds of light Kentucky,
as against 15,005,256 pounds in 1895; and 1,607,706
pounds Virginia, as against 2,277,584 pounds in 1895.
The demand for Burley was increased by about 2000
hogsheads. The demand for Maryland tobacco was also
increased, but no call was made for the tobacco of north-
eastern Ohio.

It will be seen that there is a considerable varia-
tion in the character of the tobacco taken by the French
Regie. Usually the French demand may be reduced to
two distinct lines of classification, as heavy and light,
with considerable irregularity as to grade, and deficiency
as to distinctiveness in type. Two things are usually
insisted upon: The stem must be absolutely free from
mold, and the leaf must be supple enough to open freely.
There are types of both heavy and light, known as A's,
B's and C's. Type A consists of a leaf from twenty-
three to twenty-five inches long, of moderately smooth
appearance, dark brown in color, and heavy or light, ac-
cording to the classification. This type is supplied by
White Burley, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee to-
bacco. Type B is of the same quality as type A, except
as to length, which may be from eighteen to twenty-two
inches. Type C consists of good, sound, clear lugs, or
common leaf of moderately heavy body, running from
the Clarksville and western Kentucky type of medium
weight and body, to the lower Green River product
of medium weight of body.

It is said that France puts up the best smoking to-
bacco in Europe, and the product is made absolutely

PLATE XI. HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO.

Seed plant from same field as Plate X. Right, 5 feet 9 inches ; bottom
leaves, 30 inches long, 14 inches wide; middle, 30x14 inches; top,
24x13 Inches.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 61

uniform, one year with another, by proper mixing of to-
bacco in large bins containing from thirty to forty hogs-
heads each. France also consumes from 15,000 to
25,000 hogsheads of tobacco grown in Alsace-Lorraine
and about 5000 hogsheads of Hungarian tobacco.

Italian Regie. — The exports of the tobacco of the
United States to Italy were: 32,436,011 pounds in
1891; 30,096,355 pounds in 1892; 27,515,456 pounds
in 1893; 24,484,406 pounds in 1894; and 24,626,836
pounds in 1895. Italy usually takes from 15,000 to
18,000 hogsheads of heavy tobacco annually, and 2000
to 3000 hogsheads of Burley. The tobacco taken from
Italy is also classified into A's, B's, and C's.

Type A is a large, smooth, showy and silky leaf,
twenty-five to twenty-six inches long, of delicate fiber
and texture, and of a solid dark brown color. Moderate
weight only is required in this type, and just oil and fat
enough to make it elastic and strong. This type is used
as wrappers in the manufacture of cigars.

Type B varies between heavy and light tobacco,
sometimes the one, and then the other, being called for
in the contract. When the heavy is required, the type
consists of leaf of heavy body, dark brown color, and of
more general richness and weight than type A, and it
must be from twenty-two to twenty-five inches long.
This type is used partly in the manufacture of snuff.
Type B, light, consists of leaf of second and third grades
of the same length of the heavy type, of showy appear-
ance, light brown, or red, in color, and of moderate
weight of body. Type B, light, is used in the manufac-
ture of cigars of milder flavor than those made of the
heavier type, and it is also used largely for cutting into
smoking tobacco.

Type C consists of short, common leaf, eighteen to
twenty inches in length, of moderate weight of body, and
is used as fillers and binders in the manufacture of cigars.

62 TOBACCO LEAF.

Of these various types, A is chiefly selected from the
lighter-bodied and smooth product of the Clarksville
district and of the western Kentucky district; B, heavy,
from the heavier bodied products of these districts; B,
light, from the lower Green River district. The tobacco
of southern Indiana and Illinois has sometimes been
used for B. light. Type C is the common leaf of the
heavy-producing districts, and the heavier bodied prod-
uct of the light-producing districts. Intermediate
types are frequently allowed in the Eegie contracts. A
small quantity of White Burley tobacco is taken for
trial. Italy uses a considerable amount of Hungarian-
grown tobacco.

Austria Eegie takes only one type from the
United States, and this is divided into A, B and C
grades. This is a wrapping leaf, very smooth and fine
in fiber, of very solid, firm and glossy texture above
medium heavy body, but not of the heaviest and most
fleshy type, and of a perfectly uniform brown and piebald
color. A very essential quality is toughness in the leaf
and a capacity of stretch. It must be well cured by fire,
but not injured in curing. The length of leaf is not an
essential part of the fitness, but good length is pre-
ferred. This type is used in Austria as wrappers for
cigars, and is supplied partly from Virginia, but in the
main from the Clarksville district. The lower grades of
tobacco for the Austrian Regie are supplied from Hun-
gary. Austria is also taking a small quantity of White
Burley tobacco experimentally.

The Spanish Eegie. — The Spanish contract is let
for periods ranging from one to six years, and is filled
by sound, common and medium lugs and low leaf of all
types and districts, except the Burley and bright-tobacco-
producing districts. It is also, in part, filled by the low
and nondescript leaf of light type. Most of the tobacco
for this contract is taken from the Western product,

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 63

only abont 2000 hogsheads of Virginia tobacco being
found suitable in character and price. The order is
generally made for one-third of leaf of low grade and
two-thirds lugs. The tobacco is classified into A's, B's
and C's. Most all of it is used for smoking, the better
grades for wrappers, binders and fillers in the manufac-
ture of cigars, and the lower grades are granulated and
used for the manufacture of cigarettes and a moderate
amount in snuff. The tobacco taken for Gibraltar is
not embraced in the following statement: The quantity
taken annually is from 15,000 to 18,000 hogsheads.
There were 13,865,549 pounds of the tobacco of the
United States exported to Spain in 1891; 22,862,875
pounds in 1992; 12,611,810 pounds in 1893; 30,054,113
pounds in 1894; and 26,262,432 pounds in 1895.

German Types. — German Saucer is a sweet, fair-
bodied leaf of fine fiber and stem, gummy, without fat-
ness, and either of a clear, cherry red in color, or mot-
tled with yellow, technically called piebald. The sur-
face is gummy, the leaf of good length, with consider-
able weight of body. It is prepared for consumption in
Germany by treating it with sweet sauces of a peculiar
flavor and character. The fiber must be yellow after
being treated with these sauces, and the leaf black. It
is supplied mainly from Virginia, though some excellent
tobacco for this purpose is grown in the heavy-tobacco
districts of Tennessee and Kentucky.

German Spinner consists of a very heavy-bodied leaf,
from twenty-four to twenty-six inches long, full in
width, of fine stem and fiber, very oily and fat, so that
it will come out of the process of fermentation supple
and strong, tough and elastic in texture, and of a very
deep dark-brown color. This type is used in Germany
and the north of Europe for spinning into strand. It is
supplied chiefly from the Clarksville district and in part
from the Green River districts of Kentucky. It is this

PLATE XII. BRIGHT YELLOW TOBACCO (Silky Pryor, topped planl).

Photographed in same field and on same date (Aug. 21) as Plate XIII.
Hight of plant, 3J feet. Bottom leaf, 13x25 incites; middle leaf,
16x28J inches; top leaf, 13x24 inches. Season: Rains up to about
July 15, excessive heat and dryness for next 22 days.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 65

type that has given the Clarksville tobacco its most dis-
tinguishing characteristics.

German Spinning fillers are of the same character of
tobacco as the wrappers, differing only in grade, and
consist of very fat, clean and heavy-bodied lugs, which
are also supplied from the Clarksville and upper Green
River districts.

Germany also takes most of the Spangled tobacco of
West Virginia and Ohio, and also that of Maryland.
This is a leaf of full breadth, moderate length, and
small stem. It is deficient in oil, ha? a medium strength
in texture, and in color is yellow, yellow spangled with
red, red spangled with yellow, and fine red. It is cured
with open fires, but has a mild, sweet flavor. The fine
yellow and yellow spangled go to Bremen, where it is
rehandled, and packed in lighter casks, and sent to
Russia for consumption. A portion, however, is taken to
Austria and England, the two latter named countries
taking also the red spangled. England takes the fine
red. Germany takes all grades for consumption or dis-
tribution, mostly, however, dark tobacco. It now
takes about 500 hogsheads of bright fillers. Very little
of the French and Italian types are taken; and only
scraps of these types which are used in the country for
smoking tobacco. Germany is also a large market for
Burley lugs, and for seedleaf for cigars.

Next to the United Kingdom, Germany is the best
customer for American tobacco. Tobacco is sold in an
open market, and is not a government monopoly.
There were 48,055,408 pounds sent to that country
from the United States in 1891; 53,116,734 pounds in
1892; 61,235,195 pounds in 1893; 51,632,897 pounds
in 1894; and 54,184,621 pounds in 1895.

Russia takes some Maryland tobacco directly from
this country, but nothing else of consequence. South-
ern Russia is supplied from Greece, Turkey and North
5

66 TOBACCO LEAF.

Africa. Sweden and Norway take direct from the
United States, from 1,629,755 pounds in 1892, to
351,495 pounds in 1895. Portugal takes a very variable
quantity, running from 2,657,256 pounds in 1893, to
only 5091 pounds in 1895. The demand for Gibraltar
was, for 1893, 1,470,916 pounds; for 1894, 2,301,883
pounds; for 1895, 1,896,332 pounds. Much of this is
re-exported to Africa. The Azores and Madeira Islands
take annually from 3000 pounds to 320,000 pounds of
the tobacco of the United States.

Snuff Lugs and Smokers. — The very fat, heavy and
oily lugs of the Clarksville and other heavy-producing
districts are consumed largely in the United States and
Germany in the manufacture of common snuff, and for
baling and spinning fillers, as noted elsewhere. They
are also used on the Continent for the manufacture of
common cigars.

Switzerland takes from the United States only one
type, known as Swiss wrapper. This is a broadleaf,
twenty-six to thirty inches in length, silky, of fine fiber
and stem, and of a dark brown or chestnut color. The
spaces between the lateral fibers should be wide, and a
combination of thin web and strong fiber is desired, so
that the largest number of wrappers may be obtained
from a given quantity. It is used in Switzerland as a
cigar wrapper, and is supplied principally from the
Clarksville district, but to a small extent from other
heavy-producing districts. It must be cured by fire.
The quantity of tobacco grown in the United States,
taken directly to Switzerland, is very small, perhaps
from five hundred to seven hundred hogsheads annually.

The Netherlands take one distinct type from the
United States, known as Dutch Saucer, which is similar
in all respects to the German Saucer, except that it is
thinner and more silky in texture. The other types
taken are very much like those required for Germany,

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 67

including Burley lugs. The quantity of tobacco of the
growth of the United States required for exportation to
the Netherlands was, 18,791,146 pounds in 1891;
17,188,641 pounds in 1892; 18,168,278 pounds in 1893;
18,974,661 pounds in 1894; and 20,651,086 pounds in
1895. Black, fat and heavy tobacco, and a small per-
centage of light tobacco, are the types required for con-
sumption in the Netherlands.

Belgium likewise takes one special type, known as
Belgian Cutter, which is a short leaf of a mottled, or
piebald color, and of fair body, without fat or oil. The
general quality and structure are such as have been
noted as characterizing the German and Dutch Saucers,
except that the grade is lower. It is used in Belgium
for cutting purposes. Belgium also buys largely of
Burley lugs. The export of American tobacco to Bel-
gium was, 18,108,975 pounds in 1891; 16,644,542
pounds in 1892; 12,509,366 pounds in 1893; 17,695,375
pounds in 1894, and 25,104,707 pounds in 1895. Most
of the tobacco taken belongs to the low grades.

Denmark, Norway and Sweden. — The tobacco con-
sumed in these countries is for the most part grown in
the United States, but rehandled and prepared for their
markets, mainly in Bremen. A bright mottled, or red,
fleshy, sweet leaf, not fat, prepared in Germany from
the product, usually, of Virginia and the Clarksville,
Tennessee, districts, is a great favorite in Denmark,
Norway and Sweden. In addition to this, many of the
heavy Clarksville types cured with fire are largely con-
sumed in these countries. The leaf is dipped in sweet
preparations of licorice and sugar, redried, repacked
and shipped to Norway and Sweden, where it is said to
be "first chewed, then smoked and then snuffed." The
direct exports from the United States to Denmark
vary from 138,567 pounds in 1893 to 430,976 pounds,
in 1895.

PLATE xiii. BRIGHT YELLOW TOBACCO (Silky Pryor, seed plant).

Right to tip of seed, 7i feet; hight to top leaf, 2 feet 10 inches. Bright
type of tobacco grown in Coffee county, Tennessee, and on the
Cumberland plateau, 1070 feet altitude.

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 69

Yellow Tobacco. — Of yellow tobacco, a large quantity
is exported to Europe, ranging in quantity with the dif-
ferent districts, from one-third to one-half of the prod-
uct grown. The following grades are chiefly taken for
export:

1. Cutters: Usually thin and bright, occupying
a position, as to grade, intermediate between a wrapper
and a lug. This grade contributes about one-fourth of
the amount exported. Used for cigarettes and smoking
tobacco.

2. Bright, greenish yellow and lemon colored
stripping leaf, used for fillers and partly as an English
cutter. It is shipped both in leaf and in strips. All
this grade, for the most part, is exported, and makes
nearly half the quantity that goes abroad. It is used
for plug and plug cut.

3. Leafy cutting lugs, three grades, which make
nearly one-fourth of the foreign shipments of yellow
tobacco.

In addition to these grades, a very small per cent of
bright wrappers go abroad.

African Shippers. — These are usually divided into
three classes:

1. Those which are suitable for the western coast of
Africa, embracing Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegambia and
those French and Portugal possessions bordering on the
gulf of Guinea, known as the Guinea coast. The to-
bacco for these markets should be of long, dark leaf,
strong body, small tie, packed into hogsheads of small
size, and made to weigh about 1500 pounds gross. The
tobacco must be neatly handled.

2. The tobacco suitable for the coast further south
should be of long leaf, medium to light color, fine fibers,
nearly of the same length of leaf as class one, and
handled neatly. The hogsheads should weigh 1450
pounds gross.

70 TOBACCO LEAF.

3. The tobacco suitable for the more northern parts
of Africa should consist of a light or piebald leaf, not so
long as classes one and two, and packed in hogsheads of
medium size, weighing not more than 1450 pounds

Tobacco for the African market is often packed in
boxes or quarter hogsheads, which will hold from 300 to
400 pounds gross, by hard prizing. Tobacco thus pre-
pared is more subject to atmospheric influences than
when prized in hogsheads.

Most of the tobacco which finds its way to the African
markets is put up by rehandlers in this country, but
there is a fair proportion of leaf of suitable quality and
handling put up by farmers, which is taken usually by
Boston merchants, who send cargoes of various articles
to the African coast. It requires 3000 hogsheads to
supply the African demand for the tobacco grown in the
United States.

Shippers for Mexico, South America and the West
Indies. — The baling wrapper is a heavy leaf, twenty-eight
to thirty inches in length, of fair width, very lat and
oily, of heavy texture and of a very dark color. A nec-
essary requirement of this class is bthat it should be
neatly tied in small bundles, strongly and carefully
packed in casks, and moderately pressed. It is put up
as a wrapper leaf in preparing stock for the trade of the
several markets named. It is taken from the hogshead,
after fermentation, and packed in bales weighing from
one hundred to two hundred pounds. These bales are
covered with a cloth. They are so prepared that two
bales may be balanced across the back of a pack mule,
for convenience of transportation over the mountainous
regions in the districts in which the tobacco is con-
sumed.

Baling fillers are made of common, rich and heavy
leaf, and fine lugs of heavy body, having a full supply of

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 71

oils and fatness. Some of the exports to the West
Indies are called "black fats," and are made dark by
heavy pressure and the application of water.

Nondescript Tobacco. — This name applied to tobacco
indicates that it cannot be classified. It has the merit
of cheapness, and in times of scarcity of some well-
deQned type, a nondescript variety, resembling it, is
often substituted. The lowest and commonest grades of
lugs, especially if air cured, like the trash of the White
Burley, are often used in the United States for making
the cheapest grades of pipe-smoking tobacco. Some-
times stems are mixed with them to increase the bulk
and reduce the cost. The lowest qualities of lugs and
nondescript are also sometimes used for making sheep
wash.

Stems, or midribs, are exported in considerable quan-
tities to Gei'many and Sweden, and are used in the man-
ufacture of cheap grades of snuff and chewing tobacco.
They are also extensively used in the United States for
the protection of fruit trees from the borer and other
insect enemies. Stems for exportation are prized in a
very dry condition, so as to save duty. Sweden uses
about 2000 hogsheads of stems annually. The net
weight of a hogshead averages from 1800 pounds to 2000
pounds.

CLASS III.

CIGAR AND SMOKING TOBACCO.

Havana Seed or Seedleaf. — Both varieties are as-
sorted by the cigar manufacturer in practically the same
manner. Seedleaf is used mostly as a binder. Com-
paratively little can be used for wrappers, as the leaf is
too rough, and its growth is not fine enough. Some
manufacturers, however, still cling to seedleaf wrappers,
and choice crops of this variety command a premium.
The leaf from all varieties of cigar tobacco is assorted

.72 TOBACCO LEAF.

for manufacturers' use into grades of leaf called wrap-
pers, binders and fillers. These three grades are each
again subdivided into long and short grades, or into A
and B grades, and sometimes even into C and D. Short
wrappers are not infrequently known as "lights." On
the growing tobacco plant, the top and bottom leaves
are of about the same size, the extremes of each being
worthless. On the other hand, the cream of the plant
is found in the leaves at the center of the plant. Be-
tween the center leaves, or wrappers, and the end, or
small, leaves, are the binders, while the end leaves, those
from the bud to the upper binders, and from the tap-
root to the lower binder leaves, are the fillers.

The innermost tobacco in the cigar is the filler, the
next leaf used is the binder, to keep the filler in the form
or shape of a cigar, and the finishing or outside leaf is
the wrapper.

In buying cigar leaf, the manufacturer looks for
the right burn, taste, texture, color, "feeling," general
appearance and "strength." The views of different
manufacturers on each of these points may vary widely.
No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to precisely
the degree of each of these qualities that the majority of
cigar manufacturers require. Moreover, the style, or
fashion, in cigars frequently changes, while the whims,
or demands of smokers are almost as varied as the num-
ber of these individuals. Formerly, dark, coarse and
strong-flavored cigars were the favorite, but now the
general preference is for light colors and sweeter flavors.
Still, many smokers want dark cigars of strong flavor.
No one can tell when the fashion will change.

The old style of assorting cigars, as to color, was to
make them up without assortment of the wrapper leaf
before wrapping. After the cigars were made, they
were assorted to six colors. With improvement in all
lines of manufacturing, a finer ranging of colors was be-

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 73

lieved possible, so that in recent years, manufacturers
open each hand of wrapper tobacco and assort it to the
six colors. /These are called,

Claro, very light brown.

Colorado Claro, light brown.

Colorado, brown.

Colorado Maduro, dark brown.

Maduro, dark.

Oscuro, black.

Of the latter, but little, if any, has been used for
years.

The cigars are wrapped with the above shadings,
and each lot is kept by itself. As a leaf varies in
color at opposite ends, a second assortment, this time of
the cigars, is made. This is essential, as the tip of a
leaf may be of a Colorado color, while the stalk end may
be a Maduro. As finally placed in the box, the colors
are so arranged by shadings that only an expert will
notice any difference of shades in the same box among
the finer grades of cigars.

Large manufacturers nearly always manipulate leaf,
more or less, after its purchase, for their particular
needs. They will take a crop and sweat it over again
during a season, and by regulating the heat and tem-
perature, the leaf will come out two or three shades
darker. This can be done by the experienced shop
foreman, nearly to a certainty, every time. On the
other hand, no process has, as yet, been devised for
changing a leaf to a lighter color ; to the man discov-
ering such a process awaits an immense fortune.

As used in the cigar, binders may be a shade lighter
than the wrapper, but binders are never put through
the six-color assortment, as are wrappers. Binders
are assorted into grades of sweetness and strength.

The filler has much the same assortment ; it is the
filler that makes the cigar ; that is, produces the taste,

PLATE xiv. YELLOW TOBACCO (Lacks or Wand variety).

Grown in Halifax county, Virginia. Hight, 26 inches; top leaves,
10x23 inches; middle leaves, 13x27 inches; bottom leaves, 13x24
inches.

74

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 75

sweetness and strength. For that reason, filler leaf is
selected for a character in itself, as sweetness, strength
and perhaps catchy taste. A filler leaf may be most de-
sirable, but wrapped with an undesirable wrapper or
binder, its desirable quality may be detracted from and
its chief value rendered worthless. On the other hand,
the filler leaf may be "flat," and the wrapper or binder,
or both, may give to the cigar nearly its entire value.

The gum in cigar leaf is what produces much of its
value in smoking. The taste, strength, texture, etc.,
are all more or less dependent on the amount of gum
present. Sometimes a crop has too much gum ; this was
especially true of the '93 and '94 crops of all sections
of the country. The leaf raised in the section around
East Hartford, Ct., should be kept two years for proper
curing, as it contains an unusually large per cent of gum.

To make cigars of the great variety of requirements
called for by the trade, involves much skill and expe-
rience in selecting and putting together the grades of
leaf necessary to accomplish any desired result. The
judgment, or ability, to do this commands a high pre-
mium in American cigar factories. It can only be
learned by close observation and wide experience. It
cannot be described in a book. To still further compli-
cate the matter, crops from the same region may vary
greatly in quality from year to year. It is customary to
refer to the Connecticut seedleaf crop grown in 1871 as
the type of absolute perfection, while the Havana seed
crop of 1892 was in many sections of remarkable quality
when it came out of the sweat. The curing, and the
subsequent fermentation, of the leaf, also profoundly
affect its quality. The best the grower can do is to fol-
low the matter closely from year to year, and strive for
those qualities in his leaf which are in most demand —
and he must" follow the demand closely to see just what
it is.

76 TOBACCO LEAF.

The Pipe-Smoking Tobacco now most highly prized,
and in greatest demand, is made mainly from the bright
lugs of the yellow-tobacco districts. These lugs are of
three sub-grades, viz : Common or sand lugs ; medium
or smooth lugs, and bright or wrapping lugs.

A mixture of heavier lugs, or dark, low leaf, is
made when greater strength is required in the tobacco.
White Burley lugs, which are usually fine and bright,
are much used for making granulated pipe-smoking to-
bacco. These lugs are usually of sweet flavor, thin in
leaf, light or yellowish-brown in color, inclined to be
trashy and chaffy, and, when mixed with the Carolina
and Virginia bright lugs, make the very highest grade of
smoking tobacco for pipes. It is sweet to the taste,
mild in the effects, and exceedingly popular with per-
sons of sedentary habits. A strong pipe-smoking to-
bacco is preferred by persons who live an active, out-
door life. Some of the Burley lugs, especially those
that are bright in color and thin of leaf, are granulated,
and form good stock for the manufacture of cigarettes.

Perique tobacco, grown exclusively in Louisiana by
the descendants of the Arcadians, is peculiar in the
methods used in its curing and its preparation for mar-
ket. It emits a highly spirituous odor, much liked by
some smokers. While but few pipe smokers prefer the
Perique in its unadulterated state, a suitable mixture of
it with other tobacco makes a popular brand for pipe
smoking. The total amount of Perique grown now
reaches 175,000 pounds per annum, according to the
authority of S. Hershein & Co., who handle the entire
product. This is said to be twice as much as there is
any demand for. The production has extended and
largely increased during the past few years. Common
lugs from the various tobacco districts constitute the
lower grades of many types. These lugs are trashy,
earth-burned, deficient in body and weight of leaf, of

CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 77

every color known to the cured-tobacco plant, and
milder than the better grades of the types from which
they are taken.

By a proper admixture of colors and strength of leaf,
many brands of pipe-smoking tobacco are made from such
lugs, as bright, dark, brown, red, spangled, yellow, mild,
medium and strong. Some air-cured lugs are granulated
for cigarettes, the stock being furnished from the light,
thin products of Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, eastern Ohio and Maryland. The lugs se-
lected for this purpose are light in weight and color.

Some heavy-bodied lugs are used for snuff ; some
lighter grades for cigar fillers, and still lighter for the
pipe — either cut or granulated.

Stogy wrappers and fillers, used for making a
coarse, common, domestic cigar, is a western-grown leaf,
of full length and breadth, and of light body and fine
fiber. Uniformly dark colors are selected. To a very
small extent, a red or cinnamon color is required. The
tobacco for this purpose must be air cured and entirely
free from any flavor inparted by fire or smoke. It is
necessary, before being used, that it shall be somewhat
soured by sweat or fermentation. The manufacture of
this class of cigars is carried on in Louisville, Ky., Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, Pittsburg, Pa., and in Wheeling, W.
Va. The difference between the wrappers and fillers is
in grade only. What are called " self -workers " consist
of packages in which both fillers and wrappers are put
up in proper proportions.

A plug tobacco, wrapped with fine-fibered Clarks-
ville tobacco, of good breadth of leaf and of a port wine
color, is put up in the United States for making cigars,
and nearly all is exported. These wrappers impart a
rank flavor to the cigars. They are also produced in
some parts of Virginia. A few of them only are used in
the manufacture of stogy cigars.

78 TOBACCO LEAF.

The Indiana Kite-Foot, a variety having a broad,
short leaf, grown in Owen and Clark counties, in
Indiana, is used for making common cigars. This to-
bacco is cured with fire, and the color is generally brown,
sprinkled with yellow spots.

Little Dutch is a small variety, with thin leaf,
sweet, dark brown in color, with a glossy surface, and it
is grown in the Miami Valley of Ohio. It makes a very
pleasant pipe-smoking tobacco". It is easily injured by
the process of fermentation and for that reason is not
popular with manufacturers of tobacco or cigars. It
loses twenty per cent of its weight by sweating, and
has less nicotine than any other tobacco grown, having
only 0. 63 of one per cent.

CHAPTER V.

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION TO TOBACCO.

Few plants are so susceptible to soil, feeding and
culture, as tobacco. Certainly no other crop requires
more scientific knowledge to grow it to perfection.
Men who have raised it for years, who have closely stud-
ied their own and others' experiments, agree with the
authors that the scientific aspect of tobacco culture is
just beginning to be understood. The curing of the
leaf, and its subsequent fermentation, are also only just
beginning to be understood. All these matters open up
most fascinating fields in chemistry, physics and bacte-
riology, upon which we have space to but briefly touch.

AS TO THE COMPOSITION OF TOBACCO.

Constituents of Tobacco Leaf. — Nicotine is the ac-
tive principle of tobacco upon which its peculiar value
depends. To it the narcotic and intoxicating qualities of
the leaf are mainly due. It is an oily substance that
quickly evaporates, and has a strong, pungent and pecul-
iar odor. Nicotine is present in the plant from the
time it commences to grow in the seed bed, until it has
reached maturity and gone through all the fermentative
changes incident to curing, sweating and manufacture.
The flavor and characteristic odor of tobacco are supposed
to be due to a volatile substance called nicotianine. For
practical purposes it may be considered with nicotine,
or as a part of it.

The percentage of nicotine varies in the different
parts of the plant, and this variation increases as the
79

80 TOBACCO LEAF.

plant reaches maturity, but every part contains some
trace of this alkaloid. The percentage of nicotine is
greater just as the leaf reaches maturity, than in either
the green or overripe leaves. Apparently the formation
and accumulation of nicotine in the leaf continue as
long as there is growth. The effect of nicotine, after
plant growth ceases, is not understood, nor is the office
of nicotine in the economy of the plant definitely stated.
The amount of nicotine in the whole leaf (exclusive of
the stem or midribs), of American-grown tobacco, ranges
from less than one per cent to nearly six per cent of the
chemically dry substance.

"This variation in the percentage of nicotine,"
says Carpenter, "is due, in some measure, to different
varieties, but whatever variety is grown, or what other
conditions prevail, it is almost always noticed that those
influences which tend to produce a coarse, rank growth,
containing a large percentage of albuminoids, also pro-
duce a comparatively large amount of nicotine. The
climate, nature of soil and fertilizers, treatment of crop,
etc., all have their influence. Of all these conditions,
that of soil and fertilizers seems to be the most impor-
tant. A rich, heavy soil, fertilized with a strong nitrog-
enous manure, is apparently favorable to the produc-
tion of a high percentage of nicotine, while the reverse
is true of a light, sandy soil containing little organic
matter. Havana-grown tobacco, which contains a low
percentage, has, in addition to soil, the benefit of a very
moist atmosphere.

"For this reason, some have attributed the reverse
conditions as favorable to the production of nicotine.
From the results of the investigation of tobaccos grown
in the United States, we can find no ground for this as-
sertion. Tobacco of the seedleaf variety grown in Con-
necticut, on a rich loam, gave over four per cent of nic-
otine, while that grown on a sandy loam soil contained

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 81

only about one per cent. There we have different con-
ditions of soil in the same climate ; and other instances
of a similar character might be cited.

"As nicotine is the active principle of tobacco, upon
which the stimulating effect largely depends, it would
naturally appear that its development to a high degree
would be desirable, but such is not the case. What are
considered the best qualities almost always contain a
small percentage, while a large percentage usually indi-
cates coarseness. While, as stated, certain conditions
are conducive to the development of nicotine, it is un-
doubtedly true that the subsequent treatment has some
influence on the amount present in the finished product.
The different fermentative processes required to develop
proper flavor and color necessarily decompose, to a
greater or less extent, the different compounds present
in the leaf. It may be true, therefore, that in some
cases the nicotine content may be appreciably less in the
fermented product than was present in the green plant.
For this reason, the analyses of the different varieties
which have been subjected to different processes of cur-
ing and fermenting, cannot safely be relied upon as giv-
ing the exact amount developed by certain conditions in
the field, but the results, in a general way, confirm what
has been previously noted."

Davidson finds that changes in the amount of nico-
tine in leaf at the time of topping, curing, and after
being properly cured, are very slight, but in the cured
state it seems to be much greater. He questions this
latter point.

Other Substances in Tobacco. — Tobacco, like other
plants, contains small proportions of starch, sugar and
woody fiber, or cellulose, the amount and nature of
which governs, to some extent, the burn of tobacco.
These elements, together with the fatty and resinous
substances present, also have much influence on the

82 TOBACCO LEAF.

flavor of the leaf. The nitrogen-containing substances
or albuminoids, also form an important constituent, the
effect of which is but little understood, and the same is
true of the acids in tobacco — nitric, citric, acetic and
pectic. There are other organic or carbonaceous sub-
stances, of which still less is known.

Ash or Mineral Ingredients make up a large part of
the tobacco plant. The ash constitutes from 15 to 25
per cent of the chemically dry leaf, 5 to 15 per cent of
the stalk, and from 5 to 15 per cent of the root. The
quantity and character of the mineral ingredients have
a profound influence on the quality of leaf, especially
for smoking. These mineral ingredients vary widely in
different varieties, and also in the same variety under
different conditions (see Table IV, Pages 112 and 113).
Potash and lime each constitute about one-third of the
ash, the other third being composed of phosphoric acid,
magnesia, soda, sulphuric acid, carbonic acid, chlorine,
silica (sand), alumina (clay) and iron (ferric oxide).

Effect of Constituents. — The principal ingredients
that are supposed to most affect quality are, nicotine,
nitrogen, potash, lime, magnesia and chlorine. The
quantity of nicotine in the leaf is governed, to some ex-
tent, by the amount and character of the nitrogenous
substances the plant feeds upon. The other elements
also vary in amount with variety, soil, climate and fer-
tilizer. One cannot speak positively of their effect upon
the curing or chewing quality of the leaf.

Why certain crops of leaves of tobacco burn well
and others burn badly, is not fully understood. Nessler
demonstrated that tobacco which contains large quanti-
ties of chlorides does not burn well, especially when the
quantity of potash present is small. Nessler found,
from examination of forty-six samples of tobacco grown
in different parts of Baden, on soils of diverse character,
that the more potash and the less chlorine a leaf con-

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 83

tains, the longer it will continue to glow when lighted.
The higher the per cent of potash, the more chlorine
may be present without seriously affecting the burn of
the leaf. A Sumatra leaf with 0.64 to 0.78 per cent of
chlorine and 5 per cent of potash, burned very well,
while a Baden tobacco with 0.4 per cent chlorine and
only 3 per cent of potash burned badly. On the other
hand, the less chlorine there is in the leaf, the less pot-
ash is necessary to secure a good burning quality. He
concludes that no tobacco burns well which has less
than 2.5 per cent potash, if there is with it more than
0.4 per cent chlorine.

Schloesing made some experiments on poor, sandy
soil that was somewhat calcareous, and yet clayey
enough to be rather tenacious. The soil contained very
little chlorine, sulphuric acid or potash. Plots to which
no potash was applied gave bad-burning tobacco ;
those fertilized with chlorides gave tobacco which con-
tained about four times as much chlorine as the others,
showing that chlorine is readily assimilated by the plant ;
and the tobacco containing this large proportion of chlo-
rine burned badly.

Both Schloesing and Nessler, from independent ex-
periments and investigations, agree that the burning
quality of tobacco is governed by the presence of the
soluble carbonate of potash, and that when the potash is
combined with chlorine, the combustibility is poor. This
is not fully confirmed by the Poquonock experiments,
which seem to indicate that a small amount of
chlorine is not objectionable, while it is essential to nor-
mal plant growth. But an excess of chlorine is unfavor-
able to a good burn. This is true both before and after
fermentation. Plots K and L received much more chlo-
rine than the others, it being supplied in the double
manure salt ; the leaf from these plots had less capacity
to hold fire than most of the others.

84 TOBACCO LEAF.

Other investigations in this country also do not sus-
tain the idea that the burning quality is entirely con-
trolled by the composition of the ash, and it is now be-
lieved that combustibility is the result of several condi-
tions, of which the ash is but one. These conditions
are, the abundance of organic potash salts (i. e., those
yielding carbonate of potash), the abundance but not ex-
cessive quantity of woody tissue, and the abundance of
sulphates. Mineral salts which fuse at the burning
temperature, such as the chlorides and phosphates of
potash and soda, hinder free burning ; and sugar, gum
and albuminous matters are difficult of combustion, and
therefore impede burning.

Composition at Different Stages of Growth also
varies widely in both organic and mineral substances.
Original analyses of three Virginia tobaccos, set forth in
the Appendix, show that at time of cutting, the leaf con-
tains about twice as much ash as the stalk, and the
same quantity of nitrogen, more lime, and twice as much
insoluble matter ; but the stalk contains over twice as
much phosphoric acid as the leaf, one-third more potash
and four times the chlorine. The composition of the leaf
alone undergoes but little change from time of topping
until cured. The stalk, when cured, has gained slightly
in nitrogen and phosphoric acid, much in lime, but
has lost nearly one-fourth of its potash.

How to Supply the Principal Ingredients is the vital
problem, in growing fine tobaccos. But a sharp distinc-
tion must be drawn between what the tobacco plant con-
tains, and how large a supply of the elements of the
plant food are essential for a successful crop. Chemical
analyses are valuable in determining absolutely the per-
centage of the food elements contained in the plant, and
they give an excellent basis for intelligently framing a
manurial supply, but afford little indication of the
quantity required. Under the old English system of

SCIENCE IS ITS APPLICATION. 85

farming, the great desideratum was to make a soil rich
in plant food, that could be called upon to grow any
crop suitable to the climate ; of late years, in this coun-
try, the tendency has been to fertilize especially for the
crop under cultivation. One system is fertilizing the
land, the other is fertilizing the crop. With tobacco,
and in fact with all market garden crops, fertilizing the
soil is the method to he followed, except that for tobacco
an excess of phosphoric acid is unnecessary, and also
that special care must be taken to exclude all compounds
of chlorine.

This system of stocking the land with an excess of
manurial matter is the more essential for tobacco, be-
cause lands are very differently affected by the fertilizing
elements. Some lands have a great power of fixing and
retaining potash in an almost insoluble form ; others
have a strong affinity for lime ; and much difference is
noticed in the ease with which the nitrogen supply is
developed for the use of the growing crop. The only
safe rule is to give a superabundance of all forms of
plant food that are required. More care is necessary in
the selection of manurial supply for tobacco than for
any other crop, because it is a remarkably delicate plant,
and the texture and burning qualities of the leaf are
largely influenced by the materials upon which it feeds.

Another reason why tobacco and many other quick-
growing crops require much larger stores of plant food
in the soil than is found in the chemical analyses of the
product, is because the roots of the crop cannot occupy
every portion of the soil, especially in the early stages of
growth. The demand made on the soil, or on fertili-
zers, by the tobacco crop, is greater than that made by
any other crops which receive as much of nearly every
kind of plant food. Hay is almost as exhaustive as
tobacco, measured in total extract from the soil, but
grass grows the whole year throughout, save when the

86 TOBACCO LEAF.

ground is frozen or covered with snow, or for more than
eight months. It is true, the period of active growth
required to mature a hay crop begins in spring, and is
finished in three months ; but during the year previous,
for at least five months, the grass roots are storing up
food in their root stocks, or bulbs, for the more rapid
aftergrowth. Tobacco, on the other hand, cannot be
set out in the field before summer is begun, and it
should be in the shed in about three months. Thus,
its growth must be a very rapid one, and the supplies
of food in the soil must be very abundant, so that the
rapidly extending roots may be met at every point with
their necessary pabulum. An acre of first-rate grass
land yields, as the result of eight months' growth, two
to three tons of crop, while the tobacco land must yield
that weight in three months.

The real disparity, however, is much greater. The
principal growth of tobacco is accomplished in the hot-
test summer weather and in a period of some forty or
sixty days. Very heavy fertilizing is, therefore, neces-
sary, to provide for its nourishment, and the more so
because the best tobacco lands are light in texture and
may suffer from loss by drainage, evaporation or decom-
position, to say nothing of drouth.

TOBACCO DOES NOT EXHAUST THE SOIL.

One of the most important truths established by the
application of science to tobacco, is the annihilation of
the old idea that this crop exhausts the soil to an extra-
ordinary degree. It is true that tobacco requires plenty
of food in the soil, as we have just pointed out. But if
this is obtained by growing the crop on virgin soil,
and by not returning to the land what the crop
takes from it, then tobacco does exhaust the soil ; so
will any staple crop under the same treatment. This
was the method long followed, especially in the South,

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 87

to clear up new land, as old fields became barren from
constant cropping without manures or fertilizers.
Cocke declared against tobacco years ago, because "its
culture had exhausted whole counties in Virginia, from
the Atlantic to the head of tide waters," but the same
exhaustion is found in sections where tobacco was never
grown.

In both instances, soil poverty was due to soil deple-
tion— constant taking away of crops and not putting
back what they removed from the soil. Low in prices
as lands were, it was found much easier and cheaper to
occupy fresh soils than reclaim exhausted ones. Com-
plaint is now made in the "White Burley districts of
Kentucky and Ohio, that the soil is becoming rapidly
exhausted under tobacco culture, even where manuring
is practiced. This is easily accounted for. The surface
of the country is rolling, or extremely broken, and when
planted in a crop that requires clean cultivation, vast
quantities of the surface soil are swept into the valleys
with every rain that falls, gullies form rapidly, and the
earth becomes scarified with gaping, ugly wounds, down
which flows the very lifeblood of the soil. The remedy
for this waste is rotation with grasses, clover, alfalfa
and grain crops, to bind the soil.

The truth is, no crop is exhaustive if it is properly
fertilized ; all that is required is to supply an abundance
of every element that the plant needs, and of the right
quality and condition ; for if this is not done, the latent
resources of the soil are drawn upon to supply the defi-
ciency, and the soil is impoverished just so far as it is
drained of any element essential to plant growth. Fur-
thermore, the subject of the exhaustion of the soil by
tobacco should be considered from two standpoints :
First, what is actually removed from the soil by the sale
of the crop ; second, what is required in the soil to pro-
duce the crop. And a casual view of the subject would

88

TOBACCO LEAF.

fail to find an intimate connection between the two, as
is explained below.

What Tobacco Takes From the Soil— This has been
very carefully determined by Johnson for Connecticut-
grown seedleaf, and by Davidson for Virginia-grown
tobaccos, as appears in the subjoined table. The seed-
leaf crop mentioned was grown from 8000 plants on one
acre, yielding an average of 1875 pounds of pole-cured
leaves (or 1400 pounds of water-free leaf), and 3200
pounds of pole-cured stalks (or about 1300 pounds of
water-free stalks). Davidson's average of analyses of
Bradley broadleaf, Goldfmder, White Burley and Yellow
Orinoco, shows a fair crop of Virginia tobaccos to be
1000 pounds per acre of barn-cured leaf (or 928 pounds
of water-free leaf), and 353 pounds of cured stalks (or
334 pounds of water-free stalks) :

Table I.— POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD KEMOVED FROM THE SOIL BY

THE TOBACCO CROP GROWN ON ONE ACRE.

Connecticut Seedleaf.

Virginia Tobacco.

1875 Ibs.
cured
leaf.

3200 Ibs.
of
stalks.

Total.

1000 Ibs.
leaf.

353 Ibs.
stalks.

Total.

Nitrogen,
Phosphoric acid,
Potash,
Soda,
Lime,
Magnesia,
Sulphuric acid,
Chlorine,

65

8

4
81
25
16
5

8
49
3
13
5
5
6

97
16
138
7
94
30
21
11

44
5
52

49
19

12
2
17

3

56
69

57
22

Total,

293

121

414

The Connecticut crop of 1875 pounds of cured leaf
takes relatively large quantities of nitrogen (100 pounds),
potash (140 pounds) and lime (100 pounds), and very
little phosphoric acid (16 pounds). The Virginia leaf
also draws heavily on these elements, and a crop of Vir-
ginia tobacco yielding the same weight (1875 pounds of
leaf) contains, of nitrogen 98 pounds, potash 120 pounds,

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 89

lime 99 pounds, and phosphoric acid 13 pounds, in the
leaf and stalk.

It also appears that the stalks in such an acre of
Connecticut tobacco weigh, at the time of cutting,
about 9500 pounds, of which about 8300 pounds is water.
Two-thirds of this is evaporated in curing, and the rest
is carried back to the field in the cured stalks. The
later the crop is cut, the more nitrogen and mineral ele-
ments it contains ; stalks cut on August 22 contained
26 pounds of nitrogen per acre, which increased to 42
pounds when not cut until September 7. Like gains
occur in Virginia and other types of tobacco. No deter-
mination is at hand of the amount of plant food in the
roots of such a Connecticut crop as that above named,
but the Virginia crop of 1000 pounds leaf per acre con-
tains in its roots, of nitrogen eight pounds, potash seven
and one-half pounds, lime five and one-half pounds,
phosphoric acid and magnesia, one pound each.
Whatever plant food the roots contain, of course, remains
in the soil, and it is not necessary to consider it after
the first season, but on new land, sufficient plant food
must be present to develop the roots freely, in addition
to the other parts of the plant. In any rational system
of tobacco culture, the stalks are always returned to the
soil as fertilizer ; hence the only fertility really lost is
that sold in the leaf.

But since the entire plant must be fed, the necessity
of large quantities of plant food is at once apparent, for
everything essential to the perfect development of every
part of the plant must be present in the soil in a thor-
oughly available condition. The demands of touacco can
be better appreciated by comparing it with other leading
field crops. And since cigar leaf is grown under the
highest state of cultivation and with a lavish supply of
fertility, it is only fair to use for comparison other crops
grown under similar favorable conditions. Prof. John-

90

TOBACCO LEAF.

son used for comparative purpose a crop of rye yielding
32 bushels of grain and 3800 pounds of straw, corn
yielding 75 bushels of grain and 8000 pounds of stalks
and leaves, 2f tons of hay, and 300 bushels of potatoes.
Davidson compared the yield of 1000 pounds of Virginia
leaf per acre (and 353 pounds of stalks) with 30 bushels
of corn and stover, or oats, 30 bushels and straw :

Table II.— PLANT FOOD REMOVED FROM AN ACRE OF LAND BY
TOBACCO AND OTHER CROPS.

Connecticut Seedleaf.

Phos
acid

Pot
ash

Lime

Mag
nesia

Total
ash

Nitro
gen

Tobacco, 1875 Ibs, leaf and stalks,

16

138

94

30

424

97

Potatoes, 300 bu.,

32

101

4

7

170

58

Hay, 23/4 tons,

23

96

43

19

373

73

Corn, 75 bu., and stalks.

53

147

42

28

430

105

Rye, 32 bu., and straw,

22

39

13

9

186

41

Virginia Leaf.

Tobacco, 1000 Ibs, leaf and stalks,

8

78

64

12

184

59

Corn, 30 bu.. and stalks,

15

46

12

13

121

45

Oats, 30 bu., and straw,

9

36

5

5

72

27

Wheat, 30 bu., and straw,

23

28

10

8

95

45

Under a rational system of husbandry, cornstalks,
oat straw, wheat straw and hay are fed to stock, and
their ingredients return to the soil in manure, just as
tobacco stalks return to the land. Hence, we should
only compare plant food removed in the grain alone
with that taken off in the tobacco leaf alone. Eye
straw, however, is usually sold, also potatoes, so that the
total quantity these crops take from the soil may be
compared with the plant food in tobacco leaf.

Table III.— POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD TAKEN FROM THE SOIL BY AV-
ERAGE YIELDS PER ACRE OF SO MUCH OF TOBACCO AND OTHER
CROPS AS IS NOT RETURNED TO THE LAND.

Connecticut Leaf.

Nitrogen.

Potash.

Phosphoric
acid.

Tobacco, 1875 pounds,
Corn, 75 bu. grain,

65
74

89

16

8
30

Rye, 32 bu.,
Potatoes, 300 bu.,

31

58

10
101

15
32

Virginia Leaf.

Tobacco, 1000 pounds,

44

52

5

Wheat, 30 bu.,

43

11

16

Oats, 30 bu.,

20

6

8

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 91

It appears that the full yield of Connecticut tobacco
takes from the soil less nitrogen than a good crop of
corn grown under similar conditions, but little more
than potatoes, but twice as much as rye. Of potash,
tobacco takes even less than potatoes, but several times
as much as corn or rye. Of phosphoric acid the other
crops take two or three times as much as tobacco. In
Virginia leaf, the same relative proportions hold, though
the quantities differ, the average crop of tobacco taking
about the same quantity of nitrogen, nearly five times
as much potash, but only one-third as much phosphoric
acid as a wheat crop of thirty bushels per acre.

SOME RELATIONS OF BACTERIA TO TOBACCO
CURING AND MANUFACTURE.

BY WILLIAM FBEAB.

There are several distinct classes of organisms to
whose activity the various fermentations are traced.
First among these may be named the molds, distin-
guished by the formation of a closely interwoven net-
work of white, thread-like cells, or hypha ; from this
network, or mycelium, spring little stalks, swelling or
branching into larger heads ; these heads, in turn, bear
the colored spores, or reproductive elements, appearing
as a fine dust upon the upper surface of the grayish-
green or black molds to which jellies, cheese and bread
kept in damp places are subject. Molds also multiply
by the branching out of new hyphse, affording the root
from which new stalks may spring.

Another class of organized ferments is that to which
yeast belongs. The organism is much simpler in these
cases than in the molds. It is composed of only a sin-
gle cell, or papery sac, filled with jelly-like protoplasm.
This protoplasm carries on, however, most of the func-
tions of more highly organized beings. Yeasts repro-
duce by budding, — the sprouting from the side of the

92 TOBACCO LEAF.

parent cell of a little, bubble-like offshoot; this, when
sufficiently developed, detaches from the parent and
assumes an independent existence.

Most important of all is that class of ferments
known in general as bacteria. There are many spe-
cies of these, differing in shape, mode of aggregation,
conditions of life and products. If a liquid containing
bacteria be examined, it will often be found swarming
with these little organisms, ranging from ^^ to less
than ^isiT of an inch in size, according to the species.
The little beings are not quiet, but are vigorously active.

Eeproduction of the various species is accomplished
in two ways : First, by fission, or the splitting in half
of the single-celled parent ; the small halves then sepa-
rate and grow to full size. Second, many species develop
within the body of the parent a number of thick-walled
bodies, or spores, which are later discharged, and which,
under favoring conditions, develop into the normal, ma-
ture bacterium.

Most important features of these organisms are
their wide distribution and their wonderfully rapid mul-
tiplication. Though requiring a certain amount of
moisture for their active life, they are not destroyed by
slow drying at a low temperature. In consequence, they
are carried as dust by every passing wind, to new lodg-
ing places, where they develop if the conditions are
favorable. As, under most favorable conditions, the
individuals of some species can reproduce in twenty
minutes after their own birth, it is a simple arithmetical
process to show that a very short time would suffice for
them to occupy the globe. Such favorable conditions
never occur; but the multiplication often observed is,
nevertheless, tremendous ; and the fermentative changes
produced are correspondingly great.

The conditions surrounding them greatly influence
their activity and multiplication. Some require free

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 93

access to air, and are called aerobies, in consequence ;
others, when cut off from the air, are able to obtain from
oxygen-containing compounds all of this element they re-
quire for respiration ; such are called anaerobies. Usu-
ally, bacteria require a slightly alkaline medium for their
development ; only a few can survive in an acid liquid ;
whereas, molds require the latter medium for their best
growth. When, therefore, the lactic ferment, which
sours milk, and the nitrifying ferment, which forms
nitric acid in the soil, have produced an excess of acid,
they cease to act until the excess is neutralized, when
they renew their production of acid. Vinegar, there-
fore, serves as a preventive of bacterial fermentation in
food preparations. Other substances, conspicuously car-
bolic acid, copper and mercury salts, similarly prevent
the action of bacteria, and destroy them.

While diffuse light is not fatal, direct sunshine is
the most destructive natural foe of these ferments.
They require for their best action certain temperatures,
varying for different species. In general, 100° F. is
most favorable ; below 50° and above 150° F. few are
active, and many are destroyed. The process of pasteur-
izing milk by heating to 150° for thirty minutes is based
upon this fact. Some bacteria, and especially spores,
which are more resistant, owing to their thick walls, are
not killed by dry temperatures as low as 315° F., or
above 212°, the boiling point of water ; very few, how-
ever, withstand the latter temperature if they be moist ;
consequently, boiling the liquid containing them, or
steaming them, are among the most commonly employed
methods of sterilization of liquids or solids— that is, the
destruction of the bacteria the latter contain.

Bacteria differ, not only in these respects, but in
the color, form and consistency of the colonies they
make in various liquid and solid media.

The most sharply distinctive characteristic, how-

94 TOBACCO LEAF.

ever, and that most frequently useful for their determi-
nation, is that the products they form are distinctly dif-
ferent. Some liberate gas, and the gases from various
species differ in composition. In other cases, substances
of pronounced odor or flavor are developed, as in the pu-
trefactive fermentations, and in those of ripening cheese
and ripening cream. The disease germs accomplish
their fatal results, it is now believed, more frequently
through the poisons they form in the blood — poisons
similar, chemically, to the active principles of snake
venom — than through any direct action of their own.
Ordinarily, the conditions favorable to the develop-
ment of one species of bacterium are also such as permit
the development of other species. Hence, under natural
conditions, a single species rarely occurs alone. By se-
lection of the most congenial nutritive medium for a
given species of which it is desired to secure a pure cul-
ture,— that is, a colony in which no foreign species ex-
ists,— and by regulation of temperature so that that
most favorable to the species in question may be main-
tained, it is possible to gradually eliminate undesirable
species from a series of cultures, and secure a culture in
which only the species desired remains. The process is
much hastened, first, by using a sterilized culture me-
dium and sterilized apparatus ; second, by preventing
access of foreign germs from the air — this is accom-
plished by filtering the air to which the solution is ex-
posed, through cotton- wool, or some similar substance,
which removes all floating dust from the air, including
the dried germs ; third, by diluting the primary material
from which the germs are taken, and using a very small
quantity of the diluted substance to act as a starter for
the new solutions ; often, this process introduces into
some of the cultures very few, if any, foreign species, so
that these cultures may be made the basis of further op-
erations, and others, less pure, be rejected at once.

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 95

Not only does this great world of organisms, hover-
ing unseen about us, bristle with enemies to man
and his friends, the domestic plants and animals, but
among these enemies are numerous active, friendly spe-
cies, contributing much to our wealth and comfort.
Thus, vinegar, one of our most important condiments,
is made only through the agency of the acetic ferment ;
alcohol, a source of fearful injury from its misuse, yet
invaluable in science and the arts, is made by the action
of the yeasts ; clover, the hope of the despairing farmer,
owes its soil-enriching power to a humble parasitic bac-
terium which seizes its roots for a home ; and the finer
flavors of the most aromatic butter are traced to the prod-
ucts of the action of particular species of bacteria in the
ripening cream.

OFFICE OF BACTERIA IN CURING TOBACCO.

Turning now to the consideration of the influence
of bacteria in tobacco culture, we omit all reference to
the fungous diseases to which the growing plant is sub-
ject, and confine attention to the relations of these or-
ganisms to the processes of curing and sweating. As
the result of these processes, instead of the green color,
rough, hard surface, brittle web, black ash, dark, tarry,
ill-smelling smoke and bitter, burning flavor possessed
by a quickly dried tobacco leaf, the leaves have a beau-
tiful brown color, silky texture, elastic web, light blue
and pleasantly aromatic smoke, a white or gray ash, and
little of the unpleasant flavor of the green leaf.

A very large fraction of these changes in quality is
wrought during the first of these processes, the curing.
Despite the fact that the Germans term it das Trocknen,
or drying, it is neither a simple physical process, nor a
purely chemical one. The results of late studies by
Muller-Thurgau * and Dr. J. Behrens, f show that dur-

•Landwirthschaftliches Jahrbuch, 14, 485-512.

t Landwirthschaf tliclie Versuchs-Stationen, 43, 280-293.

96 TOBACCO LEAF.

ing the process there is a large decrease in the dry mat-
ter of the leaf, as well as in the water. The starch is
turned to glucose, and the latter passes back into the
veins, midrib and stem, and is finally destroyed there
and breathed off as carbonic acid gas and water, owing
to an abnormally increased respiration. There is no
loss of nitrogen, either in the form of nicotine, nitric
acid or albuminoids ; the latter compounds are, however,
largely split up with the resultant formations of aspara-
gine and other amides, — a change similar to that which
occurs whenever leaves are for a long time shaded, or to
that observed in the process of ensilage. Mere drying,
and the slow oxidation caused by the direct action of
the oxygen of the air, do not suffice to explain these
changes. They are the result of life action.

It is not probable, though, that the lower organisms
are important in the normal curing process. Behrens
remarks,* "micro-organisms were not found in an active
condition upon the curing leaves, and their development
upon the surface of the leaves, the sole point open to
their attack, is rendered well-nigh impossible, owing to
its dryness, to say nothing of the general dry condition
of the inner tissues."

The changes occur only while the protoplasm of the
leaf cells retains life. If the leaf be frozen, or chloro-
formed, the protoplasm is killed, and no normal curing
can be effected thereafter. Evidently, the changes ob-
served during the curing are due to an abnormal action
of the dying protoplasm of the leaves themselves ; and
bacterial aid offers no advantages.

During this process, however, the lower organisms
sometimes act injuriously. "Pole-burn" is prevalent
during warm, damp, foggy weather; in a few hours,
the whole crop may be turned to a dark brown, wet,

*Loc. cit., p. 286.

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 97

soggy and easily torn lot of leaves, hopelessly damaged.
Dr. Win. C. Sturgis,* in describing this disease, says :
"It is characterized by the appearance on the surface of
the leaf, of small blackened areas, giving the leaf the
aspect of having been sprinkled with some corrosive liquid.
. . . These areas increase in size, become confluent,
and sometimes within thirty-six hours, or at most, forty-
eight, not only is the whole leaf affected, but the entire
contents of the curing barn may be rendered quite
worthless as tobacco. Microscopic study revealed in the
center of each blackened spot a minute, elevated pustule.
Sections through the center of one of these pustules
showed that the tissue of the leaf was largely disinte-
grated, and the cells themselves were largely filled with
bacteria. . . . They develop rapidly in the tissues
of the leaf, raising the epidermis, and finally breaking
through at one or more points in the blackened area,
. . . they spread out in a thin, slimy film, . . .
forming a brown, translucent crust of cheesy consistency,
and composed entirely of the bacteria themselves."

In tracing the development of the disease, this au-
thor states that, at first, the surface of the leaf is at-
tacked by a fungus of the genus Cladosporium, related
to the leaf-spot disease of the tomato. This does little
direct injury, but after some time the leaf is attacked by
the bacteria, which swarm into the interior through the
breaches made by the Cladosporium, the remains of
which are found mingled with the bacteria. Of the lat-
ter, there are, at least, two species, one a true Bacteri-
um, the other a Micrococcus, of the variety Streptococcus.

These bacteria develop best between 70° and 90° F.,
but a temperature above 90° to 110°, or below 35° to 40°,
checks their development. Furthermore, all attempts
to inoculate the cured tobacco with them failed ; the

* Report of the Connecticut Ag. Exp. Sta., 1891, pp. 168-186.

