TOBACCO . LEAF ■ Its Culture and Cure, Marketing and Manufacture A practical handbook on the most approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing, packing and selling tobacco, also of tobacco manufacture y .^ -BY- j/eyKILLEBREW, A. M., PH. D., For ten years state commissioner of agriculture of Tennessee, and anthor of exhaustive reports on the crops and resources of that state. Special expert on tobacco for the tenth I'. S. census, and author of its comprehensive report on the culture and curing of tobacco. Author of "Sheep Husbandry," "Grasses and Forage Plants," "Wheat Culture," "Elementary Geology for Schools." One of the Editors of the Standard Dictionary, Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Honorary Member of the Clarksville To- bacco Board of Trade. — AND— HERBERT lyiYRICK, B. S. Editor Niw 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. Afsistt'd by successful tobacco growers, dealers in the leaf, maimfac- liners of tobacco, and by specialists in the sciences. ^i PRORUSElvY IIvIvUSTRATKD NEW YORK ORANGE JITDD COMPANY 1898 V TV >^\ Copyrigl't. l'^9". By orange jnHD COMPAKX \ U. DFC 2 1898 S.J TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. Essentials in Tobacco Culture. Page. CHAPTER I. Origin and Spread of Tobacco Cultnre 3 CHAPTER II. Status of the Tobacco Industry— On the Use of the Weed IC CHAPTER III. Varieties of the Tobacco Plant 27 CHAPTER IV. Classification of Tobacco Grown in the United States, and the Marlf ets for it 4fi CHAPTEIl V. Science in its Application to Tobacco 79 CHAPTER VI. Manures and Fertilizers 105 CH\P"-KR VII. The Seed Bed— Raising Seed 150 CHASTE.: VIII. Transplanting '. 169 CHAPTER IX. To Ijacco Barns and Sheds 179 CHAPTEIl X. On Curing Tobacco 208 CHAPTER XI. Pestsof Tobacco— Diseases, Insects, the Elements.. 233 CHAPTER XII. Marketing of Tobacco 203 PART II. Heavy Leaf and Manufacturing Tobaccos. CHAPTER XIII. Heavy Shipping Tol)acco 290 CHAPTER XIV. Tlie White Burley and Manufacturing Tobacco ... 333 CHA PTER XV. Yellow Tobacco 352 CHA PTER XVI. Perique Tobacco. ..." 370 PART in. 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 4i!3 PART IV. Tobacco Manufacture. CHAPTER XXI. On the Manufacture of Tobacco 452 CHAPTER XXII. Tobacco as a Remedy 475 APPENDIX, statistics, etc 483 V 3 PREFACE The object of the authors of this work is to give a compreliensive 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- LEWIS R. CLAKK. M. H. CLARK. 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 ujion this sub- ject among both growers and the trade. The senior author has devoted years to the collec- tion of facts and methods pertaining to the Heavy Ship- ping, Bright, Burley and Perique tobaccos, and has carefully verified disputed points by experimenting on his own plantation. The junior author has compiled vii Vlll PREFACE. and verified the experience of the most successful growers of cigur-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 foi* 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 j^ersons 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 ex^^erience 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, Ave have enjoyed the invaluable F. B. MOODIE, FLORIDA. S. P. CAKK, VIKGINIA. PREFACE. IX F. K. DIFFKNDEKB'EK, PENNSYLVANIA. assistance of the most experienced experts. Without the generous aid of these gentlemen, a work of this character coukl not have been published. Their serv- 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 toljacco work at the Pennsylvania experiment station, who is the author of the admirable treatise on the bacteriology of tobacco ; Dr. E. H. Jen- kins, yice 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 Eoy 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. OKOKGE L. WIMBEKLV, N. C. been made of the excellent work done by Prof. E. S. Goff, at the Wisconsin experiment station, by F. G. Carpenter, at the Nortli Carolina experiment station, and by Dr. S. W. Johnson of Connecticut, and by Nessler, Schloesing, and others in Germany. Among tlie 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, HaHfax county, himself a successful planter, who has descended through a long line of successful tobacco growers reach- ing back nearly 200 years. Mr. g:"" "'^ Carr has never failed to respond W 2)rom])t]y and cheerfully for any f information, and when the facts "were not at his command, he has spared neither time nor ex- pense in securing data for us, and his substantial and ready assistance fully entitles him to sliare with lis in the authorship of the work. In Tennessee, onr obliga- tions are due to F. W. Taylor and George C. Carthrons of Mor- ristown, to C. Austin of Greene- ville, Jack Cronch of Clarks- ville, Hon. James G. Aydelotte of Tullahoma, Walter Fort and Mr. Harned of Robertson county. Otto Giers of WALLACK TAPPAN, NEW YUKK. PREFACE. XI Nashville. A. B. and J. P. KillebreAv, of Montgomery county, larc-o 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. Kondrick, president of the Clarks- ville tobacco board of trade, and M. H. Clark, the Nestor among to- bacco dealers of Tennes- see. Mr. Clark's high intelligence and exten- sive and varied knowl- edge of tobacco among all civilized nations, and his intimate acquaintance with the special types suita- ble for consumption by the various peoples of the earth, make his contribution to this work of special and authoritative value. The rich endowments of his mind are only equaled by the excellence of his ad- dress, his high courtesy as a gentle- man, and his gracefulness and perspi- cuity as a writer. His brother, Lewis R. Clark, a full associate in the to- bacco trade, is also a gentleman of rare culture and of varied attainments. He has never hesitated to comply with any request made of him for information pertaining 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. THOMAS MASON, OHIO. jPCTft Pl^ I JOHN SIMS, VIRGINIA. Xll PREFACE. H. S. FRYE, COKNECTICUT. Kentucky's interest in this work, besides that already mentioned, is represented by contributions from Alexander Harthill, of Louisville, 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, 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. PREFACE. Xlll W. F. ANDROSS, CONN. Thomas Mason of Cincinnati, the accomplished editor of the Westerji Tobacco Journal, has never failed to answer inqniries 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 hirgely 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. Ill the cigar leaf portions of the work, Ave are particularly in- debted to W. W. Sanderson, one of the most careful and practical exi^erts 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. AVal- lace Tappan, of Onondaga coun- ty, New York; Pres. W. C. Morse, of the Chemung valley (N. Y. ) growers' association ; Mr. F. K. Diffenderfer of Lan- caster county, and other Penn- sylvania growers; Mr. Jacob Zimmer, of the Miami valley, Ohio, and several Wisconsin planters. The chapter on cigar-leaf culture in the South and West i§ largely based ALEX HARTHILL, KY. XIV PREFACE. on the successful practical experience of Col. F. B. Moodie, president of tlie Florida tobacco growers' associ- ation ; A. Alonzo Cordery, vice president of the Cuban tobacco growers' company in Southern Florida, and to Dr. Jenkins' careful studies of the extensive operations with tobacco in Florida. It is also to the gentlemen enumerated that we are mainly indebted for the large number of original nhoto- 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 jilants 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 ol)serve 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 a])plied 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 supj)lying its own consumption, with the cigar leaf heretofore imported. W. 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 the mysteries which rest in the unrelieved darkness of unlettered history. Pipes from prehistoric mounds in the United States, Mexico and Peru prove the extreme antiquity of tobacco, and pipes are found only in American ruins or mounds. Columbus, during his first voyage, saw the natives smoking it, and in sub- sequent voyages the fact was noted that it was used by the aborigines in smoking, chewing and snuffing. It is supposed to have taken the name tobacco, by which the Spaniards called it, from the tohaco, 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 ''ptetum" ; 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 TOBACCO LEAF. r 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 herha 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 ont by Sir Walter Raleigh, which discovered Virginia and North Carolina, mentions the fact that the Spaniards called tlie plant tobacco. In 158G, 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 SMOKED THROUGH A thc husband of Pocahontas, and grew TUKK, AS FIRST SEEN tobacco for cxport to the mother coun- BY COLUMBUS. . oi LI j:l t L^^ n Fro,n Lobers" History try- Shortly aftcrwards Sir George of Plants," 1576. Ycardlcy, the deputy governor, en- couraged the colonists to grow it for profit. In 1617, the streets, market places and all the open lots of James- town were planted in tobacco. But for tobacco, the set- tlement of Virginia at that period would have proved a failure, for it became the currency of the country, the measure of all values and the sole product of Virginia that would command articles of value in exchange. ORIGIN AND SPREAD. In June, 1619, twenty thousand pounds were shipped to England. James I, a pedant in learning and a fool in statecraft, made a fuiious 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- /\f./iW'n yy^^iUlihli^ tion stone upon which was '^ v-ounds each, wliich yielded 375,000 pounds sterling, or $1,875,000. The imposts on this were 180,- 000 pounds sterling, or 1900,000. 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 unmei'chantable 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 12.Jd 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 1 745 to 1755 inclusive, were 44,000 hogs- heads. The annual exportation from the American colonies from 1703 to 1770, was G6,780 hogsheads of 1000 pounds each. For the four years just before the Kev- olutionary war, 100,- 000,000 pounds were sent abroad annually. The average exports during the war of the Eevolution were 12,000,000 pouuds. 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 Orleaus to supply them with sev- eral boat loads of tobacco. It is believed that most of FIG. 4. A TOBACCO " DRrNKER " INHALING SMOKE AND EXPELLIXG IT BY THE NOSE, AS PRACTICED BY THE DITCH ABOl'T 1(>00. Copied from a rare book on tobacco published at Rottenlam, 1623. 8 TOBACCO LEAF. this was grown in Kentucky. In the sonthern 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 wliich it still holds. From this time on, the Western markets for tobacco sprang up in many places. Insjiection ware- houses were estab- lished in Louisville as early as 1839, and in Clarksville in 1845. At these markets, casks are PIPE OP V. AR. PIPE OP PEACE. Stripped, irom tne FU. .. PIPES OF AMERICAN INDIANS. tobacco, aud sam- ples drawn by sworn inspectors. These two i^laces, .Louisville and Clarksville, are the pioneer inspectioii 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 SPEEAD. 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 industrv ffradu-^^^-^* prehistoric pipe used by . -, J, -lown J. THE MOUND P.UILDERS IN THEMIS ally revived Irom 1878 to sissippi valley oentukies 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 capabihties 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 prosj)erous 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 ^^ wlth firCS Diadc ROSS COUNTY, OHIO, U. S. A. £ i From Smithsonian Report, 1848. 01 CharCOal, reg- ulated in a definite manner. They succeeded, by this means, in giving to it a beautiful lemon-yellow color. Their neighbors caught the infection, and soon the to- bacco from Caswell county began to arrest the attention of the tobacco dealers by reason of its superior beauty and sweetness. High prices were paid 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. j.1 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 23lants 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 ''^^'" ^' m^J^^ng spun roll ' 1 . ^ . TOBACCO, 1700. and sickly, scrubby pines, that in From an om poster. 1860 could with difficulty be sold for fifty cents per acre, were soon in demand at thirty to fifty dollars per acre. Old towns that had been well-nigh deserted because of the decay of agriculture in their vicinity, suddenly took on new life. New streets were laid out, great blocks of buildings were erected, railroads were constructed, and the constant going and coming of hustling business men made a transformation as great and almost as quick, and certainly as profitable, as would the discovery of gold mines. Indeed, the yellow-tobacco interests of North Carolina proved far more beneficial to the whole popula- tion than the finding of gold mines would have been; Gradually the planting extended, first westward from the Piedmont region to the steep ridges lying at the foot of the lofty mountains in Buncombe and other counties in western North Carolina. Many thriving 12 TOBACCO LEAF. towns wore built up, hnndreds of prosperous manufac- turing establishments of cotton and tobacco followed in the wake of this new tobacco trade. In a few years the soils of the Champaign regions were tested for their capacity to grow this yellow tobacco, and the success with such soils opened a new district for its expansion and cultivation. Then the culture extended still further westward over the mountains, to the sunny .slopes of Unicoi, Greene and Washington counties in Tennessee, where its growth rescued many villages from decay and planted a prosperity in that region which it had never before enjoyed. Nor is its progress yet ended. North Georgia, western South Carolina, the white lands of the Highland Rim in middle Tennessee and Alabama, the white, sandy and clayey soils of West Tennessee, and of the hill regions of Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, and the sides of the Ozark mountains in Missouri, FIG. 9. MAKING snuTf. 1700. Diay all bc transfomicd from re- From Fairiioii's" Tobacco." gious of Comparative jjoverty 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 Tnllahoma, 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 Eed Burley seed. The plants came up ORIGIlsr A2S^D 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 fini.sh 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, retainmg 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 Eed 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 2^^ cured, measured six feet in length, and were so handsome in ,„ FIG. 10. TRANSPORTING TOBACCO IN THE appearance, and the olden times. tissue of the leaves was so fine, that Mr. Webb placed them on exhibition in the Bodeman warehouse 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, whicli yielded 11,000 jiounds 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. Exj)eriments were made in its culture in every part of the tobacco-growing area of the United States, but it was soon found, as it was with the growth of yellow tobacco, that it may be produced in its perfection only upon the soils adapted to it. The blue limestone regions of Kentucky and the drift soils of southern Ohio have almost a monopoly of its culture, as the light, sandy regions and whitish, clayey districts have the monopoly of the growth of the yellow tobacco. Within three hundred and seventy years the culti- vation of tobacco has extended from the streets of Jamestown to every quarter of the globe. Population has moved westward, tobacco eastward. Of all the stimulants and narcotics used by man, it is probably the least injurious in its effects upon the human system. Yet it may be injurious, and often is, so much so that its culture and use has ever been bitterly contested. In spite of all this, tobacco grows on every land and is used by every people. From New England to Louisiana, from Virginia to the prairies of the West, from the OEIGLN 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 INDUSTKT — 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 tlian 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 whicli 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 I860, 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, 1220- 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). Tills beautiful engraving is of a plant grown in a field of several acres raised by W. F. Andross. an experienced planter in the famous East Hartford district. The seed has been carefully selected and inbred for years, this specimen representing average perfection of the variety. This plant is topped and is nearly ready for harvest- ing. When photographed, August 10th, it was 5h feet high ; length of stalk, 3 feet 1 inch ; top leaf, 28i inches long and 13 inches wide: largest leaf, 34xl9J 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. 19 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 ordinaiy receipts. The present status of the tobacco industry thus rep- resents immense financial interests. Many millions are invested in tobacco lands, barns, fertilizers, culture, im- plements, labor and warehouses. About $100,000,000 are engaged in making cigars, cigarettes and snuff, and in manufacturing tobacco. The growers get, say, from $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 for the crop in its raw state. Aside from vast sums paid for help in the domestic trade, our tobacco factories alone pay in wages over $60,000,000, and their annual product exceeds $200,- 000,000 in value. Tobacco is exported, in its raw state, to the average value of $30,000^000, while imports rep- resent about half that sum. Add to this something like $50,000,000 of revenue paid to government, and it appears that the annual stake in the United States to- bacco crop and industry represents the stupendous sum of more than $400,000,000. The duplication in this total is much more than offset by items that manifestly are not included, such as the permanent investment in farms, warehouses, factories and the like. Certainly the investment in this tobacco crop and trade, and its annual product, are sufficiently largo 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 simj^le 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 ouj; 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 lauds possess vast areas of soil, now virgin to 22 TOBACCO LEAF. this crop, where it is destined to be growm 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 j)olicy that cannot be justified by any economic theory, when the truth is that leaf of the same quality as the imported can be grown in the United States. IS TOBACCO INJURIOUS TO THE HEALTH OF THE BODY, THE MORALS, OR THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES ? The enormous increase in the consumption of to- bacco, previously outlined, has been accomplished in the face of what was formerly the bitterest opposition. During the past twenty years this feeling against the tobacco habit has somewhat waned, until the campaign against the weed is now mainly directed against its being indulged in by the young, or to excess by the old. Snuff taking is on the decrease, it is a question Avhether 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 (ill flOWer). Complete or perfect plant of the variety shown in Plate I. This plant was slightly wilted when photographed a few minutes after being lifted from the soil. 23 24 TOBACCO LEAF. truth seems to lie between these extremes. With per- sons of weak bodies or nervous temperaments, the use of tobacco is unquestionably injurious, while persons of full habit and sluggish minds frequently derive great benefit from its use. Norman Kerr, M. D., F. L. 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 j)roduces concentration of thought, mental satisfaction, protection against infection, and domestic happiness." "There are i^ersous," 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 such individuals would interfere with the achievement and excellence of their work. All those with whom tobacco does not disagree realize fully the pleasure and mental satisfaction afforded by its use." "No language," says Dr. Kerr, "can accurately describe the comfort enjoyed from a pipe, when exposed to severe weather in trenches, or the power it has to stay the stomach-crave when no food is to be had, and this action of tobacco, under such circumstances, cannot be harmful." Tobacco, as a powerful and efficient disinfectant, has long been known, and within recent years this has been fully demonstrated by an ingenious series of exper- iments performed by Tazzinari, of Rome, which are reported in the Annual of Universal Medical Science for THE USE OF THE WEED. 25 1893. 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 pijje 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 tliemselves and all the world besides." Dr. Kerr, after long and patient investigation^ car- ried on through years under the most favorable condi- tions for arriving at the truth, declares that tobacco never impairs or destroys moral capacity or leads to of- fences against morality or to acts of criminal violence. "The poison of tobacco," he says, "has effected phys- ical injuries, but appears to leave untouched the con- science and the moral sense." Nor does he believe the habit of using tobacco increases the desire to use other stimulants or narcotics. Indeed, it would seem, from the concurrent testimony of all nations, that among those in which tobacco is most generally used there appears to be the least liability among the inhabitants to contract the habit of using morphine, opium, cocaine, hasheesh and other obnoxious and more injurious drugs. So it may, with truth, be said that if tobacco has no other merit, it at least diminishes the desire among those habituated to its use of wishing to substitute more dele- terious substances in its place. An almost complete answer to the assertion that tobacco is highly injurious to the health of those who 26 TOBACCO LEAF. use it, is found in the fact that probably seventy-five per cent of the male population in Europe and America uses tobacco in one or some of the many ways it is prepared for consumption, while not over one-tenth of the female population uses it in any form whatever. Yet statistics show that men are as healthy as women in every country. In view of all these facts, there is every reason to believe that the consumption of tobacco will continue to increase in far greater ratio than population. It there- fore appears to be one of the safest, surest and most profitable crops for the planter, and equally established as a success for the manufacturer and retailer. CHAPTER III. VARIETIES OF THE TOBACCO PLANT. Tobacco beloDgs to the nightshade (SolanacecB) family, which embraces in its genera a number of well- known plants and vegetables. Among them are red pepper, JamestoAvn 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 {Nicotia7ia Tabacum) grows from two to nine feet high, with wide- spreading leaves, ovate, oblong or lanceolate in form. The leaves are alternately attaclied 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 fiowers are in large clusters, with corollas of rose color, or white tinged with pink, and about two inches long, funnel-shaped, with infiated 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 harranr.as, 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 SEEDLEAF (lopped plant). Photographed from same field and at same time as Plate IV. Hi^ht of plant, ih feet ; number of merchantable leaves on average topped plant, 15 to 18. Top leaves are from 22 1o 27 inclies long, and from 14 to 16 inches wide; middle leaves 28 to 34 inches long, 16 to l!i inches wide; bottom leaves 20 to 25 inches long, and 11 to 15 inches wide. 28 VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 29 Indians for cigarette smoking. The inner, or softer portions, of the corn shucks, or husks, are employed for wrappers for the cigarettes. The species found in Mex- ico growing wild is very much branched, and is supposed to be the Nicotiana riistica, which was extensively cul- tivated by the ancient Mexicans, and gradually spread northward. It is stated that a plant of this species, even now, is occasionally found growing wild in New York, and is looked upon as a relic of the cultivation of tobacco by the Indians. It is more hardy than the com- mon species, and it has ovate leaves attached to the stalk by long, naked stems, similar to those of the fern. It has dull greenish-yellow flowers. Some of this spe- cies is cultivated in Germany, Sweden and Russia, by the peasantry. The Turkish, Hungarian and Latakia tobacco is probably of this species. Another species is cultivated in Shiraz, Persia, known as Nicotiana Persica. It has white flowers, and, unlike the last mentioned, the leaves, at the point of junction, almost enwrap the stalk. This tobacco, when cured, has a yellowish color, is mild in flavor, and is 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 LEAF. the time required for ripening. On the other hand, if the sweet Havana or Virginia tobacco is grown in Con- necticut or Pennsylvania, it becomes, year by year, more delicate in texture, and. more leafy and less sweet. The fibers grow small, but the thickness of the leaf decreases, and in time it makes a fine wrapper, but a poor filler. It also grows quicker and ripens earlier than it did further South. Attempts have often been made, in the Sou til, to grow the seedleaf tobacco, but always with failure. The writer once sowed seed of the best Penn- sylvania seedloaf variety, and planted a crop ujion soils in Tennessee, resembling, in all particulars, the soils upon Avhich it is grown in Pennsylvania. The very first year, the leaves narrowed and became too thick for cigar wrajipers ; 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 Avith the offspring. And this was the result of an experiment lasting for one year only. The modi- fication vvas 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, Avith 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. VAEIETIES OF THE PLANT. 31 Another Ciiuse, 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 jiroduce 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 jiossible. Any one who has grown a few hundred plants of Cuba tobacco, for domestic use, on a farm where the heavy export tobacco is jn'oduced from the Big Orinoco, the Medley Pryor, or tlie 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 imjjortant, 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 tlie 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 SEKDLEAF (complete plant in flower). Grown in Connecticut valley, Massachusetts. Hlglit G 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. 92 VAEIETIES OF THE PLANT. S3 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 IGO to 37. Better evidence," he concludes, "could hardly be desired, of the immense advantage derived from a cross with a fresh stock," But Darv/in 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. Ill the dismcts 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- meiided 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 chajiter. 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 wliich 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 simce 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). Bay. — 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 scedleaf ; 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 shii)ping, makes good wrappers for cheap plug. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee. VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 35 Bullock. — Broad, smooth leaf, with no ruffle on stem ; yellow wrappers and plug fillers. North Carolina. BuRLEY, 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. platk vi. Plant in Flower. SUMATRA SEEDl.EAF. 