7

98 TOBACCO LEAF.

crop is in little danger after a period varying from ten
to twenty days after the beginning of curing. The rem-
edy suggested is free ventilation and control of tempera-
ture by aid of artificial heat.

Behrens,* in a similar study, found instead of a
Cladosporium, Botrytis cinerea P. , a spore-bearing fun-
gus, and Sclerotinia Liber tiana, Fckl., acting as the
forerunners of decay, while others f have noted Pleo-
spora sp., Botrytis vulgaris, Fr., and two species of the
genus Muwr as thus active.

Another disease to which curing tobacco is also sub-
ject, is " stem rot," or white vein. This often attacks the
stalk a few days after cutting, but sometimes appears,
late in the curing, upon imperfectly dried ribs and veins.
These parts of the leaf are covered with patches of a
long-piled, velvety mold of pure white color. Later,
the web of the leaf is often invaded. These white
patches are the mycelium of a species belonging to the
genus Botrytis; the threads of the mycelium, first at-
tacking the surface, later penetrate deeply into the un-
derlying tissues. From the mycelial threads spring erect
fibers, one-fourth of an inch high, giving the velvety
appearance. These erect stems bear branches, extend-
ing at right angles, and at the tips of these branches are
formed the reproducing spores. This advanced state of
development is rarely reached on the curing tobacco, be-
cause the time is too short and the moisture insufficient.
The formation of spores occurs in the stems and ribs
after the stripping, and often the fungus springs up
over the floor of the curing barn, and the next crop of
leaf hung in the building will be in danger of inocula-
tion by means of the spores developed by this growth of
the fungus. The remedies suggested by SturgisJ are

•Zeitschrift fUr Pflanzenkranklieiten, 3, p. 82.

t Sturgis, Report of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion, 1893. p. 85.

t Report of the Connecticut Agricultural Ex. Sta., 1891, p. 185.

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 99

the burning of all infected waste material from an did
crop ; the thorough fumigation of the curing barn, by
burning sulphur after the removal of the crop, and
again two weeks before the introduction of the new
crop ; the sprinkling of the floor with a mixture of equal
parts of dry air-slaked lime and sulphur ; or even the
covering of the earthen floor with an inch of clean soil.

OFFICE OF BACTERIA IN TOBACCO FEKMENTATION.

While the curing of the tobacco is, in all probability,
the effect of modified activity of the leaf cells themselves,
the same cannot be said of the sweating. At the close
of the curing process the leaves are fully dead. If the
leaves be remoistened, packed closely together and allowed
to stand, an action sets up, liberating heat and introduc-
ing new qualities into the tobacco. Nessler * was the first
to explicitly declare that the process was distinctly a
fermentative one; although Roller f notes the addition
of yeast to promote the rapidity of the action, implying
a more or less clear recognition of the analogy between
this process and alcoholic fermentation.

At the time Nessler wrote, the principles and meth-
ods of bacteriological research were unknown, so that
his reasoning from analogy could not be submitted to
direct proof by experiment. Since then, however, a
number of interesting researches have been made. Of
these, one of the earlier is that of Th. Schloesing J upon
the fermentations of tobacco used for the preparation of
snuff. Work by the elder Schloesing had shown that
there was a heavy consumption of atmospheric oxygen
by the fermenting tobacco. Th. Schloesing set out to
ascertain whether this was due to a purely chemical
change, or whether bacterial action was wholly or par-

*Der Tabak, 1867, pp. 122-136.
tDer Tabak, Augsburg, 1858, p. 75.

t Memorial des manufactures de 1' etat, Vol. I, Part 4, pp. 514-552;
Vol. II, Part 1, pp. 119-136; Part 2, pp. 192-210.

100 TOBACCO LEAF.

tially responsible for it. He used samples sterilized,
and others unsterilized, taken from the same lot of
tobacco ; some was kept at a uniform temperature and
some simply prevented from cooling below a certain
point. He concludes that at a temperature below 104°
F., or above 158° F0, and possibly varying little from
122° F., the action is a purely chemical one, with which
lower organisms have nothing to do. Theoretically, he
believes the changes Drought about by snuff fermenta-
tions might be accomplished entirely without the aid of
lower organisms. In practice, however, they serve to
start the changes and develop the heat that is necessary
to setting up the more rapid oxidations. " The physical
properties of a good snuff tobacco," he says, "can be
secured in two months at 158° F., in less time at 176°
F., and in ten to twelve days at 212° F., while the desired
internal chemical changes are accomplished in the same
period at the latter temperature." He finds that a new
fermentation is set up every time the tobacco is turned
and repacked, and that the sum of the carbonic acid
and oxygen in the air of the cases always exceeds 21 per
cent, and may run up to 35 per cent. This is regarded
as an evidence of the activity of anaerobic ferments.
Schloesing found present a bacillus and a diplococcus.

He compared the snuff fermentation with the
aerobic fermentation of stable manure. Fesca and
Imai * think it more closely comparable to the process
of ensilage. But Behrens claims that, owing to the
watery condition of silage, the fermentation of brown
hay, a dryer product not in use in America, is more
strictly analogous.

In the "sweating" of ordinary leaf, especially as
practiced in Germany, Nessler says that a temperature
of 106° F. is attained in the heap at a depth of one foot

•Lanclwirtliscliaftliches Jahrbuch, 1888, p. 327.

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 101

in course of half a week and, at three feet, a tempera-
ture of 129° F. It is needful to cover the heap with
cloths to absorb the condensing moisture, which would
otherwise condense in the upper layers of tobacco, and
cause rotting and molding. Smoking tobacco is not to
be allowed to heat above 122 ° F. Behrens believes that
these changes are to be ascribed chiefly to the action of
anaerobic ferments, although a local action of aerobic
forms at the same time is not excluded. He found in
sweated tobacco vigorous individuals of the widely dis-
tributed aerobic form, Bacillus subtilis, and also an
aerobic Clostridium, which, like Clostridium butyricum,
formed endospores. He does not think the latter espe-
cially active, but recalls the fact that Cohn attributes the
fermentation or spontaneous heating of damp hay and
stable manure to the former organism. Behrens* also
states that he lias found the mold, Aspergillus fumi-
qatus in sweating tobacco, upon six out of eight samples
from three different dealers. While this organism is
regarded by Cohn as the cause of the heating of piled-
up malt, it is not supposed to play any large part in the
sweat.

Behrens endeavored to ascertain the changes which
occur during sweating. He found a loss of only 2.5 to
5.6 per cent of dry matter, although others put it as
high as eight to twelve per cent — in the latter case, the
loss of water is included. This loss falls chiefly upon
the soluble carbohydrates and less upon the non-volatile
organic acids. There is no loss of nitrogen, yet one-
third of the nicotine disappears; it possibly serves as
food for the lower organisms, as an earlier research f
has shown that Botrytis cinerea can eat it. There is a
loss of nitrate nitrogen and a diminution of the other

* Centralblatt fur Bakteriologie und Parasitenkunde, 11 (1894) p.

* Zeitschr. f. Pflanzenkrankheiten, 3 (1893), pp. 85-86.

102 TOBACCO LEAF.

soluble substances. Butyric acid is present as one of the
products of the sweat.

The investigations of Cohn and others haye shown
that the flavors of butter are largely due to the prod-
ucts formed by special ferments active in ripening the
cream. Pure cultures of one ferment produced nau-
seous butter ; of another, a butter with all the delight-
ful aroma and flavor of the finest gi*ass butter. Selected
cultures of the latter bacterium are now on sale to the
dairymen of America.

SPECIAL CULTURES FOR SPECIAL FLAVORS IN THE LEAF.

It has recently been queried whether tobacco,
which was known not to attain its finest flavor and
aromatic smoking qualities until after the sweat, might
not, in the finer varieties, such as the better Cuban
brands, as contrasted with less excellent kinds, owe its
excellence in the former cases to the favoring influence
of some special bacterial ferments.

It has long been a matter of comment among the
more expert buyers and manufacturers, that cases, in the
center of which "black rot" had developed sufficiently
to injure the leaves immediately surrounding, yielded
tobacco of a finer flavor, more nearly approaching the
Cuban, than was obtained from other cases of the same
lot that escaped the black rot.

Emil Suchsland,* several years since, published a
most suggestive paper upon this subject, from which I
largely quote : "In connection with bacteriological in-
vestigations as to the influence of certain physical con-
ditions upon bacterial development, made by me under
the direction of Professor Zopf, I have, for a long
time, been studying the nature of the tobacco-sweating
process. This process is, it is well known, of the high-

*Berichte der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft, 9 (1891), pp.
79-81.

SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 103

est influence upon the usefulness and excellence of all
varieties of tobacco. . . . Thus far it has been
regarded as a purely chemical process ; but it has always
seemed to me more probably a fermentation similar to
the lactic, butyric and acetic acid fermentations, which
are caused by bacteria. ... In all sweated tobacco
thus far examined, it is worthy of note that bacteria are
present in large numbers, but in small variety. At
most, only two or three species occur, belonging espe-
cially to the Bacteria proper, though sometimes to the
Micrococci. Tobacco of the following sorts was tested:
Havana, St. Domingo, Kentucky, Brazil, Turkish,
Grecian, Russian, Pfalz, Alsace-Lorraine, Breisgau
and Uckermark. Pure cultures of the bacteria upon
these sorts were prepared. When tobacco of another
sort than that from which the bacteria were taken, was
inoculated by the pure culture of the latter, the tobacco
thus inoculated took on the flavor and odor of the to-
bacco from which the bacteria were derived.

"In view of these facts, the sweating process as-
sumes more importance than it has thus far held.
Heretofore, the aim in Germany has been to improve
the tobacco by better culture and by the introduction of
improved varieties ; the latter soon deteriorate, however,
in this climate, especially since the right kind of fer-
ments are not present in the sweat. Our tobacco alwavs
suffers a sort of wild fermentation. But it is now pos-
sible to introduce the better ferments into our own
tobacco during the sweat. Every experiment 1 have
made has given positive results. So surprising have
been the changes in Pfalz tobacco, that excellent judges
of domestic sorts have declared the tobacco thus sweated
to be a foreign product. "

Unfortunately, Suchsland has never carried further
the work thus interestingly outlined. Nevertheless, a
firm in Berlin, Hermann Giesecke, offers for sale pure

104 TOBACCO LEAF.

cultures of the bacteria active in the sweating of the
better tobacco, and Behrens, who has most recently
looked into the subject, by way of investigation, is,
though rightly conservative, strongly inclined to accept
the practicability of Suchsland's suggestion.

Clearly, the matter is one of vital importance to
American growers and manufacturers. It is worthy of
the simple, preliminary experiments that packers and
makers can carry out, as well as of the more perfectly
controlled investigations of our tobacco experiment sta-
tions. If, by proper inoculations and maintenance of
established conditions of moistening with water, or
other more suitable liquid, and of temperature, we can
impart to local tobacco the flavor and aromatic smoke of
Cuban and other tropical tobaccos, it will be possible to
dispense with a large part of the present importations
for fillers.

CHAPTER VI.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS.

It is evident from the preceding chapter that the
form, quantity and quality in which food is furnished
the tobacco crop, opens up a vast field of vital impor-
tance. Yet it is only within very recent years that the
scientific aspects of the influence of manures and fer-
tilizers upon tobacco have been studied. But as the
culture of this crop increases, as the area of virgin lands
contracts, and as competition for fine quality grows, the
problem of feeding the tobacco plant is bound to com-
mand increasing attention. We therefore elucidate the
subject as fully as the present state of knowledge permits.

Very little has been conclusively demonstrated, as
yet, by the recently begun work at our southern exper-
iment stations, and the state of the art of fertilization of
southern leaf is well described in the chapters on heavy
leaf and manufacturing tobaccos. The most accurate
data are those furnished by the experience of the most
careful planters in the Connecticut valley — some of
whom deserve high rank for the truly scientific char-
acter of their work — and by the several years' results of
the Connecticut (Poquonock) and Pennsylvania exper-
iment stations' exhaustive tests. From all these sources
our data are compiled.

Soil vs. Manures and Fertilizers. — The soil upon
which tobacco is grown may have as great or greater in-
fluence upon the leaf as the plant food artificially sup-
plied. The soils usually preferred for the different
types of tobacco are considered in later chapters, and it
105

106 TOBACCO LEAF.

must be noted that effect of manures and fertilizers will
vary on different soils. Indeed, the soil is one of na-
ture's wonderful laboratories. The actions and reactions
that are going on in the soil — chemical, bacteriological
and physical — vary with different localities and seasons.
No hard and fast rules can be laid down, bat each
planter, who wishes to excel in growing fine tobacco,
must experiment for himself. Certain general princi-
ples, however, seem deducible from the extensive studies
of Mr. Milton Whitney, chief of the division of agricul-
tural soils, United States department of agriculture,
as stated in the opening of the chapter on cigar leaf.

Temperature and Rainfall also prevent exact rules
in feeding tobacco or other crops. However carefully and
liberally it is fed will be to little purpose if the weather
is too cold or dry. Temperature cannot be governed,
nor can too much rain be avoided, except by drainage,
but drouth can be insured against. Over a large part of
this country, tobacco and other crops suffer almost every
season from drouth. In Florida, and the middle South,
as well as further north, drouth is liable to occur at
most critical seasons. The extensive tobacco plantation
at Fort Meade, Fla., is therefore equipped for irrigation.
Since such simple methods of supplying water to crops
have been perfected, tobacco should not be without in-
surance against drouth.

Irrigating Tobacco. — Where the hydrant or aque-
duct service cannot be drawn upon fqr the supply of
water, to be conducted through hose to the field, res-
ervoirs may be made, by scooping a hole in the ground
on the nearest elevation, and pumping it full of water by
means of a windmill, gasolene engine, or other form
of power. The power used for such irrigating plants
can be employed for many other purposes when not
needed for pumping water. The supply of water can be
from brooks, ponds and wells, and the cost will often be

FIG. 11. IRRIGATING TOBACCO, MAKING A LITTLE WATER MOISTEN
MANY ROWS OF PLANTS.

107

108 TOBACCO LEAF.

surprisingly small. The first outfit of this character,
we believe, was set up in Polk county, southern Florida,
in 1896, and has produced remarkable results. See
illustration of it in the description of the Florida tobacco
industry.

In irrigating tobacco, great care must be taken not
to supply too much water at a time. The overplus is
certain to have a deleterious effect, making the leaf
darker and heavier, and injuring its burning qualities as
well as its flavor and aroma. A small stream run be-
tween every second row will be better than to run it
through every row. The more sandy the soil, the
greater the amount needed, and the more often can
water be applied, with less injury to the crop. Irri-
gation has been so little practiced in this country that
no special directions can be laid down, but each planter
must experiment for himself, keeping in mind the pe-
culiarities of his soil and of the leaf which he is pro-
ducing. Irrigation is a great aid in getting a good
"stand "of plants when the ground is dry at trans-
planting.

PRINCIPLES OF TOBACCO FEEDING.

Tobacco has been grown for a great many years ; it
was grown, and successfully, too, for the market of
early times, long before the advent of artificial fer-
tilizers, and when the whole science of modern ferti-
lizing was unknown. In those days, of course, the only
dependence was upon virgin soils, or barn manure, per-
haps assisted by occasional dressings of wood ashes.
The quality of the tobacco was then much more gov-
erned by the natural peculiarities of the soil than is now
the case, for the native food supply of the soil was
drawn upon to supply the elements in which the manure
was lacking, or which the manure could not supply with
sufficient rapidity to meet the requirements of the

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 109

growing crop. Fortunately for the reputation of the
crop, the market was then satisfied with a grade of leaf
entirely different from that now demanded. The ques-
tion of quality was, of course, important, but the class
of goods demanded was not so fine and delicate as is
now imperative, and what was a fine leaf then could not
now be profitably raised.

Now we find that the soil must be made rich in all
elements demanded by the plant, and these elements
should be in such a thoroughly soluble and available con-
dition that the plants can assimilate them without hin-
drance. The plant is really "forced," just as market

FIG. 12. BRUSH ARRANGED FOR BURNING WHEN PLA&T BED IS TO BE

MADE. (Tennessee, Kentucky.)

garden crops are forced, by promoting a luxuriant growth
through the superabundance of fertility, kept in a state
of constant availability by thorough cultivation. Tillage
and fertilizing go hand in hand in the production of
the crop.

What not to Use. — It is important to avoid applying
to the soil substances which might injure any desirable
quality in the leaf. For instance, it is going too far to
assert that the use of chlorides invariably produces to-
bacco of inferior quality, for occasional experiments
demonstrate the contrary, but growers will do well to

110 TOBACCO LEAF.

avoid the use of chlorides, which, as the experience in all
countries agrees, are likely as a rule to injure the burn-
ing quality of the leaf. Chlorides exist as chloride of
sodium, or common salt and chloride of potash, or
muriate of potash. Low grade sulphates of potash,
such as kainit, carnallite, krugit, etc., also contain a
large admixture of common salt, and therefore should
not be used.

It has been found that the texture of the leaf, and
to some extent its burning quality, is frequently injured
by certain coarse forms of nitrogenous matter, and some
substances, as castor pomace, are regarded with disfavor
by manufacturers, some of whom refuse to purchase a
crop grown on pomace. This is a matter of far less
consequence than the presence of chlorine, for the del-
eterious effects of coarse nitrogen compounds can easily
be eliminated. And castor pomace itself can be, and
is, used with perfect safety, when it is intelligently
handled. In fact, this pomace is a very popular to-
bacco fertilizer in some sections, and dealers who pro-
fess to refuse to buy crops grown upon it, nevertheless
do purchase many a lot so grown, being kept in igno-
rance of the fact by the grower, and no complaint is
made when tlie grower is skillful, and has a reputation
for producing good tobacco. The Poquonock experi-
ments certainly indicate castor pomace when it is prop-
erly used.

The same objection can be raised against coarse an-
imal matter, such as green slaughterhouse waste, coarse
meat scraps, etc. The whole point is, that when such
matter is applied directly to the land, it should be done
early in the fall, that the process of violent fermentation
and putrefaction may pass long before the plants are set.
Such matter decomposes with an excessive fermentation,
amounting to a violent putrefaction and, owing to the
coarse, lumpy form, this excessive fermentation is long

MARCHES AND FERTILIZERS. Ill

continued, and the nitrogenous matter is not wholly
converted into nitrates, and other forms suitable for
plant growth, until a long time has elapsed. The early
stages of this violent decay create a condition in the
soil that is bad for quality in tobacco, developing a leaf
with coarse texture, large veins and an excess of woody
tissue. Wherever possible, all animal and vegetable
matter should be ground to a fine, dry powder, in which
form it is much more easily disintegrated and that, too,
without excessive fermentation. Furthermore, a much
more even distribution of the fertilizer can be made,
which insures a thorough fertilizing of the land, avoid-
ing the liability of omitting parts of the field.

The trouble with this class of materials is entirely
in the mechanical condition. Coarse fertilizers are pro-
verbially slow. The same matter, in a finely divided
state, can be used with perfect safety. But if, as in
castor pomace, this is impossible, it should be applied so
long in advance of the crop, .that all danger of excessive
decomposition shall have passed before the plants are set.
Chlorine in any form should be avoided by the skillful
grower, and coarse, nitrogenous matter should be used
with discretion and with an understanding of its dan-
gers and limitations. These constitute the only forms
of plant food that are positively dangerous, and that
should not be used because of the danger. Phosphoric
acid is not assimilated by the crop to any material ex-
tent, and its application, in more than very moderate
quantity, is unnecessary, and therefore wasteful, unless
the soil is deficient in this element, but its presence does
not produce any markedly bad results ; it is simply use-
less to incur the expense of an element that is not re-
quired.

TOBACCO LEAP.

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MANURES AND FERTILIZERS.
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114 TOBACCO LEAF.

WHAT TO USE AND HOW TO APPLY IT.

[For analysis of manures, mammal 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
average 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, especially 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. The trouble is, that the fertilizing elements
of manure are not rapidly set free ; their action is
proverbially 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 (German).

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 Soil. — 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 contains. 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 retains 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 is the
conversion of nitrogen from a raw state to nitrates that
are suitable for plant consumption. On this account 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.

MANURES 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,
plowing it under slightly, but not too deep. If preferred,

FIG. 15 PLANT BED FKAME WITH CLOTH COVEK PARTLY RF.MOVED.

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 LEAP.

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. As a 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 FEKTILIZERS. 1

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

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
crops of '94-5 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

Av. 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 avail-
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 equiv-
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.

Iii 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 larvae 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 open and 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 usual brand, from containing fragments
of the black hulls. Such meal is inferior to the normal,
both as a fertilizer and as a fodder. The shells, 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 ; it is a 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 phos-
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 bas 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 meal 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 light 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 in 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, and 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

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 tankage 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

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. Eed 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. A unit is one per cent. When ammonia is
worth $2. 75 per unit, the price of blood analyzing 12 per
cent ammonia is 12 times $2. 75, or $33 per ton.

Dried Fish. — The leading animal ammoniate, the
one most largely used by both manufacturers and
farmers, is dried fish. This is obtained in very large
quantities from the menhaden oil factories along the
Atlantic coast. The menhaden, or " porgies " are caught
for oil. They are steamed in large vats until reduced to
a churn, and when this is settled the oil and water is
drawn off and the churn is heavily pressed, to express all
remaining oil. It is then called wet scrap and contains
about 50 per cent of water. This is then dried, gener-
ally by the sun, the result being dry scrap. This con-
tains about 10 or 12 per cent of water and from 8 to 9
per cent of nitrogen, or about 10 per cent of ammonia.
It also contains about 8 per cent of phosphoric acid.
The percentage of nitrogen varies according to the quan-
tity of water contained in the scrap, which is sometimes
quite large, even as much as 20 per cent in dry scrap.
This variation is caused by defective drying, the effect-
iveness of which is largely governed by the weather. In
some cases scrap is dried artificially, but this is not very
general.

Dry scrap is sifted to make it uniform, and the
result is a light, dry powder, having flaky particles.
The finest dust is called fish guano. This runs some-
what higher in nitrogen and is more valuable, because
its fine mechanical condition renders decomposition in
the soil very easy. Fish is classed under four heads,
wet scrap, dry scrap, fish guano and ground fish ; the
distinction between the last two being slight and diffi-
cult to determine. The supply of scrap varies from
year to year, according to the quantities caught ; some

132

TOBACCO LEAF.

seasons the fish are very plenty, while in others they are
scarce. In recent years, manufacturers have become
rather more independent of the fish catch, owing to the
increased consumption of nitrate of soda. While men-
haden is by far the leading source of fish scrap, there
are some fish preparations from the cod fisheries and
from the sardine or herring fisheries. The supply from
these sources is comparatively small, and they are not so
well prepared for fertilizing pur-
poses. Pure dry fish scrap is an
excellent source of nitrogen.
Its best results are obtained on
rather light land, as the more
compact nature of heavy soils,
together with the larger quan-
tity of water contained in such,
apparently retards the disinte-
gration of the scrap. It should

FIG. 18. a SHOWS A METHOD OF FIXING THE CLOTH SO IT WILL LAST
FOR TEARS; 6, ITS APPLICATION TO THE PLANT BED.

not be used in the hill, but broadcast only. It is less
to be desired than dried blood, but it is far more easily
obtained in the market, and it gives excellent results.
Care should be taken to distribute it evenly, for if it
accumulates in spots, an excessive fermentation results
that is distributed to growing plants. Six hundred
pounds of scrap can be used in place of 1,000 pounds of
cottonseed meal, or 1250 pounds of castor pomace. As

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 133

in the case of tankage, it is best when applied with
manure, because of its lack of organic matter. It need
not be applied in the fall, for if broadcasted and har-
rowed in when the ground is being prepared in the early
spring, it will become available for the crop by the
time the plants are set.

Other Nitrogenous Substances. — In addition to these
flesh preparations, there are others known as azontine,
ammonite, etc. These are simply preparations of dried
meat, but are of higher grade than tankage and are
more uniform in composition. They can be classified
with dried blood and similarly handled.

NITROGEN SALTS.

Beside the organic nitrogen supplies, both animal
and vegetable, described in the previous pages, an
entirely different class exists, known as "salts." These
salts are crystallized salts of nitric acid or ammonia.
They are perfectly soluble in water, and the nitrogen is
in an immediately available condition. They contain
no organic matter of any kind, but are practically pure
chemicals. They are held in very high esteem for all
crops, and are of special value for tobacco, but to obtain
the best results they should be used on soils naturally
rich in organic matter, or made so artificially by the use
of manure, castor pomace, muck, or compost.

There is nothing gained in applying these chemicals
much in advance of the crop, for they are perfectly
available as plant food whenever applied. In this they
differ from all the fertilizing materials previously con-
sidered. The nitrogen in all animal and vegetable mat-
ter is partly inert and cannot be set free until such
matter is disintegrated by fermentation. All these or-
ganic matters, therefore, require time, in which this
fermentation may go on, before the nitrogen contained
in them can be utilized by the plant. But experience

134 TOBACCO LEAF.

shows that, applied as previously directed, these organic
manures give up nitrogen to the crop as it can be used.
The value of nitrates is modified because nitrogen in
this very soluble form is so exposed to leaching. Jenkins
has "seen a heavy rain leach away the whole nitrogen
supply of a crop where it was in the form of nitrates."
It could not do this with organic forms.

The consumption of tthese nitrogen salts, especially
of nitrate of soda, is steadily increasing. There are
three of these crystalline salts : Nitrate of potash, which
is made by the union of nitric acid and potash ; sulphate
of ammonia, which is sulphuric acid combined with
ammonia, and nitrate of soda, a combination of nitric
acid and soda. Of these, the first, nitrate of potash, is
rarely used as a fertilizer. It is largely used in the
manufacture of gun powder, and commands such a price
as to prevent its use for fertilizing purposes. It would
seem to be admirably adapted to tobacco culture, owing
to its large percentage of both nitrogen and potash,
elements especially demanded by this crop, and it should
be tried experimentally. Nitrate of potash contains
about 14 per cent of nitrogen and 45 per cent of actual
potash.

Sulphate of Ammonia. — This valuable salt is ob-
tained in large quantities as a by-product in the man-
ufacture of illuminating gas. It is a white crystalline
salt having a slightly bluish tinge and may have a faint
odor of ammonia, but it usually is odorless. Its value
as an agricultural salt has long been known, and it is
largely used for manurial purposes, both in this country
and Europe. It is very uniform in composition, and is
sold under a guaranteed analysis of twenty-four to
twenty-five per cent of ammonia, which is the same as
twenty to twenty and one-half per cent of nitrogen.
The percentage of free water is very small, rarely over
one per cent. It is freely soluble in water, and the

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 135

liquid sulphate of ammonia is freely separated into com-
pounds available for plant food. It is one of the quickest
ammoniates in its effects and is highly prized for its
great forcing power. It is especially valuable for hasten-
ing the crop if for any reason it becomes retarded.

Owing to its very soluble condition, sulphate of am-
monia should be applied just before setting the plants,
at the time of the last harrowing. If applied earlier
there is a possibility of loss through leaching, especially
on light soils. Two hundred and fifty pounds per acre
takes the place of 1,000 pounds of cottonseed meal or
of 600 pounds of dry fish scrap. The better way to use
it is to apply in conjunction with manure, although on
any but very light soils it will produce favorable results
alone, until the soil becomes depleted of organic matter
through continuous cultivation. The best results are
obtained by using a small quantity of sulphate of am-
monia with manure and organic ammoniates, for the
ammonia salt gives a quick start to the young plants,
while the nitrogen from the other materials comes in
for the later development of the crop. Sulphate of
ammonia contains a large quantity of sulphuric acid,
which is a decided objection, and the results of its use in
Connecticut are such as to make it unpopular with the
best growers. Care is necessary that the rootlets do not
come into too close contact with it.

Nitrate of Soda. — Much that has been said of sul-
phate of ammonia applies with equal force to this salt,
which is preferred to the sulphate because free of sul-
phuric acid. It is perfectly soluble and should be ap-
plied in the manner indicated for ammonia, and treated
in all respects the same. It is a crystalline salt of some-
what pinkish cast, slightly deliquescent (capable of
absorbing moisture), and is imported in enormous quan-
tities for manurial purposes, as well as for other indus-
trial uses. It exists in large beds in certain provinces of

136 TOBACCO LEAF.

Chili, and is often called Chili saltpeter. It is clarified
before shipment, and is very uniform in composition,
containing about sixteen per cent of nitrogen. It is a
combination of nitric acid with soda.

The use of nitrate of soda upon tobacco has not
become general as yet, and possibly its large percentage
of soda may have some qualifying influence on the crop ;
more extended experiments are necessary to determine
this point. A small quantity of it, however, can be used
with safety, and, like sulphate of ammonia, it has great
value in giving the young plants a vigorous growth. It
has been customary to apply half the nitrate at time of
planting, or at first cultivating, and the balance at sec-
ond cultivating. At Poquonock the application all at
once, between rows, at first cultivating, gave best
results.

POTASH FERTILIZATION.

The Necessity of Potash cannot be too strongly
reiterated. We have shown in Chapter V that tobacco
draws more heavily upon the soil's potash than upon any
other single element. It also requires a larger amount
of potash than does any other crop. Tobacco is a potash
feeder to a remarkable extent. It is equally important
to note that analyses of soils and practical experience
unite in proving that in many localities where tobacco is
grown, the land is deficient in potash. This is quite
generally true of all tobacco lands that have not been
well manured. It is also true of many other soils.
Every farmer can readily test his own soil for potash, by
planting tobacco or potatoes in plots without any
potash, and with potash in varying quantities, moderate
amounts of nitrogen and phosphoric acid being fur-
nished in all the plots. If it appears that the absence of
potash reduces the crop, and that its presence increases
the yield, the imperative necessity of potash is proved.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 137

The table of manurial analyses in Appendix shows
how deficient ordinary stable manure is in potash, and
how few substances furnish it in liberal proportion.
Thus the deficiency of potash, both in the soil and in
ordinary manurial substances, must be made good. But
while potash is of paramount importance to the tobacco
plant, great care must be exercised to exclude all con-
tamination with chlorine. Potash combines freely with
chlorine, and in the muriate of potash is wholly present ;
common salt (chloride of soda) is also frequently found
in many potash salts. But the demand for a potash salt
free from this defect has caused the introduction of high
grade sulphates that are practically free from chlorine.

Potash Salts are obtained from the potash mines at
Stassfurt, Germany, and are largely used for manurial
purposes, both in Europe and this country. The native
salt is a mixture of sulphate and muriate of potash with
common salt, and is clarified after mining. Kainit, the
lowest grade sulphate, contains 25 per cent of sulphate
of potash (equal to 12 per cent actual potash), and 60
per cent of common salt, and should never be used for
tobacco because of this last defect. Muriate of potash,
80 per cent purity, contains 50 per cent actual potash,
and about 15 per cent common salt, and for this last
reason is eschewed by tobacco growers. The« first salt
satisfactory for tobacco culture was the double sulphate
of potash and magnesia, or double-manure-salt, and it
is still used with good results. As its name implies,
toe sulphuric acid is combined with potash and mag-
nesia, and also with soda to some extent ; its analysis
is given in Table IV, Page 112. But it contains so
much chlorine that it is not now approved for fine
wrappers, and the Poquonock results are against it.
Whether its magnesia is of much use is also a question.
Double manure salt is usually sold on a guarantee of
48 to 50 per cent sulphate of potash (equal to about 25

138 TOBACCO LEAF.

per cent actual potash), and lately the further guarantee
"less than two and one-half percent chlorine " is also
given.

The high grade sulphate now imported is more
desirable, since it contains no chlorine at all, is more
concentrated and, moreover, comes in a fine, mealy con-
dition. It is guaranteed to contain from 96 to 98 per
cent sulphate of potash. This is equivalent to 50 or 51
per cent actual potash, or just about the same as is
found in muriate of potash of 80 per cent muriate.
The two to four per cent of other matter in this high
grade sulphate is mainly composed of water. This is
an admirable salt for the tobacco crop and should be
used extensively.

How to Apply Potash Salts. — In Germany the usual
custom is to apply potash salts in the fall upon all but
very light land. In this country, spring applications are
exclusively followed, and as no great additional benefit
can be expected from fall applications, the present cus-
tom will probably continue. To raise a first-class crop
of tobacco there should be at least 300 pounds of actual
potash in the soil available for plant use. To furnish
this it is necessary to apply 500 pounds of high grade
sulphate, or 1000 pounds of double sulphate, per acre.
In addition to this is the potash obtained from cotton-
seed meal, manure, stems or other articles. The same
rule advanced in applying nitrogen, — the necessity of a
much larger supply than the plant actually requires, —
holds good in furnishing potash, though in a less degree.
Potash does not leach, and what is applied remains
permanently in the soil, but the trouble is that it is
often too permanent. It has a tendency to form insol-
uble compounds, and when these are formed a certain
per cent of potash becomes locked up and lost to the
plant. Potash, however, has no forcing effect, and the
only reason for an excess is to avoid the possibility of a

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS.

139

deficiency, either from uneven distribution or from the
formation of insoluble compounds. The salts should be
applied broadcast, in the spring, at the time of the first
harrowing.

Cottonhull Ash is extremely popular as a fertilizer,
especially with scientific growers of prime tobacco for
cigar wrappers. This is mainly due to the large quan-
tity of potash the ash contains, and also to the fact that
this potash is soluble. It also contains a goodly amount
of magnesia, as well as lime and phosphoric acid; the
two former elements being as essential for this crop as
is the potash or the phosphoric acid. It is quite prob-
able, too, that the soluble carbolic acid in cottonhull ash
adds to its excellent effect on the soil. The following
are complete analyses of a fair average sample of cotton-
hull ash, made by Jenkins at Connecticut station, and
by Goessman at Massachusetts station :

Connecticut.

Mass.

Sol. in
water.

Insol. in
water.

Total.

Potash,

25.20

2.65

27.85

28.2

Soda,

.50

.80

1.30

?

Lime,

none

5.23

5.23

10.5

Magnesia,
Oxide of iron and alumina,

.20
none

11.04
1.64

11.24
1.64

15.3
?

Phosphoric acid,
Sulphuric acid,

1.52
2.32

8.29
0.09

9.81
2.41

8.1
?

Carbonic acid,

8.28

3.31

11.59

?

Chlorine,

.21

none

.21

?

Silica and sand,

.16

9.34

9.50

10.6

Water and charcoal,

19.22

17.2

38.39

42.39

100.00

Cottonhull ash varies widely in composition. Dif-
ferent samples contain from 10 to 40 per cent potash,
average 23 per cent ; phosphoric acid 3 to 14 per cent,
average 8 per cent. Hence, this ash should only be
bought on a guaranteed analysis, and at a price that
will make the actual potash cost only four to six cents
per pound. The wide variation is due to the careless-
ness with which the hulls are burned in Southern mills,

140 TOBACCO LEAF.

being mixed with wood or coal. When screened and
free from excessive moisture, the analysis is not liable to
be much below the average stated. The fact that skil-
ful Connecticut valley tobacco farmers continue to pur-
chase this article in increasing quantities year after year,
at from $25 to $35 a ton, is good evidence that a fair
equivalent for the money is received.

A better idea of the peculiar composition of cotton-
hull ashes can be obtained by comparing them with the
analysis of wood ashes, given in the next line above it
(Table IV, Page 112). Average cottonhull ash contains
nearly 25 per cent of potash and about 8 per cent of
lime. In wood ashes this condition is nearly reversed,
the lime being 33 per cent, while the potash is 5 per
cent. To furnish as much potash in the form of wood
ashes as is obtained in an average ton of cottonhull ash,
five tons of wood ashes would be necessary, which, at
$11 to $15 per ton, makes a total cost of $60 to $75, or
double the cost of cottonhull ash. The quantity of
phosphoric acid obtained from cottonhull ash is also
four times as much as from wood ashes — as lime is a
very cheap article, costing about $12 per ton, it is econ-
omy to purchase the cottonhull ash and supply the de-
ficiency of lime, than to use wood ashes. These facts
have been determined by experience as well as analysis,
and the custom of applying cottonhull ash and lime to
tobacco lands is quite general wherever this ash is exten-
sively used, oyster shell lime being preferred.

Another Objection to Wood Ashes is the great bulk
of matter that must be handled if they alone are used as
a potash supply. There is, however, some compensa-
tion in the large quantity of lime obtained, and wood
ashes can be used in part on tobacco lands. The
reasonable price of cottonhull ash has prevented any ex-
tensive use of wood ashes, and the latter can only be
regarded by the tobacco grower as a source of lime so

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 141

long as cottonhull ash can be obtained in the present
quantities. Cottonhull ash is applied broadcast in the
spring at the time of first harrowing, at the rate of 750
to 1000 pounds per acre. As the ash is generally con-
sidered to contain about 25 per cent of potash, 750
pounds gives about 187 pounds of potash, and 1000
pounds of ash about 250 pounds of potash.

As the fine quality of the present sulphate of potash
salts becomes more generally appreciated, there is a tend-
ency to use them instead of cottonhull ash, the only
reason for the abandonment of the latter being the un-
certainty of composition. This ash, however, is yet the
most popular potash supply, and it will long continue
to be so because the potash in it exists as the carbonate
of potash, which is by far the best form. Carbonate of
potash exerts a powerful influence on the soil through
its caustic properties, and this gives it a greater value
than an equal amount in the form of sulphate of potash.
Another important point is the entire absence of chlorine
in cottonhull ash.

OTHER MANURIAL SUBSTANCES.

Tobacco Stems supply both nitrogen and potash.
These stems must not be confused with tobacco stalks.
Stems are the midribs of the leaf that are discarded
when the leaf is cut into wrappers, or stemmed for the
English markets. They are largely employed in ferti-
lizing tobacco fields, and at one time the demand for
this purpose was very strong. Stems vary considerably
in analysis, according to the quantity of sand and water
present ; but they are usually a good purchase at $10 per
ton, but during the boom, prior to the panic of '73, they
sold as high as $35 a ton. Kentucky stems contain
about 25 per cent water, organic and volatile matter 62
per cent (including nitrogen 1.8 per cent), and mineral
matter 13 per cent, of which about 8 per cent is potash

142 TOBACCO LEAF.

and 1 per cent phosphoric acid. Seedleaf stems are
usually drier, containing about the same quantity of ni-
trogen and phosphoric acid, but one-fourth less potash.
As with all coarse material, stems should be applied very
early in the spring, and the better plan is to plow them
under in the fall. They supply both nitrogen and pot-
ash, and are well suited to the tobacco crop. They are
so popular in the Connecticut valley that all the stems
available have been used, and before the season for sell-
ing closed (about June 10), each year has found the
dealers with their stocks exhausted and their late orders
unfilled, from 3000 to 5000 tons of stems being used
annually.

Lime is used to a considerable extent upon tobacco
lands in the seedleaf districts, and its effect is somewhat
peculiar and not wholly in the way of a food element.
Tobacco ash contains a large percentage of lime, but on
some lands sufficient is present in the soil to meet the
demands of the crop. But the opinion is growing that
a sufficiency of lime is more often lacking in the soil
used for tobacco than is usually supposed. Lime is con-
stantly leaching from the upper layers into the lower
strata of soil. All saline manures make it leach further.
Tobacco, as well as other plants, possesses the power of
substitution, and where lime is abundantly present and
potash is lacking, a larger quantity of lime is consumed
than would otherwise be the case. It is, therefore, well
to have a fair quantity of lime present, more, even, than
is usually found in the soil.

The most important action of lime, however, is not
that of a plant food, but rather that of a mechanical
agent. It promotes nitrification, or the conversion of
crude animal and vegetable matter into nitrates. It
destroys woody tissue, and when used in excess, burns
out the vegetable matter present in the soil, impairing
its future value. A little of this burning effect is valu-

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 143

able, since by it latent plant food is made available, but
lime should not be used on light lands unless plenty of
vegetable matter also is present. Lime corrects the
acidity of soils by combining with any excess of acids
that may be present. It also, to some extent, acts upon
the mineral elements and sets free potash that would
not otherwise be available.

Another characteristic of lime is that it improves
the texture of both light and heavy soil, but in entirely
different ways. It binds together the loose. particles of
light soils, making them more compact, increasing their
capacity to absorb and retain moisture, thus correcting
the waste features of such land. On heavy, especially
on clay, soils, it has an entirely different effect, as it
overcomes the tenacious nature of the land, causing the
particles to fall apart, thus promoting ease of cultivation
and the better development of plant roots. On cold,
wet lands it improves the mechanical condition of the
soil by making it lighter. It also corrects the acidity
usually present in wet soils, promotes nitrification, and
gives it life and energy. Almost any soil that becomes
hard and compact can be improved by a moderate use of
lime. On tobacco lands it is not used now as much as
in former years, although it is resorted to whenever the
mechanical condition of the soil requires it.

How to Apply Lime. — The power of lime to liberate
dormant plant food is very great and fully understood,
and where land has been heavily dressed with manures
for a number of years, an application of lime produces
very favorable results. On this account it was formerly
the custom to make quite a heavy application at inter-
vals of three or four years, but it is now believed that
small, annual applications are better. On the general
run of lands, 500 pounds is ample, and more often one
cask per acre is used. Nova Scotia lime, such as is used
for building purposes, is the best. Some advocate the

144 TOBACCO LEAF.

use of air-slaked lime only, while others prefer to apply
it in a more caustic state.

A favorite way is to dump the contents of a cask on
the plowed field, leaving it a few days to slake by the
influence of the moisture of the air and the soil ; if then
it is lumpy, sufficient water is added to reduce it to a
fine, dry powder, care being taken that it does not be-
come pasty. It is then scattered broadcast over the
field, after the manure has been applied.

As in the case of manure, the best time to apply it
is in the fall, or if not done then, very early in the
spring. It absorbs the excessive water in the land, and
also assists in reducing coarse manure to the more con-
genial form of vegetable mold. Lime exists in large
quantities in wood ashes, and to a smaller extent iu cot-
tonhull ash, and some of the beneficial action of wood
ashes results from the lime. In leached ashes, which
are highly prized in some sections for grass lands, lime
is very abundant, and the effect produced is almost en-
tirely from the lime. Where it can be cheaply bought,
oyster-shell lime is particularly prized because of its fine
mechanical condition, and its use is on the increase.

Sulphate of Lime, gypsum or plaster, is used to
some extent on tobacco, and at one time was highly
recommended. While the plants have the power of
obtaining lime from the plaster to some extent, its prin-
cipal function is that of an absorbent only. It takes up
water greedily, and has an affinity for ammonia, but
whether sufficient to prevent in part the liability of loss
of nitrogen by leaching is not demonstrated. Sulphate
of lime also has some influence upon the potash com-
pounds of the soil, setting the potash free from inert
combinations. For these reasons, about five hundred
pounds per acre have been used on light lands, especially
where a large quantity of organic matter is present.
But in the absence of tests to determine its value, the

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 145

use of gypsum on tobacco land is not to be recommended,
for it is not yet shown to possess any advantages over
lime alone, while it may be objectionable.
FERTILIZER FORMULAS.

From the previous pages it appears that a wide
range of materials can be used for fertilizing tobacco
lands. And if one material should be difficult to obtain,
another can be substituted. Of course, the greatest
variety is in the nitrogenous compounds, as the materi-
als are animal, vegetable and purely chemical. The
sources of potash are confined to two materials, ashes
and salts. To summarize the facts given in the forego-
ing pages, the best plan will be to give formulas, or
methods of mixing. It should be emphasized, however,
that barn manure should be used with these formulas to
as large an extent as possible. All the following formu-
las are based on a previous application of eight to ten
cords of manure per acre, or three tons of tobacco stems,
and each one has been widely used. While the use of
cottonseed meal is very general and has given good re-
sults, it can be replaced with other ammoniates in case
meal cannot be obtained, and, in fact, it would probably
be an improvement to use other ammoniates in conjunc-
tion "with the meal. A mixed nitrogen-supply gives
better results, as a rule, than when a single material
only is used, for if the action of one is hindered, or too
rapid, the others correct this defect. This is the rule
used in compounding commercial fertilizers.

No. 1. Composed of Containing

2000 Ibs. cottonseed meal, "I xrurno

500 Ib. plter, J Phosphoric acid, 126 Ibs.

The essential elements are derived from the meal

and ash ; the plaster and lime only being supplied to

affect the soil mechanically and to assist the burning

qualities of the tobacco. Linseed meal is used instead

10

146 TOBACCO LEAF.

of cottonseed when it can be bought to better advantage.
This formula has also been modified by omitting the
lime and plaster, adding more ash or meal, and some-
times by adding small quantities of superphosphates, or
tankage. It is also used in the following combinations :

No. 2. Composed of Containing

1000 Ibs. cottonseed meal, *>
1250 Ibs. castor pomace, •„.,. 100 ,,

•>nn ilia pnttmiiiiiil a«ii Nitrogen, 128 Ibs.

"

500 Ibs. plaster,

No. 3. Composed of Containing

1000 Ibs. cottonseed meal, ")

600 Ibs. dry fish scrap, Nitrogen, 116 Ibs.

500 Ibs. 96 per cent sulphate potash, y Phosphoric acid, 60 Ibs.

500 Ibs. lime, Potash, 267 Ibs.

500 Ibs. plaster, J

No. 4. Composed of Containing

1000 Ibs. castor pomace, *|

500 Ibs. 96 per cent sulphate potash. sn' s"

No. 5. On old tobacco fields that are in good heart, a favorite for-
mula at present is 2000 Ibs. cottonseed meal and 1000 Ibs. cottonhull
ash.

No. 6. One well-known tobacco grower says: "My formula fora
homemade tobacco fertilizer is 2000 Ibs. cottonseed meal, 1000 Ibs.
double sulphate of potash, 1000 Ibs. plaster and 1000 Ibs. lime, and it is
the best and cheapest fertilizer for tobacco I have ever tried."

No. 7. Another applies 10 cords of manure per acre, from 1000 to
2000 Ibs. cottonseed meal, and 400 to 500 Ibs. Peruvian guano.

No. 8. A formula used by several successful growers is for one
acre of land that has a good supply of manure or vegetable matter in
the soil:

Composed of Containing

300 Ibs. lime, or about 1 cask, "1 Nitrogen 166 Ibs

400 Ibs. sulphate of potash, I gggg^aig; 140 lbs.

600 lbs. pure bone meal, Tv>ta<j)i 9<u ih«

2000 lbs cottonseed meal, J Potash, 234 lbs.

No. 9. Another favorite formula is

Composed of Containing

1500 lbs. cottonseed meal, "| Nitrogen 07 ihs

1500 M^spottonhull ash, I Nitrogen «££*

rotasPh,4001bs.

No. 10. A homemade tobacco fertilizer that gave good satisfaction :
Composed of Containing

2000 lbs. cottonseed meal, ) Nitrogen, 152 lbs.
1000 lbs. cottonhull ash, } Phosphoric acid, 164 lbs.

1000 lbs. lime, ) Potash, 360 lbs.

No. 11. Another, used with excellent results at the rate of two tons
per acre :

Composed of Containing

1000 lbs. cottonseed meal, ) Nitrogen, 76 lbs.
500 lbs. cottonhull ash, J Phosphoric acid, 82 lbs.

50 lbs. lime, ) Potash, 160 lbs.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 14:7

COMMERCIAL OR MANUFACTURED FERTILIZERS.

In the early years of the fertilizer industry, the
presence of large quantities of chlorine in the potash
salts, and the use of animal matter, tankage, blood and
fish, together with the general ignorance of the pecul-
iarities of the tobacco plant, resulted in the production
of unsatisfactory commercial fertilizers for tobacco, and
a distrust of such preparations grew up among tobacco
growers, which may still .exist in some measure. As the
value of the crop increased and large areas were devoted
to its culture, more attention has been given to its re-
quirements by fertilizer manufacturers. Some of them
have made a study of the results of scientific and prac-
tical experiments, and there is to-day almost no risk to
even so delicate a crop as tobacco, from the judicious
use of the best known brands of tobacco fertilizers. The
Connecticut valley crop of the finest quality that sold
for the highest price in recent years, was grown on a
well-known tobacco fertilizer.

The one condition of fertility that is deficient in
prepared fertilizers is organic matter. And manufac-
turers make a mistake in advertising the exclusive use
of their fertilizers, when far better results can be attained
by applying them in conjunction with manure and other
organic matter. This has resulted from the idea that
where manure is used, fertilizers will not be employed,
and, therefore, the less said about manure by the manu-
facturers and the more farmers are led away from it,
the larger will be the sale of commercial preparations.
While this may be true with some crops, it is not so
with tobacco. All artificial fertilizers, whether prepared
by the manufacturer or the farmer, give the best results
on soils in good heart ; that is, rich in organic matter.

The manufacturers of the best tobacco fertilizers
guarantee that the potash is from sulphate salts only,

148 TOBACCO LEAF.

and that chlorine is not present in appreciable quantities.
Some also state that no nitrates are present. These fer-
tilizers come prepared in admirable mechanical condition
and contain from 4 to 6 per cent of nitrogen, from 7 to
11 per cent of actual potash, while the phosphoric acid
does not much exceed 6 per cent, and sometimes is less,
but little of it being in an insoluble form. Each ferti-
lizer is compounded by a private formula, whereby the
manufacturer seeks to preserve the uniformity of results

FIG. 19. REMOVING CLOTH COVER FROM LARGE BED OF PLANTS.

obtained, and each one very naturally claims that his
own brand is the best for the peculiar requirements of
the crop. Undoubtedly, the plant food in the different
brands is obtained from different materials, or from dif-
ferent proportions of the same materials, as each varia-
tion produces a somewhat peculiar influence on the soil
and plant. The popularity of the brands differs in dif-
ferent sections, or with different growers. Where a
brand has demonstrated its value by producing satisfac-
tory crops, it is a good plan to continue its use. But
the average analysis shows that, taken as a whole, with-

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 149

out allowing for peculiarities of composition of the ferti-
lizer itself, or of the soil on which it is used — which
cannot be told by analysis — any of the standard brands
are good ; and experience shows that they can be used
with safety to the crop and profit to the grower.

How to Use Commercial Fertilizers. — The following
directions as to how much fertilizer to use, how to apply
it, etc., are given by a well-known manufacturer, and his
remarks apply with equal force to all brands. Alone,
without anything else, a ton of high grade commercial
fertilizer is good manuring. Sow one-half ton or more
per acre before plowing, then plow under lightly (half
depth). In ten days or two weeks plow the land at full
depth and sow on the balance, thoroughly cutting in
with a long-toothed wheel, or any of the improved har-
rows. This will leave the land, so far as manuring goes,
ready for fitting in the usual way before setting plants.
If one^half quantity stable manure is used, then sow
half a ton per acre at last harrowing, working it into the
land thoroughly. Then fit the land for setting, as
usual. If three-fourths quantity of stable manure is
used, apply 500 to 600 pounds per acre and harrow in at
last harrowing, and fit the land in usual way. When
fertilizer is used alone on sod land, apply 2000 pounds
per acre after plowing, and thoroughly cut in with
wheel, disk or long-toothed harrow, as long as possible
before the time of fitting the land. Then harrow again,
and fit the land for setting in ordinary way.

CHAPTER VII.

THE SEED BED — RAISING SEED.

No step in the culture of tobacco is more important
than proper care in the preparation and the sowing
of the seed beds. This work cannot be neglected in
manner or season without running the risk of making a
partial, or total, failure of the crop. To make good
beds is a laborious task, and requires ripe judgment,
both in the selection of the location, the soil, and in the
preparation of the land. To have plenty of good,
strong, healthy plants is the surest foundation for a good
crop of tobacco, provided they are from seed true to the
desired standard.

1. As to Location, — The land selected should have
a slightly southern exposure, if possible, to get the full
benefit of the warm rays of the sun in early spring, so
as to hasten the growth of the plants, in order that they
may be transplanted before the hot summer weather sets
in. A southeastern exposure is next to be preferred,
then a western. The worst of all is a northern slope.
All trees standing within thirty feet of the bed should
be cut down. Protection on the north and west sides by
a skirt of woods is desirable, inasmuch as the young
plants are thus sheltered from the cold blasts of early
spring. The best possible situation is on a sloping hill
on the north side of a running stream, but sufficiently
elevated to be above any danger from overflows. In
such a situation the fogs will quicken the germination
of the seeds and accelerate the growth of the plants,
bringing them forward from ten days to two weeks
earlier than on level land.

150

RAISING SEED. 151

2. As to the Soil — The best is a rich, friable,
black virgin loam, or sandy soil. Black is preferable
because it absorbs to a greater degree the rays of the sun,
and brings forward the plants several days earlier, which
is highly important to the tobacco grower. A differ-
ence of a few days often makes the difference between a
rich, fancy article and a dull-colored, frosty one. The
preference in the Clarksville heavy-shipping district is a
spot in the woods, covered with a dense, hazel thicket,
or black gum with a few scrub hickories. This wild
growth invariably indicates rich, loose, deep soil, with a
large content of potash. In the White Burley district
of Kentucky, beds are

originally burned and
prepared on old sod
lands. Many good i
farmers select a place1
in their vegetable gar-
den, cover it with vir-
gin mold taken from
the woods, and SOW it FIG. 20. BASKET FOB CARRYING PLANTS.
after thoroughly burning the land. In the North a
dark but rather sandy soil is preferred as best adapted to
a strong growth of roots ; the surface does not bake or
crack when dry, and the plants can be lifted easily with-
out much damage.

3. As to Burning. — The wild growth should be
cut off near the surface of the ground with an axe, not
dug up ; the leaves carefully raked from the land, and
then, beginning at one side, a layer of trash should be
put down longitudinally, until it is about four feet high
and four wide. Against this, brush should be set up,
nearly vertically, leaning just enough to prevent it from
falling back on the bed. This is continued until about
eight feet of the length of the bed is passed over, when
a layer of wood, eight feet long, is set on the end lean-

152 TOBACCO LEAP.

ing against the brush. After this, eight feet more of
brush is set up, and a layer of wood, and so on until the
whole space is occupied. It should then be set on fire,
and when the brush burns out the whole bed will be
thickly covered with burning wood, which will be con-
sumed upon the ground and burn it sufficiently hard.
The brush may all be set up without interspersing the
wood and then afterward the whole should be covered
with a layer of wood, as shown in Fig. 12. Old rails
laid upon skids, so as to keep them from lying on the
ground, three or four deep, or the logs of an old
house, are admirable materials for burning plant beds.
They are easily set afire and burn the ground well. In
repairing fences, the old rails should always be kept
for this purpose. They save much valuable timber
and a great deal of hard labor. The burning destroys
all weed seed.

4. Preparation and Sowing. — The ground should
be burned until it has a reddish, or soft, brick-like
appearance, and will pulverize into an impalpable pow-
der. It should then be coultered, or spaded up, and
chopped over with hoes until it is well prepared. The
ashes should not be raked off, but thoroughly incorpo-
rated with the top soil. At the North, a heavy dressing
of well-rotted horse manure, hog manure or cottonseed
meal is applied in the fall, so that the fertility can be
well spread through the soil. Then in the spring about
150 pounds of some high-grade commercial fertilizer is
raked in to every 100 square yards.

As soon as the ground can be worked in the spring
without packing, and danger from hard frosts is over, it
should be harrowed, or lightly spaded, and made very
fine and friable by both harrow and hand rake, and to a
depth of two or three inches. Care should be taken
not to reverse the soil. All roots and rocks should be
picked up, the land receiving a good raking after each

KAISIHG SEED. 153

digging. When in nice order, mark off beds four feet
wide, and it is ready to be seeded.

It is usual at the South to sow at the rate of one
heaping tablespoonful of seeds to every 100 square
yards. In the Connecticut valley the rate is to sow a
tablespoonful of seed to each square rod of bed; this
gives about 60,000 seed, but many will be covered too
deep and therefore fail to grow. Some sow the seed by
taking a small quantity between the thumb and finger
and scattering over the bed, first one way and then the
other, to ensure even seeding; others mix the seed,
before sowing, with a pint of corn or cottonseed meal,
or ashes or land plaster, as it is then easier to handle,
and the meal can be seen upon the ground and a more
perfect sowing made. Some sprout the seed and claim
they save a few days in starting. While such seed
comes up a little quicker, it is doubtful if any ma-
terial difference in the size of the plants can be seen
in three or four weeks. To sprout seed, place a
piece of dark, woolen cloth in a dish, and cover the
cloth about one-fourth an inch deep with seed; then
place another woolen cloth over it, and saturate with
warm water, and place in a warm spot near the stove.
In three or four days small white spots can be seen
on the seed, indicating germination, and it then should
be sown at once; longer sprouting would develop
rootlets, and this should not be done until the seed is
in the ground.

Do not rake in the seed ; that would cover it too
much. The best plan is to run a heavy hand roller over
the bed, or press it with a board, or with the feet, until
the entire surface is smooth and compact. Southern
planters tramp in the seed by going around the bed, one
foot following the other, with toes pointing outward,
making a smooth, well-tramped surface. Firming the
soil is very essential to success, as the compact surface

154

TOBACCO LEAF.

RAISING SEED. 155

retains the moisture in the ground, which materially as-
sists in the growth of the seed and tiny plants.

A frequent mistake is made in using too much seed.
It is better to err in using too little. In the latter case,
the plants will be large, healthy, low and stocky, and
will withstand a very hot sun, and may be set with very
little moisture in the soil. When plants are crowded in
the bed the stems are small, delicate, white and crisp.
They have such a weakness of constitution that hun-
dreds of them perish after being transplanted, and even
if they survive this shock, their vitality is so feeble that
several weeks must elapse before they show a healthy
growth. In the meantime, they are preyed upon by cut-
worms, grasshoppers and other enemies, so that a good
stand is almost impossible to be secured with such
plants. In consequence, the tobacco field is of uneven
growth, which entails much unnecessary work upon the
farmer and seriously impairs the value of his crop.
Trenches should be dug on the upper end of the bed and
on both sides, so as to keep any floods of water from run-
ning over the bed. In Germany this is done as shown
in Fig. 13.

Sprouting the Seed, which is not practiced in the
South, is frequently resorted to by northern growers in
order to hasten the growth of the plants. In Wisconsin,
the seed is mixed with finely pulverized, rotten wood,
taken from the hollow of an old stump or log, and
placed in a pan or dish in a warm place, where it is kept
moderately damp by sprinkling with tepid water.
Under such conditions, the seed will germinate in about
two weeks, and is sown as soon as the danger of frost is
passed. Another plan is to sprinkle the seed thinly
upon a piece of dampened cotton cloth and cover it with
another cloth made of wool. The two are rolled
together, the woolen cloth on the outside. This roll is
kept in a warm place, or under a stove, and dipped in

156 TOBACCO LEAF.

tepid water every day. In from four to six days the
white germs will appear. In the northern part of Illi-
nois such cloths are kept moist in a pan of earth, of
which there is a layer below as well as above the cloth.
Great care must be observed in all these forcing proc-
esses. It often happens that the soil of the plant bed
is too wet, or otherwise not in proper condition when
the seed is ready, and when the delay of a day or two
may render the sprouted seed useless. Prudence would
suggest, in such a case, the preparation of several par-
cels of seed at intervals of a few days.

Covering for Plant Beds. — Nothing -that has ever
been invented or devised has effected so much for the
tobacco grower, at such a small cost, as a canvas cover-
ing for the seed bed. It is an absolute protection
against the ravages of the flea beetle ; it hastens the
growth of the plant by keeping the bed moist and warm,
and it prevents the accumulation, on the bed, of drifted
leaves or trash. The heat absorbed by the soil from the
sun's rays during the day is radiated, and lost at night
in the open air ; but under this covering it is reflected
by the canvas to the soil again, and thus a warm
temperature is preserved, highly promotive of the growth
of the plants. A given area, protected by canvas cover-
ing, will furnish at least a third more plants. Its con-
struction is very simple. A frame or box is made
around the bed, four or five inches high, as shown in
Fig. 15. A few wires may be stretched across the
frame, and closely tacked on the edges to uphold the
canvas. In place of wire, a small quantity of light brush
thrown over the bed will help to sustain the weight of
the cloth. Better than either are a few bows made of
wire, like the wickets used in croquet sets, and stuck at
intervals over the bed. These will hold up the canvas
and yet leave it flexible.

Instead of making the frame the full size of the

BAISING SEED.

157

bed, a more convenient plan, probably, would be to con-
struct a number of smaller frames, eight or ten feet
square, over which the cloth may be stretched and
securely fastened, a sufficient number of these frames
being provided to cover the ^beds. Such frames, well
braced, with their covering, could be removed when no
longer needed and put away for future use. If the
cloth is treated with a single coating of white lead and
oil, it will last for several years.

Still another method may be more economical.
The frames may be made, and properly braced with di-
agonal pieces inserted at the corners, flush with the

FIG. 22. SETTING PLANTS BY HAND.

upper edges of the plank. The cloth or canvas should
be cut some three inches longer and wider than the
frame and hemmed along the edges. Eyelet holes
worked along the edges make it easy to fasten the
canvas to hooks, pegs or nails driven in the outer faces
of the frame, two or three inches below the upper edge.
Constructed in this manner, the canvas may be rolled up
so as to let in the air and sunlight to harden the plants,
see Fig. 16. Such coverings for beds amount to a pos-
itive insurance of the plants at a very small expense,
for the cost of a frame and canvas to cover one hundred
yards need not exceed four dollars, as the price of suit-

158 TOBACCO LEAF.

able cloth ranges from three to three and one-half cents
per yard, and will, if taken care of, last several seasons.
At the North, glass is often used instead of cloth — reg-
ular hotbed sash, five and one-half feet long. Cloth-
covered frames of the same size are made to take the
place of the glass sash after the plants are well started,
this arrangement being shown by Fig. 17.

Other Methods. — Some planters select a place and
make a standing bed, which is kept and used from year
to year. After the planting season is over, and before
the grass and weeds have gone to seed, the standing bed
is coultered, and then covered with straw, leaves, or
brush with leaves on, so thickly as to hide the surface
and prevent vegetable growth. The trash and brush
are burned off at some dry time in November, or later.
Such standing beds, if well manured, are said to become
better each succeeding year. They are heavily dressed
with fresh loam from the woodlands, and composts of
stable manure, thoroughly rotted, care being taken to
handle it so as to destroy all foreign seeds, and also
with frequent topdressings of good commercial fertilizers.

In Louisiana the soil is not burned at all in making
seed beds, because the immense quantity of undecom-
posed vegetable matter contained in the soil makes it
too light and porous when burned. A spot is selected,
generally of old land, which is highly manured with cow
dung spread on to a depth of six inches, and turned
under with a spade or plow. After this, the bed is
chopped fine with a hoe and pulverized with frequent
rakings. This is done in October. The bed is worked
again in December, and beaten with the back of a spade,
or compacted with a roller ; channels to secure drainage
are cut through it every three feet, and the seed is sown
in January.

In Tennessee and Kentucky, when heds are made
upon rich virgin soils, manurial applications are rare,

RAISING SEED. 159

but in all the Atlantic States it is the general practice
to chop fine well-rotted stable manure in the soil when
the bed is being prepared for sowing. Many sow the
seed, and even the surface of the bed with well pulver-
ized manure free from grass seed. A light dressing of
the sulphate of lime (land plaster) has been found of
great service, also one of the superphosphate of lime.
Liquid manure applied after the plants are up will prob-
ably be found the best of all applications to promote a
rapid and healthy growth. A good liquid manure for
this purpose is made by taking a tight barrel half filled
with cow dung or well-rotted stable manure, and adding
water enough to fill it. The whole should be stirred
until it becomes a thick, soapy mass, which should be
applied to the bed by using a broom as a sprinkler. A
gallon of guano in a barrel of water will also be found
to stimulate the growth of the young plants. This
quality, without detriment, may be used on one hun-
dred square yards.

As to the Best Time for Burning Plant Beds, there
is a variety of opinion. They may be burned at any
time from the first of November until the 25th of March,
when the ground is dry enough. A bed burned when
the land is wet or frozen rarely does well. When the
land is too wet to plow, it is too wet to burn plant beds.
Those burned in the fall usually require less fuel, are
more easily prepared, and the ashes have more time to
rot, thus making better plant food. The ashes should
not be removed, but incorporated with the earth. When
beds are burned in the fall, they should be dug up and
prepared for sowing. In this condition they should be
left to the ameliorating effects of the freezes until the
latter part of January or the early part of February, or
even as late as April, when canvas coverings are intended
to be used. One of the best tobacco ^growers in the
South gives it as the result of his experience for thirty-

TOBACCO LEAF.

FIG. 23. BEMIS TKANSPLANTEB AT WORK.

This machine sets cabbage, tomato, strawberry and other plants, as well as tobacco plants
It Is made by the Fuller <fc Johnson M'f 'g Co., of Madison, Wis., U. S. A.

RAISING SEED. 161

five years, that a rod of land well burned and prepared
in the fall, will furnish as many good plants as double
the area burned at the usual time, in February or March.
This planter, however, had never used the canvas covers.

The question has been frequently asked, why soils
unburned will not answer as well as burned soils. All
the good effects of burning have never been accounted
for. We do know, however, that soils well burned will
bring strong, healthy plants, and those unburned will
often produce yellow, small and sickly ones. One effect
of the fire is to destroy all the seeds of weeds and grass,
giving the entire land to whatever seeds are sown upon
it. A second effect is to render the soil more permeable
to the roots of the plants, and by increasing its absorp-
tive capacity, preserve the proper degree of warmth and
moisture. A third effect is the inducing of a more
thorough pulverization of the soil, rendering it more
friable, and increasing, as it were, the area of the feed-
ing ground of the roots, thus rendering more plant food
available.

Another beneficial effect is produced by the pres-
ence of minute particles of charcoal, which, being black,
makes the bed warmer, and being a good condenser of
the gases within its pores, particularly of carbonic acid
gas (absorbing, as it does, 90 times its volume), it col-
lects a rich supply of food for the plants. And finally,
it is well known to chemists that burned clay, being
more porous, absorbs ammoniacal and other gases from
the soil and from the atmosphere more readily, and fixes
them for the use of plants. All clays, says Mr. Johnson,
contain sensible quantities of most of the mineral sub-
stances,— potash, soda, lime, etc., — which plants require
for their healthy growth. They are, however, in an
insoluble condition, which circumstance, united to the
stiffness of the clay, prevents the roots of plants from
readily taking them up. The chemical condition of the
11

162 TOBACCO LEAF.

constituents of the clay is altered when burned by a
gentle heat, and the substances which the plants require
are rendered more soluble.

CARE OF PLANT BEDS.

The covering, whether of glass or cloth, should be
removed after the plants are up, in the sunny part of
the day at first, and gradually for a longer time, until

FIG. 24. FIELD READY FOB MACHINE TRANSPLANTING (Connecticut).

finally no covering is used. This "hardening" process
is absolutely necessary, to give the plants sufficient
strength of constitution to withstand transplanting into
the open field, and to make a vigorous start when so
transplanted. The plants may be so uneven as to re-
quire that part be covered while the rest are exposed
(Figs. 15, 16, 17), but usually the entire covering is
removed (Fig. 19) after the sun is well up, but is spread

RAISING SEED. 163

again at night, until all danger of cold or frost is past.
The bed must be kept clean and free from weeds, and
well watered.

The aim of the grower is to raise early, strong and
stocky plants, and not those of a weak or spindling na-
ture. It is a good plan to have two or three beds
planted at intervals of a few days. This ensures plenty
of plants, und also meets the possibilities of the season.
If the season opens early, those from the first bed can be
used ; if later, those from the second or third bed.
Plants from the later beds are just what are wanted for
resetting.

A bed ten yards square, if well prepared, should set
six or seven acres. But it is always safe to prepare
double the area or number of seed beds thought to be
necessary, for no tobacco grower ever regrets having a
surplus of plants ; in that case, he may select the best.
For transplanting to old land, the plants should be
larger than for new land.

RAISING THE BEST TOBACCO SEED.

To raise good tobacco requires, in the first place,
good seed. This is more essential in tobacco than any
other crop, because the range of types, grades and prices
is wider in this than any other crop. And the seed
controls all these as much, if not more, than any other
one factor. Tobacco, apparently, has a natural inclina-
tion to depart from a fixed type and break into sub-vari-
eties, thus adjusting itself to the climate and soil in
which it is placed. Moreover, the pollen is easily dis-
seminated, and may be carried half a mile or more, caus-
ing much crossing where several varieties are grown
near together. To grow good seed requires time and
patience, but it will pay better than any other work
done on the crop. Seed is often saved from any well-
growing plant, regardless of the chances of cross-fertili-

164 TOBACCO LEAF.

zation, in a careless, shiftless way, resulting in much
confusion of varieties and a great lowering of quality.
This is all wrong, but it is the general practice at the
South, and too often done at the North. There are a
few farms in the United States that make a specialty of
growing tobacco seed. A bushel of seed, of manufactur-
ing varieties, is worth from forty to fifty dollars, but
cigar-leaf growers often pay as high as two dollars per
ounce, and the prices of cigar-leaf seed varies from fifty
cents to two dollars and a quarter per ounce, a fair average
for good seed now being one dollar per ounce. " Cheap"
seed is always the most expensive. The best growers
cheerfully pay the highest price for seed known to be
pure and of the best quality.

The largest, and possibly the best, tobacco seed
farm in the world is the Eagland seed farm at South
Boston, Virginia. On this farm is grown, every year,
from 100 to 125 bushels of tobacco seed, which embraces
all the standard, as well as the rare, varieties of tobacco.
The yield per acre is from four to five bushels, weighing
thirty-five pounds per bushel. In regard to the vitality
of tobacco seed, it is curious to note that not more than
75 per cent of the most carefully grown seed will ger-
minate. Mr. W. C. Slate, the manager of the Ragland
tobacco farm, has made many tests in this matter, and
he says it is very rare to find any seed that will show a
larger per cent of vitality.

The best way to secure a perfect leaf is to grow the
seed plants in an isolated place, removed at least a
mile from any other field of tobacco. There must be
several plants near each other, so that the pollen may be
interchanged between the flowers of the different plants.
There is a greenish striped worm, much like the bud
worm, that feeds upon the seed pods when young and
tender. These worms must be destroyed, as they will
make the pods upon which they feed seedless. In turn-

RAISING SEED.

165

ing out plants for seed, the earliest, the healthiest and
most vigorous growers should be selected. The plants
selected should be as nearly perfect as possible, the
stalks firm and the leaves near together on the stalk.
The leaves should be perfect in size, shape and texture,
with small midribs and veins. When the plant blos-
soms, carefully and frequently remove all suckers and
side shoots, leaving only the large clusters of flowers at

•25. WATKKINU SKT PLANT:-

the top to produce seed ; also remove two or three of the
upper leaves to prevent the plant becoming top-heavy.
If the weather is windy and the plant liable to lean,
drive a lath near the plant and tie the stalk to it. When
it has developed a good head and the earliest seed pods
begin to turn brown, pinch off all remaining blossoms
and small seed buds, and continue to do so if any blos-
soms appear later on. The ideal seed would be taken

166 TOBACCO LEAF.

from the central cluster of capsules of a well-developed
and carefully selected plant. A smaller quantity of seed
will be obtained, but it will be plump and healthy. The
great object is to force all the strength of the plant into
the production of a limited number of very nice seed,
and great care should be taken to keep the plant grow-
ing vigorously until this is attained. If there is danger
of early frost, the plant can be covered at night with a
flour or grain sack, or newspapers pinned around it.
Should there be any danger of a freeze before the seeds
are ripe, wet the roots and pull up the plants, with the
dirt adhering to the roots, and carefully place in a warm,
dry barn, and the seed will mature from the juices in the
stalk and roots.

When the seed is ripe, which is shown by the seed
pods turning brown, cut off the head with about a foot
of the stalk attached and hang in a warm, dry chamber.
When the bulbs and stalks are entirely dry, remove the
bulb shell from the seed, and carefully winnow it until
the chaff and all the lightest seed are removed. Some,
however, do not shell the seed until wanted, claiming
that it keeps better in the pod ; in which case the pods,
when dried, are picked and placed in a flour sack or
pasteboard box and kept in a warm place until the seed
is wanted for planting, when the quantity desired is
shelled.

SELECTION OF SEED FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES.

Some growers of fine cigar wrappers import seed
from the best Vuelta districts of Cuba and grow it, as
previously described, for four years in succession before
saving seed for crop purposes, and then succeed in rais-
ing a uniform article year after year. Crops are never
raised from freshly imported seed, because several years
are necessary to thoroughly acclimate the plant. The
idea that Havana seed should be used only a few years

RAISING SEED. 167

from importation, that it deteriorates, runs out, runs
into seedleaf, etc., is disputed by many of the most skill-
ful growers in the Connecticut valley, who believe that
these results arise more from cross-fertilization than from
any other cause. It is true that soil and climate gradually
change the size and fragrance of the leaf in the course
of a long term of years, but this change does not neces-
sarily lessen the quality of the leaf for wrappers, if proper
attention is paid to raising and selecting seed. They
believe that the quality, instead of deteriorating, stead-
ily improves under the careful cultivation given to it.
There is an opinion held by some careful growers that it
is wise to occasionally get seed from a different locality,
say 50 or 100 miles from the section in which their seed
has been grown.

TESTING THE VITALITY OF TOBACCO SEED.

Tobacco seed retains its vitality for 10, 12, and even
20 years, but many experienced growers believe it loses
in vitality after it is 10 years old. The individual seeds,
however, often vary in vitality, and to determine the
proportion of good and bad seed, place pieces of dark
woolen cloth on an earthen plate, sprinkle some seed
over these, cover the whole with more woolen, moisten
it thoroughly and keep warm by placing on a mantel
near a warm stove. In time, the seed will sprout, and
the proportion of good seed can be determined, as the
sprouts will readily show against the dark ground of the
woolen. Another test is to drop some seeds on a hot
stove, or other hot iron. The good seed will pop and
hop around like popcorn, while the poor will lie still
and burn. Still another test is to place some seed in
the palm of the hand and rub it. If good, the seed will
feel like grains of sand, and if bad, it will rub into dust.

The number of seed in an ounce varies with the
varieties and conditions under which it was grown. We

168 TOBACCO LEAF.

found, by actual count, 378,000 to 389,000 seed in one
ounce of Tennessee-grown Burley leaf ; each large seed
pod, when properly fertilized and fully developed, con-
tained about 5000 seeds, and an average head contained
eighty pods. An ounce of Havana seedleaf seed grown
in Massachusetts contained 287,600 seeds, and 308,820
were found in an ounce of seed of Havana leaf tobacco
grown at Poquonock. A single plant can produce seed
enough to set 250 acres, if all the seed germinated and
the plants all thrived.

CHAPTER VIII.

TRANSPLANTING.

The field having been properly prepared to receive
the plants, according to the directions for the various
kinds of tobacco, given in later chapters, the work of
transplanting requires the utmost care. Carelessness
and neglect here are certain to tell seriously on the
results of the crop. To avoid tramping down the bed,
while pulling plants, it is a good idea to have a board as
long as the bed is wide, this board to be one foot wide
and one and one-half inches thick. Put short legs in
each end and one in the center, this making a low bench
to stand upon that will keep one off the bed, while
pulling and weeding.

The most careful hands are set to work to draw the
plants from the beds. In removing plants, wet the bed
thoroughly, unless this has just been done by a good
rain ; take a common, two-tined dinner fork, or a stick
sharpened to a point at one end ; run this down by suit-
able sized plants and loosen them by gently prying
under them. The plants should be drawn one at a time,
so as to leave the smaller ones uninjured in the bed for
future planting, and so as not to injure the rootlets of
the plants taken. In drawing the plant, never catch by
the stem or on the heart or bud, but always by the
leaves above the bud. If the leaves are slightly bruised,
it will not hurt the plants, as the leaves come off any
way. Don't pull the plants one day and set them the
next, as they will grow crooked and never do well. As
the plants are drawn, they are laid down in straight
169

170

TOBACCO LEAF.

piles, the roots being all kept together. After this they
are carefully placed in baskets, or in the bed of a wagon,
or in a transplanting machine, and taken to the field.
The plant beds, after the first drawing of plants, de-
mand some attention and care. Should the weather be
dry and hot, they should be generously sprinkled with
water thickened with cow manure, late every afternoon.
For a few days it will be well to keep the canvas cover-
ing on the bed, for many small plants, being partially

FIG. 26. OLD STYLE SOUTHERN TOBACCO BARN.

From a photograph taken in Kentucky.

uptorn in drawing those beside them, need to be re-
established.

The Manner of Setting by Hand. — A dropper
with a basket of convenient size goes in advance, drop-
ping plants upon each hill in two rows. Two setters,
or planters, follow, each taking one row, see Figs. 21
and 22. A smooth, round peg, eight inches long and
from one inch to one and one-half inches in diameter,

TRANSPLANTING.

171

made of some hard seasoned wood, with a rounded
point, is used for making a hole in the hill, of proper
depth and size. The plant is then placed in position
and the soil pressed compactly about the roots by the
pressure of the planting peg against one side of the
hole. The use of a hand plant is very convenient to
the setter of tobacco. When he begins, he takes an
extra plant in his left hand and adjusts its roots down-

FIG. 27. FIRST IMPROVEMENT ON OLD STYLE SHOWN IN FIG. 26.

ward, while he is making the hole for the plant with the
peg in his right hand. When this hand plant has been
set in the first hill, he takes up the plant dropped on
that hill and passes to the second, adjusting in his left
hand as he moves from the first to the second hill,
so as to be ready to thrust the roots into the hole made
in the second hill. The plant on the second hill in like
manner is carried to the third. Such an extra plant is

172 TOBACCO LEAF.

called a "hand plant" and greatly facilitates the work
of transplanting.

The test applied to determine the thoroughness of
the work is to catch the top of a leaf, and pull it. If
the tip breaks, the work is well done ; if the plant is
drawn up from the ground, it is evident that the plant-
ing has been imperfectly performed. Careful planting
is very essential to insure a good stand and a ready
growth. If the whole field is carefully set with plants
of uniform size, and the soil is of uniform fertility, and
the cutworms are not troublesome, the very best con-

FIG. 28. IMPROVED LOG BARN WITH NIPPED SHED.

ditions are secured for raising a crop of tobacco of
uniform quality and size.

After setting, water the plants, unless the field is
too large. Watering should be done late in the day or
early in the morning, Fig. 25. If properly set and
watered, nine out of ten will live. Some sbade the
plants with short grass or leaves, but on large fields this
is impossible. If it rains soon after they are set, or if
the ground is quite wet, the plants will soon take root
and commence growing. If irrigation is possible, apply
the water after transplanting, if soil is dry. Much de-
pends upon having a good setting. If there are not

TRANSPLANTING. 173

plants enough, get them somewhere else, if you can
(they can generally be obtained for from fifty cents to
one dollar per 1000), if you have a good time for set-
ting. They will generally wilt down during the day,
but if they look fresh in the morning, they will do well.
A little plaster sprinkled on the leaves helps them at
this time. Watering is almost essential if the plants
are becoming too large in the beds. When it can be
done economically, watering is preferred by many
planters.

Eeplanting of the missing hills ought to be done
just as early after they are found as possible. Larger
plants should be used for this purpose, and the greatest

FIG. 29. MODERN FRAMED BARN, CL.ARK8VILLE DISTRICT HEAVY LEAF.

effort should be made to give to every plant in the field
an even start. Watering with liquid manure will help
the backward plants. Don't make the liquid too
strong; the leach from a manure pile, diluted with
water, is good ; or a teaspoonful of sulphate of ammonia
and two spoonfuls of sulphate of potash dissolved in
warm water and added to a barrel of water.

Machine Set Plants. — A much more expeditious,
and in every way satisfactory, method of setting is to use
a transplanting machine. It is a great labor-saving de-
vice, and enables the grower to plant a much larger area
for the same, or even less, expense. A transplanter is a

174

TOBACCO LEAF.

two-wheeled machine drawn by two horses, but such a
machine cannot be used where there are small stones
or undecomposed vegetable matter on the ground. The
land must be clean. It requires one man to drive and
two boys to drop the plants. It plants one row at a
time and can set from 3 to 6 acres per day, the amount
set depending on the skill of the droppers and the space
between the plants. In a few hours, operators of average
intelligence will learn how to do good work, and in a
few days very fast work. Plants are set with mathe-
matical regularity at any desired distance, 15, 18, 23 or
30 inches apart. The machine carries a supply of water,

FIG. 30. END VIEW OF FKAMED BARN.

and the roots of each plant are thoroughly wet below
the surface of the ground, while being set. This in-
sures a far better start than can be obtained by hand
setting, and, moreover, the grower is independent of the
weather, and can set his plants whenever the land is pre-
pared, regardless of rains. Machine-set tobacco plants
start quicker, and grow and mature more evenly and
quickly than hand-set plants. The machine can also
be used for setting cabbage, strawberry, tomato and
many other plants. Some of these machines make it
unnecessary either to lay off the land in rows or to make

TRANSPLANTING. 175

the hills with a hoe. We have been fortunate enough
to obtain a fine photograph of the Bemis transplanter,
from which Fig. 23 was engraved, which shows most
clearly the modus operandi of this useful machine,
which may be used with or without fertilizer attach-
ment. It is such a saver of work, time and money, that
the transplanter is destined to come into universal use.

G

3
J

A

B

ntl

*— 'hK^, -— <iih K^ •=- dt(" Ti^.— ii1- ~-(^kl!11'

N

4O PT . .

>

• TVJ r i
D

^3

FIG. 31. GROUND PLAN OF MOOEKN FKAMKU BAKN 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

176

TOBACCO LEAF.

model style for transplanting by machine is shown in
Fig. 24.

Time of Transplanting. — When this work~is done
hy 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.

177

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 to ad vantage. The
warm nights of early August
Sare especially favorable to the
production of the crop, and
the more advanced settings
have so far matured, at this

0 season, as not to receive the
greatest benefits. Again, the

1 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-
IN FIG. 33. 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 liable 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.

CHAPTEE IX.

TOBACCO BAKNS 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

180

TOBACCO LEAF.

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 gable 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 unquestionably 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
through the effects of heat and moisture — a partial decom-
position of the leaf, which destroys the oily and gummy
matter and renders the tobacco nearly worthless.

The body of a barn that is twenty-four feet square
will contain thirty tiers for firing, six across and five
high. The sticks are usually placed eight inches apart,
so each tier will hold thirty sticks. The body of such 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. CUBING BABN FOB YELLOW TOBACCO.

TOBACCO BARKS 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

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 LEAP.

FIG. 38. FIVE-ROOM FIVE-TIER BARN, FOR YELLOW LEAF.

TOBACCO BAEKS 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 ana
31 give a good idea of a modern framed barn in the

186

TOBACCO LEAF.

heavy-tobacco regions. The passageways are ahout 12£
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 BAKNS AND SHEDS.

187

VIG. 41. CROSS-SECTION OF
BAKN SHOWN IX FIG. 40.

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. c
In such a barn, doors are made B
to enter between the four sets
of sills. Thic makes a great
convenience in driving a load of
tobacco immediately under the
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-
pendicular to the sides. The
entire cost of such a barn is
about $250 to $300, varying
somewhat according to the prices
of lumber and the wages of
rough carpenters.

Many barns are constructed
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

SECTIONAL VIEW.

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

3WE

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-

FIO. 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 BAKNS 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.

tiori 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 it
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

FIG. 47. AN ELABORATE PENNSYLVANIA BA11N.

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. 3(5 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

Y~V\

FIG. 48. HANGER FOB 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 e e 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 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 b to c and covered with sheet iron. At
c c, flues made of iron pipe 10 to 12 inches in diameter
are inserted, with a gentle inclination upward, so as to
insure draught. They come out of the barn two feet
higher at d d than they are at c c. 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 b to c and from
c to 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 c and c is filled with a flue pipe, into which a
single pipe for the escape of the smoke is inserted. Or

FIG. 50. VERTICAL LENGTHWISE SECTION OF FIG. 49.

the two pipes, c 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. For a 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

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
uniformly 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

. - f -, • , , , FIG. 52. END VIEW OF

no risk of losing color or mold- FRAME OF FIG. 49.
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

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 in tide,
firmly nailed at bottom and spiked through plate at top. Then nail on sides
two strips of 2x6 flat, a a, 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, o, 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 iyt 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 3K 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.

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

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 is 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, thrfle 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 liable to have white veins. The
illustration, Fig. 40, is an outside view of a barn, 30x45
feet, three tiers high, or ] 7 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, b b, should be 7 feet from
the ground, which will allow of free ventilation from
beneath, after the plants are hung, thereby lessening
the liability 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, c c, 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
Fig. 41, a a. The middle girders, lengthwise of the
barn (Fig. 42, a a), should also be of 6x6 timber.
They are sometimes made smaller, but the great weight
on them, wh%n 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

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 2£x5 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. In a 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. Koof 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 for a
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 b (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 tobacco. 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 by a
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, from 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 39 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, 2^ 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 60x33J 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 CUEING 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 prac-
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 practical 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.

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 yello vv -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. K. 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 for 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
H

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.
It takes four days to cure a barn of
tobacco, and in a 20-foot barn there will be about 800
pounds."

Mr. K. 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 is 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 will evap-
orate into the air about it more or less rapidly, according as the air

FIG. 5T.

"• PSYCHROMETEB.

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,
tlie 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 temperature 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 bulb is saturated with moisture, so that it can hold no
more, and hence evaporation lias 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 nec-
essary to use. 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
curing house will give an indication at any time of the rate at which
the moisture is passing off from the tobacco.

CUEING 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. Eagland says, just
at this point more_failures are made than a.t any other
stage of the process. "Five curings are spoiled by forc-
ing too fast, to one from going too slow."

Captain E. M. Pace, of South Carolina, gives the
following directions for curing when the leaves are

Q

p

If

1

1000

•II

I

o o e

I

a

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

r-1

H H H H

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 a red, 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

CUEING 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.

CUEING 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.

MOTHS OF CUTWORMS.

A, Moth of dingy cutworm ( Feltia jaculifera) ; B, another species of dingy cut-
worm (Feltia tubgothica), 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 is a
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,

CUEING 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 a current 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. As a rule, 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

CUBING TOBACCO.

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).

in its cell underground; male

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, i. 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 :

Period.

Hours.

Advancement of Curing.

Temper-
ature.

Humid-
ity.

Deg. F.

Percent.

B

42

To first browning,

76-91
91-96

69-85
78-86

C
D

24
72

To development of tobacco odor,
To end of sweating,

96-97
93-99

85-93
92-96

E

216

To completion of cure,

98-108

95-41

318

In this work, no great 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 Experiments. — Two years' work at the
Wisconsin experiment station, by E. S. 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

CUEING TOBACCO. 227

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

V

FIG. 63. TREE CRICKET (GEcanthus nlveus).
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 plants 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 tha,t 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, GofE feels warranted "in
commending it to the attention of all who aim to pro-

ne. 64. LEAF INJURED BY RED-LEGOEP 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 bum 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. 3D). Another arrangement is
that suggested by G-off, 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 house. 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

CUEING 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. GofE 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. If 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
cured 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. Frear found nothing to indicate any marked
gain in weight as the result of slow ripening or curing
on the stalk. Eesults 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. Frear
found that the ripest of the stalk-cured leaves were
thinner than the less mature leaves harvested separately.

CHAPTEK XI.

PESTS OF TOBACCO— DISEASES, INSECTS, THE ELEMENTS.

Following the chapter on curing, we will first dis-
cuss the troubles or diseases 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 attack. A temperature above 100° F., or below
40°, greatly retards its activity ; but one of ?0°-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.

234 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 curing. 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; b, 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 is a
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 ''Bed 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

PESTS OF TOBACCO.

239

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. %ll

"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. 107, pi. 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.

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 is 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 antennae 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 Epitrix, family Halticidw. Two
species are described that attack tobacco, — Epilrix
cucumeris, and Epitrix pubescens. The first is black,
with the exception of the feet and antennae. The
second is more oblong in form, but is otherwise
about the same in size and of a dull black color. The
feet and antennas are of a honey-yellow color, as well as

244 TOBACCO LEAP.

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 (PhlegetJiontius Carolina),

reduced one-fourth.

It differs from P. celeus 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 closely
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° R, 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 even 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.

Cuhvorms (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 tbey 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-
lons. 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 tlie whole is thoroughly stirred with a
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, leav-
ing nothing to harbor worms during the winter, is im-
portant. When tht>y 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 bluebird 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 pupae,
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 larvae of the "Click beetle" or
"Snapping bug" (ElateridcB), 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 in a 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 ((Ecan-
tJius 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 insect 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-
tmim vnlgare) 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 Scutelleridce, known as the
Euschistus pimcticeps, 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
a dark 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, Solatium 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 o£ 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. — Gelechia 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 Angonmois 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 catching
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

252 TOBACCO LEAF.

is this work regarded by the successful tobacco planter,
that he will neglect every other duty on the farm and
pay three or four times the ordinary prices for farm
hands in order to fight this pest, for the profits of to-
bacco culture will be, other things being equal, pro-
portioned to the ability to destroy this inveterate and
insatiable enemy.

The fruitful mother of the devouring and destruc-
tive tobacco worm is a lepidopterous insect of the hawk
moth or Sphingidce family, also called the Sphinx moth.
It derives the name Sphinx from the attitude which the
caterpillar assumes in raising the fore part of the body,
and remaining in this state of immobility for hours
together. In this the lively imagination of Linnaeus
perceived a resemblance to the sphinx of the Egyptians.
There are two species of these moths — the tobacco worm
of the North — Phlegethontius celeus, shown in Fig. C8,
and the tobacco worm of the South — Phlegethontius
Carolina, Fig. 69. Both species may occur in the Mid-
dle South, and for the purpose of the practical planter
may be considered as one, though entomologists have
had a dispute over their proper names, the one above
adopted having by far the weight of evidence and
authority in its favor.

The worm enters immediately upon its work of
destruction, making a small hole in the leaf, and grad-
ually enlarging this, confining itself to the under sur-
face of the leaf if the weather is clear. About the
seventh day it passes through another change, doffing
its old skin and putting on the habiliments of maturity.
While this change is going on, the caterpillar loses its
appetite, but in a day or two it recovers and becomes
endowed with greater vigor, activity and voraciousness,
passing readily from leaf to leaf, or from plant to plant,
growing in size and its capacity for eating, until it will
consume half a large leaf within twenty-four hours. As

PESTS OF TOBACCO.

253

it approaches its full growth, it takes refuge, during the
beat 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
larvae 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;
6, a later stage when the closely placed fibrous roots form conspicuous pronr
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; /, a young plant which was grown in
packed soil, with several 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 be-
long to a 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 bo
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 unsp rayed 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 tbe 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 Phelipcea 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 with a 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 is a 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.

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 cut 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. Have a
barrel of kerosene oil handy, some cans, and torches.
When frost threatens, set a night watch to inspect

262 TOBA.CCO 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 leav-
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 I 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.

OK 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 having 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 be 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

PIG. 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 accu-
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 tail 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 "new 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-

266

TOBACCO LEAF.

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
warehouses 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 loose, 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

268

TOBACCO LEAP.

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. Immedi-
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 t<* carry disagreements to the courts. Provision is

270

TOBACCO LEAF.

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 hold
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
jlaims 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 fail1 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,

272

TOBACCO LEAF.

MARKETING TOBACCO. 273

or label, bearing the name of the warehouse, the seller,
the warehouse number, the gross weight, date of inspec-
tion and the name of the inspector. This tag is affixed
by tape and sealing wax, to prevent tampering. If a
hogshead is resampled, it must also be reweighed. The
tag bears the date of original inspection, and later and
last date of reinspection, with the new gross weight.
The tobacco "note," or manifest, as it is called, also
shows the date of inspection or reinspection, of old and
new weights, and passes from buyer to seller without
endorsement or further marks of identity.

This note bears also the name of warehouse, plan-
ter's private marks and numbers, and is signed by the
proprietor. When required by the buyer, the private
initial or brand must be interpreted, revealing the
packer if not the owner. This tobacco manifest, or
receipt, is negotiable, representing, as it does, an indi-
vidual and identified package of tobacco. When the
tobacco "note" is taken by the warehouse as a receipt
for the delivery of the tobacco, the receiver or owner is
required to properly endorse same. Sometimes tobacco
is placed in storage, the owner not wishing, for the time
being, any inspection. The warehouse issues a special
receipt for this, inserting in it the description of each
package in the way of private marks and weight, and
also the name of the owner, the paper bearing the state-
ment that the tobacco is delivered to the holder of the
note or his order through proper endorsement. The ware-
house charges are $1.50 per hogshead from the date of
inspection to the end of the first four months. Subse-
quent to this, storage is charged at the rate of ten cents
per month. After two years' storage has accumulated,
the tobacco is liable to be sold for storage charges, but is
rarely ever thus disposed of under three or four years.

Storage and Auction Fees. — In addition to the in-
spection fee of 25 cents for each package, the owner of
18

274

TOBACCO LEAF.

MARKETING TOBACCO. 275

the tobacco pays through his commission merchant, or
directly, a sampling fee of 75 cents, which includes
cooperage and nails, making an expense of $1 on each
hogshead of 500 pounds net, to any weight merchant-
able up to 2200 pounds, and over. Insurance is at the
risk of owner, unless otherwise stipulated. The fee of the
tobacco auctioneer ranges from 12£ to 25 cents per sample
sold, and is paid by the seller. Auctioneers of loose to-
bacco are paid arbitrary fees and salary by warehouse-
men, while the warehouses themselves charge graded
prices to the planter by the pile. Commission mer-
chants' fees for selling tobacco loose, or in hogsheads, are
two and one-half per cent on gross sales, one-half per
cent tax, one-half per cent insurance, beside freight,
grading and inspection, if same has been previously paid
out ; also auction fees if the sample is put up at auction.
Marketing and Selling. — If sound leaf tobacco,
well assorted and in good keeping order, the sample is
marked A, for Admitted. All lugs, trash and tobacco
in bad keeping condition is marked E, for Eefused.
Damaged tobacco is Insecure. Casks in poor condition
are replaced at the cost of the owner. If hogsheads are
fraudulently packed, with intention to deceive, the in-
spectors are required to give information to the grand
jury when called upon. False packing is an indictable
offense in most of the heavy-tobacco-growing states. The
samples are placed on top of the hogshead from which
they are drawn. During the sale (Fig. 78), the auctioneer
stands near the hogshead which he is selling, and every
buyer may see the condition of the tobacco. Bids are
taken at auctions at an advance of 10 cents per 100
pounds up to $6 ; after this price is reached, 25 cents
is the minimum bid recognized up to $25, when 50
cents increase per 100 pounds is the lowest bid taken.
After being sold, the cask is replaced over the uncovered
tobacco, coopered and weighed. Planters have the au-

276

TOBACCO LEAF.

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 it is 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. S. 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,

278

TOBACCO LEAF.

MABKETING TOBACCO. 279

and carried 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 hired 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 a'ctivity 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 an end. 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 tbe 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 GOO
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 cooperative 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 remov-
ing the midrib from the leaf. They are then tied up in
large bundles and hung in the drying room, completely

MABKETING 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, the 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
1 60° 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 in a coop 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.) TOBAC

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. A good
stemmer can make from 200 to 250 pounds of strips a
day. Children assist the older persons by untying the
bundles and placing the leaves in a convenient position
for stemming. Each grade of strips is kept to itself.
The making of strips is a distinct branch of business
rarely engaged in by tobacco growers. It is regarded
as a necessary preparation of the tobacco designed for
shipment to the English market, where the duties on
tobacco amount to from 12 to 15 times the prices paid
to the planter. The British duty is 3s 2d, or about 76
cents per pound. The stem is removed, because it is
worthless, or nearly so, though an arrangement has been
made with the English government by which the manu-
facturer may return the stems into the hands of the
proper officer for destruction, and so be relieved of the
tax.

The strips are made very dry, because every pound
of water which they may carry will be chargeable with
the same duty paid on the tobacco. Within recent
years the English government has taken cognizance of
this source of revenue and now requires a duty of
3s lOd, or 92 cents, a pound on tobacco containing less
than 10 per cent of water.

Tobacco selected for the making of strips should be
capable of absorbing a great deal of water, for all the
water it will take after passing through the hands of the
excise officers will be so much added to the profit. The
dealers in strips, therefore, other things being equal,
prefer tobacco that will make the least loss in stemming,
that will ue a great absorber of moisture, and that will
bear the ocean transportation without damage.

Strips are made with all classes and grades of
tobacco, the largest percentage from heavy shipping

286 TOBACCO LEAF.

tobacco. The output of strips, however, increases year
by year in the White Burley and yellow-tobacco dis-
tricts. These styles are growing popular in England.
Strips are therefore made at nearly every point in North
Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, where the yellow
tobacco is grown, as well as in those localities where the
White Burley tobacco is sold.

The great strip markets of the United States are
Eichmond, Petersburg, Lynchburg and Fannville in
Virginia ; Henderson, Paducah, Louisville and Owens-
boro in Kentucky ; Clarksville, Springfield and Paris in
Tennessee, and Evansville in Indiana. There are nu-
merous other places where a few hundred hogsheads of
strips are put up irregularly. The industry is rarely
carried on at such small places except when the prices
of strips are very high. The make of Western strips
averages from 28,000 hogsheads to 30,000 hogsheads,
and those of Virginia and North Carolina 13,000 hogs-
heads, of which about 8,000 hogsheads are brights and
Burley.

Magnitude of Heavy Leaf Trades. — This does not
vary much from year to year, and according to the
movement toward primary markets there is room for
much further expansion of heavy leaf tobacco growing,
providing an adequate market can be found. Aggregate
receipts at the big market places are averaging a little
heavier than five years ago and more, but not much.
Taking a total of the receipts at each of the eight lead-
ing markets where heavy tobacco is sold at first hands,
we find that about 275,000 hogsheads came into view in
1896. This was a decrease from 1895, but practically
the same as in 1894 and 1892, while the aggregate
receipts at the eight markets in 1890 were about 250,000
hogsheads. Striking an average, this shows annual
receipts covering a period of eight years amounting to
265,000 hogsheads, which fairly represents the available

MABKETING TOBACCO. 287

supply of heavy leaf. Louisville 'is easily the largest
primary market, receiving in 1896 about 118,000 hogs-
heads. Cincinnati followed with 68,000 and Clarksville
with 37,000 hogsheads. Among the eight leading pri-
mary markets Hopkinsville stands forth in prominence,
with 21,000 hogsheads handled in 1896, Paducah
17,000, Mayfield 8,000, St. Louis 5,000 and Nashville
3,000. The beginning of each year, of course, finds
more or less stock carried over, but these figures afford
a good index of the general movement. The freight
rate on heavy leaf, from Louisville as a basis, to New
York, is about 35 cents per 100 pounds, to Baltimore
32 cents, to Philadelphia 33 cents, and to Boston 39
cents.

PART II.

HEAVY LEAF OR EXPORT TOBACCO,

CHAPTEK XIII.

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO.

The export, or heavy shipping, tobacco is so called
because by far the largest proportion of it is taken for
foreign consumption. With the exception of an incon-
siderable quantity used in the manufacture of cheap
cigars, cheap plug, snuff, and the making of sheep
washes, all may be said to go abroad. Being cured by
open fires, the smoky, or creosotic, flavor is not relished
by the people of the United States. It is also too strong
in nicotine, and it has not the sweetness of taste and
delicacy of flavor that the air and sun cured tobacco
htis. Another reason why our domestic manufacturers
do not encourage its use, is its low absorptive capacity
for the liquids or sauces used in the manufacture of
chewing tobacco. The White Burley has the capacity
to absorb nearly three times its weight in water, while
the heavy James Eiver or Clarksville tobacco will
scarcely absorb one-third as much. This makes the
White Burley much more profitable to the manufacturer,
for he can produce a much larger amount of the manu-
factured product from a given quantity of White Burley
tobacco, than he can from the heavy shipping styles.

When tobacco is cured by open fires, the pores of the
leaves become surcharged with smoky deposits, and the
absorptive capacity of the cured product is greatly re-
duced. Tobacco cured without fires, or cured with flues
or by exposure to the sun, is much better suited for the
manufacturer's purpose than where cured by smoky fires.
On the other hand, the foreign buyers prefer the heavy
291

292 TOBACCO LEAF.

tobacco because it is strong, and may be adulterated
with inferior tobacco grown in other countries without
diminishing the quantity of nicotine below a certain
standard. The people of Europe have, for generations,
been accustomed to using tobacco cured by open fires,
and their tastes have been educated to enjoy the smoky
flavor.

The Soil for Shipping Tobacco. — The same soil
often has the capacity of producing imperfectly all the
classes of tobacco, but such versatility in the soil is not
favorable for yielding the highest excellence in any one
of the classes. There must be a natural adaptation in
the soil and climate to the growth of a particular class,
in order to reach the highest and best results. There is
an endless variety of soils, and there is an endless variety
of types and sub-types that pass, by almost impercep-
tible gradations, from one to the other.

To produce the best shipping leaf, there must be a
strong, rich soil, not necessarily deep, but with a large
content of potash in its composition. Low river bot-
toms subject to overflows rarely produce the best quali-
ties of this tobacco. Too much vegetable matter in the
soil, imperfectly decomposed, makes a large, rough,
harsh tobacco, wanting in all the best qualities of a
shipping tobacco. Upland soils are usually better
drained than bottom lands, and the humus from such
soils, receiving no additions from other than natural
sources, is not excessive. For this reason, other things
being equal, such soils are preferred for tobacco.

One of the most famous tobacco-growing districts is
the Clarksville, embracing the counties of Montgomery,
Dickson, Humphreys, Houston, Cheatham, Stewart and
Kobertson in Tennessee, and Trigg, Christian, Todd,
Logan, Simpson, and some areas in the Green River
district of Kentucky, where the soil is not deep but fer-
tile, the best soils having a deep, reddish subsoil, in

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 293

which are mingled rotten masses of flint, or chert,
broken into small angular fragments. The latter sup-
plies warmth and drainage, the clayey bed retains and
supplies moisture to the growing crop. Upon such soils,
the plants will stand long in the field after being appar-
ently ripe, thickening, ripening, and mellowing and
storing up oily matter, making the leaf, when cured, as
soft and elastic as a kid glove. The best shipping leaf
is produced upon manured lots having the characteristic
subsoil mentioned. Analysis shows this soil to be rich
in potash, while the climate is especially suited to the
crop, producing the best tobacco for export now grown
in the world.

Western Kentucky and western Tennessee grow
shipping tobacco of a lower quality on an ashen-colored
soil that is light and friable, containing a large amount
of calcareous matter intermixed with a fine, sandy mate-
rial. Such soils are very easily washed and gullied, and
the crop is not grown on them as much as formerly.
The Ohio river district in Kentucky comprises the coun-
ties of Livingstone, Crittenden, Caldwell, Lyon, Han-
cock, Breckenridge and Meade. The lower Green Eiver
district — the counties of Henderson, Union, Daviess,
Webster, Hopkins, McLean and Muhlenberg — has
mostly a soil of sandstone and shaly derivation, produc-
ing tobacco suitable for English strips, long, wide^heavy
and coarse. The upper Green River district — Barren,
Warren, Hardin, Grayson, Edmonson, Hart, Green,
Larue, Marion, Taylor and Allen counties — has a soil
resembling the Clarksville district, yielding tobacco of
heavy body, oily face and smooth texture. White Bur-
ley is also grown in this district, and a little yellow
tobacco in Hart county, on gravelly or sandy soils with
calcareous subsoil, giving a fine and silky leaf with light
body, but firm and tough and well suited for plug wrap-
pers. Between the upper and lower districts is the

294 TOBACCO LEAF.

Green Kiver district of Butler and Ohio counties, whose
product is not of such good quality.

In the Cumberland River district (embracing the
Tennessee counties of Smith, Trousdale, Macon, Clay,
Jackson and Putnam, and portions of Sumner and Wil-
son, and in Kentucky the counties of Metcalfe, Eussell,
Adair, Clinton, Cumberland, Monroe, Casey, Wayne
and Pulaski), tobacco is grown mainly on the low bot-
tom lands and is coarse and bony, wanting in flexibility,
deficient in oil, but having a good weight. Heavy to-
bacco is grown in many parts
of Virginia and North Caro-
lina, on dark, rich soils with
reddish subsoils, upon which
yellow tobacco is never pro-
duced. Some shipping tobacco
is grown on such dark soils in
Maryland and South Carolina.
A coarse grade of shipping to-
bacco, almost destitute of oil,
is grown in southern Illinois
and Indiana. Some good ship-
ping leaf is grown in the great
Kanawha valley and in the
counties along the Ohio river
TOPPING THE PLANT, in West Virginia, the alluvial
soils producing the best leaf. Missouri's production
has fallen rapidly, as its leaf has large stems and fiber,
being grown generally on rich bottom lands on the
North bank of the Missouri river. A little is raised in
Arkansas.

The Color of the Soil seems to exert a great, but
not always a controlling, influence in determining the
color of the product. Rich clays of any color will pro-
duce a heavy, waxy leaf, if properly manured and
planted with a suitable variety, — one that has a tendency

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 295

to grow thick, leathery and large. Gray, porous soils,
made up in part of fine, sandy material, will develop
a thinner but finer leaf, particularly if planted with thin
varieties that have grown upon such soils for a number
of years. Varieties that produce a high quality of to-
bacco on soils to which they are suited, fail when planted
on soils of a different character. The popular varieties
known by the names of Yellow Prior and Orinoco,
planted upon rich, old lands, highly manured, will yield
a strong, dark tobacco full of gummy matter, rich in
nicotine, known as " black fat," and eminently fitted
for the German market. Planted upon light, new lands,
the product of the same varieties is yellow, mottled or
piebald, fine-flavored, sweet and fragrant. If the same
variety of tobacco be planted in two fields in situations
precisely similar, and soils of like character, one field
being freshly cleared from the forest, and the other long
cleared, but with its fertility preserved, the product of
the first will be brighter in color when cured by artificial
heat or by the desiccating influence of the sun and air,
finer in texture and sweeter in flavor, and have less nico-
tine in its composition than that grown on the old land.
The first will be in demand for domestic manufacture
and consumption, and the latter for shipping purposes.
The product of new lands, if properly cured and man-
aged, is for the most part profitable if suited for manu-
facturing purposes, but if the soils of the new lands are
red, and otherwise unsuited to the growth of manufac-
turing tobacco, the product of the old, highly manured
lots makes the most valuable commodity.

Preparation of the Soil. — No crop requires a more
careful preparation of the soil for its successful growth,
than tobacco of any variety. Most of the cultivation,
indeed, should be performed before the plants are set in
the ground, and in order to do this the land intended
for tobacco, if a clayey loam, should be well and deeply

296 TOBACCO LEA.F.

broken in the fall by a turning plow drawn by two or
three horses or mules. The land should not be closely
plowed, but left in ridges, the advantage of this being
that a much larger surface is exposed to the ameliorating
effects of the winter freezes. If the depth of the furrow
should be eight inches, the ridge would probably be
from twelve to fifteen inches high, allowing a portion of

FIG. 87. THE SUCKER, TO BE REMOVED.

the dirt to fall back in the furrow and another portion
to be thrown over in the previously run furrow.

If the section of one of these ridges is an equilateral
triangle, the surface exposure will be increased one-
third, and two-thirds will reap the direct benefit of the
freezes. The freezes and thaws alternating will pulver-
ize and mellow the soil and put it in such a fine mechan-
ical condition, that the subsequent rebreaking in the
following February or March will put it in prime order
for the growth of any crop. Upon land so prepared, the
roots of plants have a wide pasture ground, where they
may range in search of food without let or hindrance.
The air can penetrate such a soil easily, and the capillary

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 297

attraction induced by such pulverization brings moisture
from the subsoil in seasons of the greatest drouth.
And not the least of the beneficial effects of such a prep-
aration is the ease with which the superfluous water may
be absorbed, for the greatest of all enemies to the tobacco
plant is standing water. The first breaking, in the
autumn, should take place, if possible, before vegetation
is killed by frosts, especially if old meadows, clover pas-
ture or stubble lands are selected for the tobacco crop of
-the next year. Dead grasses plowed under after mid-
winter injure the succeeding crop, by rendering the soil
too porous and thirsty. Better far, if the breaking up
is delayed, to burn off all dead vegetable matter. This
burning will, at least, destroy the larvae of insects and
worms, which often prey upon the plants when first set
out, not only destroying them, but making it impossible
to grow a crop of tobacco that will be uniform in size,
color or quality. This second plowing should only be
half as deep as the first, unless the furrows are run so
close together that the slice cut by the plow will be only
half reversed.

Manuring. — Consult Chapters V and VI. Previ-
ous to the second breaking in the spring, all the manure
which can be gathered from the stables, the barnyards
and the poultry yards, and all the trash from the tobacco
barns, including the stalks and ashes, should be hauled
upon the land, and especially upon those spots that need
it the most. It ought to be so distributed that the
whole field intended for the tobacco crop should be
made, as far as possible, uniformly fertile, in order that
the crop may be uniform in size and character. Such
crops always command a better price, other things being
equal, than one in which there is tobacco of every size,
color and quality. A favorite place for growing heavy
tobacco is the place where hogs have been fatted the
previous autumn. If broken up as soon as the hogs are

298 TOBACCO LEAF.

removed and before the rains have washed the substance
from the droppings, a very rich, heavy leaf may be pro-
duced. Good farmers keep two places for hog pens, so
as to alternate with corn and tobacco.

It is almost impossible for the grower of rich to-
bacco to use too much manure, if it is well rotted and
thoroughly incorporated with the soil. Mistakes are
often made, however, in applying large quantities of
fresh manure from the stables just before the land is set
in tobacco. This almost always results in impairing the

FIG. 88. CUTTING HEAVY TOBACCO.

quality of the tobacco, by causing field fire. It is far
better to compost all stable manure with rich dirt, ashes,
tobacco stalks, etc., and let the fermentation cease be-
fore its application to the tobacco field. Far better
results will be obtained. Commercial fertilizers are
coming into general use, while planters are more careful
to save and compost all possible sources of plant food
about the farm.

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 299

Laying off the Land. — After the second plowing,
the land may be left until the plants are nearly ready to
set. When the plants in the seed beds have leaves on
them two inches long, the planter should proceed to give
the final preparation to his land previous to setting the
crop. It should, first of all, be well harrowed until the
surface is thoroughly pulverized to the depth of two or
three inches. It must then be laid off in rows three and
one-half feet each way, and at the points of intersection,
a heaping teaspoonful or more of some good guano or
superphosphate of lime, or a little well-rotted manure or
old ashes, may be dropped at each crossing, and the hill
made over the fertilizer with a hand hoe, care being
taken to incorporate the fertilizer well with the soil.
The hills need not be large or high. The tops should
be cut off with the general level of the land, and patted,
so as to give the hills compactness enough to retain
moisture.

Many farmers lay off their tobacco land three feet
by four, which has the merit of giving a few more plants
to the acre, and at the same time permits the cultivation
of the crop to continue for a longer period with less
injury to the plants from the bruising and breaking of
the leaves. If the wide rows are run north and south,
more of the sunlight reaches the leaves, and matures
them more evenly. With wide rows in one direction,
the work of worming and suckering is more easily per-
formed, and fewer leaves are torn or broken in working
between the rows.

A few years ago, when the "black fat" German
styles were in the greatest demand, and at the highest
prices, several intelligent farmers tried the experiment
of increasing the distance between the plants to four
feet each way, believing that increased space would give
greater room for development and expansion. While a
few were pleased with the results, the practice has been

TOBACCO LEAF.

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 301

generally abandoned, not because the quality of the
product is not improved, but because there is too much
land cultivated for the number of pounds of tobacco
made. Planted 3x4 feet, there are 3630 plants to the
acre ; 3^x3$, 3556, and 4x4, 2725. This made a differ-
ence of over 800 plants to the acre, which will not be
compensated for by the slightly increased quality of the
tobacco produced when planted at the distance of four
feet each way.

Now and then a planter will be found who prefers
the rows to be laid off 3x3 feet, or 3ft. 3 in.x3 ft. 3 in.
This is too close, except for some very small varieties of
tobacco. Planted as closely as this, the leaves, being
very much shaded, do not secrete the gum and oils nec-
essary to give the product the finish and beauty, the
softness and body, the strength of tissue and the amount
of gum, so much desired in the shipping leaf. Thin,
chaffy tobacco, such as is made in the shipping districts
by being planted too closely, by the sterility of the soil,
by the bad effects of weeds and grasses growing about
the plants, by bad cultivation, or by suffering the suck-
ers to grow to great length, has but one market in all
the world, and that is Spain. It never pays to raise
heavy shipping tobacco under any of the conditions
named.

There is a way of preparing land for tobacco by
which it is practically hilled by the plow. It is laid off
one way in rows, at whatever distance the planter may
desire. The fertilizers or manures are then distributed
in the bottom of the row. A turning plow afterwards
throws two furrows on this row, making a ridge. The
land is then laid off at right angles to the ridges. The
tops of the severed ridges are afterwards cut off and
patted, and this makes the hills. This plan is preferred
by many farmers, because of the great economy in the
hoc work. It likewise makes the application of the

302 TOBACCO LEAF.

manure or fertilizer more easy and effective. But this
practice will not do, either on rocky or cloddy land, or
even on land that has undecomposed, turfy matter or
grass on it.