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 eured,18to 20 inches; length of shortest leaf, 7 to 8 inches; average length, 14 inches. Width of longest leaf, 10 to 12 inches in the middle; width of shortest leaf, 5 to 6 inches; average width, 8 inches. Greatest number of leaves on best plant, 40; lowest, 20; average, 30. VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 3'? Planagak. — 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 Jo^^es. — 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. — Eather 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. Lovelady. — 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, exj)ort. 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 PLANT. 39 and smokers ; sweetest variety grown. Virginia, Mary- land, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mis- souri. PEiirNSTLVANiA Seedleaf. — Coarser and darker than Connecticut seedleaf ; used for some purposes and grown in same States. Perique. — Medium-sized leaf, fine fiber, small stem, tougli, 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. Pryor, 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. Pryor, 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 Pryor). — 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, A^irginia. Sleek Stem. — Large, long leaf, heavy weigher, no ruffles ; heavy, dark fillers, shipping loaf. Tennessee. Spanish Seed. — Uniform, dark color, medium size leaf, ripens ten days earlier than other varieties ; PLATE VII. WHITE BUKLEY 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, 3G inches. Grown in Greene county, east Tennessee. 40 VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 41 highly prized for dark rdgur \vra|)})ers. 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 lonr, com- pared to other seedleaf, and much narrower, with fine ribs. Promises to be very popular with cigar manufac- turers. Sec article on Tobacco in Florida, also Plates V and YI. Thickset. — Leaf long, pointed, narrow, coarse fiber ; very short stalk, coarse and heavy ; common plug work and shipping. Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, eastei'n Ohio. Twist Bud. — Heavy, large leaf, screw-sliaped, ter- minal stem ; export mainly, also plug fillei's. Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland. Vallandigham. — Large, pointed, smooth loaf; cigar wrappers and fillers, smokers. Wisconsin. Wand. — Another name for Lacks, which see. White Stem Orinoco. — Leaf hmg, slender, droop- ing, tough and fibrous, largest leaf grown ; vellow ])lug 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 Now York. "Little Spanish," and "Corn-Cross Havana," are varie- ties of this type that have a local popularity. Yellow Mammoth. — Very large leaf ; lapid grower, yields largely ; stemmed for export, and used for Swiss wrappers. Tennessee. Plates X and XL 42 TOBACCO LEAF. Zimmer's Spanish. — Much like Wilson's Hybrid Havana. Generally grown in the Miami valley, in Ohio, and also in AVisconsin. NEW VARIETIES. Since 1880, the following new varieties for the grow- ing of yellow and mahogany manufacturing leaf have been originated by cross-fertilization. Eaqlakd'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 AVhite 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. VAKlETIES 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 E. 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, iTpon 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 manufacturin(} 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 chetu- ing tohacco mid smohers : Sweet Orinoco on siliceous soils, and White Burley on limestone lands. For heavy sJdpping leaf: Blue Pryor, Medley Pryor, Beat-All, Yellow Mammoth, and Kentucky Yellow ; the Shoe- string is largely grown for shipping abroad, though very PLATE VIII. WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO (complete or Seed plant). From same fann as I'late VII. Hight, 6 feet. Top leaves, 22 inches long ; 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 pi-oportion of good wrappei's is made from some of the new varieties bred by Mr. Rag- hmd. Among those most heartily commended are : Conqueror, Ragland's Improved Yellow Orinoco, Bullion and the L(mg 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. CHAPTER lY. 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 abili1;gr 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 wliich 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 ty^ie 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 wrajipers. To illustrate more fully : The heavy shipi^ing 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 MAKKETS. 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 rejiorts 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 flUers. Red Burley fillers (plug work). Virginia sun and air cured fillers. Virginia Hue-cured fillers. North Carolina Jlue-oured red fillers. Carolina and east Tennessee Hue-cured yellow flUors. Missouri air-cured fillers. Fire-cured fillers. Tennessee and Kentucky air-cured fillers. Green River fillers. (b) Tobacco iised for ping wrappers. 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 BURLEY (topped). Wilted wlien photographed, l)nt the peculiar appearance of the nar- row-leafed or twist-bud sub-variety is well represented. Grown at Kentucky exjieriment station, Fayette county, on soil not espe- cially adapted to tobacco. The crop on this exhauste leaf, 38 Inches long aud 8 inches wide; middle leaves, 31x9 Inches. 52 CLASSIFICATIOISr AND MARKETS. 53 The Missouri air-cured fillers make what is called a "toiigli, sweet cliew," 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 ])rices in the market. A chewing tobacco with a large percentage of nico- tine, much used by miners, sailors, lumbermen, farm hiborers, 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 equF-l 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 A^irginia. Tliis 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 bright, pale-red color. It possesses a liigh 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 wrappefs 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 LEAF. give a splendor to its appearance, especially in the sun- light. Other grades, less perfect in the yellow color, fol- low this, by almost imj)ercei)tible gradations, to tlie ma- hogany or mottled yellow and brown. The lemon colored leaf stands at the head as a wrapper for ping, 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 Aveight. 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, 02,945,023 pounds ; 1892, 54,594,449 pounds; 1893, 09,493,038 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 wliich 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. Hight, 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 Ihe ground; the tipper, 30 inclies from the ground. Distance between each leaf on the stalk, 2 2-9 inches. Grown in Robertson county, northern Tennessee. 56 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- l)er, 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 jirincipally in Scotland, Ireland and in the north of England. The wrapper for the latter consists of a smaller a:;d shorter leaf, but of the same general quality as that ucod 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 River 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 Eiver 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 — KEGIE TYPES. Frencli Regie Typef^. — 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 tlie Western tobacco, about half is Bnrley, and the demand for that tyj^e is rapidly increasing. This is manifested in the changes made for tiie requirement of the French Eegie, 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,G07,70G 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 Eegie. 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 Pl.ite X. Hight, 5 feet 9 inches; bottom leaves, 30 inches long, 14 inches wide; middle, 30x14 inches; top, 24x13 inches. 60 CLASSIFICATION" AND MARKETS. 61 aniform, 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 Regie contracts. A small quantity of White Burley tobacco is taken for trial. Italy uses a considerable amount of Hungarian- grown tobacco. Austria Regie takes only one type from the United States, and this is divided into A, B and C grades. Tliis 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 siippliod from Hun- gary. Austria is also taking a small quantity of White Burley tobacco experimentally. The Sjmnish Regie. — 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 tbe 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 about 2000 hogsheads of Yirginia 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 cither of a clear, cherry red in color, or mot- tled with yellow, technically called piebald. The sur- face is gumm}', 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 tliese 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 tlie Clarksville district and in part from the Green Biver districts of Kentucky. It is this PLATE XII. BRIGHT YELLOW TOBACCO (Silky Pryor, topped plant). Pliotographed in same field and on same dale (Aug. 21) as Plate XIII. Higlit of plant, 3^ feet. Hottom leaf, 13x25 iiiclies ; middle leaf, 16x28J inches; top leaf , 13x24 inches. Season: Rains up tu about July 15, excessive heat and dryness for next 22 days. 64 CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 65 type that has given the Chirksville tobacco its most dis- tinguishing characteristics. German Spinning fillers are of tlie 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 Kiver 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, has a medium strength in texture, and in color is yellow, yellow sjiangled 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 tliat country from the United States in 181)1; 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 jjounds 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, pcrhajis 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 Bnrley lugs. The quantity of tobacco of the growth of the United States required for exportation to the Netherlaads 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 ])er- 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 sliort 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 Siveclen. — The tobacco con- sumed in these countries is for the most part grown in the United States, but rehaudled 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 prej)arations 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. BKiGHT YELLOW TOBACCO (Silky PryoT, seed plant). HigliUotip of seed, TJ feet; liiglit to top leaf, 2 feet 10 inches. Briglit tyjie of tobacco grown in Coffee county, Tennessee, and on the Cumberland plateau, 1070 feet altitude. 68 CLASblFICATiON AND MARKETS. G9 Yelloiv Tobacco. — Of yellow tobacco, a large quantity is exported to Europe, ranging in quantity witli 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 gross. 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 rehandlcrs 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 liogsheads 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 fat and oily, of heavy texture and of a very dark color. A nec- essary requirement of this class is ^that 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- deflned 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 tiiem 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 Germany 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 SeedUaf. — 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 agaiu subdivided into long and short grades, or into A and B grades, and sometimes even into C and D. Snort 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 hiid down as to precisely the degree of each of these qualities that the majority of cigar manufacturers require? Moreover, tlie 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 Avhen 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. Witli improvement in all lines of manufacturing, a finer ranging of colors was be- CLASSIFICATION AND MAKKETS. f3 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. Tiiis 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 oi' VVaiid variety). Grown in Halifax county, Virginia. Hight, 26 inches; top leaves, 10x23 Indies; middle leaves, 13x27 inches; bottom leaves, 13x24 inches. 74 CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. - 75 sweetness and strengtli. For that reason, filler leaf is selected for a character in itself, as sweetness, strengtli 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, tlie 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 croj) grown in 1871 as the type of absolute perfection, while the Havana seed crop of 1893 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-^moMng Tobacco now most liiglily 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 aie bright in color and thin of leaf, are granulated, and form good stock for tlie 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 reaclus 175,000 pounds per annum, according to tlie autliority 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 whicli 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 liglit, 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 snufif ; some lighter grades for cigar fillers, and still lighter for the pipe — either cut or granulated. Stogy wrappers and fillers, nsed for making a coarse, common, domestic cigar, is a western -grown leaf, of full length and breadth, and of light body and tine fiber. Uniformly dark colors are selected. To a veiy 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- woikers " consist of packages in which both fillers and wrajipers are put up in proper proportions. A plug tobacco, wrapped with fine-fibered Olarks- 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 LEAP. 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 tliat 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 i^ecul- 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 LEA.F. 