The Preparation of "New Ground" differs mainly
in the manner of breaking it. All trees and bushes
must be removed, the brush, trash and leaves piled up
and burned, making the surface as clean as may be.
Remove roots as well as possible, by plowing and har-
rowing, and then plow close to the stumps with a single
horse plow. After another harrowing, the ground is
checked off and the hills are made. No weeds or grasses
ever trouble the crop in new ground. The sprouts
from the stumps, however, are troublesome. The work
of preparing new ground for the plant involves a great
deal of labor, but the subsequent work in cultivating
the crop is much less than upon old land.

For sixty years after the settlement of Kentucky
and Tennessee, four-fifths of the tobacco crop was grown
upon newly cleared lands, or that which had been in
cultivation only one year. The practice among tobacco
planters, up to 1860, was to clear a new field every year,
plant it in tobacco two, and frequently three, years in
succession, and then turn it over to the cultivation of
wheat, oats and corn. A few rich lots near the stables,
cow barns and hog pens were planted in tobacco in reg-
ular rotation with wheat, but the great reliance for the
tobacco crop was the fresh lands. Within the past forty
years this practice has been reversed, and now four-fifths
of all the tobacco grown in the heavy shipping districts
of the United States is planted upon old, manured lots.
The tobacco is not so well colored as when planted upon
new lands, but upon lands well manured it is heavier
and richer than when planted upon new lands. It must
be conceded, however, that a much larger proportion of
inferior lands is now planted than there was forty years

HEA.VY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 303

ago, and this has caused a perceptible deterioration in
the average product.

Seed Beds, Plants, Transplanting. — See Chapters
VII and VIII.

Cultivating the Crop. — With suitable weather, it
requires about ten days for the plants to establish them-
selves upon old lands. The first cultivation is then
given with a one-horse turning plow, which is run with
the bar side next to the plants, throwing the dirt away
from the plants to the center of the row. When prop-

, .

*T$^*yiiiw

FIG. 90. HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO ON SCAFFOLD IN FIELD.

erly done, this leaves the plants standing upon a narrow
strip of undisturbed soil, which is easily and rapidly
cleared of any grass or weeds by the use of the hoe which
usually follows the plow. All weeds or grasses between
the rows are covered up by the dirt thrown to the mid-
dle in plowing, where it forms a ridge. If the land is
free from grass, the first plowing is often done with
double shovel plows, which pulverize the soil much bet-
ter than the turning plow. After a few days, the
weather continuing favorable, the second cultivation

304 TOBACCO LEAF.

follows, and is precisely like the first, only at right an-
gles to it. All tobacco grown in the heavy shipping
districts is planted in checks, and so is worked alter-
nately at right angles, first one way and then the other.
No hoe work is necessary with the second plowing, un-
less the work has been so delayed, or the rains have been
so abundant as to allow the weeds to get a start. It fre-
quently occurs that the wheat harvest and the early
working of the tobacco crop are coincident. The grasses
sometimes get a rank start, but if subsequently eradi-
cated, no damage is suffered other than retarding the
early maturity of the plant and adding greatly to the
work. Tobacco is a weed, and though drouth may
check its growth and noxious weeds and grasses may
apparently choke it, yet when rains come and the weeds
are exterminated and the grounds sufficiently worked,
the most unpromising plants will soon show a wonderful
outcome. Of all the crops grown, it suffers least by early
neglect. Nevertheless, the more rapidly it is worked,
the less work the crop will require.

While the presence of weeds and grass, in the early
stages of the growth of the tobacco plant, seem only to
delay its period of ripening without doing it any perma-
nent injury, it is undoubtedly true that nothing injures
the quality of the product more than competition with
other vegetation, after it has been topped. Every spear
of grass and every weed, after that time, robs the tobacco
of strength and detracts from the quality of the crop.

A third cultivation with a shovel plow, with two
furrows to the row and running both ways, should fol-
low in six or eight days from the second cultivation.
At the next cultivation the dirt is thrown to the plant.
Three or more furrows are run in each row, so as to
break out the middles entirely. This gives a wide, gen-
erous bed of loose earth about the plant, supplying its
increasing demand for food. Just previous to this

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 305

fourth working, it is the usual practice to pull off from
four to five of the lower leaves, so that the earth may
enwrap the stalk without hindrance. Some planters
affect to believe that the "priming," as this operation
is called, induces a bleeding, or waste, of sap, detri-
mental to the health of the plant. This can hardly be
true, as it often occurs that two planters living on ad-
joining farms will each have a different practice in this
particular ; but no evidence has ever been adduced that
the yield of the crop per acre has been added to or taken
from by either practice. The best and only reason for
not priming is, that the lower leaves will protect the
upper ones from earth burn, and the spattering of dirt
during hard rains. This whole question has been often
discussed, and no satisfactory reason has been given why
the one practice should uniformly prevail, to the exclu-
sion of the other. With all the leaves remaining on the
stalk, the plant has more to support. The leaves also
afford a refuge for the horn worms. With the lower
leaves taken off, a larger proportion of the crop, as
housed, will be injured in the way mentioned above.

It was once almost universal to follow this plowing
with a hoe, and make a low, flat hill around the plant,
but this has been abandoned as unnecessary work. A
few planters "lay by" their crop with this plowing, but
all experiments have demonstrated that the product will
be the heavier and richer with two or more additional
plowings. Even where the tobacco is so large that it
may not be plowed without great injury from the break-
ing of leaves, a stirring of the surface of the ground
around the plants with hoes, especially if the land be
baked after heavy rains, is accompanied with highly
beneficial results.

Planters differ as to whether the last plowing should
be with a double shovel plow, which leaves the land ap-
proximately level, or whether the dirt should be thrown
20

306

TOBACCO LEAF.

K

8

§11

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it!

I

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 307

to the plant by a turning plow. The advantage of the
last method is that the plants are not so easily blown
down during heavy rains, should such rains be accom-
panied with wind. On the other hand, level culture is
the best for dry weather. The truth seems to be that
the one or the other is to be preferred, as the season
may be dry or wet. A practice recently introduced,
which partakes of both, is to run a narrow harrow across
the ridges, leaving a square bank of earth about each
plant.

In some portions of the heavy-tobacco district in
Virginia, no hills are made to receive the plants. After
the land has been pulverized by deep harrowing, it is
rolled, then checked and planted. The after culture is
all level, with but little work with the hoe. On high,
rolling, porous lands, this method is probably the best,
for level culture retains the moisture and prevents, in
some degree, the washing away of the soils in times of
excessive rains. In the preparation of the soil, in the
planting of the crop, or in the after cultivation of the
crop, one caution must be emphasized, that clayey lands
must never be stirred when wet. The baking of the
soil, which results, often proves disastrous to the healthy
growth of the plant.

Topping, Worming and Sucker ing Tobacco. — Top-
ping, Fig. 86, is not a difficult task, but it requires some
skill and practice, and is highly important that it be
performed at the proper time. Six weeks from the time
the plant is set in new ground, and eight weeks after it
is set in old ground, the seed bud should appear in a
majority of plants, after good cultivation and seasonable
weather. These seed, or terminal buds, are called
"buttons." Topping is performed by pinching out
these terminal buds, leaving eight, ten or twelve leaves
to the plant, as the judgment of the planter may deter-
mine. Topping should mot be deferred until the plants

308

TOBACCO LEAF.

are in blossom, but should be done just as soon as the
required number of leaves can be secured. The leaves
coming out from the stalk within six inches of the
ground, should not be counted, and'they are primed off
or left on, as one may be an advocate of priming, or
opposed to it. The arrangement of the leaves about the
stalk in pairs makes it easy to top without counting. If
ten leaves are to be left on each plant, then the upper

FIG. 92. SCKEW PRESS FOR PRIZING TOBACCO, WITH HOGSHEAD IN
POSITION.

leaves will hang directly over the lower ones. If eight
or twelve are to be left, the top leaves are found nearly
at right angles to the lower ones.

The quality of the product is greatly influenced by
the number of leaves left upon the plant. The majority
of planters of the heavy-tobacco districts have long been
of the opinion that not more»than ten leaves should be

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 309

left. A very intelligent minority advocates the leaving
of only eight, and some interesting experiments seem to
favor this number. It is said that on rich soils the max-
imum weight and quality will be obtained with eight
leaves; that the labor of suckering will be lessened; that
the number of leaves to be stripped from the stalk will
be reduced one-fifth, and that the high quality and the
increase of weight will make the profit proportionately
greater. The standard of ten leaves has been generally
adopted for the first topping. As the season advances,
this number is reduced with each succeeding topping in
the same field. Usually, when the plants have not been
destroyed by insect enemies or drouth, and the cultiva-
tion has been regular and uniform, about one-half the
plants come into top at the same time. The second top-
ping takes place about a week after the first, at which
time nearly every plant should be topped, unless there
is a great inequality in the situation or in the fertility of
the soil.

In pinching out the bud, one should be very careful
not to injure the tender top leaves. A very slight injury
will develop into serious blemishes when the leaf has
reached its fullest expansion. An inexperienced man
should never be allowed to top tobacco. It is a task
that requires the utmost care and the closest attention.
Carelessness in topping may greatly impair the value of
the crop, for if more leaves are left on one plant than on
another, the plants will ripen unevenly and irregularly,
which is always an injury. Every plant that is carried
to the barn to be cured should, if possible, be of like
maturity, in order to secure a uniform quality in the
product.

When the seed bud has been removed, the plant
makes vigorous efforts to reproduce itself, and every bud
at the axils of the leaves begins to produce subsidiary
plants, each one of which, if left undisturbed, will bios-

310 TOBACCO LEAF.

som and mature seed. These subsidiary plants (Fig. 87)
are called "suckers," and must be diligently removed,
not only from the axils of the leaves, but from the base
of the stalk, otherwise the crop leaves will be dwarfed
and robbed of all substance and good qualities.

Worming. — Even before the topping of the plant,
the Sphinx moths, or horn worms, begin to feed upon
the plant, and until the frosts come they are always
present in a greater or less force. See Chapter XI, on
Pests of Tobacco. The suckering and worming are car-
ried on at the same time. If the suckers are allowed to
grow long, every one becomes a shelter and hiding place
for the worms, which find their way back to the plant
from the suckers after the latter have been pulled off
and thrown on the ground. They thus continue their
depredations until the planter goes over his crop again.

Cutting and Housing Tobacco. — From six to eight
weeks, in the heavy-tobacco districts, usually elapse
from the time of topping until a sufficient number of
plants are ripe enough to make the first cutting. This
usually occurs from the 1st to the 10th of September.
The maturity of the plant is indicated by its general
appearance. The leaves droop, the tails of the top
leaves sometimes almost touching the ground. They
become heavy and thick, mottled with yellowish spots,
crisp and tender, breaking easily, especially when the
dew is on them. They have an oily, granulated appear-
ance, and their upper surfaces are thick with a gummy
substance which is secreted most abundantly during cool
nights with heavy dews. Cut when fully matured, the
tobacco plant reaches its maximum in weight and in
those qualities that commend it to the shippers. If the
cutting be deferred too long, round, brown spots will
begin to appear on the leaves, which are signals of decay
and deterioration. It rarely occurs that all the plants
in the field will ripen at once. Several conditions are

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 311

required, for this to happen — a remarkable uniformity
in the fertility of the soil ; precisely similar surface ex-
posures ; the setting of all the plants of equal hardiness
the same day, and the topping of all the plants at the
same time, with an equal number of leaves on each.
Newly cleared lands will ripen the plants from six to
ten days earlier than old land, both originally of the

same character. A southern exposure, a rocky soil,
stimulating manure, an early suspension of the work of
cultivation, will all hasten the period of maturity.

As a general thing, the planter is fortunate if one-
half the plants in a field are ready for the knife at the
first cutting. As the season advances and the danger
from frosts begins, the field is cut clean, although there

312 TOBACCO LEAF.

may be some green plants ; for a plant cut before matur-
ity is much more valuable than a frosted one. The
instrument used for cutting is a butcher knife, with a
thin blade about six inches long. The handle of the
knife should be well wrapped with old woolen rags, for
however hard the hand may be, in housing a large crop
of tobacco it will be made sore by the constant pressure
on the back of a wooden handle. Another tobacco cut-
ter has been introduced within the past ten years, that
does effective work. It is in the shape of a spade, but
only about eight inches long. It has a square steel
blade two and one-half inches wide, welded to an iron
shaft four and one-half inches long, to the end of which
a handle an inch in diameter and four inches Jong is
fastened. Many prefer this to a butcher knife. Such
an implement is much used in the seed leaf districts of
Pennsylvania. A hatchet is also used.

Of two evils, it is better to let tobacco stand a little
too long in the field than to cut it green. Thoroughly
ripe tobacco has much more weight and thickness, and
makes a much better article for shipping purposes, than
if cut before it is fully ripe. In about three weeks after
tobacco is topped, with seasonable weather, the leaves
attain their full expansion. After this they thicken
until the plant is ready for the knife, which is shown by
the signs of maturity already described. There is as
much difference between the flavor of tobacco after it is
cured, cut when ripe, and that cut green, as there is
between the flavor of a full ripe strawberry and one that
is only partially ripe.

If possible to avoid it, tobacco should not be cut
immediately after a heavy rain. Rain water dissolves
and washes away much of the gummy matter that adds
to the weight of the tobacco leaf and gives it body. In
three or four days after a rain, the gummy matter will
be again secreted, especially if the nights are cool and

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 313

the dews heavy. If the weather is threatening, so there
is a probability that a rain will occur before the tobacco
can be carried to the barn, it should not be cut. Noth-
ing injures tobacco more than to be caught in a shower
of rain after it has been severed from the ground, and
the plants inverted upon the hills. The water deposits
mud upon the upturned leaves or spatters them with
dirt. The plants also get in a "strut," — that is, they
will not wilt, and if handled in such condition, great
breakage of leaves ensues. The bad effects of the dirt
that adheres to the leaves will never disappear. The
spots covered with mud cure a bad color, and the vitality
of the leaf at such places seems to be destroyed.

Nor should tobacco be cut while the sun is very hot,
as in that case it will be parched by the heat, thus mak-
ing permanent green spots, an injury from which it
never recovers. The very worst time of all to cut to-
bacco is in the morning of a hot day while the dew is
still on the plant. Cut under such conditions, a great
many leaves, owing to their brittleness, will break off
from the stalk. The leaves being wet with dew, the
dirt will adhere to them when the plants are inverted on
the hills, and lastly, the sun is most likely to scorch the
plants before they will wilt.

These negative conditions being given, it will be
readily inferred that a hazy, not cloudy, day is the best
for cutting tobacco, when the heat of the sun is tempered
by the haziness of the atmosphere. In the afternoon,
between three and five o'clock, is also a good time. It
should be cut late enough in the afternoon to prevent
sunburn, and early enough to wilt, or fall, before night,
so that it may be put in piles.

To cut the tobacco plant with a knife, one should
stand over the plant, place the blade of the knife at
right angles to the two upper leaves, and split the body
of the stalk down to within two or three inches of the

314 TOBACCO LEAF.

lower leaves, Fig. 88. Withdrawing the knife and
grasping the stalk about midway with the left hand, the
cutter bends it slightly from him, at the same time in-
serting the knife under the lower leaves, he severs the
stalk. The plant is then turned over and set on the
hill. In half an hour, unless it is very cool, the plants
will have wilted enough to handle without breakage.
The tobacco is then put in piles, each pile containing
the number of plants required to fill a stick. This
number varies from six to twelve, according to the size
of the plants.

Each person engaged in making and arranging these
piles, takes two rows and puts all the piles on one row
with the heads of the plants towards the sun. The next
two rows are piled on the row adjacent to the first row
of piles. That is to say, four rows of tobacco are piled
upon two adjacent rows. The object of piling it in this
manner is to give an opening wide enough for a wagon
to pass. The stick dropper follows, who places one
stick at each pile. These sticks are usually rived from
red oak or hickory, and are about 4£ feet long and about
lxl£ inches thick.

To hang the tobacco, a stick is punched down in
the soft hill, making an angle of about 45 to 60 degrees
with the surface of the ground, and sloping a little east
of north. The object in sloping it in this direction is to
give protection to the leaves from the heat of the sun
during the hottest parts of the day. The plants are
taken up one at a time and straddled over the stick,
with the heads to the south or southwest, Fig. 89.
When all the plants in the pile are put upon the stick,
the tails of the leaves are drawn closely together and
tucked under, so as to expose as little surface as possible.
When the tobacco has been hung, it is ready to be car-
ried to the curing house or to a scaffold. Some tobacco
is still put upon scaffolds in the heavy-tobacco-growing

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 315

regions, and it is a good practice, if the weather is fair.
If tobacco is very heavy and the distance to the curing
house is as much as half a mile, much time may be
saved by scaffolding in the field for several days. Then
double the quantity may be hauled in a load. But if
there is a foreshadowing of rain or stormy weather, it is
far better to carry it to the barn at once. It does not
injure the tobacco much to be caught in a rain while on
the scaffolds, unless the rains are long continued. When
the rains last a day or two, the tobacco gets very crisp,
and it is difficult to handle it without doing a great
deal of damage by bruising and breaking the leaves.
Scaffolds are nothing but poles arranged four feet apart,
and sufficiently high above the ground for the tails of
the tobacco to hang clear. These poles may be sup-
ported at one end by a bed pole, and at the other by
forks. Scaffolds are often made in the corners of the
zigzag rail fences that enclose the fields. They are con-
structed by resting three rails, or poles, on top of the
fence, supported at the outer end by forks or other con-
venient means, so as to make two tiers, upon which the
sticks holding the tobacco are arranged. It does not
injure the tobacco to crowd it upon an outdoor scaffold.
It will yellow the more readily by being so crowded.
However closely it may be put, in a day or two the wilt-
ing of the plant and the evaporation will make it an
easy matter to put the sticks still more closely.

In four or five days it should be taken from the
scaffold and arranged for curing in the barns. Tobacco
that has been on a scaffold for a few days may be ar-
ranged a fourth closer in the barns than that taken to
the barns directly from the fields. In the early history
of tobacco culture, scaffolds were almost universally
used. For a time, within the past twenty years, they
were almost universally discarded. More recently, how-
ever, this preparatory curing is being adopted by many

316

TOBACCO LEAF.

good farmers, because by this method the plant is com-
pletely wilted before it is put in the barns ; the texture
is softened, the leaf yellows into a clear golden color,
and it cures much more easily and, with care, into good
colors, the leaves having the toughness and elasticity
required in shipping tobacco." Throughout the White

FIG. 94. HEAVY TOBACCO READY TO BE SHIPPED.

Burley districts scaffolding tobacco is an almost univer-
sal practice.

If cool nights threaten frost, it sometimes becomes
necessary to cut great fields in a single day. When so
cut, it is heaped up before it wilts in what are known
as "frost piles. " The tobacco is heaped around a center.
To begin such a heap, two persons take each six or eight
plants in their hands, and standing opposite one another,
the ends of the tails are put nearly together on the
ground, with the heads of the plants leaning towards
each person. The heads are then brought together and

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 317

supported in a position nearly upright by the inclination
of each parcel towards the center. It is important that
the tails be kept tucked under. Bunches of plants are
set up around this center, in the same way, until enough
is put together to fill thirty or forty sticks. The heap
is then covered with straw, cornstalks, old carpets, or
anything to protect it from damage by frost. In a few
days the tobacco takes on a golden color, when it is hung
and carried to the barn. Continued rains do great dam-
age to the tobacco when so heaped. It not only gets in
a "strut," but becomes dirty and breaks easily.

The tobacco is transferred from the fields or scaf-
folds to the barn by wagons in one of three ways :
Either by hanging the sticks containing the tobacco on
the upper railings of a long wagon bed, or frame, four
feet deep and four feet wide ; or the tobacco on the
sticks is "cooped" in piles, the heads turned outwards
and alternately to one side or the other ; or the tobacco
is carried on a low frame not more than one foot high,
the sticks being hung on the upper railings, with the
tails of the plants lying flat in the bottom of the frame,
or tucked under. When eight or ten sticks have been
so arranged, other sticks filled with tobacco are piled on
top, in shingle fashion. The advantage in having a
low frame is, that the heads will lean over so as to be
nearly flat, and the tobacco piled on this foundation will
not be punctured by the butt ends. A larger quantity
can be carried in a wagon in this way, than in either of
the others. Fig. 91 shows a new style of wagon that is
very desirable for this work.

A method of taking tobacco to the curing house
once much used, but now generally abandoned, was to
have two or more light sleds. Instead of piling the
plants in the field, they were piled on the low platforms
of the sleds, with the heads outward, as shown in Fig. 30.
When a load of sufficient weight was put on the sled for

318 TOBACCO LEAF.

the team, it was hauled to the barn, the team unhitched,
and an empty sled taken to the field to be filled in turn.
The tobacco was hung from the sleds under the shade
of the barn, and immediately elevated to the tier poles.
This method saves much handling, and lessens the prob-
ability of injury from sunburn or from a shower of rain.
Sleds were used because they were cheaply made, and
may be built of a bight most convenient for putting on
and taking off the plants. Low wagons or carts are
more easily drawn and equally as convenient, and the
style shown in Fig. 91 is coming into general use.

When taken directly to the barn from the field, a
distance of eight inches should intervene between the
sticks, when adjusted on the tier poles. Put closer than
this would be to invite danger from house burn or
pole sweat. When taken from the scaffold, the in-
terval between the sticks need not he greater than six
inches. A good day's work for a man, in cutting and
housing tobacco, is from 100 to 150 sticks. When the
field is cut clean, a third or more may be housed than
when the ripest plants only are selected for the first
cutting.

Curing Heavy- Shipping Tobacco is fully described
in the chapter on curing.

Assorting, Stripping and Preparing Heavy-Ship-
ping Tobacco for Market. — After the crop has been
housed and properly cured, and the colors fixed by re-
peatedly "drying the tobacco out" by artificial heat, it
is then ready to be assorted and stripped. Usually the
stems and stalks are not sufficiently cured to begin this
work until about the middle of November. It is not
safe to put the tobacco in bulk before that time. After
this time, when the leaves become pliant through the
influence of damp weather or a warm rain, the tobacco
should be taken down, the sticks withdrawn and plants
laid on a platform with heads out, and tails overlapping

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 319

in the center. Or there may be, by making the bulk
wider, several layers in the center. If taken down when
the leaf is limp and the stem supple more than half way
its length, it is in a safe condition, and will not have to
be reordered before it is taken to market. If the to-
bacco has too much humidity in it, or, as the expression
is, "too high in case," it will funk when the weather
becomes warm. In such a condition, it is too high
either to prize at home or to take loose to market, unless
it be to a stemmery, where tobacco high in case is re-

l^m

iL

'W^

FIG. 95. CARRYING TOBACCO TO MARKET.
Primitive method still in use in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.

quired. It is the safest plan, therefore, to have the
order precisely right, so that it will not be necessary to
hang it up a second time.

After the tobacco has been taken down, stripping
begins. First of all, the leaves on each plant are as-
sorted by separating the various colors and qualities,
and afterwards arranging them into various grades. In
the same crop there are often many kinds, as bright and
dark, heavy and light, long and short, the result of dif-
ferent plantings, inequality in the fertility of the soils,
and of various exposures of the land. It will save much

320 TOBACCO LEAF.

trouble if, in housing the crop, the new-land tobacco is
kept separate from that grown on old land, the ripe
from the green, and the long from the short. These
several classes may be put each in a different part of the
same barn.

Upon the same plant there are usually two or more
ground leaves, bespattered with dirt, one or more worm-
eaten leaves, and several perfect leaves. Sometimes
there are also leaves blistered with red spots, or white
specks, leaves also that are bruised and sunburned, or
house burned. The worst leaves, — the sunburned, the
dirty, those most badly worm-eaten, — are first picked
from the stalk and tied in bundles of eight or more
leaves. This is the lowest grade and is called "Lugs."
The leaves that are slightly worm-eaten or injured, the
perfect leaves if sunburned or house burned, make a
grade called "Low leaf," or "Seconds." These are
usually tied in bundles of five or six leaves. The
remaining leaves on the stalk are termed "Good."
There are various sub-grades of good ; for instance,
"Medium," which may be short, or poor, or of bad
color; "Good leaf," which may be long and poor, or
short and rich, or it may be of good color without being
either long or rich; "Fine leaf," which has three or
more desirable qualities, but is deficient in some other
qualities. Fine leaf may be long, rich, fine fiber and
gummy, but have a bad color, or lack uniformity in
size. "Selections" constitute the highest grade in the
heavy tobacco market. These combine every desirable
quality in the shipping leaf, as length, richness, fatness,
good color, elasticity, small stem and fiber, silkiness,
strength and toughness, with uniformity of size.

The best rule to observe for assorting tobacco is
not to mismate the leaves in a bundle, and not to
mismate the bundles in a bulk or hogshead. Long
and short leaves, rich and poor, bright and dark,

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 321

bruised or worm-eaten and perfect leaves should not be
put together.

Assorting and Prizing Tobacco, — The most careful
hands only should be allowed to assort tobacco. This
work requires undivided attention, good sight and cor-
rect judgment as to quality. If, through inattention,
a few bad leaves are put with the good, it may depre-
ciate the value of all the tobacco in a hogshead if, by
chance, these bad leaves should appear in the sample
drawn. Short leaves appearing in a sample of long
tobacco, or bright leaves in a sample of dark tobacco, or
vice versa, or rich leaves with poor leaves, or perfect
leaves with those broken or worm-eaten, all violate the
laws of classification and injure the sale of the product.

All leaves of uniform color, twenty-six inches in
length and over, should be tied in bundles of not more
than five leaves. Such tobacco suits the African mar-
ket. It is also a first-class "shipper," and is sought
for by the stemmer for making the highest grades of
strips for the English market. If of uniform color and
broad leaf, the buyer of wrappers will want it also. All
this competition would be lost if improperly assorted.
Nor should the most desirable grades be prized (that is,
pressed into the hogsheads) too hard, for the stemmers
and buyers of wrappers want tobacco to open freely and
not be caked or bruised by hard prizing.

The tobacco is partially stripped in assorting, for to
strip tobacco is simply to pull the leaves from the stalk
and tie them in bundles. The size of the bundles is an
important matter. If the tobacco is intended for a
stemmer, and is to be delivered loose in wagons, it may
be tied in bundles as large as the arm, care being taken
to keep the different grades separate. But if the
tobacco is to be prized in hogsheads and after inspection
;o be sold by sample ; or if it is to be sold to a buyer
who intends to prize and sell it by inspection, then all
21

322 TOBACCO LEAF.

the good grades must be tied in bundles containing only
five or six leaves. Great neatness should be observed in
tying the bundles. The tie leaf should be small. This
is taken in the right hand and smoothed out at the tail
end, doubled so that the inside surface of the leaf forms
the outside of the wrapper. A narrow band is made of
the leaf, not more than one inch in width. The band,
with the stem downward, is wrapped tightly twice
around the butts of the stems, and then the tie is tucked
between the leaves. This makes the head an inch long.
It differs from the tie of the seedleaf tobacco. The
latter is tied, with the butt of the stem an inch or more
below the end of the bundle. As each bundle is tied, it
should be run through the hands, well straightened and
compressed and laid carefully in piles.

During the prevalence of dry winds or cold weather,
the exposed portion of tobacco, even when in bulk,
becomes so dry that it may not be handled without
doing it great injury. To prevent this, blankets, or
straw, or a wagon sheet, should be put all around the
bulk. This covering, kept damp, will prevent the
exposed leaves, or parts of leaves, from drying.

By providing a close room heated by a stove, with
a vessel of water on top, stripping may be carried on
during very severe cold weather. Otherwise the tobacco
will become very dry and harsh and will be damaged by
breaking or crumbling.

However good the order of the tobacco when hang-
ing up may apparently be in cold weather, it should not
be taken down from the tier poles, for if a warm spell of
weather should supervene, it is almost certain to become
soured or "funked." Much tobacco is damaged beyond
remedy by not observing this caution. Many planters,
by taking their product to market in a condition that it
will not pass the ordeal of the spring fermentation, lose
all their profits. Those who buy it in this condition

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 323

are compelled to rehandle it. More money is made by
properly assorting, handling and "ordering" the to-
bacco crop than by growing it. When the crop is
hurried to market in a condition that it will not keep,
the rehandlers of tobacco and the local manufacturers
are the only competitors for it. The foreign buyers are
excluded by its unsafe condition.

It must not be inferred that it is necessary to bulk
the tobacco before it can be stripped. Many successful
managers of tobacco prefer to take it down from the
tier poles only as it is required for stripping. The
leaves are much more readily examined by this method,
for they are not pressed together as they are after lying in
bulk. Much time is, therefore, saved in assorting. The
chief advantages in having it in bulk are : 1. That
it is always in condition to be handled, and in bad
weather the time may be utilized in stripping, while the
tobacco if hanging up would be dry. 2. If taken
down in the right condition or order, it need not be
rehung on the sticks and tier poles after it is stripped.
3. It is less liable to be weather-beaten, or broken by
winds that sometimes find entrance to the barns.
Tobacco is. also injured by frequent alternations of dry-
ness and humidity, and these changes cannot take place
when in bulk.

" Ordering" Heavy Shipping Leaf. — Should it hap-
pen that the tobacco, when stripped, is too high in case
for prizing, it must be rehung on the sticks. It often
occurs that the leafy part is in right order, but the stem
is too damp, or the reverse may happen, that the stem
is in right condition, but the leafy part is either too dry
or too damp. The leafy part should be pliant, but not
sufficiently so to show translucent spots when pressed
between the finger and thumb. The stems should be
pliant, but not limp, and they should break a few inches
below the head when the bundle is bent at right angles.

TOBACCO LEAF.

PIG. 96. A TYPICAL NEGRO WAREHOUSE HELPER.

"I'se Jeems Johnson, what ' breaks' tobacco in Carr & Go's warehouse, I is,'

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 325

Even when it becomes necessary to reorder tobacco, it
is not expedient to attempt to do so during the winter
months. And it is best not to hang it on the tier poles
until spring approaches, for during the winter the
snows are apt to beat in upon it. The winds injure it,
and if the weather becomes very moist, the heads fall to
one side and get into a crooked condition, not easily
straightened. When stripped too high, let 16 or 18
bundles be put on a stick, and "shingle" the sticks,
filled with tobacco, on an elevated platform, making
"coops" four or five feet high. The sticks give venti-
lation to the interior of the pile, and lessen the danger
to be apprehended from funking, even should warm
weather ensue.

When the drying winds of spring come, the sticks
should be elevated to the tier poles so the tobacco may
be "dried out." The first warm rain that comes will
put it in suitable condition to take down again. A
careful watch should be kept that it does not get too
high in case. It should be "struck" down just before
it appears to be sufficiently high in case, for the growing
humidity continues a while, even after it is taken down.
Some of the best "ordering" seasons come without a
drop of rain. A warm, South wind surcharged with
moisture will do the work of ordering much more
uniformly than a rain. A " coming season " only should
be utilized, that is to say, when the tobacco goes from a
dry to a humid condition. A "going out season "is
when it has been too high in case and drying winds
bring it seemingly to the proper order or condition. If
taken down in a "going out season" it will be found
that the stems are too moist for the leaf, and there will
be no uniformity in the order.

When the tobacco is rightly ordered after it is
stripped, it must be put in a bulk preparatory to prizing
and to preserve its right order or condition. A plat-

326 TOBACCO LEAF.

form, four and one-half feet wide and as long as may be
necessary to hold the tobacco to be bulked, is made a
foot, or more, above the surface of the ground, unless
the stripping room has a plank floor, which will answer
for a platform. One man gets on the platform and one
or two bundles at a time are handed to him, after being
thoroughly straightened and squeezed. A course is ran
the entire length of the platform with the heads coin-
ciding with its outer edge. Another is similarly run on
the opposite side of the platform. Then two courses are
run between these, the heads of the bundles resting
midway the first course, and the tails overlapping the
center line of the bulk. These four courses form one
layer, and these layers are repeated until all the tobacco
is put in bulk. In laying down the bundles, the man
who bulks gets on his knees and packs before him, lay-
ing the bundles flat and drawing them closely together.
In bulking the heavy-shipping tobacco, the leaves are
never permitted to flare out fanlike, but the bundles are
kept as nearly as possible in a cylindrical form. When
the bulk is finished, it is covered with planks, or tobacco
sticks, laid evenly over the top and heavily weighted
with logs or rocks. In two or three weeks the tobacco
will smell as sweet as a rose and is ready to be put in the
hogshead.

The hogsheads for shipping tobacco vary in sizes,
but the most approved sizes are 56 inches high and 42
inches in diameter at the head, or 54 inches high and
38 to 44 inches in diameter. In some districts the hogs-
heads are made 60 inches high, or even 72 inches high
by 50 inches in diameter, but these sizes are not popular
with buyers.

The casks are usually made of white oak staves
rived and drawn, but sometimes they are sawed. Hoops
for banding the casks are made of the sap part, with a
little of the heart of a young, white oak tree, though

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 327

small hickory poles divided in halves are frequently used
for the same purpose. In Virginia and North Carolina,
staves are often made by sawing cuts of the old field
pines into the proper dimensions ; these make very
cheap staves, but they will not bear rough usage. In
Kentucky and Tennessee, hogsheads are made of hived
oak staves, or sweet oak, or of any other tough, hard
wood.

There are several ways of packing tobacco in hogs-
heads. One is to run two courses across the bottom of
the hogshead, the heads of the central bundles in the
course being about eight inches from the staves, and the
distance of the heads from the staves decreases each way
in the course until they come in contact with the staves.
Two more courses are run at right angles to the first
two, and this is continued until the hogshead is filled,
the pressure of the screw, or prize, being put on at
intervals. This is called the "square pack," as shown
in Fig. 93. . Another way is to run two courses, as in the
square pack, and then two more courses, the bundles
lying in the same directions, but with the heads
jammed against the staves of the hogshead. In the
leading heavy-shipping districts from 1400 to 1800
pounds of the best grades are put in a hogshead, aver-
aging about 1600 pounds, and from 1800 to 2200 pounds
of lugs, though the weights vary from 1000 pounds for
fancy to 2500 pounds for black shippers or balers.

NEGRO LABOR.*

The Laborers Chiefly Employed in the heavy-ship-
ping-tobacco districts are negroes, who are exceedingly
efficient in the work of cultivating, worming, suckering,
housing and preparing the crop for market. Trained

* It may be well to state that Col. Killebrew, the writer of this
article, was an extensive slave owner before the war, and since then
has been a large employer of negro labor on his plantations.

TOBACCO LEAF.

If

> *

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 329

through successive generations in the tobacco fields and
directed by highly intelligent managers, the negroes in
the tobacco-growing districts of Kentucky, Virginia and
Tennessee take naturally to the work and seem to
prefer it to any other. They are diligent, careful,
patient and faithful, and yield a ready and cheerful
obedience to their employers. Their physical vigor
gives them the strength to endure and perform the
severe labor required in transplanting and housing the
crop. Many of them become expert curers, assorters
and packers of tobacco. They are peculiarly fitted to
withstand the climate of the Southern states. They are
scarcely affected in health by the malarial districts.
The burning heat of a summer's sun only awakens in
them a higher sense of enjoyment. They are children
of the sun, and are as much distressed by extreme cold
as the Northern laborers are by extreme heat.

They are not only preferred by the planters, but the
warehousemen find them most desirable in the work of
stripping the casks from the tobacco, and preparing it
for sale. Their cheerful faces are seen and their merry
laughter is heard in every warehouse of the South,
where they are employed in rolling the heavy casks in and
out, applying the break lever for the inspectors, reprizing
the loose tobacco in the cask and doing all other heavy
manual work. They are always good humored, good
natured, obliging and respectful to white people, though
fond of guying each other in a friendly spirit.

The negro rarely seeks a higher aim in life than a
modest living. His earnings are -spent with a lavish
hand, and however large his wages he rarely makes any
provision for old age. He lives for the present,
happy, thoughtless, contented. His emotional nature
is extreme and hence he enjoys above all things the
excitement of a "big meeting," a dance, or a horse race.
Social by nature, he will spend every moment of leisure

330 TOBACCO LEAF.

with his companions. He is not given to seclusion, or
to though tfulness. He is moved by impulse rather than
by reason. This social instinct makes him a discon-
tented laborer when working alone, and he will take
less wages where he can mingle with a large number of
his own race. The negro is liberal to a fault. He will
often work a whole week and give his earnings to a
church festival on Saturday night, or hire a costly
equipage for a drive with his wife and children, or with
his sweetheart, on Sunday. He will wear ragged, dirty
clothes six days in the week and a costly tailor-made
suit when he goes to church, or to a dance, or to spend
a holiday. Yet, notwithstanding this want of frugality,
it must be said to the credit of the negro that he very
seldom leads an idle or vagrant life, and is rarely dissi-
pated. His race indulges in no anarchistic or social-
istic ideas. The negro never questions the right of
another to take his place when he has been discharged,
or when he voluntarily surrenders it. The idea of a
boycott is repugnant to his nature. In many respects
he is eminently conservative and his greatest weakness is
a lack of firmness. Oftentimes he is tempted to do
what a firmer judgment would condemn.

The negro farm laborers of the South are probably
the most independent laborers in the United States.
When one is discharged, unless for some heinous crime,
he finds no difficulty in securing employment at once on
some neighboring farm. And yet it cannot be said that
the negro laborer is wanting in constancy. When he is
treated fairly and honestly by his employer and paid
promptly, he is averse to a change. Possibly in this
particular the negro excels every other nationality, or
race, as a laborer. Earely does he cherish ill' will,
much less revenge, towards his former employer. He
entertains a warm feeling for a generous man, but
cordially despises a parsimonious one. Generosity in

HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 331

the employer oftentimes goes further with him than
justice.

It is often alleged by Northern writers and statis-
ticians that the wages paid Southern laborers are much
less than are paid for the same class in the North. This
is more apparent than real. A Northern farm laborer,
with a family, has generally to pay rent for his house
and garden, purchase his supply of fuel and pay for the
pasturage of any stock that he may own. All this is
given freely to the negro farm laborers of the South and
they are employed throughout the whole twelve months.
In the stemming factories many negro women are
employed in stemming tobacco. They easily earn from
50 cents to $1.50 per day.

The wages of a Northern man may be $20 to $25
per month, but much of this will be absorbed in buying
what the Southern farm laborer has given him, and it
rarely happens that he is employed for the whole year
at the wages named. The Southern laborer has more
money to spend for his pleasures and is rarely oppressed
with debt. In the Northwestern States, with the
bleak, cheerless climate of that region, the wages of $30
per month to a laborer will not provide near as many of
the comforts of life as one-half this amount paid to a
Southern laborer. .The winters of the Northwest are
long and dreary; fuel is expensive and necessary to
comfort for at least six months in the year. The char-
acter of the clothing also, suitable to such a climato,
makes it much more costly than that required by the
laborer of the South.

The great and leading difference between the white
labor of the North and the colored labor of the South is
this : The first has ambitions, calculates possibilities,
and looks forward to the future ; the latter enjoys the
present, is indifferent about what is to come, and is
utterly incapable of that self-denial which makes thrift

332 TOBACCO LEAF.

and prosperity possible. The negro laborer never
crosses a stream until he reaches it. He is, therefore,
contented and happy, — jolly and hilarious oftentimes,
when, under precisely similar conditions and circum-
stances, the white laborer will worry and give way to
irritability, or senseless passion. The colored laborer
enjoys more happiness and contentment ; the white
laborer more thrift and prosperity. The one is pro-
gressive, the other conservative. Great prosperity
springs from the exertions of the one ; old customs are
perpetuated by the other and scarcely any progress is
made by him in the development of accumulated wealth.
The negroes occupy a unique, but useful place, in the
social structure of the United States. They never
indulge in strikes, but they always have profitable em-
ployment, and their employers become attached to them
and they to their employers. There is less suffering
and more contentment among them than among any
other laborers in the United States.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE WHITE BURLEYf&ND MANUFACTURING TOBACCO.

While experiments in growing White Burley have
been made in all the tobacco-growing States in the
South and several in the North, the district where the
quality reaches its greatest excellence has greatly
increased its boundaries during the past 15 years. This
entire district lies on both sides of the Ohio river. The
Kentucky White Bnrley district embraces an area of a
little over 10,000 square miles, and includes 34 counties,
or parts of counties, all of which adjoin, except two,
Breatliitt and Bell, forming an irregular figure bounded
by the Ohio river on the North and on the other sides
by lines drawn from Louisville, Ky., to Danville, and
from Danville to Catlettsburg. Bell and Breathitt
together only produced a little over 15,000 pounds of
tobacco in 1896, and scarcely deserve to be mentioned.

The largest producing counties, taken in the order
of their production as reported by the county assessors,
in 1894, are Mason with over 5,000,000 pounds; Shelby,
Henry, Woodford and Carroll each between 4,000,000
and 5,000,01*0 pounds. The following counties between
3,000,000 and 4,000,000 pounds,— Harrison, Hart,.
Grant, Scott, Nicholas, Fleming, Pendleton, Bracken
and Fayette. Boone and Trimble produced each
between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 pounds. The coun-
ties of Clark, Bourbon, Owen, Franklin and Gallatin
produced over 1,500,000 pounds each, and the counties
of Bath, Jessamine, Carter, Mercer and Robertson pro-
duced over 1,000,000 each.

333

TOBACCO LEAF.

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. 335

The Ohio White Burley district lies just north of
fche Ohio river and immediately opposite the White
Burley district of Kentucky. It embraces the coun-
ties of Brown, Adams, Clermont, Butler, Scioto,
Hamilton, Highland, Licking and Lawrence. All
these counties lie on the Ohio river, except Butler,
Highland and Licking. Brown produced in 1894
over 3,700,000 pounds; Adams and Clermont each
over 2,000,000. None of the other counties produced
as much as 500,000 pounds. These figures are taken
from the assessors' returns to the Secretary of State
for 1894.

If the figures reported by the assessors are correct,
they indicate a considerable falling off in the production
of the White Burley crop in Ohio in 1894, as compared
with the production in 1889. The counties of Brown,
Adams and Clermont reported for that year 14,877,959
pounds, but in 1894 only 8,737,639 pounds, showing a
falling off of 41 per cent. A comparison of five of the
counties in Kentucky that have the largest production
shows about an equal amount for both years. Mason,
Shelby, Henry, Woodford and Carroll show a production,
both in 1889 and 1894, of over 23,000,000 pounds in the
aggregate.

The Soils of the White Burley District are among
the most fertile in the United States, and in this respect
occupy a position in relation to the growth of product
diametrically opposite to the character of the soils best
fitted for the growth of yellow tobacco. The latter
requires conparatively sterile, sandy soils, while the
White Burley must have the most fertile, limestone soils
for its proper development. A comparison of chemical
elements of the two typical soils will be instructive.
Take the analysis of the soil of Mason county, Ken-
tucky, where the finest "\Vhite Burley tobacco is grown,
and an analysis of the soil of Granville county, North

336 TOBACCO LEAF.

Carolina, where the highest grade of yellow tobacco is
grown, and we find the following :

Mason Co., Ky. Granville Co., N. C.

Organic and volatile matter, 8.462 1.2050

Alumina, 4.745 2.4965

Oxide of iron, 6.240 0.6275

Lime, .836 0.2330

Magnesia, .798 0.0847

Manganese, .146 0.0417

Phosphoric acid, .231 0.0379

Sulphuric acid, .084 0.0140

Potash, .558 0.5045

Soda, .160 0.2892

Silica, 78.100 93.5035

The White Burley soil has seven times as much
organic and volatile matter in it as the yellow tobacco
soil, twice as much alumina, ten times as much oxide of
iron, over three and a half times as much lime, nearly
ten times as much magnesia, three and a half times as
much manganese, nearly seven times as much phos-
phoric acid, six times as much sulphuric acid, and one-
tenth more of potash. The yellow tobacco soil has
nearly twice as much soda, and nearly 20 per cent more
sand.

The topographical features of the White Burley
district in Kentucky are greatly diversified. High,
rolling ridges, round, domelike knobs, and sharp hills,
with here and there level stretches, are its characteristic
features. Many streams pass through the district, and
these have carved out deep, winding valleys that are
three or four hundred feet below the general surface of
the country. The great ridge, known as Dry Eidge,
which forms the main axis, or backbone, of the region,
runs approximately north and south. Upon this the
Cincinnati Southern railroad was built. From this
ridge, many transverse and subordinate spurs shoot
out, but they are so often dissevered by deep hollows, or
gorges, that the region presents for the most part a very
irregular series of rounded or flat elevations. The conn-

WHITE BUELEY TOBACCO. 337

try, except in the principal blue grass counties, is very
much broken, and nearly every member of the Lower
Silurian formation is exposed at one or more places in
the district. This gives within limits a considerable
variation in the composition of the soil, but all of it is
made fertile by the presence of the carbonate and phos-
phate of lime. The principal tree growth on the best
tobacco soils is hickory, white oak, jtulip tree, beech,
walnut, hackberry, black locust and ash. All this
growth indicates a very fruitful soil. Where the white
oak is the prevailing growtfi the soil is called "oak
soil." The soils in every part of the district are exceed-
ingly durable, and where apparently exhausted, if they
are abandoned for a few years, fresh plant food will be
supplied by the disintegration of the shaly beds and
the soft limestones that underlie them. Many of these
limestones contain such a large percentage of phos-
phoric acid as even to make them, when pulverized, val-
uable as a fertilizer.

The great unevenness of the surface of the country
maket tillage difficult. The slopes of the hills, except
when kept in grass, soon become scarified with unsightly
gullies. Clean culture, such as tobacco requires, soon
makes the land unproductive, not, as many suppose, by
the amount of fertilizing material extracted from the
soil by that crop, but because of the rapidity and ease
with which the soil is carried from the hillsides to the
valleys. However, the region is fortunate in having a
subsoil and rocky strata beneath, which hold in store a
large amount of unexpended plant food, which is una-
vailable until it has been liberated by the crumbling of
these underclays and rocky beds through the effects of
weathering. Unlike almost any other region not
alluvial, the fertility of the soil is renewed by time, as
interest gathers upon a fixed capital.

While a few planters prefer the old lands, and

338 TOBACCO LEAF.

especially the old sod lands in the bluegrass districts
because the yield is much larger, the greater number of
growers prefer the freshly opened lands, where white
oak was the original tree growth. The southern and
eastern sides of the elevations are usually selected for
growing tobacco. In such situations the plant grows
into its greatest beauty and most useful qualities, and
ripens more evenly and more quickly. Where the soil
is derived from the highly calcareous, sandy, blue lime-

FIG. 99. WHITE BURI/EY ON SCAFFOLD.

stones and has been kept in bluegrass sod for many
years, an excellent manufacturing leaf is grown, not so
silky, or so bright in color, or so soft to the touch, or so
lustrous, or elastic, or high priced, as that grown on the
fresh oak lands, but heavier in body and richer in
gummy matter. This old-land product is preferred for
manufacturing plug and navy, but not for making cut-
ting tobacco, as the amount of gum present unfits it for
that purpose. The old-land product is considered,

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. 339

therefore, a most useful quality of tobacco, and though
its color is more red than yellow, it has supplied a want
for plug for which the thin, highly colored tobacco
grown on fresh soil is not at all suited. It is an ideal
filler for plug tobacco, having a large absorptive
capacity, mild in its effects upon the nervous system,
delicate in its flavor, and withal is very popular with
consumers.

The soil is the most potent factor in the growth of
the White Burley, as it is in the growth of the yellow
tobacco, or the heavy-shipping leaf. Take the soils of
one of the typical counties, Owen for instance, and they
are classified by the planters according to their timber
growth. Plot 1 has a growth of sugar tree, beech, tulip
tree, hackberry and butternut, and is first-class bluegrass
land; this soil makes the largest number of pounds
per acre, but the product is red, heavy and gummy.
Plot 2 has a growth of white oak and more clay and
less sand in its composition ; the tobacco grown on it
is thin, bright and silky. Plot 3 resembles an alluvial
soil, filled with organic matter; the timber growth is
ash, locust, poplar and oak ; it grows a rough, heavy
tobacco useful, as a general thing, only for fillers and for
wrappers in the manufacture of the cheaper grades of
plug tobacco.

The White Burley soil in Ohio consists of modified
glacial drift, and occupies, beside the Ohio river basin,
the fringing spurs, which rise to a hight of 400 to 500
feet above the Ohio river and run back from the basin,
uniting at a greater or less distance in a plateau country
deeply gashed at intervals by the tributaries of the Ohio
and Miami rivers. Many broad areas of level land occur
on this plateau, so flat, indeed, that in times of exces-
sive rains, they overflow and form temporary lakes.
The drift, or glacial deposits, contributes mainly to the
formation of the soils of the district, though there are

340 TOBACCO LEAF.

some small areas where the limestones of the Lower
Silurian age come to the surface and yield their charac-
teristic soil. The drift is composed largely of fertile
clays, in which limestone gravel is imbedded. Four
kinds, or varieties, of soil are found in this district :
1. The native soil formed from the limestones, or bed
rocks, of the country. 2. Drift soil of the uplands.
3. Black soil of swampy or peaty areas. 4. The alluvial
soil of the river and creek bottoms. The native soil is
found on the sloping hills that run down to the stream
beds. This soil is dark, friable and fertile and very
much resembles the bluegrass soil of Kentucky, and it
has the same tree growth. ' It is preferred for tobacco,
though it washes easily. Tobacco is grown on all the
other classes of soil mentioned, but the peaty and allu-
vial soils make a coarse, rough article.

Summarizing the quality of the product as affected
by the variety of soils and different exposures in the
White Burley districts of Ohio and Kentucky, we find
that:

1. Tobacco grown upon new lands, and especially
new oak lands, is thin, light, bright golden in color,
gumless and rattles, when handled, like dry fodder.
This is the very best cutting leaf.

2. On the same land the second year the product
will be heavier, a cherry red in color, with more body,
but with little gum. This is suitable both for cutters
and for the manufacture of plug.

3. Old sod land makes a product of better body, a
good absorbent, less light in color, more useful as a plug
filler, with a considerable gain in the number of pounds
produced on a given area.

4. Alluvial soils produce tobacco dark in color,
rough in feel, bony and lacking in softness, and it has a
small absorptive capacity.

As to exposures, other things being equal, the east-

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO.

341

342 TOBACCO LEAF.

ern, or southeastern, is the preference, the southern
next, the northern third and the western last.

The White Burley tobacco is planted to some extent
in Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, West Vir-
ginia, Indiana, Ohio and Arkansas, but it usually fails,
when planted outside of the blue limestone soils of its
native habitat, to attain the excellence that makes it
desirable. The farmers of each district often, after
fruitless experiments, return to the cultivation of that
type which has made each district famous. Some
excellent Burley tobacco is produced on the freestone
soils of West Virginia, with pebbly subsoils covered with
humus.

The central basin of Tennessee, of which Nashville
is the center, by reason of its blue limestone soils, which
have the same geological and lithological character as
those in the White Burley district of Kentucky, pre-
sents the most promising field for the extension of the
culture of this most desirable product. Some is already
grown in Trousdale, Wilson, Smith, and a part of
Mason, in the upper Cumberland river tobacco district,
in Tennessee, and in several of the counties in the same
tobacco district-in Kentucky.

Two Varieties of White Burley. — There are two
sub-varieties of White Burley now grown in Kentucky.
The old variety (Plate VII, Page 40) has a pale green,
or greenish-white color, and the leaves grow very closely
together on the stalk. It is also much ruffled, that is,
the leaves at the junction with the stalk have a ruffle,
which passes sometimes entirely around the stalk.

The other sub- variety (Plate IX, Page 48) is not so
pale in color, but it shows the white veins while grow-
ing. The leaves are more pointed and do not grow so
closely together on the stalk. This sub-variety is more
hardy and less easily damaged by weather conditions,
either in the field, or after it has been put in the barn.

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. 343

It furnishes more plug fillers also than the old variety.
The new variety has but little ruffle, thus affording
fewer hiding places for the worms. It is not so sensi-
tive to the heat of the sun, or to house burn. It will
also cure with fewer green leaves or spots.

Preparation of the Land. — In the bluegrass re-
gions of Kentucky, where the White Burley is now very
extensively grown, the preparation of the land for the
crop is begun in the winter, from January to March.
Two methods of breaking are practiced : One with a
plow having a "skimmer" attached just in front of the
subsoiler. The "skimmer" reverses a slice of sod
some ten inches wide and two inches thick, and
the subsoiler throws four or five inches of soil on
top of the reversed sod. The second way is to turn
the sod under with a two-horse plow to the depth of
eight inches.

About the middle of April, a revolving disc harrow
is run over the land, cutting the sods to pieces. This
is followed by a slab drag, which is made of three or
four pieces of timber, fastened at intervals of a foot, or
more, with chains, so as to be flexible. This slab drag
smooths the ground and pulverizes all the clods. The
land is then marked off, from three feet eight inches to
three feet ten inches, one way only, with an implement
made for the purpose, which makes three marks at once.
These marks are about three inches wide, and about two
or three inches deep. They are made with a piece of
scantling two inches thick, the front being armed with
a sharpened piece of iron slightly flanged backward.
The plants are set on the edge of these marks, at a dis-
tance varying from 18 to 27 inches, the less distance
being used for growing cutting tobacco. Hills are
seldom made in the White Burley district, except
by a few Germans, who live in Mason county, Ken-
tucky. In that county, about one-fifth of the area

344 TOBACCO LEAF.

planted in tobacco is fresh land, which makes the very
best cutting tobacco.

Fertilization and Rotation. — It is a very rare thing
for fertilizers, or manure, to be used anywhere in the
White Burley districts. One planter says he never uses
manure if Jhe "can possibly avoid it," for the tobacco
product is much better when grown without it, having
more elasticity and other desirable qualities. Some-
times, though rarely, a little manure is spread over the
land before it is harrowed. Tobacco stalks and trash
from the barns are preferred to any other fertilizer for
tobacco, and impair its qualities less.

The tobacco crop is usually followed by wheat sown
in the fall, and upon this timothy is sown immediately,
and red clover in the following spring. The land is
allowed to remain in timothy and clover for several
years before it is planted again in tobacco. The timothy
"eats out" the clover in about two years, and the blue-
grass takes the timothy in about four years. When well
sodded with bluegrass, the soil is again prepared for
another crop of tobacco.

On new land, two crops of tobacco are grown in
two successive years. After the first crop of tobacco is
taken off, the land is sown to rye, which is allowed to
grow without pasturing, until the following April.
The rye is then turned under with a skimmer and sub-
soiler, or only with a turning plow, like the bluegrass
sod. After the land has produced two crops of tobacco,
wheat and timothy are sown immediately after the
tobacco is housed, and clover the following spring.
After the expiration of three years, another crop of
tobacco is grown. After the third crop, the rotation is
like that given for old land.

Tobacco plants are usually set after a shower, but if
the rains are tardy, or insufficient, the plants are set out
in the afternoons and watered. The Bemis planter,

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. 345

(Fig. 23) is in common use in the bluegrass section, by
the large planters. From one and a half to two acres
may be set out in an afternoon with three hands — two to
drop plants and one to drive the team. A few days
after the plants are set out, the ground near them is
scraped with hoes. When the plant is established, a
bull-tongue cultivator is run six times in the space
between the rows. Every week after this the land is
plowed with double-shovel cultivators until the period
for topping approaches. Some planters plow deep;
others shallow, as their judgments may determine. But
little difference is observed in the product, whether the
plowing is shallow or deep. The work of tillage should
be directed to keeping the crop clean. During this
period the tobacco is usually hoed twice, a little dirt
being drawn to the plants at each hoeing. There are a
few small farmers who throw the dirt to the plants
with a one-horse turning plow, leaving a deep furrow
between the rows. This method of cultivating, how-
ever, is almost abandoned.

Care of the Growing Crop. — When the first buttons,
or seed buds, appear, the cultivation should cease, and
the work of topping begin. From 16 to 20 leaves are
left on each plant. White Burley is never primed
before topping, and when it is desired to grow a cutting
tobacco, the plants are topped much higher than when
a filler is to be produced. High topping and close
planting produce cutters; low topping and longer dis-
tances between the plants make a filler of good body
and excellent flavor, and wrappers of great strength of
fiber. It is best to top just as soon as there is a
sufficient number of leaves on the stalk. It is better,
however, to let a few plants bloom, if, by so doing, a
large proportion of the plants in the field may be topped
at the same time. All plants in the same field should
be topped in the same week, even though some of the

346 TOBACCO LEAF,

plants be topped to six leaves. This rule is founded
upon the intelligent experience of the best planters in
the White Burley district. The tobacco should be
wormed at least once a week (see chapter on Pests). If
the weather is very wet, the tobacco will have to be

FIG. 101. WHITE BURLEY PLANT NOT PRIMED.

This plant was grown at the Kentucky experiment station, under the same condi-
tions as 'the typical plant of this variety shown in Plate IX. It was not prop-
erly primed, so the bottom leaves rest nearly on the ground and are small in
size. The plant was four and one-fourth feet high, with a spread of four feet,
being slightly wilted when photographed. The top leaf was 28 inches long
and 10 wide, iniddle leaf 35x11 inches. It will be seen that tbe leaves are even
larger than those in Plate IX, (jiving a larger weight per acre, but the amount
of unmerchantable leaf is much larger, the quality usually not as good, and
the tobacco will not sell as well as when the tobacco is properly primed.

suckered three times. The suckers should never be
allowed to grow longer than three inches.

Harvesting. — From four to five weeks after topping,
the tobacco should be fully ripe. The plants are then

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. 347

cut with a butcher knife, or a tobacco cutter, described
in the previous chapter. Each person cutting takes
three rows, splits the stalk down below the middle and
straddles the plants, as they are cut, over a stick stuck
up in the middle row, on the hill of the last plant cut
in that row. From five to six plants are put on each
stick, according to the size of the plants. In this way
the tobacco is cut and housed without coming in contact
with the dirt. The sticks are four and one-third feet
in length, and when filled with tobacco are taken
directly to the curing houses, or barns, and hung 12
inches apart on the tier poles. Very many planters
put the tobacco on scaffolds in the field, where it
remains for three or four days, and it is then taken to
the barns. Trestles, five feet high and very much like
those used by plasterers and carpenters, are employed to
hold up the tier poles of the scaffold (Fig. 99). The
tobacco, when taken from the scaffold, may be arranged
on the tier poles in the barns as closely as eight inches.
By scaffolding, one-third of the capacity of the barn
may be saved. The danger in scaffolding is that the
tobacco may be caught in a rain. About one-third of
the tobacco planters in the district now scaffold their
tobacco before taking it to the barns.

The leaf, after being properly wilted on the stick,
or scaffold, is carried to the barn on a frame, made just
wide enough to take the sticks conveniently, as shown
in Fig. 100.

Assorting and Stuffing. — When fully cured, the
tobacco is assorted usually into six grades as follows :
1. Flyings, or sand leaves, called also spod, which con-
stitute about 10 per cent of the crop. 2. Trash, 15 per
cent. 3. Lugs, 15 per cent. 4. Bright leaf, 30 per
cent. 5. Red leaf, 25 per cent. 6. Tips, or the short
top and often greenish leaves, making up the remaining
5 per cent.

34:8 TOBACCO LEAF.

The flyings and sand leaves are used mainly for
making smokers ; the trash and lugs in a tine crop are
used for cutters ; the bright leaf is used for wrappers,
or fine cutters ; the red leaf for plug fillers, and the
tips for making a low grade of plug for exportation.

All grades are tied in bundles of from 10 to 20
leaves, the smaller number of leaves to the bundle being
used in the better grades. A tie an inch in diameter is
a better standard and one preferred by the dealers.

Packing for Market.— When White Burley has been
assorted and stripped in the fall, each grade is put in a
separate bulk. This is prized (pressed into bogheads)
at once and is known as the "winter prizing."

For "summer prizing" the tobacco is allowed to
remain in bulk until the heated season approaches. It
is then hung up in the barn (Fig. 102) for the June
sweat, and reordered, so that the stems will crack when
bent to the tips of the leaves. Some planters, instead
of bulking the tobacco down after stripping, put the
bundles on sticks and shingle it on a plank floor until
May, and then hang it up in the barn to be properly
sweated and ordered. When prized in casks weighing
1100 pounds for the fine grades, and 1200 to 1400
pounds for the inferior grades in good keeping con-
dition after the sweat, it will remain sweet for years.

The largest portion of the crop goes to Louisville,
Cincinnati and Richmond, Virginia, and is prized in
hogsheads 48 inches in diameter and 60 inches high,
made generally of poplar staves five-eighths of an inch
thick. It should always be remembered by the grower
of tobacco, and especially of the White Burley tobacco,
that a good crop badly handled will sell no better than
a bad crop well handled. In packing the tobacco in a
hogshead, the heads of the bundles are drawn closely
together, but the tails are allowed to spread out like a
fan. This is different from the packing of heavy-ship-

WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO.

349

350 TOBACCO LEA.F.

ping tobacco, when every bundle is packed closely to the
preceding one throughout its entire length, as shown in
Fig. 93.

The best cutting leaf comes from Owen county,
Kentucky, and from the hilly land in Clermont and
Adams counties in Ohio. It is bright and thin and gum-
less. Mason and Bracken counties make a plug filler of
fine fiber, but of good body. Fayette, and the counties
in the bluegrass district, will make a tobacco of as fine
fiber as that grown in Bracken and Mason counties, if
topped high enough and planted closely enough. If a
very wide space is left between the plants, the tobacco
will grow too rank, and with large stems, which is not
desirable for either plug filler or cutters ; such is the
product of the alluvial soils in the White Burley
counties of Ohio. When well cured, however, such a
product makes a very sweet chewing tobacco.

Manufacturing Leaf. — In a. few of the counties in
Virginia, notably Caroline, Spottsylvania, Hanover and
Louisa, sun and air cured fillers for plug tobacco are
produced which are said to be the sweetest for chewing
purposes grown in the United States. There is no dif-
ference in the methods employed in cultivating this and
the White Burley, or the shipping leaf. The main dif-
ference lies in the method of curing. The tobacco is
scaffolded until the leaf is nearly cured in the sun, and
it remains on the scaffold from four to seven days. It
is then removed to the barn, where it hangs until it is
entirely cured. When the weather is unfavorable, the
tobacco gets but little sun. In such weather, plenty of
space must be left between the sticks so that the plants
will not touch each other.

No fire must be used after it is put in the barn,
unless in the case of long-continued damp weather. It
is then fired gently to keep it from molding. The rich,
mahogany wrappers and fillers grown in Henry county,

WHITE BUBLEY TOBACCO. 351

Virginia, and to some extent in one or two of the
adjoining counties, are flue-cured in the same manner as
yellow tobacco.

Missouri, for many years, grew a large quantity of
excellent, manufacturing tobacco in the eastern part of
the State, on both sides of the Missouri river, but the
product has greatly fallen off within recent years. The
White Burley is now more extensively used in the
United States, for the manufacturing of plug and fine
cut, than all other varieties combined. West Virginia
is gradually enlarging its area of manufacturing tobacco.

CHAPTER XV.

YELLOW TOBACCO.

The most astonishing fact about the development
of this industry, described in Chapter I, is that it has
made the abandoned soils in the midland districts of
North Carolina and Virginia the most valuable for
agricultural purposes. The excellence of yellow leaf
seems to depend upon the poverty of the soil, as well as
its color.

This leaf grows at all altitudes from 50 to 2500 feet,
and under isothermals from 60° down to 54°, from the
coast to the western North Carolina mountains, along
the French Broad river and beyond in Tennessee,
between the Little Pedee, Santee and Wateree rivers in
South Carolina, in more than a dozen counties of south-
ern Virginia, also in West Virginia, southern Ohio, a
few points in Kentucky, eastern Missouri and Arkansas.
Indeed, this tobacco will probably be tried wherever the
soil seems adapted. The State experiment stations, or
private individuals, are testing this variety in Louisiana,
Georgia, Arkansas and elsewhere, and in some cases
with promising results, where the soils are most like the
typical yellow tobacco soils named below.

The quantity of yellow tobacco produced was erro-
neously stated by the census of 1890. Mr. W. W.
Wood has shown that for 1891, the North Carolina prod-
uct of tobacco was probably 85,000,000 pounds, while
the 1895 crop is returned by the United States depart-
ment of agriculture as nearly 115,000,000 pounds. The
yield per acre, under proper culture, varies from 600 to
353

YELLOW TOBACCO. 353

900 pounds, and probably 700 pounds per acre is a fair
estimate in a good year, this being double the yield
reported by the census of 1890.

There is great rivalry between the districts, as to
which grows the finest tobacco. For a long time Gran-
ville county, North Carolina, stood without a peer as to
quality, but Durham, Chatham, Caswell, Person, Nash
and Wilson now stand with Granville in the first rank.
Warren, Franklin and Pitt are all noted for growing an
excellent quality. The western counties of North Car-
olina make probably the best bright fillers and some
very fine wrappers. Eastern North Carolina and South
Carolina grow the whitest tobacco. The low, level,
sandy areas seem peculiarly adapted to growth of that
style of leaf. East Tennessee grows some very fine leaf,
but the proportion of green tobacco is large. The south-
side counties of Virginia have a wider range of product,
growing a much larger quantity of inferior tobacco, but
some of the very highest grades of the yellow product.
Every district has some peculiarity of product, which
makes the tobacco easily recognized by dealers.

Wherever produced, this fact stands out with prom-
inence, that the soils upon which it is grown are prac-
tically the same in color, in composition, in general tex-
ture, in porosity, in physical characteristics and in
constituent elements. The opinions of the planters, as
to the relative merits of the product grown upon old
lands and freshly cleared lands, differ somewhat. New
lands are preferred in every locality where this tobacco
is grown, except in the midland district and in South
Carolina. In these districts the farmers, by judicious
use of barnyard manure and fertilizers, make the very
highest grades on old lands, though all admit that
freshly cleared lands with suitable soils will yield a very
fine quality. A peculiarity of some soils is that they
will make a very fine yellow wrapper for a year, or two,
23

354

TOBACCO LEAF.

YELLOW TOBACCO. 355

but never afterwards, however much they may be
coaxed. This, doubtless, grows out of an increased
density, or compactness, of the soil. There seems
everywhere to be a reciprocal relation between the color
of the soil and the color of the cured product, for no
case is reported in which a tobacco, having an orange,
or lemon yellow color, has been grown, except on light
colored, porous soils. Even the darkening of the color
of the soil, by the application of too much stable
manure, will change the product from a bright yellow
to a mahogany, or mottled leaf.

This must be said, however, of the yellow tobacco
product of nearly every region, except that grown on the
very poor soils of Virginia, North and South Carolina,
that it will blacken under pressure, while the typical
yellow wrapper, grown on suitable soils in the last
named States, will remain as bright and as stainless
under the great pressure of the manufacturer's screw as
if made of gold-foil. The poorer the soil upon which
the tobacco is grown, the better it will bear this test,
and this, to a great extent, is the test of merit and
value.

Typical Soils for Yellow Leaf. — In the Champaign
or Eastern district of North Carolina, where yellow
tobacco is now grown, embracing the counties of
Edgecombe, Wilson, Nash, Pitt, Greene, Duplin,
Jones, Lenoir, Northampton, Wayne, Warren, Franklin,
Johnston, Wake, Sampson and Halifax, the formation
consists largely of uncompacted, loose strata of sand,
and sandy and gravelly clays, generally resting upon
marly beds of half-decomposed shells, a few feet below
the surface. These marly beds often come to the sur-
face along the bluffs, or in the bottoms of the stream
beds. The country is generally level, or slightly undu-
lating, except where the streams have carved out chan-
nels through the spongy strata. The soil is grayish in

356 TOBACCO LEAF.

color, though when first cleared the surface soil has a
darkish hue, derived from the presence of vegetable
matter. It, however, soons becomes gray when inter-
mixed by cultivation with the subsoil, which is usually
yellow, sometimes gray, occasionally red, or brown ; in
contexture it is a clayey sand, though in certain areas
clay predominates and it becomes a sandy clay. The
timber growth is long and short leaf pines, with a
subordinate growth of oaks of several kinds and hickory,
and an underbrush of gum, dogwood, huckleberry,
honeysuckle and trailing vines. Oaks predominate on
clayey, and pines on sandy soils.

The soils in the Champaign or Tidewater districts
of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, suited
to the growth of bright, yellow tobacco, have an open,
sandy texture and light gray color, with a yellow,
clayey, or sandy subsoil, well drained, naturally support-
ing such tree growth as has been mentioned. These
are not considered fertile soils. Indeed, a crop of ten
bushels of corn, without fertilization, or 300 pounds of
seed cotton, to the acre is a fair yield for them. They
are all drift or transported soils, made up of decom-
posed, or comminuted rocks of the midland district,
that have been brought down and ground up, leached,
sifted and sorted. The oxides of iron and clay in finer
particles have been carried out to the ocean in rapid,
glacial currents, leaving behind the heavier and coarser,
sandy material. This gives the essential conditions that
determine their fitness for the production of yellow
tobacco, — warmth and thorough drainage, aided by the
negative conditions of the absence of iron, humus and
an excess of clay.

The late Professor Kerr, from whose careful obser-
vations many of these facts are drawn, asserted that the
early ripening of the plant was a notable peculiarity of
the growth of tobacco in the Champaign district. The

YELLOW TOBACCO. 357

yellow hue, which indicates maturity, anticipates the
beginning of August, and sometimes the harvesting
begins the first week in July, and the crop is gathered
and cured before the first cuttings are made in the more
westerly districts. This is regarded as an advantage, as
it lessens the liability of damage from worms and
droughts, or from excessive rains. Professor Kerr was
of the opinion that at least one-half of the cotton area
of the Champaign districts in the States of Virginia and
North Carolina is adapted to the growth of yellow
tobacco.

The Midland district of North Carolina and Vir-
ginia, lying to the west of the Champaign districts, is
where the industry orig-
inated, and where the
product reached its
highest perfection and I
won its most brilliant
triumphs. In North
Carolina, the counties
in the Midland district
best known for produc- FIG- 1W- BASKET FOR CARRYING PLANTS.
ing this tobacco are Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance,
Orange, Durham, Alamance, Guilford, Eockinghum,
Stokes, Forsyth and Surry. Two counties in Virginia,
Halifax and Pittsylvania, have also won a well-merited
distinction for growing yellow tobacco.

All this region is hilly, often rough, having numer-
ous rivers, fed by hundreds of tributaries, cutting down
through the soft, crumbling strata to a depth varying
from 50 to 200 feet below the summits of the ridges
that separate the streams. A very small portion of the
soil of this entire district is adapted to the growth of
yellow tobacco. The best tobacco lands are found on
the tops of the ridges, where there is a gray, sandy or
gravelly soil, with a cream-colored subsoil of a sandy

358 TOBACCO LEAF.

material. The favorable indications and conditions
that promise success are good drainage, an open texture
of the soil, a freedom from the oxides of iron, a forest
growth of stunted oaks, "bald face Spanish oaks,"
white oaks and post oaks — with old field pines, chin-
quapin, huckleberry, dogwood, scrub, hickory, persim-
mon, sourwood and other natural growth, such as broom
sedge, poverty grass and small green briers, that betray a
lean or impoverished soil. All these are the vegetable
flags of sterility, and the forerunners of success for the
yellow tobacco grower in that district.

Such places are called by the inhabitants "pea
ridges," "chinquapin ridges" and "huckleberry ridges."
Wheat, oats, or corn planted upon such soil will rarely
reproduce the seed. All the soils in the Midland dis-
tricts are sedentary, with the exception of the triassic
and alluvial, 'that is, they have been formed by the
crumbling down of the underlying rocks, and the con-
stituent elements of the rocks are for the most part
identical with those of the resulting soils. Where the
trap rocks come to the surface, the soils are reddish in
color, due to the presence of the oxides of iron. Such
soils are fatal to the growth of yellow tobacco.

So controlling is the character of the soil, that one
part of a farm may produce the very finest grades of
tobacco found in the market, and another part will grow
the commonest article. The writer examined a large
tobacco farm in Granville county upon which the very
highest priced tobacco was produced. On one part of
the farm only, and that the most sterile, was any
attempt made to produce the yellow tobacco. Where
the soil was derived from the gneisses, quartzites,
light colored feldspathic rocks and dove-colored slates,
tobacco in its highest perfection and greatest beauty was
grown, but no grain, no vegetables, no fruits. Where
the soil was the result of the decomposition of the trap-

YELLOW TOBACCO. 359

poid rocks, and reddish in color, wheat, rye, corn and
potatoes were grown, with generous yields, but no
tobacco was planted, except for the purpose of growing
a heavy shipping leaf.

An analysis of the tobacco soil taken from this farm
shows organic and vegetable matter, 1.205; silicic anhy-
dride, 93.50; ferric oxide-, 0.2675; alumina, 2.490;
manganous oxide, 0.0417 : lime, 0.233 ; magnesia,
0.0847; potash, 0.5045; soda, 0.2892; phosphoric anhy-
dride, 0.0379; sulphuric anhydride 0.0140. The soil
geologically comes from the oldest known geological
formation, the Archean. The field from which the
sample of soil was taken for analysis had been used for
tobacco six years in succession, but was previously an
"old field" that had been exhausted by cultivation and
had been 'allowed to lie untilled for some fourteen years
previous to being used for tobacco. It is possible that
the very small amount of organic and volatile matter
reported was due to the application of small quantities
of stable manure every year. Practically, this so-called
soil is nothing but a porous sponge of sandy material,
destitute almost of every element that supports vegeta-
ble life.

PREPARATION OF THE LAND.

The light grayish, sandy soil, with a yellowish,
clayey or sandy subsoil, being selected, preference is
given in nearly all the yellow-tobacco-growing districts
to new lands, or rather to old fields that have grown up
in pines and chinquapin bushes and cleared a second
time. In Granville county, Nprth Carolina, in the
South Carolina tobacco districts, and in Halifax county,
Virginia, the best farmers, however, prefer old lands,
upon which some grain or grass crop had been grown
the previous year. The rotation with tobacco in the
South Carolina and in the Champaign district of North

360 TOBACCO LEAF.

Carolina, is cow peas, clover, or grass, tobacco being put
on the same land every third year. Tobacco is often
put in after an oat crop and also after hog weeds. It
seems to be a conclusion, reached after much experi-
mentation, that pine, or wheat straw, or coarse mold
from the forest, plowed under in the fall, will cause
tobacco to ripen yellow on the hill. Old land makes the
heaviest product ; new land the brightest tobacco.

If old land is selected, it is broken in 'the fall with
a two-horse turning plow and rebroken with a single
plow in the spring, often applying all the manure that
can be raked up about the farmyard. This second
plowing should only be half as deep as the first. In
South Carolina, where very handsome yellow tobacco is
now produced, the practice, after breaking in the fall, is

FIG. 105. HANGER FOB LEAVES IN SNOW BARN.

to lay off the ground in January, or early in February,
in rows three feet six inches in width, and then dis-
tribute the manure in these rows, covering it lightly.
About the middle of April run a furrow in the same
place where the manure was distributed, and drill from
600 to 800 pounds of some good fertilizer to the acre.
Throw two furrows on this open row. When the time
for setting the tobacco arrives, drag the beds down with
a log and pat places 30 inches apart where the plants
are to be set.

In North Carolina, just before the plants are large
enough to set out, the land is either rebroken and har-
rowed, or plowed with cultivators, and then harrowed
until it becomes well pulverized. After this it is laid
off into rows three and one-quarter, or three and one-

YELLOW TOBACCO. 361

half, feet apart, and in these rows about 75 bushels of
stable manure, and from 2oO to 800 pounds of some
good commercial fertilizers, are distributed per acre.
The fertilizers used are highly ammoniated guano, or
superphosphates of lime, containing about eight per
cent of phosphoric acid, three per cent of ammonia, and
three per cent of potash. It is believed that too much
potash will cause small, white specks ("frog eye") to
appear on the leaves. Upon this fertilized row two
furrows are thrown, making a ridge. Over this ridge a
drag is run, leveling it down to the general level of the
surface of the ground. Shallow rows
are ran at right angles to these decap-
itated ridges, and the land is ready for
planting. In East Tennessee, the rows
are run off from three to three and
one-half feet, and the hills made from
18 inches to three feet in the row. FIG 106

The hills align only one way and are HOOKS ON LATH.
made over the fertilizers dropped in the row. In parts
of Virginia, the practice is to throw four furrows instead
of two on the fertilized row. This wide bed is then cut
off and patted at intervals of two feet ten inches, the
patted spots indicating the places for setting the plants.
Tobacco set out with the plants aligning only in one
direction can be plowed in one way only.

The planting and cultivation of the crop and the
worming and suckering are done in the same manner, or
with but little variation, that has already been de-
scribed in the chapter on heavy shipping tobacco. In
South Carolina, the planting begins about the 10th of
April, in North Carolina and Virginia, from the 1st of
May to the 10th, and the season continues until the
10th of June. In some parts of East Tennessee, nota-
bly Hamblen county, tobacco planted on new lands is
not plowed in cultivating it, but simply hoed twice.

362 TOBACCO LEAF.

The last time a little dirt is pulled up to the plants.
The number of leaves left in topping the plant is some-
times greater. Hardy, vigorous plants are topped very
often to 14 leaves, but the general practice is to leave
10 or 12, the first topping, and diminish the number in
subsequent toppings. A larger number of leaves is
usually left where harvesting is done by picking off the
leaves. Before topping, the lower leaves are taken off.
They form a hiding place for the horn worm during the
heat of the day.

HARVESTING OF YELLOW TOBACCO.

From two to four weeks in the Champaign districts,
and from three to five weeks in the Piedmont districts,
and from six to eight weeks in the mountainous dis-
tricts, after the plants have been topped, the harvesting
begins. Usually in the Champaign districts the first
ripening of plants takes place about the 25th of July,
while it is two or four weeks later in the Piedmont and
mountainous districts. In all the yellow tobacco region
two methods are employed in harvesting the crop. One
is to strip the leaves from the plant as they ripen, and
the other is to cut the whole plant, as in the heavy
shipping districts. The first method is growing in pop-
ularity, and is almost universally employed in the new
districts, where habit has not sanctioned and fixed the
second method, that is, of catting the entire plant.
The new tobacco districts are more open to improve-
ments than the old. Many intelligent growers, who use
both methods, say that much better "cures" are made
when the leaves are successively stripped from the stalk.
Other planters, equally as intelligent, say that the
tobacco lacks oil when so cured. When the stripping
method is employed, the leaves, as they ripen, are
pulled from the stalk, put in baskets (Fig. 104), or tied
in a cloth, and sometimes taken directly from the strip-

YELLOW TOBACCO. 363

pers to a wagon and carried to the barn, where they are
strung upon sticks, either with wire or twine. Others
carry them to a brush harbor, which protects them from
the sun, and where they are strung on sticks before
being taken to the curing house.

Mr. John Sims, of Halifax county, Virginia, who is
an old and successful tobacco grower, writes that there
are several patents for stringing with wire. One of
these consists of a stick four and a half feet long, with
several wires twisted around at intervals of about eight
inches. These wires extend out in opposite directions,
about five inches perpendicular to the stick, Fig. 105.
On each of these projections four
or five leaves of tobacco are strung,
by piercing the thick part of the
stem with the wire. Each stick
will hold from 60 to 70 leaves.
Another patent has simply the wire
bent in the middle so as to hug the
stick. These wires, after they are
filled with leaves, are slipped over
the stick. We doubt the validity DKAW TWIST FOR TYING
of these patents, as similar devices LEAVES T0 POLES-
(Fig. 106) were used in the Connecticut valley long
before these patents were taken out. The objection to
the use of both of these appliances is that they are
expensive, and that the tobacco cannot be bulked down
while remaining on the sticks, which is often necessary,
and it is also frequently necessary to hang it up on the
tier poles again for reordering.

Mr. Sims says: "The easiest, cheapest and most
convenient way is to use ordinary twine, or cotton
strings large enough for bag strings. Cut off a piece
about twice as long as a tobacco stick, and loop the mid-
dle of the string over the center of the stick. Place one
end of the stick against the wall of the barn, and the

364 TOBACCO LEAF.

other end against the stomach, so as to have the use of
both hands. With one end of the string in the right
hand, have a boy to hand three leaves at a time. Grasp
these in the left hand and place them close to the stick,
then wrap the string from you around the leaves, one
half an inch from the ends of the stems, then turn the
leaves completely over and across the stick, thus form-
ing a draw twist (Fig. 107), which will never come off.
The next three leaves are thrown over on the other side
of the stick, and thus each trio of leaves is thrown
alternately on one side and the other. Nine or ten
bunches will fill half the stick (Fig. 108), and the string
is fastened by drawing it through a sloping cut in the
stick made from the person. The stick is then turned,
and the other end filled in like manner." Tobacco tied
with strings can be easily taken down and put in
"coops," or hung in a pit 'to order for stripping.

It is claimed that this twist is covered by a valid
patent. This method has long been in use in the Con-
necticut valley, where the whole plant, instead of a bun-
dle of leaves, is tied upon the poles with string. Some
still persist in twisting the string between the plant and
the stick, but most growers long since gave up that twist
as wholly unnecessary. The quickest way is good
enough if the string is kept taut : Fix the string to a
nail or slit in the end of the pole, pass it around the
further side of the first plant, thence across to the next
plant or bundle, the same as shown in pictures, without
bothering with the twist at all.

Mr. J. B. Smith, of Milton, N. C., a strong advo-
cate of the new method of housing tobacco by stripping
the leaves from the stalk, says that the most important
advantages of the new process over the old are :

1. The planter can begin to house his crop from
two to four weeks earlier. 2. Everything is saved,
and there is no loss by "firing on the hill." 3. As the

YELLO\V TOBACCO. 365

lower leaves are pulled off, those left on the stalk ripen
up and yellow more rapidly, which enables the planter
to get in his crop earlier in the season. 4. Tobacco
can be cured a more uniform color. 5. Less fuel will
be required. 6. The risk of setting fire to the barn
will be greatly lessened. 7. The tobacco can be stored
in a much smaller space, and with no danger of losing
color, or of mold. 8. By this process enough leaves,
which are lost by the old process, will be saved to pay
for the fertilizer necessary to grow the crop, also to pay
for all extra labor needed in housing the same. 9. It
will help to solve the problem of overproduction, by
grading up the tobacco in our section so as to place us
above the competition of those sections which grow low
grades of tobacco, which in the past few years has proved
so detrimental to our pockets.

When the whole stalk is cut, in harvesting, it is
not put upon the ground to wilt, as is done in the heavy

FIG. 108. POLE WITH "HANDS" OF LEAVES TIED ON EITHER SIDE.

tobacco districts. Two men cut, while another person
holds a stick convenient for them to straddle each plant
over it as it is severed from the ground. The stick,
when it has six or seven plants on it, is taken to a wagon
and either cooped or hung in a frame made for hauling
green tobacco. Or it may be hauled on a sled, as seen
in Fig. 109. When the tobacco is loaded, it is taken to
the barn and arranged on tiers from eight inches to a
foot apart.

There is no question that this is a much neater and
safer plan for housing tobacco than that employed in
the other tobacco districts, where it is put upon the
ground to wilt, but the method practiced in the yellow

366 TOBACCO LEAF.

tobacco districts could not be employed where the plants
are very large and very heavy without the greatest in-
jury from breaking and bruising the leaves. The
ripened plants of yellow tobacco are small, with delicate
midrib, and may, with a little care, be handled with
safety without being wilted. The dangers to be appre-
hended from sunburn, rains, dirt, and bruising from
handling, are all lessened by putting the plants on the
sticks as they are cut.

MANAGEMENT OF YELLOW TOBACCO AFTER
CURING.

Curing yellow tobacco has been described in Chap-
ter X. Generally the following morning, after the fires
under the tobacco have died out, if the doors are left open,
the plants will be sufficien tly limp to be handled without
breaking. But should there not be enough humidity in
the atmosphere to make the plants supple, wet straw
should be scattered over the floor of the barn, and the
doors shut so as to exclude the dry atmosphere. In 24
hours the tobacco will be in such order that it may be
handled without damage. This result may be hastened
by building small fires in the furnaces, and placing ves-
sels containing water over the flues. When in order, the
tobacco is ''cooped" down on a platform, without re-
moving it from the sticks, with the butts out and the
tails lapping. The best way is to make a shingle pile of
six or eight sticks, and then shingle backwards and for-
wards, in this way building up a pile five or six feet high
and eight or ten feet long. Staying in such a pile
greatly improves the color, and makes the leaves smooth
and neat in appearance. The leaves should be soft and
the stems hard half way from the butts to the tails, when
the tobacco is taken down. It must be borne in mind,
that any green stalks or stems will prove highly injurious
to the tobacco so bulked down. When the leaves have

YELLOW TOBACCO.

307

been stripped from the stalk in housing, they are taken
down in the same manner, but the condition of the
stems must be carefully inspected.

The best planters now have, under their assorting
and stripping rooms, a cellar six or eight feet deep, with
tier poles put in, upon which the tobacco may be hung

FIG. 109. HVKVESTING YELLOW TOBACCO.

These plants were strung on sticks in field and drawn to barn on sled. Flues
with return pipes shown in front of barn. Coffee county, Central Tennessee.

to bring it into any order that may be required. Such
a cellar makes one independent of the weather, and per-
mits the work to go on at all times.

The assorting of yellow tobacco requires a strong
light and a discriminating eye for colors on the part of
the assorter. From six to fifteen grades are made by

368 TOBACCO LEAF.

the planters. In fact, the prices depend, in a large
measure, upon proper grading.

Bright wrappers are sometimes classified into three
or more grades, as orange, lemon and mahogany ; lugs
into two or more grades, as sand and smooth lugs.
Sometimes a third grade is made, called wrapping lugs.
When the grade between the wrappers and lugs is of
good body, and sweet, it is called fillers. When it is
thin or light bodied, it is called cutters. These two
classes, or grades, are sometimes interchangeable. The
smokers are good bright lugs, or worm-eaten leaves of
bright color. The highest grade of the yellow tobacco,
and that which commands the best prices, has a large
leaf of a bright lemon color, with yellow fibers, of good
body, with silky texture, tough, elastic, oily, with no
holes or spots or ragged edges. It is not unusual for
this grade to bring 40 to 65 cents per pound. From
this grade are made "extra wrappers." Orange-yellow
perfect leaves command the next highest prices, then
the mahogany wrapper. Clear yellow trash, or lugs
greatly torn, will bring more money than perfect leaves
that have a dull, greenish appearance. In fact, to avoid
curing a crop green is the greatest ambition of the yel-
low-tobacco grower, and his success depends largely
upon his ability to reduce the greenish-tinged tobacco to
the minimum. Thin, papery tobacco, brittle, inelastic,
easily torn and destitute of oil, will not bring a good
price, however good the color may be.

The classification, as adopted in the Danville, Va.,
market, probably the largest yellow-tobacco market in
the world, is as follows :

Wrappers. — The picked leaves, finest and brightest
and most perfect leaves on the stalk. This grade will
make one-sixth of the crop.

Fillers. — This is every grade except smokers, wrap-
pers and cutters, and constitutes about one-half the crop.

YELLOW TOBACCO. 369

Smokers. — Generally the lug leaves, which are the
bottom leaves, and torn, worm-eaten or bruised leaves ;
in the aggregate making one-sixth of the crop.

Cutters. — Inferior to the wrappers, and superior to
the smokers, deficient in color to wrappers, but more
perfect leaves and heavier in body than smokers. These
constitute one-sixth of the crop sold.

The description of the sub-grades is as follows :

Wrappers. — 1. Common wrappers : Lowest grade
of wrapper, and only a grade above a bright filler.
2. Medium wrapper : Not uniform ' in color, dingy, or
piebald, but of good form and quality. 3. Good wrap-
per : Tobacco of heavy body, orange color, generally
styled mahogany. 4. Fine wrapper : Second grade of
lemon color, but inferior to the fancy. 5. Fancy
wrapper : Fine, delicate fiber, silky, fresh lemon color,
very leafy, perfect leaves, and the highest class made in
assorting.

Fillers. — 1. Common : All of the inferior and
nondescript grades. 2. Medium : Good, rich lugs,
and the dark leaves with good body. 3. Good : Tips,
and the better and brighter heavy lugs and short leaves
with body. 4. Fine : All the brightest, best and rich-
est leaves next below common wrapper, and generally of
a gray and cherry-red color.

Smokers. — 1. Lowest grade : Worm-eaten and
discolored. 2. Brown and short leaves. 3. Grade
above four, and not so colory. 4. Best smooth lugs,
which make the highest class of smokers.

Cutters. — 1. Thin, papery leaves, thrown out from
fine fillers when assorting ; lowest grade. 2. Same
grade as three, but not so colory. 3. Fine cutters,
leafy and inferior leaves taken from stalk that produced
the best wrappers.

24

CHAPTEE XVI.

PERIQUE TOBACCO.

Of all the product of the tobacco plant in America,
the Perique — its culture, curing and preparation for
market — is the most interesting ; not on account of the
quantity produced, or of its importance to commerce,
but because of the peculiarity of the people by whom it
is grown, and the singular method by which it is cured.
Its culture is confined to a very limited area in Louis-
iana, and to a class of people whose history is full of
suffering and pathos — the Arcadians.

One of their number, Pierre Chenet, introduced the
cultivation of tobacco and taught his countrymen how
to prepare it for market, by making tightly wrapped
rolls, called carottes, that could be carried to market
and handled with ease. In his honor, the tobacco so
prepared was called Perique. For nearly 100 years this
tobacco has been grown in St. James Parish, with but
little variation as to quantity, except when calamity
visits the people. In 1859 the product of the Parish
was 22,000 pounds, in 1869 it was reduced to 3450
pounds, by reason of political troubles. In 1879 it rose
to 14,680 pounds, and in 1889 the quantity produced
was almost identical with that of 1859, being 22,360
pounds.

There are two places in St. James Parish where
Perique tobacco is grown. One of the points lies imme-
diately on the left bank of the Mississippi river, the
post village Convent being about the longitudinal center.
The other is on the same side of the river at Grande
370

PEEIQUE TOBACCO. 371

Pointe, which is three miles from the river, and occu-
pies an insular position beyond the swamps, which here
run parallel with the course of the river.

These spots are elevated only a few feet above the
encompassing swamps, but they are well drained and
have friable, sandy and calcareous soils, black, deep and
exceedingly fertile. Soil here, as well as everywhere,
has a controlling influence on the quality of the product.
The soils on the river bank at Convent are a gray allu-
vium, and the tobacco is brighter in color, but compara-
tively destitute of gummy matter, and, therefore, not so
well adapted to the manufacture of Perique as that
grown in black soils in the Vacheries, where the tobacco
is fine, but gummy, elastic and of good body. The best
soils are those known as magnolia soils, which are dark
in color, but made friable by a suitable admixture of
sand. They are warm and well drained. Black lands
mixed with yellow sands are the next in order of prefer-
ence. "Where the lands are lacking in the sandy mate-
rial they compact so closely that the tobacco plant does
not grow in healthful vigor.

The variety planted is called the Perique, which
has a leaf of medium size, is a rapid grower, small
stem, and fiber tough and gummy, curing to a dark
brown color. Its rapidity of growth is probably due
to the warm situation and fertile soils on which it is
produced.

The making of seed beds is unlike the same work in
other States. It begins in October. Cow manure at
that time is applied to the depth of six inches to a
chosen spot in the forest, and turned under with a
spade. In December the bed is reworked, but not
burned, and ditches are cut through it to secure drainage.
The seed is sown the first of January, and the bed is
then covered with palmetto leaves, as a safeguard against
the frosts of February.

372

TOBACCO LEAF.

The land is broken to the depth of six or eight
inches in January when it is dry enough to be worked.
If plowed too wet, and hot suns supervene, the land
becomes as hard as a sun-dried brick. Another plowing
is given to the soil about the middle of February, when
furrows are run from four to five feet apart and beds
thrown on these. Towards the end of February a rake
is run over the beds, or ridges, giving each a wide, level
top. Other beds are then thrown on top of the original
beds with a one-horse plow, and the top of the new bed
raked off with a hand rake. The plants are then set

FIG. 110. CURING PEKIQUE TOBACCO.

out three feet apart on the beds, usually upon the heel
of a good shower, but frequently the plants are set in
dry weather and watered every evening for several days.
The main planting takes place about the last week in
February, or the first week in March. The cultivation
is all done one way.

The crop is cultivated in much the same manner as
in other tobacco growing sections, the main purpose
being to keep the land loose and to destroy all weeds
and grasses that spring up. Topping is done about the
15th of May, without priming the plant. Early in the
season, from 12 to 18 leaves are left on each plant, fewer

PERIQUE TOBACCO. 373

as the season advances. There is no essential difference
in the manner of suckering and worming the crop
between the growers of Perique and the growers of other
types.

Harvesting begins about the last of June, and it is
deemed highly important that the cutting of the plant
should be preceded by copious dews, that appear to give
a great activity to the secreting organs in storing up the
rich juices and gums in the vesicular system that give
flavor and strength to the cured product. The plants,
without having the stalks split, are cut with a hatchet
during the hottest part of the day, about three inches
above the ground, leaving two or three leaves bespat-
tered with dirt on the stump. Hands stand ready to
take the tobacco to a shed as fast as it is cut. No
tobacco sticks are used. Small pieces of cane are sharp-
ened and one is driven into each plant of tobacco near
tbe end where it was severed, giving the cane such an
angle with the stalk as to form a hook. The plants are
suspended by these hooks upon ropes stretched one foot
apart longitudinally in the shed, as shown in Fig. 110.
As the plants wilt, they are pushed up closer together.
No artificial heat is used in curing.

As rapidly as the leafy part of the leaves become
embrowned, without waiting for the midrib to be cured,
the plants are taken down from the ropes and the leaves
pulled from the stalk. The first leaves are taken off in
about ten days after the tobacco is put in the shed.
After this two or three leaves are taken from the stalk,
at intervals of a few days, until the stalk is bare. The
stem or midrib, often green, is taken out immediately
after the leaves are pulled from the stalk, and these
"strips," or half -leaves, are made into loose twists,
some 15 or 20 leaves being put together. A dozen, or
more, of these twists are packed in a box 11 inches
square, with a capacity of holding 50 pounds.

374 TOBACCO LEAF.

When the box has been filled nearly to the top, it is
put under a lever press, the lever being about 12 feet
long, to the ends of which heavy weights are attached
so as to bring a pressure of about 7000 pounds upon the
tobacco in the box. After the tobacco has been under
this continual pressure for 24 hours, it is taken out and
the twists are opened, shaken and exposed to the air for
a short time until the exuded juices are reabsorbed.
These juices resemble thin tar, being black, thick and
ropy. After this curing, the twists are again put under
pressure for 24 hours, and then aired for a second time.
This process continues with each box of tobacco for 10
days in succession, and then the manipulation is less
frequent, once in every three or four days being deemed
sufficient. When the tobacco, at the expiration of
some three months, is fully cured in its own juices, it
diffuses a rich, spirituous, aromatic odor, exceedingly
agreeable, the results of the aeration and absorption of
its own juices. From a light brown, the tobacco has
gradually grown darker, until, at the close of the
process, it shines in oily and lustrous blackness.

The Perique tobacco is cured and preserved by the
resinous and fatty substances, and the alkaloids and
acids contained in the natural leaf. The pressure of a
screw will not answer the purpose, for in that case the
juices woul'd be gradually reabsorbed without being
aerated. It is important that there be a continuity of
pressure, so as to keep the juices pressed from the] leaf.
Dr. Gideon E. Moore, who spent much time in investi-
gating for the government the changes that take place
in the tobacco plant by different methods of curing, says:

"In the case of Perique tobacco, 'cured in its
juices,' we have manifestly an instance of a conversion
of a large portion of both the citric and the malic acids
into acetic and butyric acid, and the agreeable, fruity
odor which this tobacco acquires during the fermeuta-

PERIQUE TOBACCO. 375

tion, while partly due to these acids, would indicate the
presence of substances similar to the volatile oil ob-
tained by Liebig, during the fermentation of malic
acid. The Perique tobacco," he says, "contains but
little over one-fourth of the citric acid, but one-half of
the nitric acid, and about six times the amount of acetic
acid contained in the air-cu red-leaf. " There was a total
absence of nitric acid in the Perique cured in its juices,
but it was present in the air-cured sample.

The robe, or wrapper, leaves are the highest grade
of product. They constitute 10 per cent of the usual
crop. The next grade is good leaf, which forms the
fillers for chewing tobacco. This grade usually forms
one-half the crop. Smokers, or the lowest grade, are
made of the lower leaves of the plant, and constitute 40

FIG. 111. CAROTTE OF PERIQUE TOBACCO.

per cent of the crop ordinarily. All these grades are
kept in separate twists.

After the tobacco has been properly assorted and
cured, it is put into cylindrical rolls called carottes, each
carotte usually containing four pounds of tobacco, but
sometimes carottes weighing one pound are put up for
local demand. To put up a carotte, the tobacco is taken
from under pressure, each leaf opened, straightened and
aired. A cotton cloth, 24x18 inches, is laid upon a
table and covered with robe or wrapper leaves, the
under surface of the leaf being turned uppermost. The
fibers of the leaves are so arranged as to point to the
middle longitudinal line of the cloth. A layer of filler
leaves, one-half inch in thickness, is placed on the wrap-
per leaves, extending to within one inch of the edge of the

376 TOBACCO LEAF.

cloth. Over this layer of leaves a second cloth is placed
and the tobacco tramped. The layer of tobacco then is
doubled over at each end about three inches and
tramped again. The entire mass — cloth, wrappers and
fillers — is then rolled into a cylinder fifteen inches long
and three inches in diameter, a hole being kept through
the center, making a tube, into which the ends of the
wrapper leaves are tucked. The ends of the cloth are
then tied with strings, and a rope, one-third of an inch
in diameter, is wound tightly into a coil around the roll
from end to end, by the use of a windlass made for the
purpose. The rope is removed from the roll at the end
of 24 hours, and then rewound more tightly. The
carotte is then ready for market. A day's work for a
man, assisted by a boy, is 10 carottes a day.

These carottes are usually put up during the winter
months, and this work employs every member of the
household in taking the twists from the presses and
opening them, straightening and weighing the tobacco,
before putting it into carottes. The tobacco often
remains under pressure for twelve months, and it is said
to grow sweeter and better with time. As there is a
demand for it, the tobacco is put into carottes. The
carottes form a species of currency with the local mer-
chants, and they are always taken in exchange for goods,
or received in payment of debts.

Though the production is small, it has established
a character throughout two continents for its rare qual-
ities. It is unlike any other tobacco grown, in taste and
flavor, and those who use it claim that it has more aroma
than any other type ; that it is free from the acrid,
biting, creosotic taste so common in other Southern-
grown tobaccos ; that it has a rich, fragrant odor, with
a smooth, delicate and agreeable taste, and that it stim-
ulates the action of the brain without impairing the
organs of digestion, or affecting the nervous system.

PART III.

CIGAR LEAF TOBACCOS.

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CHAPTEE XVII.

GENEBAL CONSIDERATIONS OF CIGAE LEAF. .

The most difficult kind of tobacco to produce in
perfection, is the leaf used in the manufacture of cigars
of the finest quality. Until the advent of wrappers im-
ported from the island of Sumatra, the most popular
cigar in the United States was one made with Havana
fillers (grown in Cuba), bound with Connecticut binders,
and wrapped with the finest selections of Connecticut
broadleaf or Connecticut-valley-grown Havana seedleaf.
Selections from the cigar-leaf tobacco grown in the
Onondaga and Chemung valleys of Central New York,
Lancaster and Bucks counties, Pa., the Miami valley of
Ohio, and Dane and Rock counties in Wisconsin, have
also been used in the place of, or in addition to, Connec-
ticut leaf. In some years the crop, in some one or two
of these sections, may be superior to that grown in other
parts of the cigar-leaf States. Inferior cigar-leaf tobac-
cos are largely used in making the cheaper grades of
smokers, stogies, etc. Some years part of the crop is so
poor in quality as to be unsuitable even for this purpose.
In that event, it is usually sold for export to Germany,
and used in manufacturing the low grade smoking to-
baccos and so-called cigars common in the low countries
of Europe.

Since the advent of Sumatran wrappers, the indus-
try has been considerably depressed, because the use of
Sumatran wrappers displaced great quantities of domes-
tic leaf. This Sumatran leaf is no better in appearance
than the best American wrappers, and is destitute of
379

380

TOBACCO LEAF.

quality or aroma, but is used because it is so light and
thin that but two pounds of it are required to wrap 1000
cigars, whereas four to ten pounds of American leaf are
needed to cover that number of cigars, owing to the
heavier weight of domestic wrappers, which, however,
are superior in other respects. This Sumatran leaf got
its foothold in the American market by the grossest cus-
toms frauds. The tariff of 1883 imposed a duty of 75
cents per pound on leaf suitable for cigar wrappers, but
this was avoided by importing Sumatran leaf as fillers at
only 35 cents per pound. Government was thus swin-
dled out of millions of revenue, while at the same time
domestic leaf was driven out of the home market. In
the tariff of 1890, the duty was raised to two dollars per
pound on leaf suitable for wrappers, being left at 35
cents on fillers. In anticipation of higher rates, how-
ever, nearly two years' supply of Sumatran leaf was
imported before the latter went into effect, and has since
continued on a large scale, as the following table shows :

Table V.— IMPORTS OF LEAF TOBACCO INTO THE UNITED STATES.

(In millions of pounds and dollars.)

YKS. ENDED
June 30.

From

Cuba
Value.

From Sumatra

OthCountries

Total Imports

Lbs.

Value.

Lbs.

Value

Lbs.

Value.

1880

9.3

4.7

0.5

0.2

9.7

4.9

1885

9.7

3.9

2.2

1.9

0.9

0.5

12.9

6.3

1886

10.9

4.1

4.0

3.4

0.8

0.4

15.7

7.8

1887

11.8

4.4

4.2

3.6

1.5

0.7

17.5

8.7

1888

11.5

4.6

5.9

6.6

1.2

0.6

18.6

10.9

1889

13.4

5.7

5.0

4.3

1.6

0.8

20.1

10.9

1890

16.9

7.1

9.7

9.0

2.1

1.5

28.7

17.6

1891,

16.1

7.1

4.9

4.7

2.1

1.5

23.1

13.3

1892

18.4

8.0

2.7

1.9

0.9

0.4

22.0

10.3

1893J

21.7

8.9

5.4

5.1

1.0

0.7

28.1

14.7

1894,

14.6

5.8

3.9

4.5

1.2

0.6

19.7

11.0

1895,

19.7

7.2

5.1

6.7

1.8

0.9

26.7

14.7

1896,

26.5

10.5

4.3

4.7

2.1

1.3

32.9

16.5

Total *85-'96

191.2

77.3

57.3

55.4

17.2

~9^~

266.0

142.7

In explanation of this table, it should be said that
practically all the leaf imported from Sumatra (the bulk
of which comes via Amsterdam) is suitable for cigar
wrappers, while only a small fraction of the Cuban leaf
is used for this purpose, say 15 to 30 per cent. The leaf

CONSIDERATIONS OF CIGAR LEAF. 381

imported from other countries is mainly fillers. There
is no longer doubt but that the United States can pro-
duce an abundance of both fillers and wrappers, and it is
not surprising that American farmers should insist upon
having the American market for all grades of cigar leaf.
It will be seen that during the 12 years for which statis-
tics are given, nearly $150,000,000 has been paid out for
this imported leaf. More than one-third of this has
been for Sumatran wrappers, which displace the Ameri-
can product. Since 1885, the average importation of
this Sumatran intruder has been 4,775,000 pounds annu-
ally. As only about two pounds of it are required to
wrap 1000 cigars, the supply has been sufficient to cover
an average of over 2300 million cigars annually, or more
than half the average production of cigars in the United
States. The wonder is, that our domestic cigar wrapper
leaf industry has stood up so well under such terrific
and unfair competition.

It is now evident, however, that higher duties on
wrapper leaf are likely to prevail for years to come.
Meanwhile, there is a more confident feeling among
growers in the future of the cigar-leaf industry, the
more so because of the immense development of cigar
manufacture and consumption, as set forth in Chapter
II. But the marvelous profits of the Sumatran tobacco
syndicates have directed the attention of other countries
to the possibilities of growing tobacco for cigar purposes.
Borneo, Manilla and other Eastern islands are experiment-
ing extensively and intelligently, while Mexico, Central
America and certain sections of South America are giving
more attention to the same industry. In Mexico, quite
a boom in cigar-leaf tobacco culture has been developed
during the past few years, and some of the Mexican leaf
is of promising quality, in spite of the crude conditions
under which it is grown. We may see quite a develop-
ment of cigar-leaf culture in the Hawaiian islands also.

382 TOBACCO LEAF.

The famous Havana tobacco of Cuba will probably
be produced on a much larger scale, and of even finer
quality, when a stable government has been established
in that island, that will encourage enterprise and thrift.
The attractive qualities of the best grades of Havana
leaf, especially from Vuelta de Abajo, are due more to
the peculiar climate and soil of that region than to
methods of culture. These are still crude in the ex-
treme, owing to the natural indolence of the Creole
planters. The best lands are flooded during the rainy
season, and when the waters recede, a deposit of rich
alluvium is left, but the rainfall is so uncertain, and
irrigation not being practiced, that only one extra-prime
crop can be counted on every five years, although one or
two medium good crops may be obtained in the interval.
Even where efforts have been made to produce larger
crops by the use of manures or fertilizers, the work has
not been done with judgment, and in some instances the
burn and other qualities have been injuriously affected,
— not so much because of the plant food, as of the igno-
rance in its use. It is very evident that the quantity of
leaf produced on the island of Cuba can be enormously
extended, and probably its quality improved, by the ap-
plication of intelligence, brains and energy. This fact
must also be borne in mind, in considering the future of
the cigar-leaf crop of the United States.

On the island of Sumatra, however, cigar-wrapper
tobacco culture has been reduced to a science, being con-
trolled mainly by a* few Dutch syndicates. Latterly,
however, these people have tried to "kill the goose
that lays the golden egg," by forcing a large yield
through improper fertilization, not realizing the judg-
ment that must be employed in artificially feeding this
delicate plant. In 1895, there were 26 stock companies
and 21 private plantations engaged in the industry on
the east coast. The rapidity with which the industry

CONSIDERATIONS OF GIG Alt LEAF.

383

has developed since this leaf got a foothold on the
American market is shown in the accompanying table :

Table VI.— SUMATRA TOBACCO— QUANTITY AND VALUE.

Crop.
Tear.

Bales.
175 Ibs.

Value
per lb.*

Crop.
Value.*

Crop.
Year.

Bales.
175 Ibs.

Value
per lb.*

Crop.
Value.*

1864,

50

17 2-5c

$1.600

1880,

(54,964

403-4c

$4,536,000

1865,

189

541-5

16.000

1881,

82,356

413-4

5,792,000

18(56,

174

41

12,000

1882,

102.050

493-4

8,566,000

1867,

224

252-5

8,000

1883,

93,530

48

7,620 000

1868,

890

513-5

80.000

1884,

125,264

523-5

10,900,000

1869,

1,381

464-5

100,000

1885,

124.718

512-5

10,720,000

1870,

3,114

441-5

200.000

1886,

139,512

56

13,080,000

1871,

3,922

494-5

300.000

1887,

144,400

434-5

10,560,000

1872,

6,409

4745

400.000

1888,

82,284

462-5

14,200,000

1873,

9,238

66

1,000.000

1889,

182,241

53

16,180,000

1874,

12,895

542-5

1,140.000

1890,

234,062

261-4

10,320,000

1875,

15,355

614-5

1,500.000

1891,

225,629

332-5

12,640,000

1876,

29,030

551.4

2,580.000

1892,

144,689

453-5

10,920,000

1877,

36,520

453-4

2,676.000

1893,

169,520

522-5

15,040,000

1878,

48,550

45

3,648,000

1894,

192,767

431-5

14,000,000

1879;

57,553

4'.>. 1-S

4,120,000

1895,

204,347

322-5

11,330,000

*Values are in United States currency.

The effect of the McKinley duty of $2 per pound on
wrappers, was to very largely reduce Sumatra's crop in
1892. Many acres were surrendered to the jungle, and
the crop that year was almost 100,000 bales less than
the production of 234,000 bales in 1890. This decrease
in the supph, and the reduction in the American duty
to $1.50 per pound in 1894, gave another stimulus to
the industry in Sumatra, and the '95 crop reached almost
as large figures as that of six years earlier.

The famous Deli Maatschappy, or Pioneer Dutch
county, produces nearly one-third of the entire Sumatran
crop. It signalized the closing of its first quarter-cen-
tury existence by submitting an elaborate report of its
operations at the extraordinary general meeting of the
company at Amsterdam, in November, 1894, from which
our facts are condensed. It owns 21 establishments,
and now produces about 50,000 bales yearly. In 1893,
it paid a dividend of 100 per cent, and the average divi-
dends paid to its stockholders have been over 75 per cent
annually since 1880. During the past 23 years it has
received an average of 50 cents per pound (United States

384 TOBACCO LEAF.

currency) for its crop. Starting with a capital of
$120,000 in 1869, in 1894 its capital was $1,608,000,
with a reserve fund of almost $2,000,000, besides paying
the enormous dividends alluded to. In the course of 24
crop years, the company delivered to the Amsterdam
market a total of 494,491 packages of tobacco, all its
own product, or about 79,000,000 Amsterdam pounds,
representing a value of $42,612,000, upon which a clear
profit was made and paid to shareholders, of more than
$11,457,000. This concern also handles the product of
other plantations, — as much as 71,000 packages in one
year. This is done not only for the profit arising from
commissions on such sales, but to concentrate the entire
Sumatra tobacco market at Amsterdam.

The plantations of this mammoth enterprise are
arranged and conducted in the most businesslike and
scientific manner. It employs over 16,000 workmen,
and the European personnel of experts and administra-
tors consists of 160 persons. Each of the 21 establish-
ments has its administrator, and four or five assistants.
The real office is at Medan, where is located an extensive
hospital for the help, and similar hospitals are provided
at other points. It has built fine roads, large canals for
water drainage, railroads, and other public works.

The Deli Maatschappy's report shows that it was
instrumental in organizing a combination among the
planters to import coolie labor and pay it the lowest pos-
sible price. This policy involved certain features and
exactions that were most reprehensible, and the result of
which (in the ordinance of 1880) was to reduce the
coolies to a condition of practical slavery. One Chinese
coolie is employed to each one and three-fourths acres,
and is paid from $1 to $8 for each 1000 tobacco plants
delivered after the harvest. Japanese coolies get $6 a
month, half as much for women, and board themselves ;
other help and foremen getting $9 to $12 per month and

CONSIDERATIONS OF CIGAR LEAF. 385

boarding themselves. With a plow and two pair of buf-
falo, about half an acre per day is plowed, after the cane
brake and tropical growth has been cut away. Expert
plowmen are paid $8 per month, and board themselves.

However high the tariff may be to exclude wrapper
leaf from Sumatra, Mexico, or Cuba, another influence
is at work that is destined to profoundly affect our
domestic cigar-leaf industry. We refer to the experi-
ments in cigar-leaf culture at the South and West and
on the Pacific coast, to which a subsequent chapter is
devoted. Unless all signs fail, leaf from those sections
is destined to compete in the home market with crops
grown in the old seedleaf States. It is too early to say
whether the wrapper leaf industry will ever be driven
out of the East, as the Eastern grower of wheat, broom
corn, etc., has been obliged to give up these crops by
Western competition.

But it is true that the demand for quality in cigar
leaf is becoming more and more exacting. It is more true
of cigar leaf than of manufacturing tobacco, that qual-
ity governs prices and profits. In many respects, also,
cigar leaf is a more delicate plant than any of the man-
ufacturing tobaccos — that is, its quality is more easily
affected by soils, fertilizers, climate, culture and curing.
Even after the crop is safely harvested, or properly
cured, the cigar-leaf grower labors under another great
disadvantage in having no regularly established market
prices for his crop, owing to the illogical and unsys-
tematic method of selling it, as described in Chap-
ter XII.

The cost of producing cigar tobacco varies widely,
even in the same sections. In the Connecticut valley,
the most careful growers have arrived at the conclusion,
that, taking one year with another, the actual cost of
producing the crop ranges from 8 to 12 cents per pound,
according to its quality and yield per acre. On the
25

TOBACCO LEAF.

FIG. 113. SWEATED WRAPPERS.

Havana seedleaf, 1895 crop, grown on Plot W, at Poquonock

3ranu, a"

long all raised that yeai ,
scarcely any perceptible difference

, 1th Mapes Tobacco

,lone. Jenkins reports this plot as ranking second

"jween the first five lots of tobacco.'

These wrappers \\civ used on cigars and proved the equal of any wrapper used
in cigar selling at 10 to 15 cents each. This plot had received Mapes manure
only for five successive years.

CONSIDERATIONS OF CIGAR LEAF. 387

cheaper lands of Wisconsin, the cost varies from 5 to 10
cents, and may be even less in exceptional instances.
Ordinarily, however, the planter considers that he is
making very little profit if he gets less than 15 cents
per pound through, for the entire crop, if grown in the
Connecticut valley ; 12 cents if grown in New York
state ; 10 to 14 cents if grown in Pennsylvania ; 8 to 12
cents in the Miami valley, and about the latter range of
values in Wisconsin.