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 ]irevail, 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. F'rom the results of the investigation of tobaccos grown in the United States, Ave can find no ground for this as- sertion, 'i'obacco 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 stitnulating 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 u 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 6 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 j)rofouud 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 s})eak 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 IK 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 0.04 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 clilorine 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 jioor. 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 snlphates. Mineral salts which fuse at the burniuL' temperature, such as the chlorides and phosphates of potash aud 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 Snpjily 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 IN 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 be followed, except that f(jr tobacco an excess of phosjdioric 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 requii'ed. 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 montlis. 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 bi set out in the field before summer is begun, and it should be in the shed in about three mouths. 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 tlie soil to an extra- ordinary degree. It is true that tobacco requires i)lenty 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 sliould 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 3300 pounds of pole-cured stalks (or about 1300 pounds of water-free stalks). Davidson's average of analyses of Bradley broadleaf, Goldfinder, White Burley and Yellow Orinoco, shows a fair crop of Virginia tobaccos to be 1000 pounds per acre of barn-cured leaf (or 938 pounds of water-free leaf), and 353 pounds of cured stalks (or 334 pounds of water-free stalks) : Table I.— POUNDS OP PLANT FOOD KEMOVED FROM THE SOIL BY THE TOBACCO CROP GROWN ON ONE ACRE. Connecticut Seedleaf. Virg nia Tobacco. 1875 lbs. 3200 lbs. cured of Total. 1000 lbs. 353 lbs. Total. leaf. stalks. leaf. sialics. Nitrogen, 65 32 97 44 12 56 I'liosphoric acid, 8 8 16 5 2 7 Potash, 89 49 138 52 17 69 Soda, 4 3 7 Lime, 81 13 94 49 8 57 Magnesia, 25 5 30 19 3 22 Sulphuric acid. 16 5 21 Clilorine, 5 6 11 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 (IG ])Ounds). 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 130 pounds. SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 89 lime 99 pounds, and phosphoric acid 13 pounds, in the leaf and stalk. It also ai)pears that the stalks in snch 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 23 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. Ko 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- 'JO 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 KEMOVED FROM AN ACRE OF LAND BY TOBACCO AND OTHER CROPS. Phos Pot Lime Mas Total Nitro Connecticut Seedleaf. acid ash nesia ash gen Tobacco, 1875 lbs, lea? and stalks. 16 138 94 30 424 97 Potatoes, 300 bu., 32 101 4 7 170 58 Hay, 2% tons. 23 :S 43 19 373 73 Corn, 75 bu., and stalks, 53 42 28 430 105 Rye, 32 bu., and straw, 22 39 13 9 186 41 Virginia Leaf. Tobacco, 1000 lbs, leaf and stalks. 8 78 64 12 184 59 Corn, 30 bn., 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 bn. grain. Rye, 32 bu., Potatoes, 300 bu., Virginia Leaf. Tobacco, 1000 pounds, Wlieat, 30 bu., Oats, 30 bu., 65 74 31 58 44 43 20 89 16 10 101 52 11 6 8 30 15 32 5 16 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 pliosphoric 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 FEEAR. 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 hyj^hcB ; from this network, or mycelitim, 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 damji places are subject. Molds also multiply by the branching out of new hyjihae, affording the root from which new stalks may spring. Another class of organized ferments is that to which yeast belongs. The organism is much simi)ler 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 bacceria be examined, it will often be found swarming with these little organisms, ranging from 3^0 to less than 20000 of an inch in size, according to the species. The little beings are not quiet, but are vigorously active. Rei)roduction of the various species is accomplished in two ways : First, by fission, or the splitting m 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. Tliough 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 aeroMes, 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, Imcteria require a slightly alkaline medium for their development ; only a few can survive in an acid liquid ; wliercas, 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 Ihey iene\^ their j^roduction of acid. Vinegar, there- fore, serves as a preventive of bacterial fermentntion in food preparations. Other substances, conspicuously car- bolic acid, copper and mercury salts, similarly prevent t!ie action of bacteria, and destroy them. While diffuse light is not fatal, direct sunshine is the most destructive natural foe of tliese ferments. They require for their best action certain temperatures, varyiiiii' for different species. In general, 100° F. is mt St 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 up;)n 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 312°, 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 destiuction 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 — tban through any direct action of their own. Ordinarily, the conditions favorable to t^e 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, tbe 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 tlie 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 Miiller-Thurgau * and Dr. J. Behrens, f show that dur- ♦LandwirthscbaftlicliGs Jalirbueli, 14, 485-512. t Landwirtlischaf tliche Versuchs-Statioueu, 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 )utrogen, 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. 285. SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 97 soggy and easily torn lot of leaves, hopelessly damaged. Dr. Wni. 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 througli 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 Cladospor-ium, 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. Tlie rem- edy suggested isJ free ventilation and control of tempera- ture by aid of artificial heat. Behrens,* in a similar study, found instead of a Cladosporinm, Botrytis cinerea P., a spore-bearing fun- gus, and Sclerotinia Libertiana, Fckl., acting as the forerunners of decay, while others f have noted Pleo- spora sp., Botrytis vulgaris, Fr., and two species of the genus Maror as thus active. Another disease to which curing tobacco is also sub- ject, is '' stem rot,'' or white vein. This often attacivs 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 Sturgis| are •Zeitsclirift fur Vt"Iaiizei>kninklieiteii. 3. p. ft3. t St urgis. Report i>f the Comieoticiit AtirioiiUmal Experiment Sta- tion, ISSUS, p. 85. (Report of the Connecticut Agricultiirul Kx. Sta., 18D1, p. 185. SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 99 tho burning of all infected waste material from an old 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 tlie earthen floor with an inch of clean soil. OFFICE OF BACTERIA IN TOBACCO FERMENTATION. 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 u\), liberating heat and introduc- ing new ((ualities 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 tho 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. Schlocsing J u[)on the fermentations of tobacco used for the preparation ol' 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, 18G7, pp. 122-136. tl)er Tabak, AuksIjui-k, 1858, p. 75. i Memorial (les niaimfaotiircs de 1' etat, Vol. I, Fart 4, pp. 514-5B2; Vol, II, Part 1, pp. irj-136; Fart 2, pp. l'J2-210. 100 TOBACCO LEAF. tially responsible for it. He nsecl 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 temperatui-e below 104° F., or above 158° F^, and possibly varying little from 123° F., the. action is a purely chemical one, with which lower organisms have nothing to do. Theoretically, he believes the changes brought 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 17G° 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 sot 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 •Laudwirthscliaftliches Jahrbuch, 1888, p. 327. SCIENCE IN ITS APPLICATION. 101 ill 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 lajers 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 ir. sweated tobacco vigorous individuals of the widely dis- tributed aerobic form. Bacillus subtilis, and also an aerobic Clostridiu7n, which, like Closti'idium 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 has found the mold, Aspergillus ftimi- qatus in sweating tobacco, ujion six out of eigiit 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 unci Parasitenkuncle, 11 (1894) p. 335 seq. t ZeitscUr. f, rtlaiizenkrankheiten, 3 (1893), pp. 85^6. 103 TOBACCO LEAF. soluble substances. Butyric acid is present as one of the products of the sweat. The investigations of Cohn and others have 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 grass butter. Selected cultures of the latter bacterium are now on sale to the dairymen of America. SPECIAL CULTl'RES 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 suiTounding, yielded tobacco of a finer flavor, more neiirly approaching the Cubau, 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 deutscli6n botamscheu Uesellscbaft, 9 (1891), pn. T»«l. SCIENCE IX 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 im]irove 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 always 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 w'ork thus interestingly outlinetl, 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 witli 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 ujsou 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 us 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. Mami?'es 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, but each l)lanter, 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 for 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 ■i^<^4.. . 4, ^'j^'4? FKi. 11. IRRIflATINfi TOHArCO, MAKING A MTTLE WATKK MCHSTKN MANY KOWS OF PLANTS. 107 108 TOBACCO LEAF. sur])risiiigly small. 'J.Mie first oiitlit of this character, we believe, was set up in Polk county, southern Florida, in 1890^ 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 sup})ly 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 (pialities 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, witii 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 wliole 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 i)eculiarities of the soil than is now the case, for the native food su})ply 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 tlien 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 AKKANGKI) FOK }{UKNING WHEN I'LANT 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 (piality, 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, camallite, 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 itertect safety, when it is intelligently handled. In fact, this jjomace 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 the 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 MANUBES AND FERTILIZERS. Ill contmiied, and the nitrogenous matter is not wl)olly 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 apjilied 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. 113 TOBACCO LEAF. •jai^'BOi 9iqnxosni C5 O.H c^inirf ■*. co o c»' iri : CO CO 00 O CD • k •tJpos 1- lO CO O CO CO T)< Co' 03 lO CO CO in S5 •pioi; -soiiil aiqnjosuY 05 •ptow soqd pauaAuj 0C_ C0_ • IN CO ri '. -I ci •pioTj 'soqcl aiqujos CO ■ ■ in CO o C •83i;.iaAV ION r-IoO co-s-i^ococooi; iricoo6cooo''*i^co rH C-l — .-H (M l-< •uimuiiiiM — 05 dot o CD t-.oco l-^ 1C3 CO 2 • •mniuixHM cot-; irico CD CS mm OS l-^O »— tH CO (N • CO '. p ■aS^.iaAv o CO 00 in Ti; ^OOtjJ CO 00 lo .0 e-i ^ b- CO ^'4 in'iM' CD •muiU!'J!i\[ c; ■* o> ic • lo -h' co' c^ ; Tp -M .1 — . s^' •^ ■uimuixBi\i Ci CO ■*•■>!< -i-CD odiri ■Ml" OOrt 22S •*■ z ex ii 83B.I8AV • t-oo ■ • ! ■>)■ in 'm' ■. ; 00 meo •ninrani!i\r CO CO CO • • : ^ ^ s '• •* •* 00 : •uimuixi;!^ ■ lO Tl CO ■ • :32s ; : in CO 00 '. •a.iiiis!0j\[ 00 — OOrjOOh- ■COTl;r-'^(NC£ — ^I^co^^l !i-i — — ooooc CO CO Q0 0CQ0COCO(NO500 •a aj • ») s P o o o II m o m2 Is as oil TO ^ ^ . ; ; « ! .' . 5 . . . ■ • '.i e j 'c n '■ '-'a I ' ' ' SI '■ '■ i i : : : 3 : "c S : -^ : o : ft - » > cS ia 5 '",: -a; . i ■-: e ' sir e »^ 50 i jsli 3 C! i C : * " i- C ii . ■'i ' c 5 a J (J s . aj ;1 ■ ? ■ t I. :ra Is e e 3 c ; c i" ! a >£ '■ ■ . SId'c • S « ■ a ■ C ; t :c 5 7: t « 4) 1.(3 5(^ ■ 8 i i JO 1 ; < 5 aj 5-- . : c MANUEES AND FERTILIZERS. 113 •ja'n'Bra aiqnfosiii e<; 00 "HtD OT >n o ■* d CO ci (N rf rf •9ai.ioiti3 •piou ouioq.xuQ •piO'B ouiuiilitis •'Buinini'B piitj iio.ii •■BisauSBK •aiuiT •■epog •piO'B "soncl 8iqn[ostii ■plOtJ 'SOIld p3'JJ9ATlI ■piO'B 'soqil aiqmos •93'BJ9AV •uiinnuiii\[ "uiniuiXBH •33'B.19AV •umuiuiiivi ■IUUIUIX'BI\[ •93B.I9AV •lunraiiiinT •uiiiuiixei\[ •9j;u4Sioi\[ l-H .-H rt to l-l •« lO ce o "^H ■ (S fe • « C 2 D ^ > « ;< "" -. «*^ D An - 3 I' «^ s 5 as c8 o S «|2i2--^' "" 2 - 3~ — — — D 3^ ^ ;! _ C 2 o »3 C » aj"- 5 S cS '-I t« -" 58252? o 53 a 2 ci6 o >.« &a - 1 CO c3 S 2 IJ - -t^ - ^ £ ^ -^ lan is to i>lo\v them under in the fall. They suj>ply both nitrogen and pot- ash, and are well suited to the tobacco crop. They are so }iopular in the Connecticut valley that all the stems available liave 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 untilled, from 3000 to oOOO tons of stems being used annually. Lime is used to a considerable extent upon tobacco lands iu the seedleaf districts, and its effect is somewhat peculiar and not wlioUy 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 sutliciency of lime is more often lacking in the soil used for tobacco than is usually sui)]iosed. 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 ])lants, ]>ossesses the power of substitution, and where lime is abundantly present and potaiih is lacking, a larger quantity of lime is consumed than would otherwise be the case. It is, therefore, well to have a fair (juantity of lime present, more, even, than is usually founel 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, aud when used iu excess, burns out the vegetable matter present in the soil, impairing its future value. A little of this burning effect is valu- MAirUBBS AlTD FEBTILIZEBS. 14':? able, einoe bj it latent jilaut food ij; made; ny'MhJtAe, bat lime «bould not be tij>ed on light landj; uiilhm pknty of Tc^eUible matter a)*o is present. Lime correct* tbe acidity of soilg by combining with any exce»« of 2M:;id«; tliat may be present. It aljso, t<» »^>rn*; tixiAHii, iifiUt v:^)'- the mineral element* and sets fr(* jmjU^Ii that w. not oilu^rvijiii be avaiiable. Another characteristic of lime i« that it imj^rove* the texture of both light and heavy i$oil, bat in entirely different wave. It binds together the loose ysariialtB of light goilft, making them more compact, increasing their capacity to aW>rb and retain moiistare, thu* correc : the waste features of srtich land On heavy, ^pef;ja;r. on clay, ©oils, it ha>; an entirely different effect, a>; it OTerc^mes tfje teniicious nature of the land, caueing the jiarticleg to fa]] aj/art, tha« promoting ea«e of cultrration and the bett-er deveJopmient of plaiit ioat«. On cold, wci lands it improres tbe meehaoical oonditiOD of tbe ioil bf making it lighter. It also eon«ets the aeidity luaallj premnai in wet soali, promotes mtrificaii/zn, and giref it life and eaergj, Ahmtet aaj toil thai beecmei hard and ootopact eauHie improved bj a moderate use o< lime. On UAtaceo lands it is not oied now as nraeh at in former jean, ahhou^ it is resorted to wfaenev^ the nudhanieal condition of the soil v^ipanut it Horn to Apply TAme. — ^The power of Hme to UYtendt donaaMii fdant food u r^y great' and fnDj ondEsztood, and where land has be»i hearilj drenxd with manore^ £»r a nnmbn' of jeaim, an afr^ication of Hme pntdutut^ TCTf favorable reenlts. On this aenrant it was formerly the costom to make qnite a heavj af^ieatioo at inter- Tab of three cv* foor jean, bat H is now b^iered that small, annual ^^^ications are hetttr. On the geoeiaJ nm of lands, $00 pounds is ample, and more often one cask per aere is nsed Sova Seuiaa lime, soch as is naed for bonding porposes, is the best Some advocate the 14:4 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 in 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 tlie 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, gypsiim 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 le;:ching is not demonsti'ated. Suljihate 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 ]ter acre have been used on light lands, esi)ecially where a large quantity of organic matter is present. But in the absence of tests to determine its value, the MANUEES 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 aramoniates 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 lbs. Cottonseed meal, ^ ■»,.,. -.oniv, 1000 lbs. cottonhull ash, I S'*3f' i'.,^^i^^- 500 lbs. lime, ^ Potash, 230 lbs. ^ 500 lbs. plaster, J Phosphoric acui, 126 lbs. 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 folloAving combinations : Containing No. 2. Composed of 1000 lbs. cottonseed meal, 1250 lbs. castor pomace, 500 lbs. cottonliull ash, 500 lbs. double sulphate of potash, 500 lbs. lime, 500 lbs. plaster, No. 3. Composed of 1000 lbs. cottonseed meal, 600 lbs. dry fish scrap, 500 lbs. 96 per cent sulphate potash, 500 lbs. lime, 500 lbs. plaster. No. 4. Composed of 1000 lbs. castor pomace, 500 lbs. dry fish scrap, 100 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, 500 lbs. 96 per cent sulphate potash. No. 5. On old tobacco fiehls that are in good heart, a favorite for- mula at present is 2000 lbs. cottonseed meal and 1000 lbs. cottonhull ash. No. 6. One well-known tobacco grower says: "IMy formula for a homemade tobacco fertilizer is 2000 lbs. cottonseed meal, 1000 lbs. double sulphate of potash, 1000 lbs. plaster and 1000 lbs. lime, and it is the best and cheapest fertilizer for tobacco 1 have ever tried." No. 7. Another applies 10 cords of manure per acre, from 1000 to 2000 lbs. cottonseed meal, and 400 to 500 lbs. Peruvian guano. No. 8. A formula iised by several successful growers is for one acre of land that has a good supply of manure or vegetable matter in the soil : Nitrogen, 128 lbs. Phosphoric acid, 45 lbs. Potash, 288 lbs. Containing Nitrogen, 116 lbs. Phosphoric acid, 60 lbs. Potash, 267 lbs. Containing Nitrogen, 113 lbs. Phosphoric acid, 60 lbs. Potash, 267 lbs. Composed of 300 lbs. lime, or about 1 cask, 400 lbs. sulphate of potash, 500 lbs. pure bone meal, 2000 lbs. cottonseed meal, Containing Nitrogen, 166 lbs. Phosphoric acid, 140 lbs. Potash, 234 lbs. Containing Nitrogen, 97 lbs. Phosphoric acid, 150 lbs. Potash, 400 lbs. No. 9. Another favorite formula is Composed of 1500 lbs. cottonseed meal, 1500 lbs. cottonhull ash, 500 lbs. lime, 500 lbs. plaster, 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, 1 Nitrogen, 76 lbs. 500 lbs. cottonhull ash, > Phosphoric acid, .S2 lbs. 50 lbs. lime, ) Potash, 160 lbs. MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 147 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 pi'oduction 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, Avas 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- MAN"URES 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. Ho 10 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 ajiply 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 3000 pounds per acre after plowing, and thoroughly cut in with wheel, disk or long-toothed harrow, as long as possif)le 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 tlie 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 jjreparation 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. — Tlie 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 sueh 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 goodi farmers select a place' in their vegetable gar- den, cover it with vir- gin mold taken from the woods, and sow it fig. 20. basket for 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 Burnmg. — 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 LEAF. ing against the brush. After this, eight feet more of brash is set up, and a layer of wood, and so on until the whole space is occupied. It should then he 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 RAISING 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 tlie 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 smootli, well-tramped surface. Firming the soil is very essential to success, as the compact surface 154 TOBACCO LEAF. RAISIKG SEED. 155 retains the moisture in tlie ground, which materially as- sists in the growth of the seed and tiny i)lants. 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 elai)se 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, tlie 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 Avith finely pulverized, rotteu 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 kej^t 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 l)ed 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 Playit 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 upliold 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 RAISING SEED. 15? 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 jirovided 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.lG. Such coverings for beds amount to a jws- 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 tlireo 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 jirevent 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 comj^osts 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 i^ulverized 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 beds are made upon rich virgin soils, manurial applications are rare, KAISING SEED. 159 but in all the Atlantic States it is the general practice to chop fine well-rottccl 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 tlie 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 tliick, 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- 160 TOBACCO LEAF. FIG. 23. P.EMI.S THANSPLANTER AT WORK. This machine sets cabbage, tomato, strawberry and other plants, as well as tobacco plan It is made by the Fuller & Johnson M'fg Co.. of Madison, Wis., U. S. A. RAISING SEED. KJi 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 Marcli. 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 Aveeds 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, and 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- 1G4 TOBACCO LEAF. zation, in a careless, shiftless way, resulting in much confusion of varieties and a ^reat 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 tifty .cents to two dollars and a quarter per ounce, a fair average for good seed now being one dollar per ounce. " Clieap" 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 Ragland 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 tlie 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 Avorm, much like the bud worm, that feeds upon the seed pods when young and tender. These worms must he destroyed, as thoy will make the pods upon which they feed seedless. In turn- RAISING SEED. 1(35 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 })ossible, the stalks liini 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 clusteis of flowers at WATERING SKT I'LANTS 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 healtby. 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. Ci'ops 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 BAISING 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, wlio 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 liop 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 projjerly 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 30S,820 were found in an ounce of seed of Havana leaf tobacco grown at Poquouock. 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 liaving 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 m 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 kej^t 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 weatlier 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 STYI.K SOUTHEKN TOBACCO BABN. From a photograph taken in Kentucky. uptorn in drawing those beside them, need to be re- established. The Manner of Setting hy 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 23. A smooth, round peg, eight inches long and from one inch to one and one-half inches in diameter. TRANSPLAKTING. 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 j^lanting 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 ah extra plant in his left hand and adjusts its roots down- Fia. 27. FIRST IMPROVEMENT ON OLD STYLE SHOWN IN FIG. 26. ward, Avhile 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 jilanting is very essential to insure a good stand and a ready growth. If tlie wliole 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 shade 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 TKANSPLANTING. 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 daring 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. Replanting of the missmg hills ought to be done just as early after they are found as possible. Larger plants should be used for this purpose, and tlie greatest FIG. 29. MODERN FRAMED BARN, CLARKSVILI.E 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. K*= " I3>i FT fc-., 13^ fr ^-.- «7jFY .♦^:^-_.-:^..-.--^^. - 40 FT " 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 TEAJSrSPLANTING. 175 the hills with a hoe. We have been fortunate enough to obtain a fine photograph of the Beniis 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. E I G A [ _ B _ ^ <:- 40 FT FIU. 31. GKOUNU PLAN OF MODEKN FKAMED 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 planter. It is better for the ground not to be very moist when it is used, as the heavy driving wheels, in tliat 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 by hand at the South, or in the shipping tobacco districts, it is customary to wait for gentle spring rains, or a "season," as it is called, to put the land in moist condition to permit the transfer of the plants from the seed bed to the fields without endangering their vitality. Usually, in the great shipping tobacco districts, the first general planting is done about the 10th to the 20th of May. In the yellow-tobacco districts of eastern North Carolina and South Carolina, tobacco is often set FIG. 32. ANOTHBK STYLE OF FRAME. in April. If tiie 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 FKAME. 