These prices are often exceeded for prime crops in
prosperous times. One-third of the Connecticut valley
crop of 1892 was sold at an average of 26 cents per
pound through, in the bundle on the farm, but when the
presidential election, in November of that year, fore-
shadowed a lower tariff, prices rapidly declined, and the
whole crop was moved only at 12 to 15 cents, averaging
about 13 cents per pound, causing a loss of $3,200,000
to the planters of that section on that one crop. The
decline in the Middle States was proportionately as
serious.

Aside from these political conditions that affect the
value of cigar-leaf tobacco, prices depend very much on
the quality of the leaf produced, both in the United
States and in other countries. Should failures occur
with the Sumatran crop or in Cuba, or should these
crops, in any way, prove to be of very inferior quality,
these circumstances would have a stimulating effect on
the value of domestic leaf. Should it so happen that
only one or two States in America, the same year, pro-
duced a crop of satisfactory quality, the growers of such
leaf would probably get extraordinary prices. Thus,
the crop may fluctuate in value very seriously from year
to year, and even from one part of the season to another.
It is not always possible to tell at harvest time, or even
after curing, what the quality of the leaf will be, and
sometimes a crop that goes into the sweat in apparently

388 TOBACCO LEAF.

the most promising condition, will come out of it in a
very disappointing condition for cigar-making purposes.
Should this prove true of any considerable proportion of
the crop, it would increase the demand and prices for
good crops the succeeding year. Hence, it is quite a
difficult matter to follow the tobacco market closely in
all its intricacies. Of course the grower should do this
as well as he can, but the first and essential thing is to
produce a crop of the finest possible quality.

Now this matter of quality in tobacco for cigar
wrappers and binders is an undetermined thing. There
are almost as many ideas about what constitutes quality
as there are dealers of leaf, manufacturers of cigars, or
smokers. At the present time, and for several years
past, qualities upon which all are agreed as desirable are :
A leaf of light color, free from spots, light in weight,
fine in texture, containing few and small veins and mid-
ribs so that it will cut into wrappers with as little waste
as possible. The leaf must also have good burning
qualities, holding fire a reasonable length of time and
burning with a white ash, and so that the ash will hold
the form of the cigar until knocked off by the smoker.
All manufacturers and cigar makers want a leaf that is
not brittle, that is smooth, elastic and supple, yet not
tough. With all these qualities, some insist upon hav-
ing a fine gloss, or shiny appearance, on the wrapped
cigar. Others don't want that at all. Some prefer leaf
with a considerable amount of gummy or oily matter,
and a reasonable amount of it is essential to the proper
curing and handling of cigar leaf, but too much gum,
or oil, usually accompanies a leaf of coarse texture and
other inferiorities. If the leaf has large size, in addi-
tion to the foregoing qualities, it is also desirable.

The greater the proportion of fine wrappers in a
crop, the larger its value. Sometimes a fine crop will
yield 60 per cent, or more, of prime to good wrappers,

CONSIDERATIONS OF CIGAR LEAP. 389

25 per cent seconds and balance fillers. A poor crop,
from the same township the same year, may not yield
more than 10 to 25 per cent wrappers, and these will be
inferior compared to the fine crop. The proportion of
wrappers in New England and Pennsylvania leaf is
usually larger than in New York, Ohio, or Wisconsin
crops.

To successfully raise, cure and market cigar wrap-
per tobacco of the finest quality is, therefore, a business
of great care and involves constant attention to every
detail of management at the different stages. The
importance of attention to these details is of greater
consequence in this crop than in almost any other that
is generally grown. To successfully grow the crop, in
the first place, is a difficult matter, to cure it properly
is of almost equal importance. A thorough knowledge
of every phase of culture and curing is essential to suc-
cess, and it is difficult to say that one is of more conse-
quence than the other, but if such a comparison were
made, the preference would be given to culture; for,
although a finely grown crop may be injured by careless
curing, no skill in curing can make a first-class product
of a poorly grown leaf.

The distribution of the cigar-leaf crop has been
closely studied by the New England Homestead, whose
reports upon it are the accepted authority. Its latest
data is as follows, comparing the "boom year" of 1892
with some later crops :

390

TOBACCO LEAF.

NUMBER OF PLANTERS AND ACREAGE.

New Hampshire,
Vermont,
Massachusetts,
Connecticut,

No. of Growers. No. of Acres.

1896 1892 1896 1895 1892

29 32 43 54 85

48 69 120 108 164

953 1,165 2,849 2,768 3,666

2,970 3,353 8,262 8,170 9,851

Total for New England, 4,000 4,619

New York, 2,324 4,175

*Pennsylvania, 9,500 13.425

*Ohio, 7,500 8,OoO

*Wisconsin, 2,800 5,160

11,274 11,100 13,766

4,535 5,712 12,272

17 463 19.435 30,000

19 OuO 22.500 25.010

10,500 11,381 20,000

Total, 26,124 35,379 62,772 70,128 101,038

*In the absence of the complete system of keeping tab upon the

crop in these States which we have perfected for New York and New

England by a farm-to-farm census, the data for Pennsylvania, Ohio

and Wisconsin are partly estimated.

YIELD PER ACRE AND TOTAL CROP.

New Hampshire,
Vermont,
Massachusetts,
Connecticut,

Total for N. E., Av.,
New York,
Pennsylvania,
Ohio,
Wisconsin,

Total,

Pounds per Acre.

Yield (cases of 350 Ibs.)

1896

1895

1892

1896

1895

1892

1,575

1,750

1,634

222

270

397

1,600

1,5"5

1,624

548

486

761

1,^00

1,681

1,633

13,838

13,016

17,104

1,750

1,721

1,664

41,338

40,190

47,486

1,656

1,681

1,638

55,946

53,962

65,748

1,350

1,274

1,882

17,492

20.764

43,381

1,500

1,000

1,000

74.8*1

55,528

85714

800

600

750

434^9

3b,5"l

53.6IH)

1,000

700

892

30,OuO

22762

51,420

221,708 191,587 299,871

PRICES AND VALUES.

Average prices at which the '95 crop sold and at which the market,
for '92 leaf opened are given in this table, together with total value of
the 1896 crop at (a) the prices paid in 1895 and (b) could growers get the

average open prices of 1892.
Average Price.

New Hampshire,
Vermont,
Massachusetts,
Connecticut,

9c 25c

9c 25c

9c 27c

9c 26c

Total for N. E.,

New York, 8c 15c

Pennsylvania, 6c 12c

Ohio, 5c 9c

Wisconsin, 4c lOc

Total,

Total Value of Crop.

1896 (a) 1896(6) 1895 1892

$7,000 $19,500 $8,000 $35.000

17,000 48,000 lo.OOO 64 000

436,000 1,308,000 410,000 1,445.000

1,302,000 3,762,000 1,265,000 4,507,000

$1,762,000 $5,137,500 $1,699,000 $6,053,000

90,000 918,000 581,000 2,278,000

1,580,000 3,143,000 1,166,000 3,600,000

759.000 1,368,000 675,000 1,7X7,500

420,000 1,050,000 318,668 l,7!«>.!>xo

$3,011,000 $11,616,500 $4,439,668 $15,518,480

CHAPTEK XVIII.

SPECIAL FERTILIZATION FOR CIGAB LEAF.

To definitely settle certain mooted points in fertili-
zation for cigar wrappers, a number of progressive
farmers organized The Connecticut Tobacco Experiment
Company in 1892, bought a tract of old, worn-out land
at Poquonock, and arranged with the Connecticut
State experiment station to conduct tests on plots of
one-twentieth of an acre each, upon the following gen-
eral plan of experiment :

1. The following experiments should be carried out on
the same land for at least five years in succession.

2. While the quantity of crop should be accurately deter-
mined, very special attention should be given to the judgment
of its quality for cigar wrappers. This judgment should be
given by men of large practical experience in the trade in leaf
tobacco, and the samples should be so submitted that the
judges should have no knowledge of any particulars regard-
ing the manner in which the separate lots of leaf were raised.

3. The final judgment on its quality should be made after
the leaf has been fermented in the usual way, and the whole
crop, rather than small samples from each crop, should be fer-
mented together.

4. The following questions are those which, as far as
circumstances permit, should receive immediate attention :

a. What is the effect on quantity and quality of leaf of
larger applications of cottonseed meal than are commonly used
as a fertilizer ?

&. What is the comparative effect on quantity and quality
of leaf of applications of castor pomace containing the same
amounts of nitrogen as the cottonseed meal used in experi-
ments under a?

c. If a heavy application of nitrogen, in form of castor
pomace, proves injurious to the leaf, can the injury be les-
391

392 TOBACCO LEAF.

sened, or prevented, if a half of this quantity of nitrogen is
supplied by castor pomace and the other half by nitrate of
soda?

d. What are the comparative effects on quality and quan-
tity of leaf of applications of equal quantities of potash in the
following forms : Cottonhull ashes, high grade sulphate of
potash, the same with lime, double sulphate of potash and
magnesia, the same with lime, pure carbonate of potash, and
pure nitrate of potash?

e. Is it possible to absolutely prevent "pole burn" and to
cure the crop perfectly on the stalk, by the use, in very damp,
"muggy" weather, of artificial heat simply as a means of
ventilating and partly drying the air of the barns ?

The 1896 crop completed the experiments, which
have been directed by E. H. Jenkins, vice director of the
station. The interest in this work, the most exhaustive
of the kind ever attempted, is so great that we have
compiled a careful summary of the results. This ap-
pears in the annexed table, which is based on the
average of the first four crops produced. The quantity
of the different fertilizing materials applied per acre
each year varied slightly, but averaged for the four years
as stated in the table. The same is true of the actual
plant food contained in these mixtures. The idea was
to supply the same quantity of potash to each plot, but
in different form. This was also true of phosphoric
acid, but both the amount and form of nitrogen varied
considerably. The season of '92 was favorable, and a
large yield of fine quality was obtained ; the next three
seasons were comparatively dry. The crops, therefore,
varied considerably in yield and quality, but the aver-
age for the four years partly removes these seasonal
influences, and enables us to judge more clearly of the
effect of the fertilizers.

SPECIAL FERTILIZERS.

394 TOBACCO LEAF.

Table VII.— FERTILIZERS USED, QUANTITY AND

KIND OF CROP.

Plot Fertilizer TT«ed Fer Con'd Lbs of Yield Wt Wrap D Ac Pr ct Wr
Plot Fertilizer Used Nitro ph acid Pot Pr ac ft j^ s^^Total L s Tot

A 1500 cottonseed meal,
1500 cottonhull ashes,

105 150 340 1611 716

240 956

44 14

68

B1800 linseed meal,
1500 cottonhull ashes,

105 150 340 1561 692

252 944

44 17

a

C2500 cottonseed meal,
1500 cottonhull ashes,

175 175 340 1686 790

275 1065

46 16

68

D3000 cottonseed meal,
1500 cottonhull ashes,

210 180 340 1835 960

266 1226

51 15

ct;

E2000 castor pomace,
1500 cottonhull ashes,

105 140 340 1761 765

275 1040

43 15

58

_ 1800 linseed meal,

H 650 cottonhull ashes,

105 150 150 1653 736

271 1007

45 16

61

260 bone meal,

G 3iMO <SttonWiaMlies,

175 760 340 1700 758

2661024

44 15

H»

H 4woo!So^S,S,0Jii: aThes

210 180 340 1881 1025

270 1295

53 14

67

12500 castor pomace,
1500 cotton hull ashes,

210 150 340 1881 990

256 1246

52 15

CT

640 nitrate of soda,
_'<500 castor pomace,

J 1500 cottonhull ashes, 210 150 340 19921083 2951378 54 15 69

640 nitrate of soda,

K1500 cottonseed meal,
1200 double manure 105 150 340 1804 866 275 1141 48 15 63

salt, 400 bone meal,
_ 1500 cottonseed meal,

L 1200 double manure salt, 105 150 340 1685 720 2901010 42 17 59
400 bone, 300 lime,

M 1500 cottonseed meal,
600 sulphate of potash, 110 150 340 1725 653 252 905 37 15 52
400 bone meal,

N 1500 cottonseed meal,
600 sulphate of potash, 110 150 340 1721 724 269 993 42 16 58
400 bone, 300 lime,

01500 cottonseed meal,
600 carbonate of potash, 110 150 340 1575 670 249 919 43 16 59
400 bone meal,
— 1500 cottonseed meal,

J* 1700 doub car' po'sh & 105 150 340 1414 550 231 781 38 16 64
mag, 360 bone meal,

Average of all the plots, 141 155 328 1718 794 265 1058 45 15 63

The larger the amount of nitrogen used, the heavier
was the crop and the larger the per cent of wrappers.
(See Plots D, H, I, J.) There were no very marked
differences in yield due to the form in which the nitro-
gen was applied, — castor pomace, G, shows a slight
advantage over cottonseed meal, D, but when (J) all the
nitrate of soda was applied between the rows, at first
cultivation, the yield of wrappers averaged 132 pounds

SPECIAL FERTILIZERS. 395

per acre more than Plot I, similarly fed, except that
half of the nitrate was applied at the first and the bal-
ance at second cultivating. This fact is directly con-
trary to theory, and is not due to the absence of suffi-
cient moisture after the second application to dissolve
the nitrate so that the plants could feed upon it, because
the same result was noted during the first dry season
and the succeeding wet years.

Linseed meal gave quite as good results in yield and
quality as cottonseed meal. Indeed, the more moderate
application per acre, on Plot F, of linseed meal, with
less than half as much cottonhull ashes as some of the
other plots, and a little bone meal, produced one of the
most profitable crops, because cost of fertilizer was
smaller than on other plots. In view of results on F, it
is a question whether so much as 340 pounds per acre of
actual potash is at all necessary.

The form of potash used seems to have as much
effect as the quantity. The carbonate of potash gave
distinctly unfavorable results compared with sulphate,
which is now used for tobacco by all scientific farmers.
The poorest yield of all was on P, dressed with double
carbonate of potash and magnesia. Yet tobacco on this
soil evidently needed magnesia, for on K and L, where
potash was put on in the form of double manure salt
(consisting of sulphate of potash united with sulphate
of magnesia), the yield was considerably better than
where only high-grade sulphate of potash was concerned.

With these crops of cigar wrapper leaf, quality
was what determined their market value. It depends
upon color, texture, thinness, lightness, freedom from
spots, holes, coarse ribs or other imperfections, burning
quality, and other even more delicate points. It is not
possible to intelligently average these points in the four
years' crops from each plot. But the average number
of wrappers required to weigh a pound is important, as

396 TOBACCO LEAF.

the thinner the leaf the more cigars it will cover and —
other qualities being equal — the more it is worth. The
McKinley bill imposed a duty of $2 per pound on wrap-
pers "of which more than 100 are required to weigh a
pound." The length of time a cigar will hold its fire is
also important. Hence, the comparative capacity of
holding fire was ascertained by careful tests of each
crop ; the leaf which held fire the shortest time in each
of the four crops was called 100, and the table gives the
average of these determinations, the larger figures indi-
cating the longer capacity to hold fire ; the figures under
the heading "Cured" are the average of fire tests made
of the 1892-3-4 crops, when pole cured, or barn cured,
while under "Fer." are given average results of similar
tests of each of these crops after fermentation. After
each crop had "gone through the sweat," or fermenta-
tion, judgment as to the quality for wrappers of the
leaves from each plot was finally passed by practical
experts, the best crop each year being marked 1, the
second best 2, and so on, and this data is given in the
last three columns of the following table. For conven-

Table VIII.— QUALITY OF THE VARIOUS CROPS.

Plot

Yield of * Wrapp's pr Lb Fire Holding
Wrappers Long Short Cured Fer.

Value as Wrappers
1892 '93 t'94

A

956

68

91

205

333

10

23

5

B

944

69

90

223

305

12

1

6

1065

63

86

221

275

2

5

11

1226

61

202

248

3

8

16

E

1040

61

84

167

236

16

29

28

F

1007

67

91

237

415

8

3

4

G

1024

208

245

4

22

15

H

1295

63

86

205

262

5

9

14

I

1246

64

83

202

240

19

21

20

J

1378

65

80

233

266

22

6

19

i

1141

61

89

159

215

6

15

17

L

1010

65

86

153

233

9

25

M

905

69

84

147

209

23

28

26

H

993

65

85

163

188

7

19

25

0

919

70

94

195

244

1

24

13

P

781

75

100

271

425

14

14

2

Av., 1058 60 87 199 275 —

*Pole cured ; leaves are lighter after going through the sweat.
The 1894 crop averaged per pound of pole-cured short wrappers 88
leaves, fermented 97 ; long wrappers 64 pole cured, 71 fermented. fThe
'95 crop is yet in sweat.

SPECIAL FERTILIZERS. 397

ience of comparison, the average yield per acre of wrap-
per leaf is included from Table VII, which gives the
methods of fertilization on each plot, total yield of all
grades of leaf on each plot, etc.

Somewhat similar experiments have been made by
the Pennsylvania experiment station, but were inter-
rupted for lack of funds. The whole subject of feeding
the tobacco plant is fully discussed in Chapter VI, but
some further points applying specially to cigar leaf
should be mentioned here. Especially would we reiter-
ate that the proper use of appropriate commercial ferti-
lizers or agricultural chemic'tls is not injurious to either
quality or quantity of the yield. On the contrary, such
use improves the quality and increases the yield. But
"the proper use of appropriate fertilizers" covers many
things that can only be learned by long experience, and
cannot be taught in books. This matter has been closely
studied by practical farmers and by fertilizer experts
and manufacturers, especially during the past few years.
In addition to the popular fertilizers previously used
with general satisfaction by careful growers, this work
has resulted in bringing out some new "tobacco ash"
mixtures, for which much is expected.

The first of these new mixtures to be announced
was Mapes "tobacco ash constituents," designed to be
used in connection with cottonseed meal or any material
supplying ammonia. The raw materials generally used
by the most successful tobacco growers in connection
with cottonseed meal, and also employed at Poquonock,
are double sulphate of potash (containing sulphate of
potash and sulphate of magnesia), high grade sulphate
of potash, cottonhull ashes, wood ashes and bone meal.
Both wood and cottonhull ash vary in quality, and are
at times the most expensive forms of potash. These
materials also may contain much more magnesia than
the crop requires. Jenkins declares that an excess of

398 TOBACCO LEAF.

magnesia in the plant is known to be injurious unless
lime is also abundant. An average yield of tobacco
takes some 30 pounds of magnesia from an acre, and
this occurs mostly in the leaf. Yet 1500 pounds of cot-
tonhull ashes, the amount usually used per acre, supplies
about 165 pounds of magnesia, and less than one-half as
much lime. The double sulphate of potash, in equiva-
lent quantities, carries about 190 pounds of magnesia.
"If too much magnesia is present in the leaf, it may
show in the form of the so-called 'light mold' on the
leaf when it comes out of the case, greatly damaging its
salability, though not materially damaging its qualities
for wrappers. This is not a true mold, but is a malate
of magnesia — an effloresced crystalline matter which has
come out of the leaf tissue." Whether this is caused by
too much magnesia in the soil or fertilizers is not defi-
nitely determined, though such is the belief of some who
have given up the use of cottonlmll ashes in consequence.
The high grade sulphate of potash, on the other hand,
contains little or no magnesia.

As a substitute for the foregoing articles, this "to-
bacco ash constituents" has been prepared, 1000 pounds
of it supplying 150 pounds actual potash, phosphoric
acid 57 pounds, lime over 200 pounds, ammonia 6
pounds, magnesia 20 to 30 pounds. The lime is in the
form of a finely powdered carbonate of lime, which is
preferred for the reasons fully set forth in Chapter VI.
This "tobacco ash constituents" is thus intended to be
free from all objectionable characteristics of the sub-
stances usually used, and 1000 pounds of it, applied
with 2000 pounds cottonseed meal, will be found to
supply in liberal excess all the plant food required for an
acre of cigar-leaf tobacco, and in thoroughly tested
forms. Such a mixture will furnish of ammonia 156
pounds, phosphoric acid 77 pounds, and potash 170
pounds ; while a crop of 2700 pounds of cured leaf and

SPECIAL FERTILIZERS. 399

dried stalks per acre will contain 118, 16 and 138
pounds, respectively, of these elements.

Another attempt in the same direction is Bowker's
" tobacco ash elements without ammonia," 1000 pounds
of which are guaranteed to contain of soluble actual
potash 160 pounds, phosphoric acid 60 pounds, lime 300
pounds, magnesia 30 pounds. This mixture is guaran-
teed "to be composed principally of wood ashes and
bone ash, containing potash in the form of carbonate,
and the phosphoric acid largely in available form,
besides carbonate of lime and magnesia in the same
form as in cottonhull ashes, and with a sufficient excess
of lime to meet not only the wants of the tobacco crop,
but also to counteract any acid condition of the soil, and
to improve its texture and mechanical condition. "

It will be seen that both these mixtures are free
from the substances which have proven objectionable to
the tobacco crop at the Poquonock experiment station —
acids, chlorine, excessive magnesia, and deficiency of
lime. It is recommended to plow in such mixtures two
weeks before setting plants. If the fertilizer is only
harrowed in, no harm need be feared if the quantity is
moderate and seasonable showers fall ; but if you get
caught with a dry spell after setting, more or less dam-
age follows. "But," says Jenkins, "be the season wet
or dry, the crop will be likely to get the full benefit of-
fertilizer which has been plowed under, for the roots
will find it." Indeed, tobacco has a widespreading root
system, in addition to its taproot, and this is sufficient
reason for broadcast applications of manures or fertili-
zers plowed under or thoroughly harrowed in.

A substitute for cottonhull ashes, or other forms of
tobacco ash ingredients, also a substitute for cottonseed
meal, or castor pomace, is put out by Mr. Bowker as
modification of his "ash elements." It has ammonia,
in addition to the ash elements, serving as a general fer-

400

TOBACCO LEAF.

Eft

1 5s

II

8}

SPECIAL FERTILIZERS. 401

tilizer and starter. It is recommended to use 1000
pounds of this mixture with 1500 pounds of cottonseed
meal per acre, the meal and half of the fertilizer being
plowed under, and the rest of the fertilizer applied as a
starter, and harrowed into the soil just before the plants
are set out. The Mapes tobacco starter, for tobacco
beds and for plants at setting out, has also been much
used, and is serviceable in giving plants a prompt start.
Such a start is important, as only the earlier grown and
fully matured tobacco cures light and glossy under usual
conditions.

More evidence that leaf of the best quality can be
raised on commercial fertilizers, is shown by the fact
that the largest prices in recent years have been for Con-
necticut leaf manured in this way. Special attention is
directed to the magnificent Andross crop of broadleaf
grown in the celebrated East Hartford section, an en-
graving of which (from a photograph taken for this
work), appears on Page 400, while the typical plant of
Connecticut broadleaf shown in Plates I and II, Pages
19 and 23, was from this crop. The fertilizer used was
4000 pounds of tobacco stems per acre, with 1500 pounds
of Baker's castor pomace and 800 pounds of H. J. Baker &
Bros.' A. A. brand of tobacco fertilizer. Another field
was treated the same way the previous year, but upon it,
in 1896, manure was substituted for the stems, with
2000 pounds of pomace, which was the treatment given
the fields illustrated in 1895. Mr. Andross adds : " We
generally alternate between stems and pomace, and ma-
nure and pomace or cottonseed meal. Sometimes we
use manrre two years and stems one year. It is safe to
say that we get the cleanest, healthiest and heaviest
crop the year when the stems are used. In my east
field, not shown in the photograph, I used manure and
pomace, but it is not as heavy as the field where the fer-
tilizer is used."
30

402 TOBACCO LEA.F.

The crop of one of the most celebrated growers in
the Connecticut valley, Mr. W. W. Sanderson, is illus-
trated on Page 378. This field has been in tobacco for
more than ten successive years, yielding an average of
over one ton per acre in cured leaf annually. It has
had a light coat of stable manure annually and lime
every third year, and in the alternate season, 1500 to
2000 pounds per acre of Stockbridge special tobacco ma-
nure. In 1895, the Stockbridge was reduced to 1200
pounds per acre, and 1200 pounds cottonseed meal was
also used. In 1896, the same doses were repeated. The
1895 crop on the nine acres weighed 19,795 pounds net
when assorted and cased, 65 per cent being the light
wrappers, 15 per cent dark wrappers, and the balance
seconds and fillers. The '96 crop was over 50 per cent
light wrappers of the finest quality, and 20 per cent
dark wrappers, the leaf being very thin and fine. Mr.
Sanderson finds that the addition of some cottonseed
meal produces a more oily and glossy leaf, but too large
quantities of this meal on medium to dark soils will give
a dark colored leaf.

Another remarkable instance of results obtained
with tobacco grown on commercial fertilizers, is offered
by the experience of Mr. 0. B. Lowell, of Tioga county,
Pa., whose crop is illustrated on Page 416. He raises
about 30 acres of tobacco annually, using 1000 pounds
per acre of Mapes Wrapper Brand, with 500 pounds per
acre of Mapes "tobacco starter," 20 loads of stable ma-
nure having been previously plowed under. The colors
are remarkably light, the yield large, the texture fine
and all that could be desired. A similar estimate comes
from Joseph K. Schultz, of Washingtonboro, Lan-
caster county, Pa., whose 1896 crop of 40 acres, the
eighteenth in succession on the same land, is the finest
he ever raised, and it is the eighth year that the land
has been manured in this way : Horse manure is plowed

SPECIAL FERTILIZERS. 403

under, and from 1500 to 2000 pounds of Mapes Wrapper
Brand harrowed in, with 400 to 600 pounds per acre of
Mapes "starter."

These and other crops raised on the Mapes manures
have yielded 1800 to 2000 pounds of assorted leaf per
acre, and Mapes tobacco in the Connecticut valley, of
the famous '92 crop, sold at 30 to 33 cents per pound,
— the highest prices recorded in recent years. Crops
grown on the other fertilizers mentioned have also for
many years commanded the top of the market, demon-
strating beyond a peradventure the correctness of our
view, that the proper use of fertilizers is anything but
detrimental to quantity or quality.

CHAPTER XIX.

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF TOBACCO.

Soils. — Throughout all the New England tobacco
section, a warm, deep, sandy loam, having a permeable
subsoil, is preferred for the crop. Occasionally, tobacco
is grown upon the bottom lands, especially when well
drained. The soil of these lands is dark with vegetable
matter, but rendered easy of tillage in most cases by the
large percentage of sand which it naturally contains.
The popular impression is, that tobacco from the bottom
lands is dark colored, and as only light wrappers are
now in demand, and this can be expected when grown
on the higher land, the bottom lands are not much used
for tobacco. However, the most essential point looked
for is that the soil is free from standing water, and sus-
ceptible of early and late cultivation. Providing this
condition exists, the bottom lands can be used ; but this
condition is exceptional. The alluvial soil of the Con-
necticut bottoms differs from that of most bottom lands
in the country, in possessing a considerable proportion
of sand, which renders it warm and easy of cultivation,
and is much less troubled with water than is usually found
on similar lands in other valleys. Tobacco, therefore,
can be raised on some lands in the Connecticut valley,
when it would fail if placed on the bottom lands of other
rivers.

Freedom from standing water, — a naturally well-
drained soil, — is the first great essential to successful to-
bacco growing. The crop will not grow in a soil pos-
sessing an impervious subsoil that prevents drainage,
404

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 405

for such soils are cold from the water of saturation.
For the same reason, clay soils cannot be advantageously
used. They are cold and wet, and, moreover, are with
difficulty brought into and kept in the exceedingly fine
state of tillage that is necessary for the success of tobacco.
These lands are often admirably adapted to grass, pota-
toes, and other crops, but are disappointing for tobacco.
It is far better economy to bring a poor piece of land of
a sandy nature, warm and friable, into a proper state of
fertility, by applying manures and fertilizers, than to
endeavor to grow the crop on stronger but wet soil.
Crops have been grown successfully on almost pure sand,
but such instances are rare ; soil that is too sandy will
not hold water enough to support the plant or to dis-
tribute the fertilizers incorporated in it ; and an exces-
sively dry soil is almost as objectionable as one that is
too wet. Much land of a sandy nature can be wonder-
fully improved in its capacity for retaining moisture, by
a proper course of manuring, although the first cost of
bringing such land into condition is very heavy. On a
naturally warm, mellow, fertile soil, the expense of ma-
nuring, in the first instance, is much less, and such a
soil is the one preferred.

Mr. Whitney has clearly shown that a dark, moist
soil produces leaves dark in color, comparatively thick,
and containing considerable oil and gum, but which,
while sweating well, come out so dark that they are not
suited for cigar wrappers, now that light color, thin-
texture leaf is the fashion for this purpose. Upon light,
sandy soil, the quality is very fine, the texture of the
leaf is thin, and the color light, making the best cigar
wrappers. The more clay and silt soils contain, the
more retentive are they of moisture, and the heavier the
type of leaf they produce. Thus, the leaves produced
at Poquonock on a soil containing only seven per cent
of water are lighter colored and of thinner texture than

406 TOBACCO LEAF.

those produced at East Hartford, where the soil contains
double the amount of water, and very much better than
the leaf grown at Hatfield on soil containing 28 per cent
of water. But the difference in color and texture in
these cases is not wholly due to the difference in mois-
ture. The difference is partly due to the mechanical
condition of the land. That at East Hartford contains
much more fine silt and clay than is the case at Poquo-
nock.

Mr. Whitney's studies also show that, even if the
soil does contain considerable clay and moisture, if it is
well drained, either artificially or naturally, it may yet
produce a very fine quality of tobacco. He believes that
much land now comparatively moist can be adapted to
the finer grades of cigar wrappers. "The first thing
needed is to underdrain the land by tile drains, so as to
remove, as much as possible, the excess of water.
The tobacco should be grown on high beds, or ridges,
which would keep the roots on higher soil, and improve
the texture and quality of the crop. The texture of the
soil should be changed, by judicious methods of cropping,
manuring and culture, making it more loamy, and less
retentive of moisture."

Mr. Whitney's investigations in Pennsylvania con-
firm the foregoing statements. The soils which contain
much silt and clay also contain much water, and pioduce
a heavy, dark leaf. These conditions should be realized
by planters. When the fashion calls for light cigars,
they should cultivate only lighter soils, and use their
heavy land for other crops. When dark wrappers are
in demand, the heavy soils should be devoted to this
crop. Our own experience and observation confirms
Mr. Whitney's views. This is also true, in a general
way, of the tobacco lands of New York, the Miami val-
ley and Wisconsin. In all these localities an "old" soil
which, by cropping, has been freed from its original

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 407

growth and, perhaps, rank vegetable matter, is preferred
for cigar leaf.

Rotation of Crops. — The present practice among
growers of the best quality of cigar leaf iu the Connecti-
cut and Housatonic valleys, is to select the land most
suitable for the crop, and continue growing tobacco
upon it year after year. There are several reasons for
this practice, as stated by Frye, Sanderson, Andross
and others.

In the first place, tobacco is so sensitive to the influ-
ence of fertilizers, or to an accumulation of vegetable
matter in the soil, as to raise serious objections to any
rotation. It is claimed by growers of highest experi-
ence, that tobacco fields need long and careful prepara-
tion to get into a condition that will yield a large crop
with a perfect burn, thin leaf, bright and light colors.
The manuring and treatment of the soils which may be
best for other crops, may be objectionable for tobacco.
The lower grades and cheaper forms of commercial fer-
tilizers used for corn, grass, potatoes, etc., usually con-
tain chlorine, salt and other substances that would have
a bad effect on tobacco, directly following such a crop
in a rotation.

The form in which potash is used is especially im-
portant. An oversupply of potash is not exhausted in
one season, but apparently remains in the soil until
taken out by successive crops. As the onion is a large
potash feeder, and also responds to delicate feeding, it is
probably the best crop to alternate with tobacco. Ash
rich in potash is usually employed on onions, either in
the form of carbonate of potash, or chemical fertilizers,
supplying it iu the form of high grade sulphate. The
close culture of an onion field also assists in improving
its mechanical and uniform condition, and in other ways
assists in preparing the soil for tobacco. Potatoes are
also good potash feeders, but it is not safe to use them

408 TOBACCO LEAF.

on tobacco land, unless we are positive that the fertilizer
used furnishes the potash in the form of high grade sul-
phate, as the muriate of potash, or lower grade potash,
salts usually have a deleterious effect upon the quality
of tobacco. A crop of turnips may be grown on tobacco
fields the same season to advantage, provided the tops
and small turnips are plowed under at the last moment
possible before freezing up. Spinach or beet greens can
be grown to advantage before tobacco plants are set in
the spring, as working the soil for them assists in put-
ting it in good mechanical condition, without drawing
upon its elements of fertility to any appreciable extent.

Tobacco grown continuously on the same land,
richly manured year after year, is in danger of contain-
ing too much potash or magnesia after a while. In such
cases, and as a corrective of the soil, seeding to grass is
the method now preferred. A liberal quantity of grass
seed and clover seed is used, and the soil is so rich that
a tremendous stand of grass is obtained, which is usually
mowed twice the first year, but the second year, imme-
diately after the first mowing, the sod is turned under
with a shallow plow, the field being again more deeply
plowed just before the ground freezes. It is then kept
in tobacco for several years, according to the quality of
the crop. If the land is used for corn or potatoes, such
crops should be followed by oats or rye before the field
is used for tobacco. The oat or rye stubble is turned
under shallow immediately after the grain is cut, and is
again plowed deeply in the fall, the same as for grass.
This leaves the land in better condition for the tobacco
crop than if it were set immediately after corn or pota-
toes. Grass can also follow the latter crops before to-
bacco is planted.

In central and southern New York, rotation of
crops for tobacco is still practiced to a large extent, but
the best growers are rapidly coming to adopt the Connect-

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 409

icut practice on this point. Tobacco has been produced
011 the same piece of land in Onondaga county, N. Y., for
nearly forty successive years, yet the fields, of late years,
have averaged nearly twice as much per acre as on newer
lands, properly manured and cared for, while the quality
is all that could be expected. Pennsylvania experience
is much along the same line, and in Wisconsin tobacco
is more and more grown upon old land.

Preparation of the soil. — This begins "the year
before." Fall plowing is essential to the best results.
Tobacco needs almost as deep and thoroughly pulverized
soil as does the sugar beet. Many of the best growers
prefer to plow under a grass sod as soon as the hay crop
is secured, plowing as shallow as possible, and have the
sward well turned under. Another plowing to the full
depth, just before the ground freezes up, will do much
to prevent trouble from cutworms. Manure may be
plowed under in fall or spring. Thorough spring plow-
ing is to be insisted upon. Some growers practice run-
ning a subsoil plow in the furrow after the fall plowing,
especially on soils liable to drouth. Probably the better
plan, with stable manure, tobacco stalks, and similar
bulky material, is to spread it broadcast in the fall or
early winter, to be plowed under in the early spring.
All forms of vegetable fertilizer, such as cottonseed meal,
linseed meal, etc., are broadcasted and harrowed in about
two weeks before the time of setting plants, but long
before this the soil has been wheel-harrowed after the
spring plowing, and cross-harrowed with a fine-tooth
harrow.

Varieties, and Other Points. — Manuring and ferti-
lization have already been exhaustively treated in Chap-
ters VI and XVIII, which should be carefully studied.
The whole subject of varieties, seed and seedbeds, plants
and transplanting, pests, etc., are covered in the chap-
ters on those subjects. Formerly, Connecticut broad-

410 TOBACCO LEAF.

leaf, or some of its sub-varieties, was generally grown
throughout the cigar-leaf sections of the North, but now
its place has been quite generally taken by domesticated
Cuban or Havana seed tobacco, several strains or sub-
varieties of which are used in different localities. Tiie
way in which this variety has supplanted the old broad-
leaf is a marked instance of the change that may come
to even the oldest agricultural industry. At present,
the broadleaf is grown in perfection mainly in a limited
section about East Hartford and Windsor in the Connec-
ticut valley, where about 2000 acres are annually devoted

FIG. 116. GOSLEE'S RIDGER AND MARKER.

Made by the Belcher & Taylor Agricultural Tool Co., Chicopee Falls, Mass.

to it. Where plants are set by hand, the Goslee ridger
(Fig. 116) is often used. Its wings gather the earth
into a ridge, with the fertilizers that are spread broad-
cast for starting the plant. The smoothing plate that
the machine rides on smooths the ridges, and the wheel
with the points partly makes the holes for the plants,
and spaces them off.

Doctor Daroczi, editor of the Hungarian Tobacco
Gazette, of Budapest, has propagated tobacco from slips,
and claims that the leaves harvested from such propa-
gated plants are finer and of higher quality than those

CULTTJKE OF CIGAE LEAF. 411

of the mother plant. We find, upon inquiry, however,
that he has made only a few pot experiments. His
claims have led to some discussion in Germany and
Austro-Hungary, during which numerous instances have
been reported of tobacco plants from three to seven years
old. These plants were wintered in a greenhouse, the
seven-year-old plant measuring six yards in hight and
seven and one-half inches around the stem. Mr. Wal-
lensick, of Buende, possesses a cane made of the stem of
a five-year-old plant. In another case, new and vigorous
plants started with independent roots from pieces of old
root, this being really propagation by layering, the same
as for grapevines.

Every practical tobacco grower in America, how-
ever, is familiar with the second growth of suckers that
comes up from old stalks after a mild winter, or that
grows after the harvest if the fall is favorable. Col.
Killebrew has studied this point in Mexico, where to-
bacco is perennial, but even to make good leaf in that
country no reliance can be placed upon suckers coming
from the principle stalk. Whether it will ever be feasi-
ble to propagate by slips or layers, remains to be demon-
strated. Until this is proven, we must sow the seed,
raise the plants, and set them out with all their original
vitality, in order to make good tobacco of any variety.
In Cuba and southern Florida, a second, and even a
third, crop of fillers may be obtained from a single sucker
left at the first and second cuttings of the crop.

Opinions differ about distance to set tobacco. In
New England, Havana seed is usually planted in rows
three or three and one-fourth feet apart, and plants 12
to 18 inches apart in the row. For Connecticut broad-
leaf and all varieties of the larger domestic seedleaf, rows
are usually three and one-half feet apart, with 18 inches
between plants in the row. The object of having the
plants closer in the row is to get a very thin leaf, but

412 TOBACCO LEAF.

when set only 12 or 15 inches apart, this thing is apt to
be overdone, and the leaf is likely to be too thin and
very liable to damage when curing, especially if unfa-
vorable weather occurs. Broadleaf or seedleaf, being
used mostly for binders, must be thin, and hence is set
about 18 inches apart, but in former times, before the
trade was so particular for thin leaf, these varieties were
set 26 to 30 inches in the row. Now, if it is desired to
get the most wrapper leaves in a crop, plants are set 18
to 20 inches for Havana seed, and 22 to 24 inches apart
in the row for broadleaf, as a general rule among planters
who manure heavily and who are disappointed in much
less than one ton of cured leaf per acre. Formerly the
rows were four feet apart for Connecticut broadleaf, but
three and one-half feet is now the almost universal rule
throughout Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin,
with the plants about the distance apart just mentioned.
Cultivation. — Abundance of manure does not re-
move the necessity of thorough cultivation. Crops
often need such treatment very badly where there are no
weeds at all. The soil should be kept pulverized and
loosened to as great a depth as possible without injury
to the roots of the plant, particularly in the early stages
of growth. The tobacco crop especially needs thorough
cultivation, not so much with the hoe as with the culti-
vator, or with other labor-saving machines, care being
taken to use only those machines, as the crop advances,
that do their work without injury to the fibrous roots,
or, in other words, which cut deepest in the center of
the row and work closer to the surface near the plant.
When plants are set by machine, an attachment can be
affixed that will act as a cultivator, thus killing any
weeds that may be starting. It is well to go over the
field in a few days with a hand hoe and gently loosen
the earth around and between the plants. It is the
glory of the thrifty planter, not to allow a weed to be

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 413

seen in his tobacco patch, and this is carried out to the
greatest perfection in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
As tobacco is grown solely for the leaf, great care should
be taken in the later cultivation that no injury be done
to the leaves. When land has been thoroughly culti-
vated, the weeds are entirely eliminated in the early
part of the season, and the plant so shades the ground,
in its later stage of growth, that weeds cannot flourish.
Within a week from the first, light hoeing, a culti-
vator, set narrow, should be run between the rows and
run deeply, for too much care cannot be taken to

FIG. 117. PROUT'S HOEING MACHINE.

For tobacco and other crops requiring close culture. It can be ii'ed with one or
two horses. When the ground is level and you wish to keep it so, run th«v
hoes even, but if you wish to ridge, the hoes can be fitted to the desired angle.
It can be adjusted so as to hoe the most delicate plants without injury, and to
any width of row. It is made by the Belcher & Taylor Agricultural Tool Co.,
of Chicopee Falls, Mass.

keep the under soil mellow. A good stirring of the soil
at this time is desirable, pulverizing, admitting light
and air and leaving it in a condition more favorable to
the plant. It is well to go over the field a week later
with the hand hoe, to destroy any weeds missed by the
cultivator. If the right tools are used, horse labor can
be employed very largely in cultivation, and this is com-
ing to be the practice throughout the cigar-leaf regions,
and with great benefit to the crop, as well as saving to
the planter. A favorite implement with New England

414 TOBACCO LEAF.

and New York planters is Prout's hoeing machine,
Fig. 117, which is peculiarly adapted to this crop. Of
course, other cultivators and horse hoes are used, but
this is considered one of the best.

With seedleaf, it is a rule to draw the dirt towards
the plant at the second hoeing, so as to hill it a very
little. The cultivator may be run between the rows to
advantage five or six times, but do not commit the error
of using it too late, for it is quite certain that after the
plant is half grown, the cultivator does more harm than
good by disturbing the roots, and the roots of seedleaf
reach out further from the plant than do the roots of
Havana. When tobacco is ready to top, the roots are
too much developed to permit cultivating. All the
later culture that is needed — the cutting down of weeds
in the row — can be better done with the hand hoe.
Some growers, who believe in "feeding high," sow 100
to 300 pounds per acre in the rows just before the
second cultivation.

Havana seed requires considerable more hilling than
seedleaf, because it tips over more readily. The first
hilling should be the same, but at the second cultivating
hill up decidedly more than for seedleaf. When the
ridger has been used in preparing the land, a hiller,
such as is attached to some cultivators, can be used
advantageously, or one can be made readily as follows :
Take a board, five inches wide and two feet long,
sharpen to a point from a distance of one foot from the
apex. Upon each side of the edge nail a piece of barrel
stave, two and one-half feet long and five inches wide,
making the upper edge even with the top of the wedge ;
make a hole near the apex, and fasten to the middle
piece of a common cultivator between the horse-hoe
teeth, leaving the cutter turned out. At a third culti-
vation, this same hiller can again be used to advantage,
but place a four-inch block upon the point of the hiller,

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 415

so that it will take the dirt from the middle of the row,
and build up the ridges still more. The hiller will not
be found desirable where the ridger has not been used,
as it will "hill" too much.

When the ground has been fitted by hand, use a
common cultivator with the horse-hoe teeth turned out
at the second hoeing ; the amount of hilling can be reg-
ulated, of course, by the operator. At the third culti-
vation you can narrow the cultivator, bear a trifle
harder on the handles, run the hoe teeth a little deeper,
and then hill still more. When Havana stands up, the
leaves do not lop towards the ground as much as do
those of the seedleaf plant ; consequently it can be cul-
tivated later without danger of the horse stepping on the
leaves. The shorter roots of the Havana also admit of
later cultivation by horse power than is practicable, or
desirable, with seedleaf.

Management of the Crop. — Where the stand is
uneven, it always pays to reset with good plants and
water them carefully. Sometimes plants are tipped
over by heavy rains when the ground is soft. All such
plants should be set up again and the earth firmed about
them. Many prudent growers, while setting out their
plants, provide an extra one here and there — sometimes
as often as every other hill in every tenth or twelfth
row — so as to have stock at hand to reset in place of
plants that have died, or that are eaten by worms, or
cut by careless hoeing. If a good body of earth is taken
up with such plants, they can be set up in the vacant
spaces even when fully a foot high. If the weather is
favorable, these transplanted plants will quickly thrive ;
if it is hot and dry, they wilt at first, but will usually
straighten up nearly as well as those that have not been
moved. This near-at-hand transplanting is much more
desirable at this late day than any transfer from
distant tobacco beds, as the roots are less disturbed and

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CULTUEE OF CIGAE LEAF. 417

the chances of success greater, and the plant has already
had a better growth. In some cases, Havana is toppled
over so that it does not show badly at first and will soon
hold up its head, but neglect, even in such cases, results
in crooked stalks, which do not hang so well on the
poles and by contact increase liability to pole sweat.
Beside, such leaf will not strip as well, or sell as well,
as if it had been promptly straightened up. Usually,
this trouble occurs before or about the time of topping ;
after the plant has been topped, it stands up firmer.
Should any plant have its center bud broken, or eaten
off, early in the season, it will come up with several
suckers, or sprouts, and will not amount to much ; such
plants should be replaced, if not too late.

Priming. — This consists in pulling off the bottom
leaves, to the number of four or five. Any plant, large
enough to top, ought to be primed first, and a general
rule is not to prime until the plant is ready to top
also. Many good growers "omit this process altogether,
although by that plan they increase the class called
"lugs," and lighten the weight of the better leaves.

Topping. — As to when and how much to top (see
Fig. 86, Page 294), there is a large difference of opinion
and practice. Some begin as soon as a majority of the
plants in a field have budded, and thus go over the
ground a second time. Others make it a rule to wait
until a majority of the plants have blossomed, with the
idea of finishing the job at one time as far as possible.
A feeble plant will do better if topped low, so that it
will have comparatively few leaves mature. But whether
cigar -leaf plants in general should be topped high, or
low, is a disputed point. Those who advocate low top-
ping claim they get lower leaves thereby ; on the other
hand, the high toppers say the leaves thus obtained,
although large, are coarse ; immense in quantity, but
not superior in quality. With high topping, it is
27

418 TOBACCO LEAF.

claimed the grower secures not only more wrappers, but
more total weight. Every grower must decide, from the
condition of the growing crop, how high or low to top.

Suckering. — The natural inclination of the plant to
propagate itself through the formation of the seed, is
intercepted by topping, but the plant at once attempts
to repair the damage. In a few days, say five or seven,
suckers, or shoots, begin to appear at the junction of the
leaf with the parent stem. When three or four inches
long, they must be pinched off. As in topping, this
must be done with thumb and fingers, to prevent the
too copious exudation of the sap. Cigar-leaf tobacco
usually requires suckering but twice ; at first, about half
way down, and the second time clean from top to bot-
tom. Unless removed when young and tender, they
grow hard and fibrous and must be removed with a
knife, which results in severe bleeding. In suckering,
as in topping, the utmost care must be taken not to
break or injure the leaves. If the leaves are found
turned up by the wind, or any other cause, they should
be put into their natural position, for the sun has a bad
effect upon the underside, often scorching, or blister-
ing it. Many otherwise careful growers neglect to
properly "sucker," especially in Pennsylvania and Wis-
consin, to the serious detriment of the crop.

Ripening. — In the course of two or three weeks
after topping, the plants will begin to ripen, which may
be known by the change in the color of the leaf. It will
look spotted with spots of a lighter, yellowish green.
When fully ripe, the leaf may be folded and consider-
ably pressed without breaking. This is the time to har-
vest. It is well to let the crop stand, if not fully ripe,
as long as it can safely be done, for the cool nights have
a tendency to thicken the leaf, or give it more "body,"
without interfering with its quality in other respects.
Many, however, prefer to cut as soon as ripe, and get it

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 419

safely housed and out of danger from frost and hail.
It certainly is a great temptation to cut before it has
been touched by hail, frost, rust, or any other disease.
It is true that tobacco affected by any of these things is
nearly worthless, but the same is also true of plants cut
too early. Such tobacco is almost sure to pole sweat
and then it is gone, anyway, and even if the leaf does
escape, it is thin and lacking in weight and is also liable
to white veins. A rule which was in force years ago, to
cut only such plants as were thoroughly ripe, hunting
them out for the purpose and leaving the unripe ones
to stand some days longer, is still a good one. This
is especially applicable to all plants grown in wet
spots, for these do not mature as early as those in dry
places.

Some experienced growers maintain that there is a
certain date when tobacco is ripe, and that if allowed to
stand after this date it deteriorates in color and quality.
When tobacco, for lack of fertilizers, or for any other
reason, turns yellow, or fades, and the plant neither
ripens nor grows, the longer it stands the more it deteri-
orates in value and quality and shrinks in quantity, and
the sooner such fields are cut the better. No precise
rule can be given as to when tobacco is ripe. Some say
that seedleaf will ripen in from ten days to three weeks
after topping, and Havana in about three weeks, but,
generally, Havana should stand quite four weeks, though
it will, of course, depend on the weather and plants ; if
it is wet, tobacco won't ripen as quickly as when dry.
Some fertilizers will keep the plant fresh, green and
growing longer than others. Tobacco cut before fully
ripe may look nice before going tli rough the sweat, but
when it comes out, it is tender and will make but few
wrappers, to say nothing of the greater liability to pole
sweat. The green cut leaf may cure off darker, but it
is not so well filled out, is not so smooth and fine, and

420

TOBACCO LEAF.

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 421

will not bring as high price as the ripe leaf when
properly cured.

Harvesting. — Cutting tobacco in the Northern cigar-
leaf States usually begins about the middle of August,
and continues, as the plant arrives at maturity, through
the month of September, but it may begin and end con-
siderably earlier or later, according to the season. The
plants, when grown upon warm, sandy soils, mature
from one to two weeks earlier than when upon dark
soils. Cut from the time the dew is nearly off the
ground until three o'clock, when all plants must be cut
down at once which are to be hauled that day. Do not
leave any out over night if possible. On the other hand,
take care that too much is not cut when the sun is so
hot as to sunburn the leaves. Such leaves will not
cure, but are always green. Don't cut when there is
danger of frost, because it will have a serious effect on
wilted tobacco, whereas it might not injure the growing
leaf at all. The plants should be put into the shed as
soon after cutting as can be done without breaking the
leaves. It must be wilted somewhat to be handled com-
fortably. If wilted too much, the leaves will stick
together and then will never cure well. After one side
is wilted, the cut plant should be turned over so that
the other side may wilt. Some prefer a cloudy day for
cutting, as the plants are less liable to sunburn.

In cutting, the stalk is grasped with the left hand,
bent over to the left until the bottom of the stalk is
exposed, and is then cut off close to the ground with
one blow of a hatchet, or cleaver. Some, however, pre-
fer to saw it off with a handsaw. In Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin, a kind of shears is now commonly used, the
long handles of which give a leverage that easily cuts off
the stoutest plant. Let the stalk drop over on the
ground, without doubling the leaves under ; lay the
plants at right angles to the row with the butts all one

422 TOBACCO LEAF.

way ; those from the next row should be laid with the
butts towards those of the first row, and so proceed
until all is cut that can be attended to. Some think a
better way is to lay them down lengthwise with the row
itself, lapping them partly over each other, as the plant
does not have to be moved out of the row and there is
not so much danger of injuring the leaves.

The practice of scaffolding in the field, once almost
universal, has been largely discontinued throughout the
cigar-leaf States. A -majority of farmers now carry the
plants directly to the barn without any previous wilting,
save what is possible while lying on the ground awhile.
On scaffolds, heavy rains will wash off more or less of
the gum. Even those who follow the practice seldom
leave the stalks on the scaffold longer than three days.

The simplest convenience for transporting to the
barn is the best, as illustrated and described in Part II.
If the plants are to be strung on poles in the barn, the
old way, substitute for the wagon body a long, flat rack,
upon which load the plants from each side, butts out,
letting the tips overlap each other alternately in the
center. Load regularly and evenly, care being taken
not to break or damage the leaves in handling. Four
or five hundred plants may be carried at a load. If the
day is very hot, drive to the shed rapidly, or the load
may heat, especially if the distance is long. All large
sheds should be provided with wagon doors so that a
team can drive directly in. IE the weather is hot, the
plants should be laid on the ground floor, only
one plant deep. If the day is cool and they are to be
hung up soon, they may lie much thicker. The doors
are left open until the tobacco is thoroughly wilted and
the leaves lie straight, when it is strung and hung.

The wagon rack, in Fig. 119, is very simple. An
independent rack in forward holds up two upright
posts, which are framed on top to two 4x6 timbers, 28

CULTUKE OF CIGAR LEAF.

423

it

424 TOBACCO LEAF.

to 32 feet long. Crosspieces, 3J feet apart, and strongly
braced, extend well over the sides. Upon these the lath
full of plants is placed, the rack being just high enough
to allow this to be done without stretching, and still
have the plants clear the ground. Low, wide wheels
are better than common wagon wheels, hence the pop-
ularity of the wagon shown in Fig. 91.

Hanging Cigar Leaf. — There are two ways of hang-
ing, with twine and with lath, and each has its
advocates. The latter way is the cheaper and requires
the least help, but many still think hanging by twine is,
on the whole, the fastest and best way. But if the barn
is very high, it is cheaper to hang the upper tiers with
lath, because it would need so much help to hang with
twine. The difference in different years, and with dif-
ferent crops, accounts largely for the difference in
opinion in regard to the methods of hanging. Don't
hang it too thick, 30 to 34 Havana plants on a 12-foot
pole is about right for twine. Be careful not to have
the poles too close together. Ten poles in 15 feet is
close enough, and there will be less danger of pole sweat
than if thicker. Don't hang tobacco while wet, because
it will pole sweat more readily, and besides, more dirt
sticks to it. ' A wet leaf won't cure off quite so nice,
smooth and pliable as when hung dry.

The new way, which is in use in the Connecticut
valley, is to hang on laths, about twice the thickness of
ordinary laths such as are used for plastering. The
laths are four feet long, to carry four to six plants, as to
their size. Some put a spear head on end of lath, run
it through butt of plant, about six inches from the end,
and then slide plant onto lath. For this purpose, the
lath is held in a hurdle, as shown in Fig. 120. A better
plan — because quicker, and requiring less handling and
less injury, or danger, to plants — is to attach hooks to
the lath, on which to hang the plants. For this pur-

CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 425

pose use lath five-eighths inch thick, one and five-eighths
inch wide and four feet long. On one side put in a
hook six inches from the end, and two more fourteen
inches apart ; do the same on the other side, alternating,
and the lath contains six hooks about seven inches
apart, to hang as many plants. Make some with only
four hooks for the biggest plants. The hooks may be
like a, Fig. 106, or simply drive wire nails at an angle
through the lath. The hooked lath is held in a stand-
ard (shown at left in Fig. ll9), while the plants are
being hung on it. If the plants are well wilted when
thus hung, they are at once carted to the barn on a
rack, or rigging, like that in Figs. 118 or 120. But on
a cool or cloudy day, the lath, when filled with plants,
is hung on a rack in the field, until wilted, as shown
at the right in Fig. 119. By the latter plan, harvesting
can proceed in bad weather. These strung laths can be
quickly hung in the barn, on poles about four feet apart.
Fill upper tiers first, lifting to them by using a pitchfork
at middle of lath. Leave space enough between laths in
barn for air to circulate freely ; the larger the plants,
the more space.

Curing. — See Chapter X for full particulars.

Stripping. — When the leaves and stems are com-
pletely cured, so that no green is visible in the leaf and
the leaf stems are dried out, the tobacco is ready to
strip. The sooner this work is done, the better. If the
colors are uneven, they will become as near uniform in
the pile after it is stripped as by hanging, if taken down
in proper condition and kept so. When tobacco is
cured, it can be brought into condition for stripping in
any damp weather. Watch a favorable time, when it
rains, or is very damp, to open the building and let in
the damp air, until the tobacco is sufficiently moistened
to be handled without danger of breaking the leaves.
A leaf of good body and strong fiber can be taken down

426

TOBACCO LEAF.

CULTURE OF CIGAR LE^F. 427

damper than thin, or papery, leaf. Early in the season,
it should not be taken down as damp as is required later
on. A good rule to determine when it is in proper con-
dition to take down, is to clasp the leaves near the tip
of the plant and squeeze tightly ; when the pressure is
removed and they expand in a few seconds and are
stained but very little, the crop is just right to take
down. It should be watched while dampening, to guard
against rain driving in at the doors. If the outside
plants get wet, or too damp, hang them up until dried
sufficiently.

Make a floor of sawed poles, planks, or boards, laid
on the ground, edge to edge, and pile the plants, a small
armful at a time, about two feet high. The pile should
be made with the butts out and the tips in and over-
lapping about one-third the length. This should be
done evenly, in layers, so that no leaves may hang out
and get dry, and thus be wasted. If the stalks are
frozen, do not take down until the dripping stops, as
the juice will stain the leaf. The sooner it is stripped
after taking down, the better, as the leaves are liable to
stick to the stalk and get stained and be torn when
stripped. If warm weather prevails, the plants will
soon heat after taking down, and they should be exam-
ined frequently. On the first indication of heating,
carefully lay the pile over, making it about half as high
as before and let it lie as loose as possible. Removing
the plants from the lath is quite a task.