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 1^ TOBACCO LEAF. in soutliern New England, in an ordinary season, also :n New York and Wisconsin. Earlier planting than June 5tli 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 advan tage. The warm nights of early August ,are especially favorable to the production of the crop, and the more advanced settings have so far matured, at this o season, as not to receive the greatest benefits. Again, the condition of the weather dur- ing the curing season has much to do with the outcome FIG. 34. END OF FRAME SHOWN of thc crop . Vcry cixrly 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 Avill then ripen while the nights are cool, and the leaf will have greater body, character and weight. In the extreme South, or with certain varieties of tobacco, the time for setting is quite different, as stated in connection with those topics. CHAPTER IX. TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. The gradual improvement in the style, convenience and character of tobacco barns and sheds during the past thirty years is very marked in all the tobacco-grow- ing districts of the United States. It was an unusual thing, at that date, to see any other structure in the heavy-tobacco growing region for the hanging and cur- ing of tobacco, except a pen built with logs, which was often sliedded 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 pui-pose of hanging and cur- ing tobacco. But it will be seen, from the jjortions of this work on the curing of the various kinds of leaf, tluit 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 toj), 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 'Miouse 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 higli in the body and 20 feet square will hold about 900 sticks, or it has the capacity to house two acres of tobacco. One built 16 feet square and four tiers high and wide will house about one acre of tobacco. 182 TOBACCO LEAF. FIG. 36. CURING BAKN FOK YELLOW TOBACCO. TOBACCO BARKS AKD 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-TIEK SIX-ltOOM BAKN, FOli YELLOW TOBACCO. the single log pen (see Fig. 28). These sheds fully doubled the capacity of the barns. They were generally 12 to 15 feet wide. A shed 12 feet wide, if built around a pen 24 feet square, has 36 ground tiers 12 feet long, and if the shed is built three tiers high, such a building will provide 118 firing tiers, besides the collar beams, which will be equivalent to 18 additional ones, making 136 tiers. A shed so built is capable of holding 2448 184 TOBACCO LEAF. •^J a .-^^ J_ '■■A'a,: FIG. 38. FIVE-KOOM FIVE-TIER BARN, FOR YELLOW L£AF. TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 185 sticks of tobacco. This, added to the capacity of the pen, will give a total capacity of 3748 sticks, equal to the housing of between eight and nine acres of tobacco. In the heavy-shipping districts of Kentucky, Vir- ginia and Tennessee, very few log barns are now built. Tliey are more troublesome to build than framed barns. ^ l W"^-|^^"^|''^ll l M^>' l f^|i^ | ||-Htl■ || . l fw^^p-l■ l n^^4^|llWl l 'WlW^ ,,l. ^ FIG. 39. FLUES FOR CURIXG YELLOW LEAF, USED IN THE KARNS SHOWN IN FIGS. .30 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 im I^OBACCO LEAF. heavy-tobacco regions. The passageways are about 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 higlit 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. CICAK LEAF BARN. The type most coiiiinonly used in the Connecticut valley. the top of the outside set of posts. The two sets of posts set on the inside sills are 21 feet high, and girders are let in at 9, 12, 15 and 18 feet from the level of the sills, and stout plates put on the top of these central parts. Tier poles are arranged 3 feet 10 inches apart on the girders. Between the high central posts there are 10 tiers arranged horizontally and 5 vertically, besides the collar beams in the roof, thus giving 50 tier poles in the center of the barn and 10 collar beams, each of the latter 7 feet long. TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 187 FIG. 41. CKOSS-SEC'l'Id BAKN SHOWN IN FKi On each side there will be 10 tier poles arranged horizontally and three vertically, giving for both sides GO 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 gether, will give 125 tiers, ca- pable of holding each about 20 sticks, making the capacity of such a barn about 2500 sticks, or with room enough to house about six acres of heavy tobacco. In such a barn, doors are made to enter between the four sets of sills. Th..^ 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 bam 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 ai)art. 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. Tlie 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 FIG. 42. 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 BARKS 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 ELKVATION 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- FIG. 45. INTERIOR OF SNOW BARN. ing fine tobacco, as it is exposed very much to beating rains or drifting snows, and to the damaging effects of winds. The best Burley planters are discarding such TOBACCO BARXS AND SHEDS. 191 barns and are erecting frame barns, like that in Fig. 35, with such conveniences and ajjpliances 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. 40. ONONPAOA TOBACCO BAKN. tion of the building should be under perfect control while the process of curing is going on. The tobacco barns in common use for curing yellow tobacco by means of flues are very inexpensive and sim- ple in construction. They are usually built of logs or poles cut from the woods. Sometimes these logs are hewn, but oftener they are put up with the bark on them. It requires about 68 logs, or 17 on a side, to build a barn with four firing tiers in the body. The logs are large enough so that one of them, including the 192 TOBACCO LEAF. space between the logs, will raise the barn a foot in hight. A barn with four firing tiers will therefore be 17 feet high. "When tlie 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 tiring tiers, for convenience in W'pW3W/«v*^^(^»A•^«*A•AJ«55[5l^!lJBS!SS«^?5BB^S •^^Mfc#;V***^f^^»^'?J**"^.'* V*'"'^f^'**T*-^ ^ FIG. 47. AN ELABORATE PENNSYLVANIA BARN. elevating and taking down the tobacco. Usually, there are one or two tiers in the roof. When there are four rooms, or four vertical spaces, between the tier poles, the logs are cut about 17 feet long. When there are five rooms, the length of the logs is 21 feet, and for six rooms 25 feet long. Fig. 36 is a barn with four rooms four tiers high, with ground tiers. Fig. 37 represents TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 193 a barn five tiers high, with six rooms. Fig. 38 contains five rooms five tiers high. The most approved barn in size is one with four firing tiers in hight, and the same in width. In the "rooms" next to the walls, tier poles are put which lie against the walls. This is preferable to nailing a strip on the walls to support the ends of the sticks holding the tobacco plants. The barns are not always square. It is necessary that one of the inside dimensions, or rather tiie 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 tlie 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 FIO. 48. HANGER FOR LEAVES IN SNOW BARN. interior, but they may be of any reasonable length in the direction in which the tier poles run. Many plant- ers prefer barns five tiers wide and five high and of equal width and length, with the door on the side and the furnaces and smoke escape pipe on the end. Barns built of round logs are chinked and daubed with mud. If the logs are hewn, after the cracks are chinked they are usually pointed with a mortar made of lime and sand. This latter manner of closing the spaces between the logs, while much neater in appearance, is not so effective in making the structures tight as when the cracks are closed with mud. A square barn containing four firing tiers and four rooms in the body, will hold 500 sticks of tobacco, or 3000 plants. One with five firing tiers and five rooms 13 194 TOBACCO LEAF. will hold between 700 and 800 sticks, or from 4200 to 4800 plants. Flues are variously arranged. The illustration given in Fig. 39 shows the arrangement most commonly used. Two holes are cut in one end of the barn, 36 inches wide and some three feet high. These openings must be 18 to 20 inches from the side walls of the barn, as at e 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 Z' 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 ^ ^ 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. Eecently 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 tlie 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 KKi. 51. SECTIONAL PLAN OF HOUSE IN FIG. 49. Showing lnsi)ectioii walk, veiiiilatiiifi 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 Bar;?.— Capt. W. H. Snow, of North Carolina, has recently patented a bam 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 tlie 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 th.ey are ripe. 2. As the lower leaves are pulled off, those left on the stalk ripen more rapidly, which enables the planter to get in his crop earlier in the season. 3. The tobacco can be stored in a much smaller space, and with . ^ FIG. 52. END VIEW OP 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 BALLOON FRAME TOBAOfO BARN. The sill is on stone i)osts 18 inclies ahove Krouiid, with an 18-inch door lengthwiset as shown In KIr. 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 anil plate on inside, firmly nailed at l)ottom and si)iked throuRh plate at top. Then nail on sides two strips of 2x6 Mat, a a, which will come Hush with oirlside of sill and plate; upon these four surfaces nail the weather hoardiuR, or coverliiK. Brace acro.ss each side and end, by nailing on 2x6 flat msiile, as shown In the cut. A ham 34 feet wide allows a lO-foot driveway and bays on each side 12 feet deep. The poles, o, for holdiuK 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 7>^ feet from the ground, or high enough not to interfere with driving in a loaded team. An- other tier four feet below this will allows^ feet for hanging plants. A tier inayhe 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. 190 open. The arches, howerer, are extended two feet be- yond tlie ends of the stoves. Openings are left above the crown of the arches and immediately above the stove doors, to admit freali 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 arc set in the walls four by six inches, tlie four-inch sides resting on the walls. FIG. 54. SIDE VIEW OF OERMAN FRAME. Joists are put in, on which a slatted floor is laid, with spaces (me and one-fourth inches wide between three and one-half inch slats. This slatted floor extends only to Avithin 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 biirn is ceiled and weatherljoarded. 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 tlie building ; the next set, six feet above the first. Windows are put at each end witli 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 BAKN. It 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 ou 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 tiie 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 b;irn, 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, tiiereforc, only strike the end of the barn. This may vary, however, in different localities. A barn 30 feet by 45 feet long, three tiei's 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- 203 - 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 phite. Fig, 41 gives the cross section of the end of the barn, with the boards removed. Fig. 42 is a sectional view, lengthwise, tlirough 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 tlie 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 6xG timber. Tliey are sometimes made smaller, but the great weight on them, when the barn is full of tobacco, requires this size, at least. The upper girders should be braced, but the lower ones need not be ; the latter can be made to take out at will, when it is called a slip girder. The posts, plates and beams should be 7x7 inches, and the outside girders, on which the boards are nailed, should be 4x6 inches. Sometimes 4x4 inch timber is used for these, but it is too small and will be likely to spring. TOBACCO BARNS AND SHEDS. 203 FIG. 56. GERMAN TOBACCO BABKS. 204 TOBACCO LEAF. thus weakening the barn. It is better to nse 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 ])oles 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 notliing, if the plants are to be tied to them ; when latlis 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. Roof tiers, if there are any, should be hung lengtliwise 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 tlie eaves. These may be hung in two ways ; either on two hinges, to open outward in the usual way, at h (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 Avill 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 mnch 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 bani, even for cigar-leaf tobacco, as air-tight as possil)le, by nailing strips over all cracks, except to cut away six inches lengthwise at bottom, to admit fresh air, and leave an o})en 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. 20 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 tliem, 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 Sufiield, 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 ^^pward 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. CHAPTEE X. ON CURING TOBACCO. This is one of the most delicate and important op- erations, but the method of doing it varies with the kind of leaf grown, and the object for which it is to be used. The object is to cure the leaf to the desired state without sacrifice of its good (jualities, 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. 208 CURING TOBACCO. 209 CURING THE YELLOW TOBACCO. Probably in no other tobacco region in the world are so much experience and good judgment required in the curing of the crop as in the yellow-tobacco States. Barns are purposely built small in order that they may be filled quickly. A diflferenee of one day in cutting the plants will be hazardous in the curing of the tobacco a uniform color. Every plant, if jDossible, should be 13ut 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 accomj)anied 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. E. 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 bam and heated by wood fed from the outside in a furnace (see Fig. 58). A thermometer is put inside the barn, so as to determine and regulate 14 210 TOBACCO LEAF. the degree of heat required at the various stages of the curing process. The Snow barn principle is preferred by the North Carolina experiment station, because it enables temperature and moisture to be more closely regulated than in old-fashioned barns. Approximately, a pound of water for each plant must be driven out in about 100 hours. According to Mr. Ragland's methods, there are four stages in the operation : 1. The yellowing process, requiring 90° of heat and lasting from 24 to 30 hours. 2. Fixing the color, requiring from 16 to 20 hours at a temperature ranging from 100° F. at the beginning, to 120° at the close. 3. The curing process, requiring for 48 hours a temperature of 120° to 125°. 4. The curing of the stalk and stem, which re- quires from nine to ten hours with a heat of 125° to 175°, increased at the rate of 5° an hour. Mr. Ragland himself subsequently modified these regulations, by advising the heat to be put under the tobacco as soon as cut, and the temperature put at 90° for three hours and then advanced rapidly to 125°, or as high as the tobacco will bear without scalding, letting the heat remain at this high temperature for only a few minutes, and then allowing the temperature to descend to 90° again. This process he calls ''sapping." The sap cells are opened, the water comes to the surface of the leaves, and the yellowing process is hastened, requir- ing only f^om 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. CURIKG TOBACCO. 211 He says: ''Our barns are simple structures, 30 feet square, 16 feet from the ground to the phite, 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. R. B. Davis, who raises yellow tobacco very successfully in the Piedmont district of North Carolina, *The instrument consists of two accurately graduated thermome- ters, of whicli tlie bulbs are placed at some distance apart. The bulb of ordeaiix mixture is made by combining six ponnds of co|)per snlpliate and fodi- pounds of quicklime, witli water to make fifty gal- lons. Tlie copper suliihate is dissolved in water (hot, if promi^t action is desired) and diluted to about twenty-five gallons. Tlie fresh lime is slaked in water, diluted to twenty-five gallons, and strained into the (•o])per solution, after whicli tlie whole is thoroughly stirred with a paddle. Both the copper and the lime mixtures may be kept in strong solution as stock mixtures, Ijut when combined should be promptly used, as the Bordeaux mixture deteriorates ou standing. 246 TOBACCO LEAF. Burning the trash from the fields before i)lo\ving, jiiid breaking tlie land in the fall of the year, are l)oth very destructive to the cutworms. Clean culture, leav- ing nothing to harbor worms during the winter, is im- portant. When thb/ are found in the soil, however, there is no better remedy than to hunt them out about each hill of plants, aJid 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 menus may be found for spreading the disease among cutworms, and thus kill them by the wholesale. Wirewo7'ms, the larvae of the "Click beetle" or "Snaj)ping bug" {Elateridce), sometimes bore into the stalks of the plants, but they never attack the leaves. The "Bud Worm" {Heliothis armigera), Fig. C2, attacks the bud and tender leaves at the top of the to- bacco pliint 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. Ci-ickets.— There is a greenish tree cricket {(Ecan- thus niveus), Fig. G3, 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- mum vulgar e) is sometimes very destructive on the to- 24:8 TOBACCO LEAF. bacco plants when first set ont, and before tliey 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 grasshoj)per, 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 taj) 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 gi-asshoppers 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 hemiptercnis 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 luiearis. 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 Scutelleridm, known as the Euschistus pu7icficej)s, 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- piHar 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 coasb 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 wiiich subsist upon a few species of weeds of waste ground must necessarily lead a very precarious existence, and do well if they hold their num- ber from year to year. When such an insect changes its wild food plant for a cultivated species, the rela- tively almost infinite abundance of the latter causes a parallel increase of the insect, which, soon overflowing its natural boundaries, or the range it occuj^ied before, 250 TOBACCO LEAF. Spreads into all regions wliere the new host ])lant is cultivated. This has been the history of the Colorado potato l)eetle, which originally subsisted, upon another solanaceous weed. Description of the Toiacco Mitier. — 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 ex])aniie 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 WOUM, LIFK SIZE. of Teneids, of which the more important are the clothes and fur moths, and the Angoumois grain moth or "Fly weevil" {GelerJna — Sitotrofja — cerenldla), 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 tliey also i)rcvcnfc any powder from penetrating or ioiicli- iiig tlie insect within. It is within these mines that the cater})ilhir appears to pass its whole larval and pii})al 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 tliree. The insect is believed to hibernate in the imago or winged state, thougli it may also lie dormant, eitlier as caterpillar or pu{)a, hid- den ill 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. Watcii for leaves showing the miner's transparent l)lotches, and when found, remove and l)urn them. The Tobacco Worm. — This is (he 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 l)e cared for by one man. There is no remedy for them, but to search every leaf and destroy them. ^Plie worming of the crop, when they are numerous, is the most disagreeable and tedious woik 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 (/onnecticut valley that this pest is well-nigh exterminated. Hut 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. 07, 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 ^5:^ lORACCO LSAP. is tKfe TKwk r^gsttvlievi bj the sneeeesful tobi»eco {4aailer« Hat W vitl tMegWct e^efT oiker dutr on tW £umi sukI Itaj tluree «4r f«Nir liHi^ the o>r^iai«rv |trKve^ for fauna iKUids ia iiNtd«r to li^l this p«^« foe- the pio£t$ o>f ti>> )»£««> emhwre viU W> o«^^ e^aal^ fwoK poitMNMd to tW ;»lMlin to dei$txo>T tbig: xaxecefs&e amd TW iomittial wokli^i- of tk^ d^Towni^ «ad d«^r«e> tiTe tolneco vonft ]» ;» iqiii aJtso edUed cite Spiiiax oioth. It dmT«s: tke mwffj^liiax trawi the attita«i» wlueli tlw^ c«lt€9|)«ttu- aiss«««6i Im raiaa^ tlio for» ])«it of the )mmIt« augid maaoKutg: ui tlus state of iHiMobtHtv for hoarse togetb^. In tids tlw' tiT«^ ittaigiaatioa of Iiatta&ife$ perv^ived ;» r^ergeaihfcMMMi? to tlie ^ptaax of the Sig3p4ttas^ Tliefe ar^ cwv> s|)e««« of tlwee wotlis — the totiaeeo voma of tlie ^ortb — I *M tj ^k» m H m» «wlni^ sIm>vb ia ¥%. €i^ aad cliie cobtteeo wona of tlte Soatli — Phkfdii^mtims Cmr^Hmm, f%. SSL Both ^peewe Maj oee«r ia tW Miid^ die So«tli, a«id for the p«ipo6e of ^ icaetkal pluatvr ■mj W eoasidMed a^ o«ie» 1(lMNB|g!li eal o i a l o gKfe kkxe had a4^p«^ OT«r tlinr |Nrafi«r nnwnv^ the oae ahoxe aiiof»ted luiTiag br £» tke ve^k of eridmee aad aa^MNritj im its f:diTor. Ute wvflrai ettteis iHaaediat^ apoa its vork of de^rucskxi, wakia^ a aaaU hole ia Ike kaf^ aad ^^ad- aallr eadai^iiBgr tkk. eoHtaia^ ikself to tlie mvder sai<> €aK« of tbe leaf if tbe veatker k dear. Aboat tlie seTench di^T ic p& a < o K £ •^ ■a c a; 00 W CHAPTEE Xm. 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 cheaji 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 has. 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 River 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 291 293 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 liave, for generations, been accustomed to using tobacco cured, by open fires, and their tastes have been educated to enjoy the smoky flavor. TJie 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 Robertson in Tennessee, and Trigg, Christian, Todd, Logan, Simpson, and some areas in tiie Greeu River district of Kentucky, Avhere the soil is not deep but fer- tile, the best soils having a dee]), reddish subsoil, in HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 2^3 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, Ci'ittenden, 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 Eiver 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 Harb 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 Eiver district of Butler and Ohio counties, whose product is not of such good quality. In the Cumberland Eiver 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, Russell, 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 FIG. 86. TOPPING THE PLANT, in Wcst 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 nnraber 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, tlie 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, tlum 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 LEAF. 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 FIO. 87. THE SUCKER, TO BE REMOVED. the dirt to fall back in tlie 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 sucli pulverization brings moisture from the subsoil in seasons of the greatest drouth. And not the least of tlie benetieial effects of such a prep- aration is the ease with which the superfluous water may be absorbed, for the greatest of all enemies to tlie 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 ])as- 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 bi'eaking 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 tliat need it the most. It ought to be so distributed that the whole field intended for the tobacco crt)p should be made, as far as possible, uniformly fertile, in order tliat 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 gi-owing 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 ricli, lieav}' 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 tlie second plowing, the land may be left nntil the plants are nearly ready to .set. When the plants in the seed beds have leaves on them two inches loug, 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 tlie fertilizer with a hand hoe, care being taken to incorjDorate 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 tliat increased space would give greater room for development and expansion. While a few were pleased with the results, the practice has been 300 TOBACCO LEAF. HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 301 generally abandoned, not because tbe quality of the product is not improved, but because there is too much land cultivated for tlie 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, tlie 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 tlie amount of gum, so much desired in the shipjjing leaf, l^'hin, chaffy tobacco, such as is made in the sliipping 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 riglit angles to the ridges. The tops of the severed ridges are afterwards cat off and patted, and this makes the hills. This plan is preferred by many farmers, because of the great economy in the hoe 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 j^low. 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 stamps, 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, fonr-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 18G0, 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, tluit a much larger proportion of inferior lauds is now planted than there was forty years HEA.VT SHIPPING TOBACCO. 303 ago, and this has caused a perceptible deterioration in the average product. Seed Beds, Plants, Trmisplanting. — 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 bur side next to the plants, throwing the dirt away from the plants to the center of tliej-ow. When prop- FIG. 90. HKAVY SUlJ:'l'l>iG TuBACCO ON SCAFFULD 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 s) 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 tliat 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 sui)2:)ort. 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 feAV planters "lay by" their crop witli 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 i^low, which leaves the land ap- proximately level, or whether the dirt should be thrown 30 306 TOBACCO LEAF. S 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, wliich 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 bo emphasized, that clayey lands must never be stirred wlien wet. The baking of the soil, which results, often proves disastrous to the healtliy growth of the plant. Topping, Worming and SucJcering Tohacco. — Top- ping, Fig. 80, is not a difficult task, but it i-equires 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 not 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 comiug out from the stalk within six inches of the ground, should not be counted, and^they are primed ofp 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. SCREW PRESS FOR PRIZING TOBACCO, WITH HOGSHEAU IN POSITION. leaves will hang directly over the lower ones. If eiglit or twelve are to be left, the toj) 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 eiglit, and some interesting experiments seem to favor this number. It is said that on rich soils the max- imum weiglit 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 higli 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, wlien 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 '^snckers," 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 Housitig 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 commena 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 tlie 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 FIG. 93. PACKIXO THK }IAXns IX HOGSHEADS. 