A common way to take plants from the laths is for
one man to slip the plants to near one end of the lath
and hold them, butts up, while another pulls out the
lath. One man can strip lath alone by slipping the
plants to one end and placing one foot on them to pull
against. Some strip the upper tier of lath by placing
two poles two inches apart on the first tier, shoving the
lath through from above, while a man below pulls it out.

428 TOBACCO LEAF.

The method of pulling tobacco from lath between two
short, upright sticks has been long in occasional use.
In case of large, green stalks that slip hard, it saves
labor.

To strip a plant, hold it in the left hand by the
butt, and with the other pull off all the bottom leaves
and drop them in a pile for "fillers;" next take off
three or four more, or until the best leaves are reached,
and put these in another heap f or " seconds ;" then
strip off the remainder for wrappers, except such as are
badly worm-eaten, or otherwise injured, which are, of
course, of a poorer quality. Throw the stalk away and
proceed with another. When a sufficient number of
leaves of one grade are obtained to make a bundle, they
are arranged with all the butts even at one end, and
then bound firmly together by winding a leaf around
them at the butt, commencing within a half or three-
quarters of an inch from the end and winding down
smoothly about two inches, and secure the end of the
binder by slipping it through the leaves and pulling it
tightly against the twist. Much of the value of tobacco
depends upon the manner in which it is assorted and
done up, as a few poor leaves in a parcel would make a
difference of several cents per pound in the price.
None but good, sound leaves, free from rust, pole sweat,
frost, or large holes, should go into the best quality.
The bundles should be made of leaves of an even length,
uniform in color and quality, weighing about half a
pound. Many careful growers make a practice of wrap-
ping the bundles in manilla paper, 36x40 inches square.
The bundles are usually 36 inches long and the 40
inches goes around the bundle. There should be three
strong strings around each bundle. This paper keeps
the tobacco clean and from getting dry. In this, as in
everything else, neat packages pay well. The same
method is pursued for seconds and fillers. Sometimes

CULTUEE OF CIGAR LEAF.

42S

FIG. 122. PRESSING OIGAK LEAF INTO THE CASE.

430 TOBACCO LEAF.

leaves are found with green, or "fat," stems; these
should not be included in the bundle, but laid one side
to dry out, for the excessive moisture would cause the
stem to rot and thereby injure the whole bundle.
Leaves having very light veins should also be excluded,
for these veins will turn white when the leaf passes
through the sweat, which greatly detracts from the value
of the leaf.

After being bundled, the ''hands," as the bundles
are called, are laid together in a pile, not on the floor,
but raised from the ground a few inches by making a
rough platform of poles and boards. Commence by lay-
ing a row on one side of the platform with the butts
out, then on the other side in the same way, letting the
tips lap over slightly, just enough to keep the pile level.
Proceed in this way, laying on each side alternately,
until all is packed. Lay some boards on top of the pile,
and put on just weight enough to keep them snug.
Some covering should be put at the end of the pile to
keep it from drying out. The seconds and fillers are
each packed in a pile separate from the others. If it
remains long in the pile, it should be inspected occasion-
ally to see that it does not heat. If it has been packed
when too damp, it is quite apt to heat, especially if the
pile is large. When this is apparent, the pile should be
made over and the damp bundles shaken out to dry.

Assorting. — Most dealers prefer to have tobacco
delivered in the bundle, for they have their individual
methods of assorting and prefer to do it themselves so
their goods»may all run alike ; when assorted by many
different farmers, there is much liability of variation.
Farmers who have a good reputation for assorting, how-
ever, not only assort their own crops, but are often
employed by packers to assort other crops in the section.
Assorting can be done during the stripping process, but
it is almost always done later and special work made of

CULTUKE OF CIGAR LEAF. 431

it. The tobacco is packed in bundles, or small bales,
and carried to the local assorting place, where it is
unpacked and assorted into grades, according to the
color, texture, length and condition of the leaf. When
tobacco is packed, it is very important that it should be
at the proper degree of pliability. If too dry, great
damage is done to the leaf by breakage, and the best
wrappers may be ruined when handled dry. On the
other hand, if there is too much moisture in the leaf, a
fermentation will be produced, so excessive as to destroy
the vitality of the tobacco and produce a mold that
imparts a disagreeable odor. Good judgment is required
at this stage. If bulked in cold weather, the amount
of water is often greatly underestimated and if warm
weather comes on, danger ensues. There is no danger,
whatever, if the stems are thoroughly dried out when
the tobacco is taken down from the poles.

Casing or Boxing, — When cased, the boxes for
wrappers are 36 inches long and 28 inches square at the
head, and 36 or 38 inches long by 28 inches for seconds
and fillers. The tobacco must be packed in these boxes,
so that the ends of the hands stand from one to two
inches from the side of the box. The quantity in each
box runs about 300 to 350 pounds for wrappers, 325
pounds for seconds and 300 pounds for fillers. It
usually requires quite a good deal of pressure, Fig. 122,
to get the box full. It is best to leave the casing to the
middlemen, unless the business is well understood.

Sweating. — The later fermentation, or "sweating,"
process is generally done by the dealers. It ^usually
comes after assorting and casing. The tobacco is
packed, or cased, and allowed to remain ; as the weather
grows warmer, the sweating begins and continues for
many weeks. In this time the tobacco becomes warm,
reaching 100° F., and sometimes more. During the
sweat, the boxes are piled one on another on their sides,

432 TOBACCO LEAF.

but never exposed to the rays of the sun. A sealed
room is usually preferred for the purpose, and the heat
generated is at times so great as to be quite uncomfort-
able. The sweating process is to tobacco what fermenta-
tion is to wine ; it ripens and prepares it for use, perfect-
ing its color and improving its flavor. The acrid, or
pungent, taste is subdued, while the burning qualities
are increased and it also gives a shiny, oily surface,
which is called "satin face." All tobacco does not go
through this process equally well. Some of it comes out
dead and lifeless in appearance and lacking in texture
and elasticity. The loss in weight is also quite consid-
erable, often amounting to 10 or 15 per cent.

CHAPTER XX.

CIGAR-LEAF TOBACCO AT THE WEST AND SOUTH.

During the last few years of agricultural depression,
many special crops, heretofore confined to limited
regions, have been experimented with in other sections.
Where these experiments have proven successful, such
crops have been largely grown. Not many years ago,
the broom corn supplies of the United States came
largely from the Connecticut valley, then the crop
emigrated to the Mohawk valley, but now it is mainly
grown in Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska. Hops were
formerly largely grown in New England, but were
superseded by hops produced in Central New York, yet
the remarkable success of hop culture on the Pacific
coast has caused such overproduction and low prices
that it is a question whether the New York State hop
industry will be able to maintain itself.

Whether a like state of affairs is destined to come
about in the cigar-leaf tobacco industry remains to be
seen. It is true that for many years this industry has
been confined to limited areas in New England, Central
New York and Eastern Pennsylvania, but it has long
been a feature of Southern Ohio agriculture and, more
recently, in Wisconsin. During the past six years, cigar-
leaf tobacco has been experimented with in many other
sections of the United States, and in some of these cases
with such attractive results as to indicate that the
industry is destined to have a large development in
those regions. Promising results have been obtained in
certain parts of Nebraska, especially at Schuyler, in
ss 433

434

TOBACCO LEAF.

'

^.m^J!

IMl?

CIGAE LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 435

several localities of Colorado, and to a more limited
extent in Washington, Oregon and California. In the
latter State, cigar-leaf tobacco culture is now receiving
the close attention of practical and scientific men, and
should their work prove successful in obtaining leaf of
good quality, its culture will doubtless be developed on
the large scale characteristic of California enterprise.

In Texas, quite a number of crops of fine tobacco
have been raised during the past three or four years,
more especially in the southeastern part of the State,
particularly in Montgomery, Victoria and Calhoun coun-
ties, the latter adjoining the coast between Aransas Bay
and Matagorda Bay, Victoria adjoining it to the west.
It is stated that one farmer, in Montgomery county,
sold 8,000 pounds of cigar leaf grown, in 1894, on nine
acres of "gray hickory" land, and that he got 40 cents
per pound for the better grades for cigar wrappers, and a
satisfactory price for the lower grades for fillers. To-
bacco grown in Calhoun county has sold as high as 50
cents per pound. It is claimed for selections of the leaf
grown in that section, that it is equal to the best
tobacco grown on the Island of Cuba, for either fillers
or wrappers. Well-informed Texas growers express a
confidence that they will be able to successfully compete
with tobacco grown in any part of the world.

The greatest interest and largest development of
late years, however, of the industry in the so-called
"new sections," has been in Florida and the adjoining
counties of Southern Georgia. Forty years ago, much
of this area produced a leaf which was considered desir-
able for cigars then in use, though most of the Florida
crop, before the war, was exported to Bremen and
Amsterdam, and was popular for its light color and
inild flavor. But the industry languished until the
tariff agitation of 1889 directed attention to tests that
had been conducted privately in Gadsden county, and

436

TOBACCO LEAF.

CIGAE LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 437

publicly by tbe Florida experiment station. The
Florida tobacco "boom," started by the tariff of 1890,
was short-lived, but the work has been persisted in. It
is now demonstrated, since that date, that Florida has
all the natural conditions necessary for growing cigar-
leaf tobacco, both wrappers and fillers, of a quality equal
to most of that which has been imported from the
Island of Cuba in recent years, and wrappers of finer
quality than those imported from Sumatra. These are
strong statements, but they are justified.

The industry in Florida has practically three divi-
sions : First, the culture of domestic varieties, which
are rapidly giving way to (second) the culture of
tobacco plants raised from the best Cuban seed, and
(third) the raising of Sumatran seedleaf. The seed of
the latter was obtained with difficulty by a man sent to
Sumatra for the purpose. A little of this importation
was planted in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and has
given promising results, but the bulk of the seed was
distributed in Florida. The 1896 was the third crop of
this new variety since its importation, and it is conserv-
ative to say that it has already revolutionized the
cigar-leaf industry of Florida, and upward of 1,000,000
pounds of it were produced in 1896. Plates V and VI,
on Page 36, give an admirable idea of this Florida-
grown Sumatran seedleaf, which is quite different from
all other tobaccos grown in America, or Cuba, and a
view of a whole field of it is afforded on Page 434.

Havana wrappers and fillers have been grown very
successfully in Northern Florida, the most extensive
operations being conducted by the Owl Cigar Company,
in Gadsden county, who also grow Sumatran leaf. This
concern owns 17,000 acres, divided into nine planta-
tions and each having its superintendent. It owns 146
barns (each from 40x60 to 40x108 feet), 210 tenements
for laborers, besides its own mills, repair shops, etc.

438 TOBACCO LEAF.

At Quincy, it has four large warehouses, besides the
buildings where the final fermentation and packing is
done. The company raises 900 acres of tobacco annu-
ally, besides other crops, and packs 2500 bales of tobacco
each year. It employs 1200 men in the growing season
and 500 men the year through, at an annual payroll of
$150,000. Other planters raised about 1000 acres of
cigar leaf in the Gadsden section during 1896, making a
total of nearly 2000 acres in that region, practically all
of which is usually sold by the growers by October.

The plant of Sumatran seedleaf in bloom (except for
its flower) reminds one of the common sunflower rather
than of what we are accustomed to in tobacco. Its
leaves are of so delicate a nature that after being fer-
mented it will take about 200 of them to weigh a pound.
Hence the wonderful "wrapping" capacity of this leaf —
that is, the great number of cigars that can be covered
with one pound of Sumatran seedleaf. The 1896 crop
of it in Florida was nearly all bought up before election,
at 20 to 50 cents per pound for the cured leaf, while it
is claimed that selections of Florida-grown Sumatran
leaf have sold to cigar manufacturers for $1.50 to $2 per
pound, in appearance rivaling as cigar wrappers the
finest imported from Sumatra, while in quality (that is,
flavor, body, burn, etc.), surpassing the best Sumatran
leaf. Unlike the leaf direct from Sumatra, which is so
poor in quality as to be unfit for the bulk of the cigar
(fillers and binders), this Sumatran seedleaf, when
allowed to fully ripen, possesses quality and aroma that
make it desirable for fillers, being wholly free from the
bitter taste of the imported article. In this respect, it
seems to improve after one or two years' domestication.
In Florida, it does well on both old and new lands,
while in Sumatra tobacco is grown largely on new land.
Aside from its hardiness, thrift and quick-growing
qualities, and the high price the best leaf commands,

440 TOBACCO LEAF.

this Florida Sumatran seedleaf is specially attractive to
the planter, because, under the same conditions, it
averages more pounds of cured leaf per acre than do
other varieties heretofore grown in Florida. Sumatran
seedleaf makes 800 pounds under average conditions,
and as high as 1000 to 1200 pounds have been claimed
in a few instances. Mr. Curry, who had 130 acres of
Sumatran seedleaf under his charge in Florida in 1896,
reports an average of 800 pounds of merchantable cured
leaf per acre. Being so upright in growth, plants are
set 12 to 15 inches apart, in rows three and one-half to
four feet apart, giving 10,000 to 12,000 plants per acre.
Col. F. B. Moodie, who has done much to develop the
industry as president of the Florida tobacco growers'
association, and to whom we are greatly indebted for
much information, reports that with proper care seventy-
five per cent of the crop will be fine A wrappers, the
balance seconds, binders and fillers.

Imported seed is very delicate, but that from the
first or second year's growth in Florida is much more
hardy. But even in Northern Florida, it is never safe
to sow this variety before the middle of March, by which
time other varieties are usually transplanted. In Gads-
den county, on the Gulf side, Sumatran seedleaf is
transplanted as early as April 1 to 10. Under favorable
conditions, it is a rapid grower, and within 40 to 50 days
will attain the remarkable hight of six to eight feet, and
when in flower nine to ten feet. It has been found
best not to top the plant at all, and if at all, not until
about four-fifths of the leaves have been harvested.
Some top to 24 leaves, while others get 30 to 40 leaves
on the taller plants. Early planted Sumatra is without
spots, but the later planted crop is spotted. If the soil
is poor, or the season dry, so that growth is slow, or if
the plant is topped too low, the leaves are thick, dark
and comparatively undesirable. Harvesting of the early

CIGAR LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 441

crop is done from June 15 to September 15, by breaking
off (or "priming"") the leaves as fast as they "speck."
Let it be noted that the word "speck" is used for
"ripe." Indeed, this variety of wrapper leaf must not
be allowed to fully ripen, as its texture and its popular
and delicate light pea-greenish hue will be spoiled by
deepening into the "brown and sear." If the leaves
are allowed to ripen, they make a good filler, better still
after one or more years' reproduction in Florida. If
harvested before July 1, a second crop may be grown on
the same land. In harvesting the tobacco crop, the
stalk is not cut until the leaves are all gathered. As
soon as the lower leaves are ready to harvest, they are
plucked by hand, carefully laid in baskets covered with
burlap, and brought in carts designed for this use to a
tent at one end of the curing barn. Three or four pick-
ings at different times are necessary, to handle the whole
crop. The field work is all done by negroes, who are
paid 75 cents per day, and are under white superin-
tendents.

For hanging in the barn, laths are used. They are
deeply notched at one end with a saw, and into these
cuts the cord is drawn, which holds the leaves. Girls
or boys string the leaves on these cords with a needle
made for this purpose. The girls get 20 cents per 100
laths and will sometimes string 350 per day. The leaves
hang face to face and back to back, a finger breadth
apart, 40 to 50 leaves to a lath, as shown in Fig. 125.
The laths hang from four to six inches apart on the
poles in the barn, and a barn holds from 20,000 to
25,000 lath, being filled in a day or day and a half. The
barn curing is done much as it is at the North, with
careful attention to ventilation and moisture, but with-
out artificial heat, as white vein and pole burn seem to
be unknown. The cure is usually completed within 35
to 40 days, when the green color has disappeared from

CIGAR LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 443

the midrib. Then the leaves are pulled together in the
middle of the string, with which they are tied into bun-
dles and delivered to the buyer's warehouse, the assort-
ing having been done at the time the leaves were strung.
The so-called "fermentation house" of the Ow]
Cigar Company, at Quincy, Florida, is thus described
for this work by Dr. E. H. Jenkins, Ph. D., vice
director Connecticut experiment station : "This house
is perfectly equipped for its purpose, and in all its
arrangements and the conduct of the operations, is a
model of absolute neatness, order and good management.
The rooms where the tobacco is handled over in any
way are steam heated, so that the temperature can be
kept at the desired point night and day. Without not-
ing the thermometer, I should say that none of them
were below 75° F., and the air is kept very moist with
escaping steam. Tobacco lies loosely on the tables, with-
out drying out at all. The tobacco is 'bulked' imme-
diately upon its receipt for fermentation. The aim is
to 'cook it in its own juice,' and no blowing or dampen-
ing of the leaf is allowed. This is regarded as vital to
success. A 'bulk' is made by covering the floor with
trash tobacco, fermented cuttings, etc., about six to
eight inches deep. Uprights, to which boards can be
tacked as the bulk is built up, hold it in place. On
this trash tobacco, the leaves are laid, tied in hands.
Trash tobacco is also laid next the side boards. The
bulks which we saw were from five to six feet, or more,
high, and when made are covered with trash tobacco
and blankets. The temperature of the pile rises rapidly
and sometimes will reach 180° F., in the center. When
the expert judges it necessary, — in extreme cases, within
twenty-four hours after the bulk is built, — it is all
handled over and built again close by. The leaves
which were in the middle of the first bulk are put on
the outside of the second. The aim is not only to make

444 TOBACCO LEAF.

the fermentation even for all the tobacco, but each hand
is shaken out, as, otherwise, the leaves will stick
together and be uneven in color, and it may be impos-
sible to pull them apart without tearing. It may be
necessary to repeat this turning of the bulks six or eight
times before the process is complete. Often two bulks
are mixed, if one is rather too damp and the other too
dry. When the fermentation is done, the leaves are very
carefully sorted as to both size and color, are tied into
hands, these put in carottes and baled to 'age' for one
or two years. They are first put into a warm room to
cool down and finally into a cooler storage. While this
process of fermentation is much more expensive than
that of fermenting in the case, it has the great advan-
tage that the time required is much less, and the whole
process can be watched and controlled, whereas, when
sweated in the case, there is absolutely no supervision or
control possible."

Both spring and fall planting, in most parts of
Florida, have advantages and disadvantages, but it is
probable that the fall planting will become quite as gen-
eral as spring setting. Fall tobacco in Florida will be
in no more danger from frost than is the spring crop at
the North, while the fall crop escapes grass and weeds,
grasshoppers, and most of the worms and other pests.
Only about one-fourth as much rainfall is needed for
the crop in October, November and December, as during
April, May and June. It is believed, also, that this late
crop will average in quality superior to the spring crop,
especially for fillers, as is the case in Cuba.

The best soil for this crop in Florida, Col. Moodie
finds, after studying experiments in all parts of the
State, to be a light, sandy loam, well drained, fine and
friable, with no crude limestone cropping out, and par-
ticularly should it be free from loose arenaceous or so-
called "rotten" limestone, common in many parts of

CIGAR LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 445

northern, central and western Florida, where fossilized
organic remains and phosphates are found. The tobacco
field should be near a body or stream of fresh water, to
insure humidity from the constant evaporation. In
Gadsden county, where tobacco is extensively grown,
the soils used are fine, light and sandy on the surface,
but resting on a clayey sand at a depth of ten inches to
two feet, which is quite moist, and at the same time
readily permeable by water. In heavy rains, the water
is quickly taken up from the surface, yet in very dry
weather, the soil is damp at a depth of a few inches.

Opinions differ as to the proper manuring of soils
of this character for tobacco. Moodie's advice is to
make no application of stable or barnyard manures, ex-
cept a light dressing of well-rotted manure on sterile
soils, to impregnate them with the bacteria of nitrifica-
tion. On the Gadsden extensive plantations, cottonseed
meal is the only fertilizer used. The cautions in the
use of manures and fertilizers that are stated in Chapter
VI must all be observed, but much has yet to be learned
about their application in the semi-tropics. Moodie
maintains that the double manure salt (sulphate of pot-
ash and magnesia) is even preferable to the high grade
sulphate of potash under Florida conditions.

Southern Florida, much nearer the tropics than the
northern part of the State, is also coming to the front in
tobacco culture. It has much the same climate and
soil as Cuba, and has naturally attracted the attention
of those driven out of Cuba by the war. The first plan-
tation to be established was that at Fort Meade, Polk
county, by the Cuban Tobacco Growers' Co., limited,
incorporated in January, 1896, with a capital of $150,-
000. Its officers, with one exception, are Cubans, and
the president and general manager have had long experi-
ence in growing and handling tobacco in that island.
Dr. E, H. Jenkins contributes to this work the follow-

446

TOBACCO LEAF.

FIG. 127. VUELTA ABAJO TOBACCO IN FLORIDA.

Ready to harvest, Nov. 1, at Ft Meade, in 45 days from planting, grown by
means of artificial irrigation.

CIGAR LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 447

ing interesting account of it, based on a visit made a
year later.

The tobacco lands of the Fort Meade region are very
light, deep, sandy soils, finer in texture than those of
the Connecticut valley, and contain some humus. They
have been covered, from time immemorial, with a growth
of wood, the best of them with oak, hickory, live oak,
magnolia, etc. At the time of our visit, no rain had
fallen for many weeks, yet the soil was damper in ap-
pearance and feel than our Connecticut soils after two
weeks of dry weather. Nevertheless, the company has
put in an irrigating plant and uses it during the grow-
ing season.

The seed beds made on new lands, protected from
light frost by the surrounding timber, und fertilized
only with the ashes of the wood and trash cut to clear
them, are sowed in January. On Jan. 15, some beds
were not yet sowed, in others the plants were an inch
high and were being weeded. The plants are set in the
field early in March, at the rate of about 15,000 per
acre. Native Cubans do all the work on the crops,
which are cultivated wholly by hand, with short-handled,
very heavy hoes. The only fertilizer used is Peruvian
guano, at the rate of about 450 pounds to the acre.
The land appears to be kept clear of weeds, and the
plants are hilled up, but not quite as much, perhaps, as
in Connecticut. The irrigating is done from standpipes
six or seven feet high, with a spraying fixture which
distributes the water (Fig. 126) over a circular area
about sixty feet in diameter. The plants are suckered,
and after topping have only eight to ten leaves on the
average per plant, more leaves being left on strong
plants than on feeble ones, and more on strong soil than
on poorer land. It is stated that the plant, at harvest
time, has the shape of an inverted cone, the top leaves
being the largest, as appears in Fig. 127.

448 TOBACCO LEAF.

The first harvest is gathered early in June. The
growing stalks are cut in sections, each carrying two
leaves, and are hung on poles in the field, astraddle as
it were, and close together. A preliminary sorting is
done in the field, leaves of like character being hung on
the same pole. These poles are carried to the curing
barn by hand and put up for the barn cure. The barns
built in the tobacco field are considerably smaller than
those in New England or Pennsylvania. There is no
arrangement for supplying artificial heat or moisture in
the barns. The wrappers are kept housed till cured,
but the fillers are occasionally brought out and hung in
the sun and air during a part of the day, and always
housed at night. During barn curing, as well as in the
sweat, the crop is closely watched by the experts. Pole
burn seems to be unknown. The whole process of
sweating, "betuning," etc., requires considerable skill
and experience, is a secret one, and naturally I made no
inquiries regarding it.

When the first crop is cut, a sucker is left on the
sunny side of each stalk, and this immediately starts to
grow, and produces a second crop, sometimes in forty-
five days, being already provided with a strong root sys-
tem, and favored by the rains, which are more abundant
from June on, through the summer. Even a third crop
may sometimes be grown from the plants first set in
February. Meantime, new seed beds have been made
and the land is planted with tobacco a second time in
September, and this is harvested in November or De-
cember. Under very favorable circumstances, a second
(sucker) cutting may be made from the planting. The
first cutting of each crop consists chiefly of wrappers.
The second and third are for the most part fillers. It
is stated that an acre of land should produce at least
1250 pounds annually, of which one-half should be
wrappers. As none of the company's tobacco has yet

CIGAB,LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 449

been sold, no definite statement of price can be made.
It is believed that it will command the same price as
the best grades of imported Havana. This company
was organized in January, 1896. Since then it is stated
to have cleared 100 acres of land, and to have harvested
and cured the tobacco from this area. The crop har-
vested in June has been fermented, and I smoked cigars
made wholly of this stock. It is not yet regarded as
ready for manufacture, however. The cure is not com-
plete till May, and the tobacco should then " age " a
year before it will be at its best. The company itself
will double its acreage in 1897, and has opportunity for
unlimited extension as soon as capital is secured.

Many farmers see in this enterprise a very hopeful
outlook for men of skill and energy, and are preparing
to grow tobacco under contract with this company. The
terms of the contract are, in general, these : The farmer
provides the land, barns and fertilizers. The company
provides the laborers, to be paid by the farmer at the
rate of one dollar per day for each working day, and a
foreman to handle the men, also paid by the farmer.
The work is also supervised by the manager of the com-
pany, without charge. The company sweats the tobacco
and prepares it for market in the Cuban style, and for
this receives one-third of the crop.

450

TOBACCO LEAF.

PART IV.

TOBACCO MANUFACTURE.

MISCELLANEOUS.

452

TOBACCO LEAF.

!!

K

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§1

CHAPTER XXL

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO.

PLUGS FOR CHEWING AND SMOKING.

In no other line of manufacture is there so much to
be gained by the proper selection and judicious use of
the material, as in the manufacture of plug tobacco.
How to combine the different qualities of tobacco, with
what sauces to treat them, how to fashion the plugs or
twists, and what markets are to be accommodated, re-
quire the most intelligent thought and the most skillful
management. The tobacco leaf is exceedingly variable
in its component elements. Its secrets are the secrets
of chemistry and bacteriology. It presents endless prob-
lems and constant study for their solution. The manip-
ulation differs with each variety or grade, and no two
types or grades of tobacco will produce precisely the
same results under the same treatment. The taste and
flavor of the product must be agreeable to the consumer,
and the tastes of consumers vary. What will suit one
class of consumers would probably be very distasteful to
another class. The man of sedentary habits prefers a
mild, sweet tobacco, with a small content of nicotine.
On the other hand, the field laborer, the sailor, the fish-
erman or the man living an outdoor life, is best pleased
with strong tobacco. The habits, as well as the tastes,
of men must therefore be considered by the successful
manufacturer.

453

454

TOBACCO LEAF.

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 455

The manufacture of tobacco has been going on for
centuries, and from the simple operation of taking out
the midrib and putting it up into twists, the industry
now employs the most skilled labor and the most com-
plete mechanical appliances for treating it with sauces,
drying it by artificial heat, reordering it by steam,
weighing, putting on the wrapper, and compressing into
plugs in various forms and sizes.

The Burley of Kentucky and Ohio, and the sun,
air and flue cured tobacco of Virginia and the Carolinas,
constitute the fillers for the greatest part of the plug
tobacco of the United States. The wrappers also come
from Virginia, the Carolinas and the White Burley dis-
tricts. The Burley fillers are sometimes whitish, but
generally of a cinnamon color, of a tough, waxy finish
and silky fiber. These fillers have more body and gum
than the cutting leaf from the same districts. The raw
material is put up in casks, of an average weight of 1000
pounds for Burley fillers, and 750 pounds for Virginia
and Carolina wrappers. The tobacco is packed in uni-
form layers, and but slightly compressed, so the leaves
may open freely.

In a properly constructed tobacco factory, the first
work begins in the upper story, to which the hogsheads
are elevated. The work begins in the leaf department.
The casks are taken off, so as to expose the tobacco. It
is taken up, bundle by bundle, and shaken. The infe-
rior tobacco is thrown in one pile, and the better quali-
ties assorted and put in other piles. Water is sprinkled
over each layer of bundles as they are put in the piles,
and the tobacco remains in this condition for twenty-
four hours, so that the moisture may become evenly dis-
tributed. Women mainly, and sometimes men, are em-
ployed (see Fig. 130) in untying the bundles, and pick-
ing, leaf by leaf, assorting and separating them into the
different qualities suitable for the various brands to be

456

TOBACCO LEAF.

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 457

made in the factory. The leaves are then brought into
a high state of moisture by steam, and the midribs ci-
sterns removed. The stems form about 30 per cent of
the whole quantity, and the leaf about 70 per cent.
After this, the strips or stemless leaves are passed, by
chutes, to the next floor below, which is called the wrap-
per room (Fig. 131), where the sauces and other flavor-
ings are applied by dipping the leaves in a vat filled with
the flavoring liquids. These sauces are compounded
and cooked in immense kettles arranged for the purpose,
and their density is determined by hydrometers, so as to
keep them true to the formula adopted. These formu-
las are usually one of the secrets of the manufacturer,
and upon the popularity of the flavor used depend, in a
great degree, the profits of the business. This sweet-
ened and cooked liquid is poured into immense vats.
After the leaves have been thoroughly saturated with
the liquid, they are made to pass through wringers, so
as to press out the surplus liquid, which flows back into
the vat. The leaves are then passed over a series of
heated rollers, becoming thoroughly dry, but are again
reordered by steam and packed in bulk, to remain until
wanted for making into plug.

The next step is to pass the mass of sweetened leaves,
by a chute, to the floor below, or lump room, where it is
weighed, enough at a time to make a plug, and this
quantity is put in a shaper, which gives the desired form
and size to the plugs. These pressed plugs are passed
to benches or stands, where the wrappers are put on by
skillful men. These wrappers are carefully selected, as
to color and character of leaf, so that the same general
appearance may be given to the plugs of the same class.
All plugs deficient in weight or defective iu color are
rejected. The perfect plugs are now dried and packed
in boxes for the floor below, where they are put in iron
cases and pressed and creased (Fig. 132, Page 460).

458 TOBACCO LEAF.

The different brands require different hydraulic
pressure. Shape mills and pot mills are used. While
the plugs are under pressure, they are put in gums and
allowed to sweat or ferment. Some brands are fermented
lightly, others undergo a long process of fermentation.
In each case, the purpose is to adapt it to the market for
which it is intended and where it is in demand.

After this fermenting process, the plugs are taken
out and again carefully inspected, the faulty ones being
rejected and the perfect ones tagged and packed in boxes.
When the boxes are filled, only enough pressure is put
on to get in the heads. When these are fastened in the
boxes, they are sent to the shipping room, where they
are branded with name, size of the plug, and the gross
and net weights of each box. There is a groove on each
box for the government stamp, which must be placed
on each package, and then varnished and canceled. The
boxes are strapped in packages of five or more, for
shipment.

Cut plug tobacco is carried through a similar proc-
ess, except that it is not wrapped. It is made into
various sizes, blocks or slabs, and cut into slices for
fancy tin or paper box work, or shagged for boxes or
pouches, as customers may desire. Cut plug is made by
a costly patented machine, constructed for the purpose.
It is put up in packages varying in weight from two to
sixteen ounces, stamped and packed in wooden cases for
shipment, according to the requirements of the trade.

The J. Wright Company, of Eichmond, Va., to
whom the authors are indebted for the cuts that accom-
pany this description, and also for the main data contained
in it, is one of the largest plug manufacturing establish-
ments in the world. The company has every modern
appliance, convenience and improvement for facilitating
the work and obtaining the highest results, as to the
excellence and handsome appearance of their products.

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 459

It uses seven distinct styles of wrappers : 1, Lemon ;
2, orange; 3, bright mahogany; 4, dark mahogany;
5, piebald or tortoise shell; 6, black wrapper; 7, cherry
red. The factory employs from 350 to 400 hands, and
has the capacity for turning out 15,000 pounds of man-
ufactured work daily. Every department is thoroughly
organized and run on correct business principles. An
idea of its works is given in Fig. 133, Page 462.

THE MANUFACTURE OF SNUFF.

There are five kinds of snuff manufactured in the
United States: The Scotch or "eating" snuff, the
maccaboy"or inhaling snuff, the sweet snuff and salting
snuff, the two latter being used for dipping. Eappee
snuff is made, to some extent, in the United States, but
largely in France, from American tobacco.

The material used for making Scotch snuff consists
of heavy, dark tobacco of medium grade, and good
"fatty" lugs. The stock is kept at least two years in
hogsheads before it is used. It is then taken out, bun-
dle by bundle, and passed through a cutting machine,
where the leaves, including the stems, are coarsely cut.
When cut, it is packed in hogsheads and made to go
through three successive fermentations.

In these processes of fermentation, the heat reaches
from 90° to 100° F. Each period of fermentation is
arrested by exposing the tobacco to the air. It is then
repacked and made to go through another fermentation.
After three fermentations, which require about six
weeks, — sometimes more, sometimes less, according to
the richness and character of the tobacco used, — the
tobacco is thoroughly dried, by exposing it in wide, flat
iron pans for a short time to a high degree of heat. It
is then carried from the pans to pulverizers, which con-
sist of a series of mills, each of which has three heavy
iron rollers rubbing against the concave and inner sur-

460

TOBACCO LEAF.

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 461

face of a hemispherical iron vessel, the pulverized tobacco
being discharged through an opening in the bottom,
like that of a fixed wash basin. The snuff passes from
the pulverizers to bolting cloths, not unlike those used
for bolting flour. After it is bolted, the process of man-
ufacture is completed. The snuff is then, by a machine,
packed automatically in six-ounce bottles made for the
purpose, or in four-ounce tin cans, and put in wooden
boxes holding eighteen pounds or less, for shipping.
The largest market for this snuff is Germany. It is
used extensively, especially by the negroes, and to a
lesser extent by white people, in Louisiana, Mississippi,
Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territory. Smaller
quantities are used in all the States.

Maccaboy snuff is used, both for inhaling and the
mouth. It is highly perfumed, the attar of roses being
the chief ingredient. It is consumed largely in New
England. Until recently, only Virginia tobacco was
employed in its manufacture, bat now about an equal
quantity of Tennessee, or Kentucky, and Virginia is used,
and it consists of a heavy bodied leaf of a waxen charac-
ter. The snuff is darkened by being scorched to some ex-
tent, and by being subjected to treatment by dark sauces.

Sweet snuff is made, like Scotch snuff, by treating
the leaves of tobacco with some preparation of licorice
before the snuff is made. It is used exclusively for dip-
ping, and finds the greatest number of consumers in the
Carolinas.

Salting snuff is made of the same character of to-
bacco as Scotch snuff, but it is salted. It is also used
for the mouth.

Rappee snuff is made exclusively from Virginia
tobacco. It is manufactured principally in France, the
tobacco for that purpose being imported by the regie
contractors. Years ago, when the dark crop of tobacco
was much larger than it is now, the French government

462 TOBACCO LEAF.

aimed to secure for this purpose a short, waxy leaf, and
heavy bodied, low grades, but the area of dark tobacco
having become circumscribed in Virginia, as compared
with that for bright leaf, these fine grades of short leaf
and best lugs have been in demand for the German mar-
kets at such high prices that France now substitutes a
commoner grade of Virginia tobacco for making rappee
snuff. This lower grade is soaked in some decoction
which turns it black, after which it is dried, prized and
sent to France for that purpose. Rappee snuff is used

FIG. 133. PLUG TOBACCO FACTORY OF J. WHIGHT CO., RICHMOND, VA.

altogether for inhaling. The practice of inhaling snuff
through the nostrils was once very common, but this
habit has nearly gone out of use. It was once much
affected by royal personages, and snuff boxes were con-
sidered not inappropriate presents from one monarch to
another, or from kings to those subjects who had distin-
guished themselves in the battlefield or in the councils
of the State.

Much of the information contained in this article
was furnished by Mr. B. F. McKeage, of the snuff fac-

THE MANUFACTUKE OF TOBACCO. 463

tory belonging to the Stewart-Ralph Company, of
Clarksville, Tenn. This factory, under his management,
is supplied with the most modern machinery and con-
venience for making Scotch snuff, and it has a capacity
of 8000 pounds per day.

PIPE-SMOKING TOBACCO.

The manufacture of this article, as the working of
tobacco for any purpose, involves the most experienced
judgment and knowledge of market wants and con-
sumers' tastes. The various kinds and qualities of leaf
are carefully assorted and brought together in the
desired quantities and proportions. The leaf is then
cut into flakes and afterwards granulated by a machine
made for the purpose. By straining the granulated
product through sieves, the exact size for pipe smoking
is separated. The tobacco for granulation should con-
tain enough moisture to prevent its being ground into
powder or snuff, when it could be drawn through the
stem of a pipe in smoking, causing discomfort to the
smoker. The granulated tobacco is dampened with
spirits, or liquids, of special formulas, in order to keep
it in proper condition when packed. Certain flavors are
also added to certain brands in the process of manu-
facture. Smoking tobacco is packed by machinery in
cotton sacks of various colors and sizes, each holding
from two ounces to a pound. The sacks are provided
with a draw string and an internal revenue stamp is
put upon each sack. Some tobacco is not granulated,
but simply cut into shreds for smoking, Perique being
often so prepared. The making of these bags consti-
tutes an important department, and 100,000 of the
sacks are produced daily in the Durham factory de-
scribed herewith. The manufacturers' labels are pasted
upon the sacks in the stamping room, and the filled bags
are packed in paper boxes, these being shipped in wooden

464 TOBACCO LEAF.

cases. The box shop and printing office (Fig. 134) is
an important department of a large factory, while the
packing room (Fig. 135, page 476,) is larger and em-
ploys even more help. The internal revenue stamps
are put onto the packages in a special department, called
the stamp room and canceling room (Fig. 136), in which
millions of stamps are used and canceled, the amount
paid for stamps by the Durham Company reaching up-
wards of a million dollars a year. A new machine
automatically packs tobacco in the bags and labels them.
The largest manufactory of pipe-smoking tobacco
in the world is that of Black well's Durham Tobacco
Company at Durham, N. C., the main building of
which is illustrated in Fig. 129, and glimpses into some
of its departments are given in illustrations 134, 135
and 136, all made from photographs taken specially for
this work. This business was established by the late
John K. Green, who selected the famous trade-mark of
the Durham bull that is now so familiar all over the hab-
itable globe, this trade-mark being an absolute guarantee
of a quality of smoking tobacco that never varies and
never deteriorates. W. T. Blackwell succeeded the
founder of the business, and later, Mr. Julian S. Carr be-
came president and has enormously developed the busi-
ness, which has resulted in the development of a populous
and prosperous city at Durham. The premises occupy
13 acres of ground and the main factory has a frontage
of 350 feet, exclusive of seven large warehouses for the
storage of tobacco, besides outbuildings, engine room,
stables, etc. The company also manufactures cut plug
tobacco for either chewing or smoking, and during the
busy season employs 1000 hands.

FINE CUT TOBACCO.

Fine cut tobacco is only the leaf cut into fine shreds.
The tobacco employed for this purpose in the United

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 465

States is very thin, chaffy and, as far as possible, desti-
tute of gummy matter. It is stemmed, moistened and
pressed by a screw into a trough, and fed by machinery
to a series of knives arranged around the outer circum-
ference of a wheel. The wheel is made to revolve with
great rapidity. After the tobacco is cut into fine shreds,
it is spread upon trays and exposed to heat, which
causes the compressed shreds to fall apart. The cut
product is packed in buckets and sometimes in boxes or
bags. It is used for chewing, smoking and the manu-
facture of cigarettes. When used for chewing, it is
sauced with sweet liquids as plug tobacco.

CIGARETTES AND CIGARETTE TOBACCO.

The manufacture and consumption of cigarettes
has increased amazingly in the United States during the
past 20 years. The production in the United States in
1875 was 41,000,000 ; in 1896 it was 4,000,000,000, or
nearly 100 times as great.

Cigarettes of the best quality are made of tobacco
from three to four years old. The leaves are verv care-
fully selected, stemmed and dried, and then brought
into order and cut into shreds, of which the finer qual-
ities of cigarettes are made. It requires four pounds of
leaf tobacco, or three pounds of stemmed tobacco, to
make one thousand cigarettes. The wrappers are of
either tobacco or paper. When made of tobacco, the
best leaves are used for this purpose, and the wrappers are
cut by hand between the veins, so that the small stems,
or veins, will not show on the cigarette. The paper
used is made mainly in France and is called rice paper.
It burns without odor and almost without ash. It is
very thin, but tough and almost transparent, and is said
to be made from the fiber of the cocoanut palm. Paste
of the finest quality is used for cementing the wrappers ;
sometimes the wrappers are fastened by crimping the
30

466 TOBACCO LEAF.

edges. After the tobacco is cut, it is dried and made
ready for working, either by hand or by a machine.
The machine for making cigarettes (of which there are
about 25 different kinds), although simple to operate, is
a wonderful piece of mechanism, which takes the to-
bacco and converts it into perfect cigarettes at the rate
of 100,000 to 200,000 per day of 10 hours.

Before the invention of this machine, cigarettes were
made almost entirely by girls, whose deft fingers enabled
them to do the work more rapidly and more neatly than
when done by men. The average number made by each
girl is about 2000 per day, sometimes 2500, by which it
appears that one machine, operated at a minimum capac-
ity, can do the work of about 50 girls in the manufacture
of cigarettes. A large number of girls, however, find
employment in packing and stamping the product
turned out by the machine. The packages are put up
in a highly artistic and attractive way, so as to catch the
eye of the consumer.

There are some markets in which the handmade
cigarettes are preferred to those made by machinery, and
the supply for these markets are made by girls. The
all-tobacco cigarettes are made by hand, and the wrap-
pers and fillers used are of the finest selections of Vir-
ginia and Havana tobacco. The fillers are first pressed
in molds and then wrapped, just as cigars are made.
Virginia fillers are preferred by most manufacturers.
An expert maker of cigarettes can earn from $1.50 to $2
per day. All-tobacco cigarettes require the greatest
care in the selection of suitable tobacco.

One of the leading manufacturers of cigarettes in
Eichmond, Va., Cameron & Cameron, blend together,
for making cigarettes, various kinds of tobacco, embrac-
ing the Virginia, North Carolina, Turkish, Perique,
Havana, Latakio and Brazilian. The manipulation of
so many kinds can be successfully accomplished only by

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 467

long experience, good judgment, acquaintance with the
markets and with the tastes of the consumers. Two
weeks are required from the time the tobacco goes into
the factory until it conies out in the form of cigarettes.

THE MAKING OF CIGARS.

This is "'easy enough when you know how," but as
has been stated (Pages 71-75), the ins and outs of mak-
ing cigars are to be learned only by practical experience.
The selection of the qualities of leaf for the different
parts of the cigar requires a peculiar combination of ex-
perience, knowledge and taste, that brings to its happy
possessor a large salary in the great cigar factories. The
leaf, or part of ib for the cigar, is often treated with
sauces, or special preparations, to improve its quality,
to hide its inferiorities, or to suit certain tastes. It
must also be properly moistened to work nicely. In
Havana, Catalan wine is sometimes put in the water in
which fillers are immersed, to improve the quality.

The regulations of the internal revenue bureau im-
pose strict accountability upon cigar makers, as well as
upon manufacturers of other leaf, for all of the tobacco
they use. Evasion of these rules is heavily punished,
and the system has been reduced to an almost perfect
state, to secure the utmost amount of revenue from the
taxes imposed, with the least interference with the
trade, or inconvenience to manufacturers. The maker
of cigars has to conform to government rules, and this
involves certain restrictions. The government even
limits the number of pounds of cigar leaf required for
certain purposes, and every bit of leaves, stems, waste,
etc., must be accounted for. The allowance is 25
pounds of .wrappers, binders and fillers for 1000 cigars.
The way in which this quantity is divided varies accord-
ing to the kind of cigars made and quality of product.
Two pounds of the very finest quality of Sumatran leaf

468 TOBACCO LEAF.

has wrapped 1000 five-inch, handmade cigars, and four
or five pounds finest quality domestic seedleaf, but a less
amount is required to wrap form-made cigars. An
experienced manufacturer estimates as a fair average
four pounds wrappers, nine pounds binders and twelve
pounds fillers to make 1000 cigars of ordinary size and
good quality ; another says five, eight and twelve pounds
respectively, and still another, seven, seven and eleven
pounds.

Machinery has already invaded the field of cigar
manufacture. At present, however, only about 12 per
cent of the cigar factories of the United States are suffi-
ciently large to profitably employ the most modern
method of machinery. In Europe, still fewer factories
are of sufficient size to warrant the investment necessary
in a machine plant, except in the Kegie countries. The
history of the development of the application of ma-
chinery to cigar making is full of interest. The suction
roller table has, to a certain extent, revolutionized cigar
manufacture, and, at the present time, it is claimed that
about one-fifth of the cigars made in the United States
are rolled upon it. Many of the cheap cigars are made
in the larger factories, either throughout or in part, by
machinery. One of the most useful and most common
is the stripping machine, which contains a small round
knife that cuts the stem out clean, without tearing the
leaf. Space forbids a detailed description of the various
machines employed. Even the details of cigar making by
hand, vary with different workmen and in different fac-
tories, but the bulk of the cigars consumed in the United
States are still made by hand or form. Cigar makers
are thoroughly organized and obtain excellent wages.
The handmade method of cigar manufacture is about as
follows :

Casing. — When the manufacturer opens the one or
more cases, or bales, of tobacco he has purchased to carry

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 469

on his business, he finds the contents very dry and
breakable. This dry tobacco has to be carefully taken
out, as needed, piece by piece, shaken gently to separate
the leaves, dipped thoroughly in a tub of water and re-
moved, or well drenched with a sprinkling pot, and left
to "draw" over night. It is then moist and pliable,
and ready for stripping.

Stripping. — This is done mostly by girls and women,
and consists in stemming and booking. The worker is
given a quantity of tobacco, and she first takes the stem
out of each leaf and puts the divided leaf in a little pile.
Then, when she thinks she has enough stemmed tobacco,
say for a pad, she smooths out over her knee, or books,
each piece, and when she has enough for a pad (the
weight may or may not be defined), she doubles the
smoothed-out pile over once and ties it up, and this
tied-up bunch is the pad. Of course, the wrapper strip-
per is given the finest and most costly tobacco, that
which is to be used for the outside of the cigar, and as
even this contains a good deal of inferior leaf, she must
throw aside such into the binder pile, and it is included
by the binder stripper in the binder-leaf tobacco that
has been given her to strip. Sometimes there is a leaf
selector, who does nothing but sort out the inferior leaf
from the unstemmed wrappers, and then the wrapper
stripper does not have to stop to do any sorting herself.
It is only the expert stripper, she who has the best and
most practical understanding of the kind of leaf requi-
site for wrapping cigars, and who has the delicacy of
touch and the trained eye for color to enable her to
make a quick decision of the unsuitability for wrappers
of the leaf she handles, who is accepted as a wrapper
stripper, and she, of course, is given higher wages than
the handler of binders and fillers. The fillers are partly
stemmed and thrown carelessly into a pile, except the
finer grades, which are more often booked. The fillers

470

TOBACCO LEAF.

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 471

that are not booked sometimes get too dry for use, when
they are moistened, and also often treated with a flavor-
ing preparation.

Preparing for Work. — The workman sits at a table,
which contains a drawer for waste, and on which is
placed a rack for holding the cigars he makes ; he has
also, attached to his table, a "board" of some hard
material, on which he rolls his cigars, a stationary knife
(tuck cutter) for cutting them off the desired length, a
box of gum tragacanth colored with licorice to make
it of the color of tobacco, with which he pastes the ends
of tobacco around the tip or head of the cigar, and a
smaller knife to cut the leaf. At his side is a box of
fillers. On the table at the left is a pad of wrappers,
unbound, and covered over with a damp cloth, and in
front a pad of binders. He is now ready to go to work.

The Making of Handmade Cigars. — The work-
man takes a wrapper leaf from under the cloth at his
left, spreads it out on his board, and cuts it into one,
two or three wrappers (remember, that what is now called
the leaf is but half of the original leaf, since the middle
stem has been taken out). If this leaf (that is, half
leaf) is very fine, he can, perhaps, cut three wrappers,
but generally this is not done, as the veins are likely to
get too thick as you get down to the butt of the leaf,
and it will not do to have the thick veins show on the
cigar covering. Sometimes, in large factories, the Su-
matra is divided into three parts, No. 1, 2 and 3. If
the workman gets a pad marked No. 1, he knows he is
expected to get one wrapper out of each leaf ; No. 2 re-
quires two wrappers, and from No. 3 he is expected to
cut three wrappers. The wrapper being cut into, say,
two pieces, the workman lays them to one side, throwing
what is left into his drawer. Next, he takes a binder,
lays it on the board, breaks it into a large and small
piece, throws the bits not wanted into the drawer, then

472 TOBACCO LEAF.

takes the larger piece and smooths it out, lays the
smaller piece on top of it for the inside lining, gathers
up a handful of fillers, which he makes of the right
thickness and nearly the right length, then puts this
filler bunch inside the binder and rolls it up smoothly
by hand. If the filler is not put into the binder straight,
the binder will roll up twisted and the cigar will smoke
one-sided. When the binder is rolled up over the filler,
then the wrapper is rolled on, tucking it well in at the
beginning, and rounding it to a more or less pointed tip
or head, which is pasted together with the gum traga-
canth, cutting the head neatly around with the hand knife.
In some factories, a thimble is used to more perfectly
and neatly shape the head. Then the cigar is set under
the stationary knife, or tuck cutter, and cut off the de-
sired length at the butt or tuck, the name being derived
from the careful tucking in of the wrapper at this place.
This cutter contains a movable contrivance for measur-
ing the desired length of cigar, which varies from three
to seven inches. The cigar is now finished and set in
the rack, head front.

Form Cigars. — These are made the same as the
handmade, except that the bunch of fillers is not so
thick, and is put into a wooden form of any desired
shape, which varies from a Perfecto shape, which is
pointed at both ends, to a straight cigar, of even thick-
ness all the way through. These molds usually hold
twenty bunches. When the mold is filled, it is placed
under a press for seven or eight hours, or longer, when
the bunches are ready to be taken out and covered with
the wrapper. These form cigars are usually of an infe-
rior grade to the handmade, and do not require such
expert workmanship. Of course, high-grade cigars can
be made with the form, but the smoker generally gets
more for his money in the handmade, in which the
filler bunch is more solid, causing the cigar to be filled

THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO. 473

with more smoking material. In some large factories,
however, the "handmade" workman is required to use
a shaper, a small mold that will contain and shape one
banch while another is being got ready. This workman
need not be so expert in his ability to make the cigar of
just the required shape from the sense of feeling as is
the genuine handmade worker.

Packing. — The filled rack of cigars is taken from
the workman's table into the packing room, and the
packer, who must be an expert at distinguishing colors,
sorts the cigars into the five common colors, the cigar
being "stronger" as the color grows darker. The
packer also inserts the box scent, then tacks down the
cover.

The Flavoring or Scent. — Inferior fillers are often
"doctored" with sharp-flavored liquids to improve their
taste, such as rum and water, alcohol and water, various
sour wines, cider, vinegar, etc. Box scent, so-called, is
not necessarily used to cover imperfections, but to keep
the cigars, which are sometimes shut up for a long time,
and would likely suffer from atmospheric changes, in
good flavor and smell. Still, this scent has a good deal
to do with the popularity of even fine-grade goods, and
the secret of its various combinations is impossible to
discover from the manufacturer who makes a popular
brand. Various articles are, of course, used, among
them being Spanish licorice, rum, lemon, cedar, vanilla
bean, the oils of various spices, and so on ad infinitum.
Then there are many flavors on the market, but the
secret of their manufacture is kept, and while a good
deal of these prepared flavors is bought, the ambitious
manufacturer is ever on the alert to discover some more
popular combination. The packer sprinkles a little of
the scent he is required to use in the bottom of the box,
or on the top or middle row of cigars.

The Waste. — The bits from the wrappers and bind-

474

TOBACCO LEAF.

ers in the workman's drawer, together with refuse left
from the fillers that were too short to be used as such,
and the tucks that are cut off from the cigar in measur-
ing its length, are dried and run through a sieve, and
thus made into scraps, of which the cheapest or scrap
cigars are made, these siftings being used as filling.
They are also used to manufacture cigarettes. These
scraps are, in turn, run through a finer sieve, and the
comparatively very small amount of dust that runs
through, which consists of about five per cent of the
whole amount of tobacco used, is employed for snuff, or
sold for fertilizing purposes.

CHAPTER XXII.

TOBACCO AS A REMEDY.

Tobacco has almost passed out of the materia
medica in the modern practice of medicine. Rarely is it
now prescribed for any ailment whatever, though at one
time it was thought to be a specific for many diseases.
Within recent years, however, attention has again been
directed to tobacco as a remedial agent, through the
efforts of the late Gen. T. L. Clingman, of North Car-
olina, who for many years represented that State in Con-
gress, first as a representative and then as a senator.
Gen. Clingman believes there is no remedy so effective
for relieving wounds, bruises, sprains, etc., as tobacco
applied externally, in the form of a poultice. He cured
a severe sprain of the ankle by poulticing it with wet
tobacco leaves and keeping them moist. A severe gun-
shot wound of the leg was cured by wrapping the limb
in leaf tobacco covered with wet cloths. An injury to
his eye was also cured by a wet tobacco poultice. Its
effect seems to be to take out all the inflammation, and
where promptly applied, Gen. Clingman claims, any
external wound cannot become sufficiently inflamed to
cause mortification. In case of his eye, sight was given
up by all the doctors, but after the tobacco poultice had
been kept on five days, the eye resumed its natural
appearance and the sight was fully restored. He reports
physicians using a tobacco poultice since then, and cites
many instances of its successful application for sore eyes,
sore throat, erysipelas (some very bad cases), sciatica,
bunions, corns, bites, boils, tumors, swelling of various
475

476

TOBACCO LEAF.

TOBACCO AS A EEMEDY. 477

kinds, colds and similar troubles. When the wet
tobacco is applied, says General Clingman, the first
effect is stimulating. In twenty or thirty minutes, how-
ever, the sedative effect is perceived. When it is placed
on the eyelids, as some of the juice gets into the eye,
there is usually an itching sensation and a little pain,
but in a few minutes this passes off and there is no more
feeling than if a wet cloth were applied. Most persons
sleep under the influence, but some do not, as it is a
nerve tonic as well as a sedative. If the tobacco be
applied only to the affected parts, no nausea will be felt
until the inflammation has been subdued, when the
bandage should be removed. Generally, two hours after
application a sedative effect is attained, but in obstinate
cases a much longer time may be required.

Leaf tobacco should be used for the poultices, but if
this is not practicable, manufactured, or plug, tobacco,
well softened in water, may be applied, but the latter
frequently contains drugs that may interfere with its
usefulness. The darker leaves are stronger and better
than the light yellow leaves. Leaves of plants cut last
year are better than those freshly cut, as tobacco seems
to gather strength with age. A bunch of these leaves,
thrown into a bowl of cold water, will become moist and
soft, so that the large stem in the center may be taken
out. Hot water will answer the purpose sooner than
cold, but either will do. When this is done, not less
than two thicknesses of the leaf should be placed
directly on the part to be relieved. As, however, the
heat of the skin tends to dry the tobacco in a few min-
utes, a wet bandage must be laid over it. About four
thicknesses of common white cotton cloth will be suffi-
cient, but this should be well soaked in the water before
it is put on, then a bandage of the same cloth may be
tied over it, and water from time to time should be ap-
plied by pressing a wet rag on it, so as to keep the

478

TOBACCO LEAF.

TOBACCO AS A REMEDY. 479

tobacco moist. "When one wishes to cure a bunion or
corn, after the tobacco has been applied as above
directed, it is easy to get the sock over it, and by moist-
ening the sock from time to time, a cure is usually
effected in a single night.

General Clingman, speaking of cases coming under
his own observation, says: "All cases of erysipelas,
whether on the head or face, or any other part of the
body, are cured. In some cases, where the head was
swollen to almost double size, and the patient was sup-
posed by the attending physician about to die, an appli-
cation of tobacco effected a complete cure. Again, all
cases of sore eyes, whether caused by injury or disease,
and whether old cases, or fresh ones, have been cured.
In some cases, where there was total blindness, a cure
was at once effected and the sight restored perfectly.
In the third place, all wounds, whether cuts, braises or
contusions, have been easily cured. Sprains of the knee
or ankle joints, where they were swollen to double the
natural size, have been completely cured by a single
night's application. Old cases, where the patient has
suffered for months and years, have been cured. Cases
of sore throat are cured, whether caused by diphtheria,
croup, scarlet fever, or quinsy. In more than one
instance, the patient was cured when seemingly at the
point of death, and the case pronounced hopeless by the
attending physician. Bone felons have been cured,
usually by a single night's application of the tobacco."

General Clingman was informed of a number of
cases in which the tobacco was applied as a remedy for
hemorrhoids, and in every instance a single night's
application is represented to have effected a cure. If
tobacco should be applied to a wound, neither mortifica-
tion nor lockjaw would ever supervene. In one case of
lockjaw, where the surgeon had pronounced the case
hopeless, according to the public statement of a gentle-

480

TOBACCO LEAF.

man, a cure, it is asserted, was effected by the application
of a tobacco poultice to the stomach.

For cholera morbus, an application of tobacco to the
stomach, it is said, gives relief. A senator told him
that when suffering constipation most terribly he had

FIG. 137. A PEEP INTO THE "DURHAM" OFFICE (See Page 403).

two physicians with him for two days and nights, with
no advantage from their remedies, and when the pain
became so intolerable that he felt that he would not get
through the night, he caused a poultice of tobacco to be
applied to his side and back, and in half an hour he was
relieved and immediately recovered. Again, a great

TOBACCO AS A EEMEDT. 481

many cases of neuralgia, whether the case was accom-
panied with inflammation or not, General Clingman says,
have been cured by tobacco. In one case, the patient
said his eye was so much inflamed that it seemed about
to burst, and the application effected a complete cure.
Physicians in some parts of North Carolina aver that all
cases of orchitis are cured by tobacco, and usually in one
night.

Tobacco is a very valuable insecticide for use against
vermin on domestic animals, and in the greenhouse, as
well as for other pests. It may be used in the form of a
decoction, in smoke, or dry. The refuse stems and
powders from the cigar factories are very valuable as
insecticides and fertilizers, and frequently, in the Mid-
dle Western States, they may be obtained for little, or
nothing. The decoction is made by boiling refuse to-
bacco stems or dust in water, or pouring water over
them. This gives a concentrated liquid, which is to be
diluted with cold water, until there are two gallons of
water for each pound of tobacco used. It is a good
remedy for plant lice. A stronger formula, recom-
mended b\ Mr. M. V. Slingerland, is to steep five
pounds of tobacco stems in three gallons of water for
three hours; then strain, and dilute with enough water
to make seven gallons, when the decoction is ready to
use. A cheap grade of tobacco is employed in making a
sheep wash. About 20 pounds of tobacco is steeped, or
boiled, in 40 gallons of water, and the sheep dipped in
the liquid. This is a sure remedy for ticks and other
vermin ; and is of frequent use by the flockmasters of
the West.

No application to young fruit trees is so effective in
destroying grubs and other pests as tobacco. Tobacco
stalks may be used for the purpose. They are piled up
around the roots of the trees, about a large armful to
each tree. These stalks are also an excellent fertilizer
31

482 TOBACCO LEAF.

for the young trees, stimulating their growth without
producing a dryness in the soil, or attracting vermin, as
stable manure often does. After the decay of the stalks,
the ground is left mellow and moist.

Tobacco stems are an excellent top-dressing for
young grass. They conserve moisture and add fertility
to the soil. Applied to wheat fields in autumn, in any
form, — leaves, stalks or stems, — tobacco exerts the most
beneficent influence, both on the character of the growth
and the quality of the berry. In a pulverized condition,
it makes one of the best applications for seed beds. Put
in the hills where the tobacco plant is to be set, it
greatly aids the growth and improves the quality of the
cured product.

APPENDIX.

CHEMICAL ANALYSES.

STATISTICS OF YIELD AND MANUFACTURE.

PRICES IN HOME AND FOREIGN MARKETS.

TAXATION AND CONSUMPTION.

BOOKS ON TOBACCO.

INDEX.

APPENDIX.

CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF THE TOBACCO PLANT.

R. J. Davidson, at the Virginia experiment station, is doing
(1890-'97) a great amount of original analytical work of practical value,
from which we condense the following :

Table IX.— COMPOSITION OF VIRGINIA LEAF (AVERAGE OF MATURE

BRADLEY BHOADLEAF, GOLD FINDER, PLANTS OF
WHITE BURLEY AND YELLOW ORINOCO).

100 Ibs. of each part
of the plant contains

Leaf.
55.03

7.62
21.59
70.79

Stalk.

Root.

Leaf.

Stalk.

Root.

Percent, of parts of plant,
100 Ibs. each part contains
Water

21.87

G.18
13.28
80.54

23.10

6.22
8.14
85.64

7.62

4.37

5.74
5.43
0.96
0.50
1.94
73.44

6.18

3.17

5.02
2.22
0.59
0.65
0.66
81.51

6.22

1.88

1.78
1.28
0.21
0.21
2.88
86.54

Ash
Vegetable matter

Total

100.00
4.37

26.60
25.21
4.43
2.33
9.01
32.42

100.00
3.17

37.78
16.81
4.44
4.79
4.92
31.26

100.00
1.88

22.07
15.95
2.54
2.50
34.98
21.96

100 Ibs. of the ash contains
Potash

Lime

Magnesia
Phosphoric acid
Insoluble matter
Other substances
Total

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

Analyses of seed of ten varieties of Virginia tobacco show that the
air-dried seed contains 5J to 6 per cent of water, of nitrogen 3.44 to
3.78 per cent, and of ash 3 to 4 per cent. Of the ash, about one-third is
phosphoric acid, one-third potash and one-fifth magnesia. The ash of
the seed contains over ten times as much phosphoric acid, about four
times as much magnesia and nearly one-fourth more potash than the
ash of tobacco leaf.

Analyses of the whole platit,— root, stem and leaf ,— at three stages
of growth, calculated from the average results for three leading vari-
eties (White Burley, Medley Pryor and Yellow Orinoco) show that
their composition at these three stages is alike only in nitrogen, soda

485

486

TOBACCO LEAF.

and magnesia. As would be expected, the plant from the plant bed
has the highest percentage of moisture. It also shows the highest ash,
phosphoric acid and potash. These last two ingredients gradually
diminish as the age of the plant increases, thus showing I hat, the
young plant requires a large amount of potash and phosphoric acid.
The percentages of lime and chlorine are just the reverse of the phos-
phoric acid and potash, as they increase with the age of the plant.
The percentage of the insoluble matter is comparatively small in the
plant from the plant bed, and is only about one-fourth as much as at
the time of topping and cutting. It appears that the plant taken from
the plant bed contains, in the air-dried state, nearly three per cent of
nitrogen, nearly 1 per cent of phosphoric acid, over 8 per cent of pot-
ash and about 2J percent of lime. Taken at the time of topping, it
contains about 3 per cent of nitrogen, one-third of 1 per cent of phos-
phoric acid, about 4 per cent of potash and over 2 per cent of lime.
Taken at time of cutting, it contains nearly three per cent of nitrogen,
one-third of 1 per cent of phosphoric acid, nearly 3J per cent of potash
and over 3J per cent of lime.

F. G. Carpenter has also done much analytical work at the North
Carolina experiment, station, so have Johnson and Jenkins at the Con-
necticut station, Goessman at Amherst, Frear at the Pennsylvania
station, and others at the experiment stations of Kentucky, Tennessee,
Louisiana, Alabama and Wisconsin. All this work is bringing out
much valuable data in addition to the chemical inquiries into tobacco,
conducted by Dr. Gideon E. Moore for the tenth census, from which
the following table is compiled :

Table X.— AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF CIGAR LEAF (POLE CURED).

e|

II

c3

a

i

a
1

s"<
&
ft

ft

i

6

1

5)

1

cS

•«
|

OK

5

a

03

1

'2

X

£

03

g

g

Av. 12 Conn, crops..

0.14

1 .55

1.09

0.59

5.71

136

579

0.33

16.55

4.?4

New Milford, Ct....

0.21

0.33

0.62

0.48

6.10

1.71

5.20

trace

15.10

4.97

Hartford, Ct

0.20

2.14

0.62

0.61

5.«:i

1.40

7.66

0.05

18.56

4.10

Pa., Lancaster Co..

0.19

0,?7

0.47

1 .03

5.13

1.47

893

0.06

17.! IS

?70

Ohio

0.44

0.22

0.49

0.61

4.93

2.46

4.75

0.04

14.22

4.42

Wis. and 111

0.72

0.15

o.i;o

0.48

5.17

1.94

5.97

0.17

15.52

5.23

Average

0.35

0.66

-6^4

0.62

5,50

1.67

6.20

0.10

16.19

4.12

Omitting from the above the percentage of nitrogen in Pennsyl-
vania seedleaf, which is exceptionally low, the average of the other
samples gives 4.44 per cent of nitrogen In pole-cured tobacco leaves.

Table XI.— THE AMERICAN TOBACCO CROP.

The United States crop of 1849 WHS returned by the census at
199,753,000 pounds, and of 1859 at 434,209,000. The census for 1869 was
incomplete in the South, .and, especially in North Carolina, has been
imperfect since. That State was credited with only 36,000,000
pounds in 1889 by the llth census, W. W. Wood's elaborate inquiries

APPENDIX.

487

show it to have been 76,000,000. The census figures are used below,
except that American Agriculturist's returns for 1895 are given. Weights
are in thousands of pounds, last three figures (OOO's) omitted.

THE AMERICAN TOBACCO CROP.

TOBACCO BY STATES.

Number of Acres.

Weight of crop.

In thousands of pounds, last three
ciphers omitted.

1895.
1^253

54
108
2,863

8,077
5,712

19,439
210,844

19,950

97,654
4,400
125.S40
500
1,000
1,500
74,252
40,401
6,185
3,460
25
11,381
50
150
12,450

150

;:;7,<i7:i
jss.ni;

45,C,07
800
500
150
500

2,000
80

2

6

30
20
50
699,102

1889.
44,080

67

50
2,012

6,331
8,629
45
26,955
234,981
20
20,274

110,579
4,647
97,077
394
800
1,190
86,787
44,303
9,373
4,155
22
17,241
49
124
11,350
2
1
46
123
•;•_".». :•,-'.>
J74.5H7
51.471
679
234
109
423

1,876

2
6

25
12
27
695,301

1879.

1895.

1889.

1879.

1869.

North Atlantic Division ....
Maine

44,854

88
84
3,358
2
8,666
4,937
152
27.506
141,480
4
38,174
2
40,791
4,071
57, 'JOS
169
971
90
78,038
34,676
11,955
5,612
170
8,810
163
692
15,521
6

101
333

J74,:;-."j
±>c,,i-jo
41,532
2,197
1,471
253
685

2,064
147

1

2
2
8
43
84
174,173

44,933

95
170

4,556

14,067
7,267

18,778
92,297

14,962

39,939
1,760
94,336
200
350
730
46,370
23,433
4,330
2,214
15
9,958
30
90
6,225

75

j.v_'.i;<Mi
•JM.MS7

34isSSI
320
200
60
250

800
72

18
14
40
496,278

50,133

87
71
2,795

8,875
9,316
33
28,956
100,844
30
12,357
23
48,523
2,602
36,375
223
264
470
77,604
37,854
7,710
3,043
12
19,389
23
74
9,425
1
10
11

259,651

_"_'!. ssi i
;;i;.;;i;s
163
62
47
176

955
25

2

7
3
13
488,257

63,313

171

131
5,369

14,045
6,481
172
36,943
136,051
1
26,082

79,989

!>,'_>%

26,986
46
229
21
70,994
34,735
8,873
3,936
84
10,608
70
420
12,016
2

58
192

202,600
171,121
29,365
452
415
56
221

970
101

1
1

2

7
17
73
110,131

21,730
15
155
73
7,313
1
8,329
2,350
41
3,468
66,548

15,785

37,086
2,046
11,150
35
289
157
46,721
18,742
9,325
5,249
5
961
8
72
12,320

6
33
125,656
103,306
21,465
153
61
16
60

595
81
1

1
9

2

4
64
262,735

New Hampshire
Vermont

Rhode Island

Connecticut
New York

New Jersey
Pennsylvania
South Atlantic Division ....
Delaware
Maryland

District of Columbia ....
Virginia
West Virginia

North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
North Central Division
Ohio

Indiana
Illinois

Michigan

Minnesota

Iowa

Missouri
North Dakota

South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
South Central Division
Kentucky
Tennessee

Mississippi

Texas

Oklahoma

Western Division

Montana

New Mexico

Utah

Nevada
Idaho

Oregon

United States

488

TOBACCO LEAF.

Table XII.— GROWTH OF TOBACCO MANUFACTURING IN EACH STATE.

a Cigar
factories.

Millit
cigars
1894

>ns of
made.
1886

a No. of
factories.

b Product
mil'n's Ibs.

1894

1886

1894
6
7
24
18
60
11
20
348
92
102
45
147
67
36
29
144
87
92
17
64
8
74
5
371
253

21
355
4
63
28
134
31
79

1886

8
5
1
1

12
31
15
4
1

41
11
8
8
3
74

12

99
211
40

37

1
42
2
197
12
7

1894

11.9

26.3
1.3
10.5

17.0
TA

24.9

17.9
24.7
19.3

6.9
2.6

363
3.6
6.3

"268^-

1886

8.1

15.2
2.0
7.1

9.7
34^6

30.2

lei

18.5
14.0

3.2
1.4
39^3

5.4
210.4

Alabama

61
43
602
216
434
400
73
2,256
794
596
308
295
177
875
699

IS

878
77
342
160
1,077
10
6,847
42
2,028
164
5,661
13
67
127
241
138
955

33
22
383
100
311
194

1,454
495
305
203
273
139
815
585
670
218
721
13
189
41
868
2
5,155
26
1,691
29
4,887
21

53
168
115
696

5.3
1.6

66.5
10.9
38.7
147.8
4.5
247.8
63.7
66.9
20.4
42.0
66.2
90.9
106.5
106.3
39.3
65.4
3.7
20.5
16.5
68.5

1,044.3
7.0
406.4
6.8
1,149.9

4.4
9.3

86.8
63.7
83.9

4.1
2.3
127.4
8.7
34.8
92.6
2.0
181.3
42.7
42.3
17.9
29.6
43.6
97.5
97.3
87.4
30.8
59.5

18.2
3.2
67.4

1,085.9

277^1
1.2
847.9
1.1
3.5
4.6
24.8
41.7
60.1

California

Connecticut
Florida

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas
Kentucky

Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

.New Hampshire.. . .

New Mexico

New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee

Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Total

28,173

21,053

4,163.0

3,462.0

3,080

971

a Each account with the internal revenue department is here con-
sidered as a factory. As a matter of fact, there may be several ac-
counts in the same building. Hence the discrepancy between these
figures and those of the federal census, which last represent different
establishments.

b Product of manufactured tobacco.

Cigarettes: Total production in 1886 was 1607 millions, in 1894 was
3621 millions, divided between the States of principal production thus:
Louisiana, 12 millions in '86 against 158 millions in '94; Maryland, 119
to 36; New York, 929 to 1838; North Carolina, 262 to 737, and Virginia's
product of 273 million cigarettes in '86 increased to 823 millions in '94.

Plug Tobacco: Total product in 1886 was 131 million pounds, which
for '94 had increased to 160 millions by leading States as follows : Ken-
tucky, 13 million pounds in '86 and 22 millions in '94; Missouri 30 to 52;
New Jersey, 18 to 12; New York, 4 to 3; North Carolina, 10 to 17; Ohio,
0 to 15; while Virginia's plug tobacco output of 38 million pounds in
'86 dropped to 31 millions eight years later.

Fine Cut: Production in 1886 was 17 million pounds and only 14
millions in '94, as follows: Illinois, 1.6 to 2.1; Michigan, 0 to 4; New
Jersey, 5 to 3; and New York dropped from 3.3 to 2.3 million pounds.

APPENDIX.

489

Smoking Tobaccos : Total product jumped from 55 million pounds in
'86, to over 83 millions in '94, being from the principal States : Illi-
nois, 4.9 to 8.6; Kentucky, 0 to 3.7; Louisiana, 0 to 1.3: Maryland, 6.3 to
9.3; Michigan, 5.8 to 8.2; Missouri, 4.5 to 5.6; New Jersey, 4.9 to 5.1; New
York, 9.6 to 12.6; North Carolina, 4.7 to 7.1; Ohio 2.6 to 3.9; Pennsylva-
nia, stationary at 3; Wisconsin, 4.7 to 5.5; while Virginia and West
Virginia, which manufactured no smoking tobacco in '86, reported
4.1 and 3.6 million pounds respectively for 1894.

Snuff: Product for 1886 was 6,547,000 pounds against 11,583,000
pounds in 1894. In the latter year, the principal States that producing
snuff were: New Jersey, 4,920,000 pounds; Pennsylvania, 3,822,000
pounds; Tennessee, 965,000; Virginia, 726,000; Maryland, 493,000; Illi-
nois, 347,000 pounds. In 1886, the principal snuff-producing States
were : Delaware, 2,284,000 and New Jersey, 2,500,000 pounds.

PRICES IN HOME AND 'FOREIGN MARKETS.

Table XIII.— CIGAB LEAF AT NEW YORK CITY.

This table gives the average wholesale quotations in January and
October, at New York city, for the best gcvde of domestic tobacco used
for filling cigars. Also the same for best grades of domestic wrapper
leaf. The growths of Connecticut, New York State, Pennsylvania and
Ohio are separately stated, as their qualities are usually quite differ-
ent. From 1850 to 1857, Connecticut wrappers sold for 10 to 20 cents per
pound at New York city. Thence to 1860 the price was 10 to 40 cents.
Twenty and 25 cents was the top price until 1863, when the boom
began that culminated a year later.

[Quotations are in cents per pound.]

Cigar fillers.

1870
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1878

Cigar wrappers.

.33

.33 —

490

TOBACCO LEAF.

Table XIV.— COMPARATIVE RELATIVE PRICE8 OF TOBACCO LEAF.

In this table, 100 is the basis of values, or the index number. It
represents the average wholesale price of leaf tobacco for the year
1860. For the United States, this average is based on the mean whole-
sale quotation for the year, of all grades of leaf in the New York city
and Cincinnati markets. For London, it is the average of the whole-
sale quotations on Virginia leaf. For Hamburg, it is the average of
wholesale prices on both imported and the German-grown leaf. To
compare the fluctuations in tobacco values, we add the index num-
bers for the United States only, of wheat, cotton, wool, and the gen-
eral average for all farm products. Average comparative prices for
the first six mouths '96 are given, as compiled by American Agriculturist.

Tobacco.

Other Produce.

United
States.

Eng-
land.

Ham-
burg.

Wheat.
U. 8.

Wool.
U. S.

Cotton.
U. S.

General
Av.

1860

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

1861

95

99

113

92

81

199

92

1862

187

126

120

87

100

523

132

1863

178

215

94

101

157

782

177

1864

200

215

94

116

184

1119

260

1865

126

79

141

171

453

195

1866

108

126

73

116

133

365

172

1867

138

133

81

213

111

199

171

1868

167

133

85

193

93

247

173

1869

168

111

97

119

97

254

162

1870

158

111

94

85

93

156

147

1871

188

104

97

118

110

183

130

1872

181

126

114

119

154

173

129

1873

216

130

103

130

119

170

133

1874

180

122

103

122

115

143

138

1875

161

170

95

107

121

126

1876

146

170

103

101

90

102

115

1877

149

141

93

117

91

103

111

1878

137

126

93

107

81

99

99

1879

119

104

88

84

76

96

98

1880

138

119

94

112

109

IOC

110

1881

134

107

91

93

98

109

121

1882

141

156

81

116

95

106

114

1883

138

163

79

88

90

98

100

1884

153

141

86

84

81

94

105

1885

122

152

87

71

72

93

94

1886

100

137

88

74

76

88

97

1887

123

133

80

74

79

95

1888

111

163

79

71

72

97

96

1889

122

148

86

86

80

101

91

1890

130

148

91

71

78

96

97

1891

140

163

85

88

75

80

' 97

1896

84

?

«91

53

45

?

57

•Average for 12 months, 1895, specially furnished for this work by
the Hamburg statistical bureau. It also reports wheat averaging, for
1895, the equivalent of 69 cents per bushel, U. S. currency, against $1.20
at Hamburg, for 1891 ; the relative value of wheat being 82 for the year
1891, and only 46 for the year 1895.

APPENDIX.

491

Table XV.— COMPARATIVE MARKET PRICES OF LEAP — TOBACCO IN
HOME AND FOREIGN MARKETS.

This table shows the average wholesale quotation of the best
grades of Kentucky leaf at New York city in January, and again in
October. The same facts are given for Virginia leaf on the London
market in January and July. The yearly average wholesale price of
all leaf tobacco at Hamburg, Germany, is then given. Also the aver-
age value per pound of the leaf tobacco exported each year from the
United States.

Ken tuck v leaf at
New York.

Virginia leaf in
London .

All leaf at
Hamburg.
Av.per yr.

Av. value
leaf exp.
from U. S.

Jan.

Oct.

Jan.

July.

1840

17

11

1845

6

8

1850

10

11

1851

13

10

20

20

12

1853

9

10

14

15

12

1857

12

13

22

22

17

1860

14

13

17

16

16

1862

16

25

22

24

19

1863

30

27

30

30

15

1864

30

38

30

30

15

1865

40

30

24

12

1866

30

24

24

24

11

15.4

186T

12

14

22

22

13

10.6

1868

15

14

22

22

13

11.1

1869

13

13

20

20

15

11.3

1870

12

14

20

18

15

11.4

1871

9

11

16

16

15

9.2

1872

11

12

21

22

18

10.3

1873

12

11

22

22

16

10.7

1874

10

16

22

24

16

9.6

1875

16

15

35

35

15

11.3

1876

13

13

35

37

16

10.4

1877

12

10

28

24

15

10.2

1878

10

9

24

24

15

8.7

1879

8

20

20

14

7.8

1880

9

9

23

23

15

7.7

1881

10

12

20

20

14

8.3

1882

12

11

30

35

13

8.5

1883

11

11

35

30

12

8.3

1884

11

11

30

30

13

9.1

1885

11

11

30

30

14

9.9

1886

11

10

27

28

14

9.6

1887

10

11

26

28

12

8.7

1888

11

11

32

32

12

8.3

1889

11

10

32

32

13

8.8

1890

10

10

32

37

14

8.6

1891

10

37

37

13

8.8

1892

37

37

8.4

1893

35

—

Table XVI.— PRICES AT INTERIOR MARKETS.

Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the oldest tobacco markets in the inte-
rior, and is a distributing point for immense quantities of leaf, grown
in the central portions of the United States. Its quotations are avail-
able since 1853, and are put on record here to show the fluctuations in
prices at interior markets. There are four leading grades of the
varieties used for manufactured tobacco, but the " average " quality
and the " fine " or best grades only, are quoted. The average quota-

TOBACCO LEAF.

tion for the best quality of each grade is given for January and again
for October. Under " lugs," is given a similar quotation for common
to good leaf, used for this purpose. Quotations for the fillers grown in
that region for plugs and for cigars are also given.

[Quotations in dollars and cents for 100 pounds.]

MANUFACTURING TOBACCOS.

FILL.EK LEAF.

Average.

Fine.

Lugs.

Plug.

Cigar.

Jan.

Oct.

Jan.

Oct.

Jan.

Oct.

Jan.

Oct.

Jan.

Oct.

1853

$4.81

$6.00

$7.00

$9.50

$4.50

$5.00

1857

10.13

11.46

14.75

17.00

9.00

10.00

1862

9.25

14.13

13.50

20.00

8.00

13.00

1863

15.38

14.00

24.00

22.50

14.00

10.50

$13.50

$9.00

1864

16.25

13.75

24.00

22.50

14.00

10.50

11.00

6.75

1865

16.66

15.33

32.50

37.50

10.25

6.13

$13.06

$17.68

6.75

3.50

1866

15.13

13.50

27.50

22.50

9.00

7.75

13.43

11.31

3.00

3.00

1867

13.41

10.58

22.50

18.50

8.00

6.00

10.93

8.87

3.00

2.50

1868

12.50

13.78

22.50

22.50

7.00

8.25

10.93

11.88

2.50

5.50

1869

12.70

10.95

21.50

19.00

8.25

7.00

8.93

9.13

5.50

6.00

1870

11.20

10.22

17.00

22.50

8.25

4.50

8.93

9.81

11.50

5.00

1871

10.04

14.66

17.50

27.50

7.09

9.00

10.00

12.88

8.75

8.75

1872

15.00

13.31

26.50

24.00

9.50

9.00

13.18

12.36

6.25

9.00

1873

16.31

16.33

26.00

27.00

11.00

11.75

14.56

14.56

9.25

11.00

1874

10.75

20.58

16.50

34.00

7.00

13.50

9.50

16.13

7.00

8.50

1875

21. 7 j

19.95

35.00

34.50

15.75

12.50

18.18

16.63

8.50

7.50

1876

17.14

13.00

27.50

23.00

10.38

8.00

13.81

13.18

7.50

6.50

1877

13.06

13.06

23.00

23.00

8.00

8.00

12.28

12.28

5.50

5.50

1878

11.20

12.66

18.00

22.50

7.25

7.75

10.90

12.21

5.50

5.50

1879

14.62

12.01

25.00

20.00

8.25

8.00

12.09

11.25

6.50

6.00

1880

13.91

13.35

22.00

23.50

10.00

8.50

9.96

9.53

4.50

5.50

1881

13.81

16.79

23.50

30.00

9.25

10.00

11.15

13.25

6.50

5.00

1882

19.20

15.50

30.00

27.00

14.75

11.75

12.93

10.75

5.00

4.50

1883

13.93

15.33

23.00

25.50

12.25

12.00

9.71

10.84

5.50

5.00

1884

16.00

11.89

25.00

18.00

12.00

8.88

11.70

9.90

5.50

1885

11.00

9.20

18.50

15.75

8.12

6.88

10.15

9.00

6.00

4.50

1886

10.75

7.25

19.50

13.50

7.12

5.00

10.00

6.53

5.00

3.50

1887

7.83

17.91

15.00

28.75

5.00

11.00

6.40

15.18

4.75

4.50

1888

19.20

14.83

26.50

22.50

14.00

11.50

17.50

12.50

4.50

5.00

1889

17.08

17.45

24.00

26.00

12.25

12.25

15.18

11.87

5.00

5.00

1890

14.66

14.67

24.00

23.50

9.25

9.75

13.00

12.62

5.00

5.00

1891

13.64

13.83

23.50

24.50

8.75

8.00

11.71

12.87

6.50

9.25

1892*

7.63

11.56

14.70

20.75

5.10

7.30

11.16

13.40

1893*

11.72

9.25

17.06

14.69

8.72

6.00

13.73

11.50

1894*

9.06

8.25

13.00

14.22

5.10

5.50

10.20

10.60

1895*

7.68

8.63

12.94

14.22

4.53

5.45

10.33

10.65

1896*

8.25

15.50

4.15

10.90

•Furnished by Western Tobacco Journal. It reports total sales at
Cincinnati of White Hurley as follows: 1892, 109,612 liofislieads at an
average of 87.38 per 100 pounds of leaf; '93, 79,886 hogslieads at. $9.75;
'94, 104,010 hogsheads at $7.81; '95, 103,198 hogsheads at $6.65; '96, from
January 1 to August 15, 63,935 hogslieads, at an average of $5.18.

Table XVII.— CONSUMPTION AND TAXATION OF TOBACCO IN THE
UNITED STATES.

[Compiled from reports of U. S. Commission of Internal Revenue.]

This table gives in column No. 1 the millions of pounds of leaf
tobacco manufactured into plug, smoking, fine cut, snuff, etc., each
year. Column No. 2 shows the millions of cigars made each year ;

APPENDIX.

493

No. 3, millions of cigarettes ; while column 4 gives the total number of
both cigars and cigarettes made each year. Column 5 shows the
pounds of leaf tobacco used in making cigars and cigarettes during
the calender year ended December 31 ; and the other data are for
fiscal year ended June 30. Under " Internal Revenue Taxation," is
first given the average tax (in cents per pound) paid on manufactured
tobacco in each year, then the amount of revenue collected from this
source, also the amount collected from the internal revenue taxes on
einars and cigarettes. The next column shows the total internal rev-
enue receipts each year from tobacco, this total including not only
taxes on manufacturers and on cigars and cigarettes, but also fees for
licenses to dealers and manufacturers, and minor items. Import
duties paid each year on tobacco imported for consumption are next
shown, and the last column of all gives the aggregate of government's
receipts from all sources pertaining to tobacco. The notes following
the table give particulars about internal revenue taxes on cigars and
cigarettes, and also about the duties on imported tobacco.

Y'RS

1865
1866
1867

1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877

1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
Total

Consumption.

23.8
64.5
37.6
37.4
47.6
46.
64.3
90.2
95.1
95.2
114.7
107.'
119.4
110.3
116.1
108.8
120.3
136.2
147.0
161.3
170.3
174.1
180.7
191.5
206.4
209.3
221.5
238.2
253.8

247.1
259.1

Nos. in millions.

3,456
3,359
3,511
3,788
3,845
3,867
4,088
4,475
4,549
4,814
4,067
4,164

656

640

908

1,058

1,311

1,684

1,863

2,152

2,233

3.328

J_

199
492

713
347
484

993
1,153
1,333
1,528
1,807
1,887
1,968
1,906
1,949
2,070
2,257
2,777
3,250
3,597
3,868
4,364
3,417
4,822
5,372
5,708
6,019
6,321
7,160
7,442
7,991
7,250
7,492
108,536

in

Hi

lii

<yz «s

61.2
66.4
73.6
77.2
79.4
76.7
84.9
82.9
83.5
83.5
91.7
94.5

100.8
96.9
89.9

•90.4

tl, 322.3

Internal rev. tax.

',356 33.763
8,311 '36,219
9,128 39,235
9,73540,398

31,000 10,265 41,2(56
31,890il4,832 46,722
28,618 1 13,669 42,286

00 -AK

iTav 618T9'349T2 998,479! I

t 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 on cigars valued at $20, an average of $2.37 per M
on cigars of all descriptions. After June 30, 1864, the tax was in-
creased, 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 descri] -
tions and 50 cents for cigarettes weighing not over 3 pounds per JN1.
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 '61, 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 cjnts, cigars, cigar-
ettes and cheroots $4 per pound and 25 per cent ad valorem, snuff 50
cents, all other manufactured tobacco 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-
nal revenue taxes that are imposed upon domestic tobaccos of like
grade.

Books on Tobacco Culture.

The student is referred to the wonderfully complete Bibliotheca
fficotiana, 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 Culturdes
Tabakes in Oesterreich; Nessler, Landwirthschaftliche Versuchsta-
tionen ; Krafft, Lehrbuch der Landwirthschaft; Blomeyer, Die Culture
der landwirthschaftlichen Nutzpflanzen.

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS ON TOBACCO.

Neavder, J. Tabacologia. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1622

Stella, B. II 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

Tathain, W. Culture and Commerce of Tobacco. London, 1800

Becker, Jens Fr. Kort anviisning, til tabaks-plantning. Viborg, 1809

Normanii, J. E. Tobaksplantens, dyrkningi Norge. Christiania, 1811

Canja, A. J. Tobacco. Habana, 1812

Truchet, M. de. Culture du Tababac 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

tabac. Paris, 1833

Antz, K. C. Tabachi historia. Berolinl, 1836

Demersay, L. A. Du Tabac du Paraguay. Paris, 1851
Babo, August., Baron Von and F. Hoffacker. Der Tobak und sein

An ban. 1852

Demoor, V. P. G. Culture du Tabac. Luxembourg, 1853

Tiedemann, F. Geschichte des Tabaks. Frankfurt, 1854

Steinmetz, A. Tobacco. London, 1867

Fermond, C. Monographic du Tabac. Paris, 1857

Fairholt, Bred W. Tobacco. London, 1869

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, 1860

Fevre, J.L. P. Le Tabac. Paris, 1863

Guys, C. E. Culture of Latakia Tobacco. Technologist. London, 1863
Maling. Tobacco Trade and Cultivation of the district of Cavalla,

Technologist. London, 1863

Sax ton, Chas. W. Handbook of Tobacco Culture. New York, 1863
Coin, R. fie. History and Cultivation of Cotton and Tobacco.

London, 1864

Holzschuher. Der Tabakbau. Gotha, 1864

Henreick, B. A. Du Tabac. Paris, 1866

Courbeyre, A. Imbert. Lecons snr le Tabac. Clermont-Ferrand, 1866
Johnson, S. W. Tobacco.— Report of Chemist to the Connecticut

State Board of Agriculture. 1873

Billings, E. R. Tobacco. Hartford, Ct., 1875

Bee, A. de. Culture du Tabac en France. Aix, 1875

Allart, F. A. Culture du Tabac. Abbeville, 1876
Creighton, B. T. Culture of tobacco in Ohio. Pharmaceutical

Journal. London, 1876

De&obert, D. Culture du Tabac. Lille, 1876

HofackerundBabo. Der Tabakbau. Berlin, 1876

Nouvel, A. Le Tabac. Brive, 1876

Nouvel, A. Notes sur la Culture des Tabacs. Paris, 1876

Dunning, John. Tobacco. London, 1876

Burton, R. E. Cultivation of Tobacco. Sugar Cane. Manchester, 1877

Gilmore, E. H. History of Tobacco. Washington, 1878
Cantoni, G. L'Industria del Tobacco. Annali di Agricoltura.

Rome, 1879
Schiffmayer,. K. Tobacco and its Culture. Report of Agricultu-
ral Department, Madras Presidency. Madras, 1879
Alfonso, F. Tabacchi della Sicilia. Palermo, 1880
Anderegg, F. Tabakbau in der Scliweiz. Chur, 1880
Comes, O. Tobacco in Italia. L'a^ricolt. meridionale. Portici, 1881
Cameron, J. D. A sketch of the Tobacco Interests in North Car-
olina. Oxford, 1881
Van Gorkom, K. W. De Oost-Indisclie Cultures. Amsterdam, 1881
Zimmermann, J. H. Tabaksbaubuchlein. Aarau, 1881
Killebrew, J. B. Report on the Culture and Curing of Tobacco,

U. S. Census. Washington, 1883
Clark, J. Composition of Tobacco. Journal Soc. Chem. Industry.

Manchester, 1884

Meyer, F. H. Havana cigars. Philadelphia, 1885

Taylor, Philip M. Tobacco. London, 1886

Lock, Chas. G. W. Tobacco. London, 1886

Beale, Edw.J. English Tobacco Culture. London, 1887

MacDonald, A. Le Tabac dans les Etats-Unis. Paris, 1889

Popovici, M. Tutunul. Bucharest, 1896

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Assorting lieavy shipping 450
Balloon frame barn 198
Barn for White Hurley 180

Horizontal ventilators 217
Inspecting and sampling 276
Inspector drawing samples
heavy leaf 268

Basement Snow barn 188

Interior Snow barn 190

Box shop and printing office .. 470

Kentucky barns 170, 171
Killebrew J B ii

Bush for burning 109
Garotte of Perique tobacco .... 376
Carr S P .viii

Leaf attacked by worm 253
Leaf injured by red-legged

Carrying tobacco to market.. .. 319
Cigar leaf barn 186

Leaf room in plug factory 454
Life size worm 250

Clark' M.H vii
Connecticut broadleaf . . . .19, 23, 400

Making snuff 12
Making spun roll tobacco 11

Curing barn for yellow tobacco 182

Mel hod of fix ing cloth 132

leaf 173

Development broom rape 256
Diffenderfer F R ix

Moodie, F. B viii

Movable frame for plant bed . 120

Myrick Herbert ii

End of frame 178
Factory for manufacturing .... 452

North Carolina warehouse 264
Office in factory 480

Field heavy leaf ready to hang 300
Field ready for transplanting. 162
Five-tier, five-room barn 185

Packing room in factory . ..470, 476
Packing the hands 311
Patent ventilated Wisconsin
barn 194

Flues in yellow tobacco barn.. 185
Fort Walter A xii

Pennsylvania barn 192
Pennsylvania leaf in barn... . 426

Frye H S xii

Pennsylvania seed bed 121

Greenville warehouse 260
Ground plan framed barn 175
Growing Cuban tobacco 442
Hanger for leaves 193, 360
Hanging un wilted tobacco 420

Plant bed frame with cloth
cover 119
Pole with hands of leaves on
either side 365
Poquonock experimental field 393

Plug factory 462

Harvesting yellow 367
Hauling White Hurley to barn. 341
Havana seedleaf 28 3° 378 416

Press room in plug factory 460
Pryor, Silky 64,68

Heavy shipping 56,60,292
Heavy shipping tobacco on
scaffold 303

Removing cloth cover from bed 148
Sale of shipping tobacco 272
Sanderson W. W . . xiv

Sectional plan Wisconsin barn 196

33

498

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Selling hogshead tobacco at

Tobacco smoked through tube. 4

Setting plants by hand 157
Setting plants in Tennessee. ... 154
Side elevation German barn. .. 200
Side view German frame 199

Tobacco worm of the South ... 244
Topping heavy shipping leaf .. 294
Transplanting machine 160
Transplanting tobacco in olden
times 14

Spearing tobacco onto lath .... 423

Traveling cutworm 223
Tree cricket 227

Stoves and flues for curing
seedleaf 214
Street scene in Louisville mar-

Typical negro helper 324
Vertical section Wisconsin
barn 195

ket 284

Vuelta Abajo 446

Stripping casks for inspection

Watering set plants 165
Weighing hogsheads 280

Sucker, heavy shipping 296
Sumatran seedleaf 36, 434

Well braced frame 177
White Burlev. . .40, 44, 48, 52, 346, 349
White Barley hung in barn 349

Tappan, Wallace x
Tobacco drinker 7
Tobacco field in old Virginia . . 328
Tobacco in storage 282
Tobacco miner 237
Tobacco sale at Clarksville . . . 274

White Hurley hung in field .... 334
White Burley on scaffold 338
Wimberlv, Geo. L x
Wooden frame for plant bed... 117
Wrapper room in plug factory. 456

INDEX.

Analyses

Chemical, of plants 485

Cottonliull ash 139

Cottonseed meal 125

Manures and fertilizers em-
ployed 112

Seed 485

Soils 336

Yellow tobacco soils 359

Anderson, T. C 213

Andross xiii, 401

Area devoted to tobacco

Heavy shipping 291

In United States 17

Perique 76

White Burley 333

Yellow 12

Assorting

Cigar leaf 430

Heavy leaf 318, 450

White Burley 347

Yellow 367

Austin, H 206

Bacteria and tobacco

Curing and manufacture. . . .91-104

In sweating tobacco 103

Molds 91

Office in curing 95

Office in fermentation 99

Reproduction of 92

Special cultures 102

Yeast ferments 91

Barns

Arrangement flues 194

Balloon frame 207

Best localities for building. . . 188

Capacity square 193

Cigar leaf 186, 187, 201

darks ville district heavy

leaf 173-175

Florida 206

Flues for curing yellow 185

Frame 176-178

Framed in South 186

German 199,200,203

Havana leaf 201

Heavy leaf 179-185

Improvement In 179

Kentucky 170, 171

Log 172, 183, 193

Manufacturing tobacco 179

Most approved 193

Mud walls of 195

Northern cigar leaf 206

Ohio 205

Pennsylvania 205

Size 179

[499]

Snow 188-190, 196

Square 193

Ventilation in 204

White Burley 180, 189

Wisconsin 206

Yellow 182-184, 191, 196

Behrens, Dr. J 95, 98, 101

Books on tobacco culture. . .496, 497

Bordeaux mixture 245

Broun, Le Roy Ix

Browder, Thos. E.. xii

Burn of t obacco

Conditions for good 84

Effect of chlorine 83

Effect of mineral salts 84

Important in cigars 396

Injured by coarse nitroge-
nous matter 110

Poquonock experiment 83, 396

Results by Nessler 82

Schloesing 83

Cameron and Cameron x

Carpenter, F. G x, 486

Carr, Julian S xil

Carr.S. P vili, x, 277

Chapman, Mr 207

Cigarettes

Method of manufacture 465

Number made per day 466

Production in United States. 465

Tobacco for 465

Cigar leaf

Ability of United States to

produce its own 381

Amount paid for imported. .. 381

Assorting 72, 430

Binders 73

Buying leaf 72

Casing or boxing 431

Colors 73

Cost of producing 385

Cultivation (see Chap, on Cul-
ture)

Culture at South and West. .. 385

Distribution of crop 389

Fillers 73

General considerations 379

Gum in leaf 75

Hanging 424

Harvesting 421

Hawaiian Islands 381

Importance of attention to

details 389

Mexican 381

Pennsylvania experience — 408

Preparation of soil 409

Prices for 387

500

INDEX.

Quality 385,387, 395
Cigar leaf at the West and South
California 435

Topped plant.. . ,

19
xii

Connor, H. G

Colorado 435
Fermentation house in Fla... 443
Fertilizers used in Florida... 444
Florida soil 446
Florida 435
Georgia 435
Harvesting in Florida 448

82 89

Effect of

Rd

Magnesia 397
Nicotine 79, 291,295
Nitrogen «Q mi

Starcli
Sugar
Woody fiber
Consumption

81
81
81

16

Nebraska 433
Planting in Florida 444
Quantity fertilizer applied .. 392
Ripening 418

France
Increase

16
16, 26
16

Soils 405

Special fertilization 391
Status of industry 379

United States
Commercial distinctions.

... 16, 492
46

Stripping 425
Suckering 418

Cigar leaf tobacco
Cross fertilization

..404,432
31

7

Texas 435
Varieties 71 409

Washington 435
Wisconsin 433

Mexico
Origin and spread
Yellow tobacco
Culture cigar leaf
Cultivation . .

27
3
10

405 412

Casing 468

415

Form cigars 472
Handmade cigars 471

Preparation of soil
Priming

409
417

407

Packing 473
Preparing for work 471
Regulations 467
Stripping 469
Waste from 474

Soils

404
417
409

Topping
Varieties

Curing
Artificial

'..'.'.'.' 226
430

Clark, M. H vli, xi

Casing or boxing
Escape of water in

431
226
424

African shippers 49, 69
Chewing 47, 50
Cigars 49, 71

Harvesting
Heavy shipping

421
-.216,217
227

Cigar and smoking 71
Continental shippers 49, 58
English shippers 49, 54
Fine cut and plug fillers 47
For exportation 49
Mexico (see America .and West
Indies shippers) 47, 70

In leaf vs. stalk
Leaf alone vs. on stalk.
Loss of weight in
Object in
Pennsylvania results. . .

215
231
224
218
226

Ripening
Seedleaf

418
221

Nondescript 71

425

Suckering
Sweating
Temperature 20
Time required
White Burley
Wisconsin experiments
Yellow.

418

..215,431
9, 215, 219
..211,224
219
226
209

Smoking 49

Stems 71

Stogy wrappers 77

Yellow 69
Climatic effect . 29 46

Competition .'
Foreign leaf 21
Composition
At various stages of growth 84, 485
Average cigar leaf 486

Best weather for
In hot sun
Cutworms (see Pests)

313
313

410

Davidso'n ix,
Davis. R.B ,

58, 90, 485
211

Description of.... .. 35

INDEX.

501

Compared with other indus-

Deli Maatschappy's enterprise 383
Dibrell, Wm. M x
Diffenderfer, F. R ix, xiii

Applying potash salts 138
Availability of nitrogen 121
Availability of different ni-
trogenous manures 122
Barn manure 114

A new disease 241
Black flre . 238

Bone black 112
Castor bean pomace 113 122 127,394

Frencliing 240

Hollow stalk 241

Commercial 147, 394, 407

!!'_', 139, 395, 397

Of growing plants 238
Pole burn 96, 208, 217, 230, 233
Spotted leaf 240
Stem rot 98, 235
Walloon or Water loon 241
White veins 98, 208, 235

Cottonseed meal 113, 122, 123
Demands of tobacco 89
Dissolved bone black 112
Double manure salt 112
Dried blood 112, 122, 130
Effect on soil 86, 118

Distance between plants
Connecticut broadleaf 411
Havana seed 411

Fish 113, 122, 131
Formulas 145, 146
Gluten meal 127

Dowell, Chas xi
Collected in 1590 by England 6

Hen manure, fresh 113
Horn ami hoof 122

Effect of McKinley duty 383

Higher duties to come 381

Kainit 112
Krugit 111

Leather 122

Of 1883 .... 380

Lime . . 112 142

DuBon, John E xiii

113, 122, 126, 395

Manufactured . 147

Manure 114

Manuring heavy leaf 297

Mechanical condition 111

First 5
For four years before Revo-

Nitrate of potash 112
Nitrate of soda 112, 122, 135
Nitrogen r>0 394

France 58
From provinces of Maryland
and Virginia 6 7

Nitrogen salts 133
Peruvian guano 112

bacco 88, 90

Italy 61
Netherlands 67

Plaster 112
Potash necessary 136

Portugal 66

Potash salts 137, 140, 408

Spain 62

Principles of 108
Seed bed 159

United Kingdom 54

Export tobacco
African shippers 49, 69
Continental .shippers 49, 58
English shippers 49,54
Mexico, South America and
West Indies 49 70

Soft Florida phosphate 112
South Carolina floats 112
South Carolina rock phos-
phate 113
Special for cigar leaf (see
Chap XVIII)

Regie types 58
Stems . . 71

Sulphate of ammonia 112, 134

Trade 282

Sulphate of magnesia 112

Family 27
Fertilizers

Sulphate of potash 112
Supplying 84

Actual requirements 116
Ammonia 123

Temperature and rainfall — 106
Tobacco leaf 113

Amount to apply 120

Using commercial, 147, 149, 397, 401

502

INDEX.

"What not to use 109

Topping 294 307

"White Hurley . 344

Wood ashes 112, 140, 390

barn 317

Financial interests'represented 20
Foot Walter A . xii

Worming 310
History 4

Frear, Prof. Win.

Florida 9

ix, 91, 208, 226, 232, 486
Frve H S . xii xiii

InNewEngland 8

Fulton, A. W xiii

Miami valley 9

Garman, Prof. H ix

North Carolina 10

Goessman, Prof. C. A x, 486

Goff E S x 224,226,230 233

Virginia 4 10

White Burley 12

Affected by distance in plant-

Wisconsin 9

ing 301

Belgian cutter 67

Chewing tobacco 50, 53
Cigar leaf . . . 75

Hogsheads

Size 326 348

Weight 7

Heavy shipping 295 310 312

Perique contains 371

Increase in 22

Shag 67

Crickets 247

Shippers for Mexico 70

Flea beetle 243

Cigar leaf 424

Snow fleas 243

See Pests

Irrigation 106 107

Number of plants on pole — 424
With lath 424
With twine 424
Harthill Alex xii xiii

Florida tobacco 447
Jenkins, Dr. E. H . . . .ix, 392, 443, 486
Johnson, Dr. S. W. .x, 88, 90, 161, 486
Kendrick J C xi

Kerr 356

Cuban 382

Cultivating 414

Killebrew, A. B xi

Culture 387

Killebrew, J. P ... xi

Lee J G ii

Lowell, O. K 482

Plant in flower 32

Manufacture

Cigar 18, 467

Assorting and prizing 320, 321

Cigarettes 18,464,488

Cultivating 303

Culture . 298 313

Fine cut . . 488

Curing 290

Money invested 20

Cutting and housing 310
Distance between plants 301
Districts 291

Pipe-smoking tobacco 462
Plug tobacco 453,488
Smoking 489

Favorite varieties 43
Field ready to be hung 300
Hanging 314

Snuff 459
Snuff, Ings and smokers.... 66, 489

Kentucky field of 292

Varieties for cigars 49

Analyses 112 113

Name : . 290
Number of leaves left 308
Ordering 323

Birn 114
Content of average ton 116
Definition 114

Preparation of new ground for 302
Preparation of soil for 295
Seed plant . 60

Effect on soil 118
Feed affects quality 115

Soil for 291

Promotes quick fermentation 118

INDEX.

503

Dried* fish " 122* 131

Austria 62
Belgium 67
Clarksville 8

Gluten meal 127
Linseed or flaxseed meal 126

Nitrogen salts 135, 136

France 58

Other substances 133

Germany 57, 65
Great Britain 54

Pace, Capt. E. M xii, 214
Packing 327

Italy 61

Louisville 8
Netherlands 66 67

Area 370

Russia 65
Spain . 62

Cultivation of 372

Switzerland 66
United Kingdom 54
Marketing

Harvesting 273
Making of seed bed 371

Assorted for 275

Quantity 370

Cigar leaf 263

Cincinnati market 266
Competition in 264

Broom rape 256, 258
Bud worm 225, 247

Drawing samples 271
Export trade 282
Loose 267

Crickets 247
Cutworms 223,245
Early frost 260

Magnitude heavy leaf trade. 286

Flea beetle 243

Prized or inspected leaf 269

Hail 259

Shipping tobacco 272

Horn worms 239
Miner 237 249

Storage and auction fees 273
Strips 286

Moths of cutworms 223
Red-legged grasshopper.. 229, 235

Warehouse system 265
Yellow districts 277

Rust or fire blight 238

McKeage, B. F 462

Sucking bugs 248

Mason, Thos xi, xiii
Moore, Gideon E 374 486

Tree cricket 227
Wind 261

Moodie, Col. F. B viii, xiv, 440

Wireworms 247

Morse, W. C xiii
Miiller-Thurgau.. 95

Worm 242,244,250, 251
Plant

Myrick, Lock wood xiii

Composition Va. leaf 485

Nature 27

Negro labor 327

Flowers of 27

Advantages of 329

Plant beds . 115, 117, 119-121, 132, 148

Characteristics 329

Poquonock results

Difference between negro and
white labor 331
Employed by warehousemen
as well as planters 329
Nessler x, 83, 99
Nicotine . .

Fertilizer 105, 120, 391, 394
Field 393
Quality of crops 396
Powell, E.P 262
Price

As active principle 79, 81

Cigar leaf at N. Y .city 489

Changes in amount 81

Comparative 490

Formation and accumulation 80
Percentage of 53, 79, 80
Nitrogenous fertilizers
Ammonia 123
Amount to apply 120
Analyses . 112 113

In 1754 in Virginia 7
Increase 16
In home and foreign markets 489
Yellow wrappers 368
Propagating from slips 410

Availability 121, 122
Best time to apply 119

Chief among diseases 233

Cottonseed ineal 123, 125

In cigar leaf.... ... 419

504

INDEX.

Occasioned by changes In

Soil vs. manures and fertili-

Remedy for 234
Unknown in Florida 448
Ventilators 217, 227

Tobacco does not exhaust — 68
What tobacco takes from. . . . 88
White Burley 335, 339

Production
Increase in United States 17 486.

Yellow 355,358

Psychrometer 211, 228
Quality

Advance in value 16

Influenced by soil and cli-
mate 29
Ragland, R. L 209, 214

tries 18
Demand increasing 16
Development in manufactur-
ing.. is

English in 1676 6
English in 1731 6

Increase in consumption 16

Government increase 18, 20

Per capita consumption, in-

Internal tax „• 18

Present 20, 22

Successful producer of 21
Ridger 410

Stemmeries and strips 282

Sanderson, W. W xiii, xiv, 402

Schloesing, Th x, 83, 99
Schultz Jos K 412

Stripping

Science and tobacco 79,81,90
Scovell, M.A ix
Seed

Method of 428
When done 425
Stubbs Wm C ix

Amount sown in Connecticut 153
Analyses sown in South.. 153, 485

Sturgis, Dr. Wm. C .97, 98, 233
Suchsland, Emil 102

Price of 164

Raising best 163
Selection of 166

Amount required to wrap

Selecting plants 164

Sprouting 153, 155

Countries experimenting with 381

Effect of McKinley duty 383

Yield per acre of 164
Seed bed

Growing in Florida 434

Best time for burning 159

Plant in flower 36
Profits of 381

Covering for beds 156
Florida 447

Topped plant 36

Methods in different sections 158

Nature of process 102
Ordinary leaf 100

Stogy 77

Setting plants in Tenii. soil.. 154
Sims John . xi 363

Yellow 215

Slate, W. C 164

Tables

Smith, J. B 364
Snuff

American crop 487
Analyses of fertilizers 11"> 113

Kinds 459

Maccaboy 461

. .490,491

Product for '96 489

Composition Va leaf 485

Scotch 459,' 461

Sweet 461

in United States. .. 492

Soil
Cigar leaf 404

Fertilizers usedatPoquonock 394

Color of soil affects color of
leaf 294

each State 488
Imports of leaf • 380

Effect of manure on 118
Effect on leaf 29 46

Number cigar planters and

Florida 444, 446
Heavv shinuiner 291. i".U. 286

Plant food removed by aver-
aee vield t>er acre... . •• 90

INDEX.

505

acre tobacco and other
crops 90
Pounds plant food removed
from soil 88
Prices and values cigar leaf . 390
Prices cigar leaf N. Y. city. . . 489
Prices interior markets 491
Quality Poquonock crops — 396
Sumatraii tobacco, quantity

Beat-All 34

Belknap 34

Bui If ace 34

Bullion 42

Bullock 35
Burley, White 35, 40, 44, 48, 52
Chewing 43
Clardy 35
Climax 42

Yield per acre and total crop
cigar leaf 390

Connecticut seedleaf 17, 23, 35
Cuba 35

Tariff ..' '.
Of 1883 494

Duck Island 35
Favorite in the South 43

Of 1890 9

In different years 494

Florida 37
Frederick 37

Direct 21
English 15, 58
Internal revenue 18, 494

Gold tinder 42

United States 492
Tazzinari experiments 24
Tliomason, Jas. I xii
Thompson, W. C xii
Tobacco as a remedy
Cholera morbus 480

Gourd leaf 37
Governor Jones 37
Havana seed 28, 32, 37, 71

Heavy stemming 45
Hester 37

Decline 475
Effect 477
For sprains, bruises, etc 475
Insect 481
Kind of tobacco 477

Hickory leaf . 37

Johnson green 38

Kitefoot 38 78

Little Dutch 38, 78
Locks 38, 74

Poultice 475, 477
Skin diseases 475 479

Sore eyes 475

Lancaster broadleaf 38

Field ready for machine 162
Hand 170

Mahogany wrappers 45
Mann 38

Machine-set plants 173
Preparat ion for 169

Nicotiana pessica 29

Time of 176 178

Watering plants after 172

Orinoco, big 38

Pennsylvania seedleaf 39
Perique. . 39 76

Clarksville 67

French regie 58

Pryor, blue 39
Pryor silky 39 64 68

German saucer 63
German spinner 63
Scotch elder 58

Pryor, yellow 39

Pryor, white 39
Ragland's Conqueror 42
Ragland's Improved Orinoco, 42
Red Burley 12

Snuff lugs and smokers 66

Uses

As disinfectant 24
First 3
Is its use injurious? 14.22, 24
As a remedy (see chapter 011
Tobacco as a Remedy)
Value
Advance in 16
Varieties
Adcock . 34

Sleek stem 39

Smoking 43

Spanish seed 39

Thickest 41
Twist bud 41

Vallandigham 41
Wand 41

Baden 34

Baltimore Cuba 34

506

INDEX.

Yellow 43, 6£
Yellow 111:1111 mot ii 4:
Zimmer's Spanish

, 74

, 5<i
42

7

2(i()
264

Touped plant 40, 48, 52
Topping 345
Two varieties 341

Ventilation (see Barns)
Warehouses
First established

Where grown
Whitney Mr

.... 333

405

Williamson, Bright
Wimberly, Geo. L, x,

.... xii

xv, 210

u:i-
. . . . 45
.... 388
, 57, 459
.... 368

Greenville

Water in leaf
Brought to surface by sap-
ping
For making strips
In tobacco ready for curing..

210
285
215
22o

310
IOC

455
K9
232
2S4
489

34(1
350
345
11
11
334
35
333
344
34C

333

350
11
34X
343

348

Favorite varieties for
liogany
Per cent, of in sugar crop
Plug 53

Yellow
Wright Co J

Weather

Yellow tobacco

... 367

Cool
In relation to fertilization. . .
Weight

Classification wrappers..
Cultivation

... 368
.11,361
.... 366

. 41

Casks for tobacco

Leaf cured in stalk
Loss in making strips

Cutters

Favorite varieties
Fertilizers for
Fillers

.... 43
.... 361

a«» :<r,q

Virginia tobacco

Assorting and stuffing
Best cutting leaf

Finest leaf 353
Harvesting 362
Management after curing. . . . 366
Origin 10,357
Patents for stringing 363
Planting s*51

Character of leaf
Curing .

Description' of
Experiments with
Fertilization and rotation . . .
Harvesting
Largest producing counties

Preparation of land
Quantity produced

.... 359
.... 352
10

Seed plant

.... 68
369

11

Manufacturing leaf

Stripping from stalk
Topped plant

362, 364
..64,74
362

Origin

Typical soils for 11,
Wraoners . . .

355,358
3G8. 309

Prizine....

SENT KREB ON APPLICATION

DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE

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CONTAINING 116 8vo. PAGES,

PBOJTJSKLY ILLUSTRATED, AND GIVING FULL DHSCRIPTIOKS o»
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Allen's New American Farm Book.

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Henderson's Gardening for Profit.

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