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 313 TOBACCO LEAF. may be some green plants ; for a plant cut before matur- ity is much more valiuible 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 sliould 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 long 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 tlie ground, and the plants inverted upon the hills. The water deposits mud upon the upturned leaves or spatters them with dirt. Tlie 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 Avith 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. Witlidniwing 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 hoar, 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 i)lants 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 -i^ feet long a)id 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 j)lants 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 bam 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- sti'ucted 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 fiirmers, 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. Bui'ley districts scaffolding tobacco is an almost univer- sal pi'actice. 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 lieads 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 tliis 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. 36. 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 be 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- Sldppwg Tobacco is fully described in the chapter on curing. Assortmg, Stripjnng and Prejmring Heavy-Ship- ping Tobacco for Marlcet. — 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 toljacco 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- FIG. 95. CARRYING TOBACrO TO MARKET. Primitive method still in use in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. quired. It is the safest plan, therefore, to have tlie 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. Fir?t of all, the leaves on each plant are as- sorted by separating tlie 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, tlie 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 liousing tlie 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 (lualities, 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 tlie 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 tlie 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 braised by hard jirizing. 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 miportant matter. If the tobacco is intended for a stemmer, and is to be delivei'ed 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 M 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 sliould 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 baud, with the stem downward, is wrapped tightly twice around tiie 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 eacli 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 jn'event 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 wcatlu'r. 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 tiie 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 HEAYY SHIPPIJSTG 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 bo 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 suflBciently 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. su TOBACCO LEAF. FIG. 96. A TYPKAI. NKCKt) AVAREHOUSK HEI.PKH. •*I'se Jeeras 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 weatlier becomes very moist, the heads fall to one side and get into a crooked condition, not easily straightened. When stripped too high, let I(J 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 tlie drying winds of spring come, the sticks sliould be elevated to the tier poles so the tobacco may be "dried out." Tiie first warm rain tliat comes will put it in suitable condition to take down again. A careful watch should be kept tliat it does not get too higii 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 seiison"is when it has been too high in case and drying Avinds 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- 32G TOBACCO LEAF. form, four and one-half feet wide and as long as may be necessary to hold the tobacco to be biilked, 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 thorouglily straightened and squeezed. A course is run 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 faulike, but the bundles are kept as nearly as possible in a cylindrical form. When the bulk is flnished, 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 73 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 2300 pounds of lugs, though the weights vary from 1000 pounds for fancy to 2500 pounds for black shippers or balers. NEGRO LABOR* The Laborers Cliiejiy 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 weU to state that Col. KUlebrew, 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. 328 TOBACCO LEAP. o S^ fS!^, <: K ■a M H tH < g a ^ HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 329 through successive geuerations 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 rt^quired 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 tliem 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. Tliey 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 s])ent 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 tlie 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 sechision, or to thoughtfnhiess. He is moved by impulse ratlier 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 cliildren, 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 repugiiant 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. WJien 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. Rarely 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 em^^loyer oftentimes goes further Avith 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 aj)parent 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 120 to 125 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 climate, 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. Tlicre is less suffering and more contentment among them than among any other laborers in the United States. CHAPTER XIV. THE WHITE BURLEY AND 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 IJurley 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, Breathitt 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 5,000,000 pounds. Tlie 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 3,000,000 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. 333 334 TOBACCO LEA.F. "^0 ^j^h- fim I TiUHWir, WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. OOD The Ohio White Burley district lies just north of :he 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 Bnrley 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 White Burley tobacco is grown, and an analysis of the soil of Granville county. North 336 TOBACCO LEAF. Carolina, where the higliest grade of yellow tobacco is grown, and we find the following : Mason Co., Ky. GranvUle 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 Phosphoiic acid, .231 0.0379 Siilplmric acid, .084 0.0140 Potash, .558 0.5O45 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 tliree 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 featuies 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 Ridge, 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 coan- WHITE BURLEY 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, [tulip tree, beech, walnut, hackberry, black locust and ash. All this growth indicates a very fruitful soil. Where the white oak is the prevailing growth 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 makes 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 tlie 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 22 338 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 liighly calcareous, sandy, blue lime- FIG. 99. WHITE BURLET 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 bight 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 expoGures 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 botli 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 l>lng" 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 cai)acity. As to exposures, other things being equal, the east- WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. 341 343 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 Hthological 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 BUELEY 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 tlie 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 Avith 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 mada.Jn 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 844 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 he "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 ior 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 BUELEY TOBACCO. 345 (Fig. 33) is, in common use in the bluegrass section, by tbe 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 Growhig Crop. — When the first buttons, ^^^-^r 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 thej 346 TOBACCO LEAF. plants be topped to six leaves. This rule is fonnded 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 BUULEY PL.-VNT NOT PRIMED. This plant was Riown at the Kentuckv experiment station, umler the same condi- tions as the typical plant of this variety shown in Plate IX. It was not pj op- erly primed, "so the bottom leaves rest nearly on the frround and are smaii in size. The plant was four and oiie-fonrth feet hiRh, with a spread of four feet, heins slishtlv wilted when photoarraphed. The top leaf w'as 28 incnes long and 10 wide, iniddle leaf .ISxII inches. It will he seen that the iP'Yfs are even larger than those in Plate IX. sivinar a larger weight per acre, hut the amount of tinmerchantahle leaf is much larger, the quality usually not as good, ana the tobacco will not sell as well as when the tobacco is properly priinea. 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 iu 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 wlien 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, tlie 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. 348 TOBACCO LEAF. The flyings and sand leaves are nsed mainly for making smokers; the trash and lugs in a line crop are used for cutters ; the bright leaf is used for vvrapj^ers, or 6n6 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. F aching 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 Eichmond, 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 LEAF. 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 i)lug 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 bam, 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 kee]) it from molding. The rich, mahogany wrappers and fillers grown in Henry county, WHITE BUELEY TOBACCO. 35i 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 excelleni 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 G0° 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 Missoitri 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 tlie United States depart- ment of agriculture as nearly 115,000,000 pounds. The yield per acre, under pro])er culture, varies from 600 to r 352 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 Yelloio 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, liowever, 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 audi won its most brilliant triumphs. In North Carolina, the counties in the Midland district best known for produc- ^^^- ^^■ ing this tobacco are Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance, Orange, Durham, Alamance, Guilford, Rockingham, 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 BASKET FOR CARKYING PLANTS. 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 "jjea 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 alluvia], 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, l)ut 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, 0.2G75 ; alumina, 2.496; 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 un tilled 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 m pines and chinquapin bushes and cleared a second time. In Granville county, North 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. HANGEK FOR LEAVES IN 8XOW 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 3o0 to 800 pounds of some good commercial fertilizers, are distributed per acre. The fertilizers used are highly ammoniated guano, or supei-phosphates 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, TTpon 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 run 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. j,.j(, ^^g The hills align only one way and :ire hooks on lath. made over the fertilizers dropped in the row. In parts of Virginia, the practice is to throw four fuirows instead of two on the fertilized row. This wide bed is then cut off and patted ut 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 j)ulled 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, hut 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 tlie 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 cutting 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, wliich 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 okl 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 tlie 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 tlie stick. These wires, after they are filled with leaves, are slipped over ^^^ ^^^ the stick. We doubt the validity draw twist for tying of these patents, as similar devices leaves to 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 3 04 • 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, K 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 YELLOW 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 m.old. 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 wliich 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 witliout 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 sufficiently 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 lajjping. 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. o n ^ oh i been stripped from the stalk in housing, they are taken down in tlie same manner, but the condition of the stems must be carefnlly inspected. The best planters now have, under their assorting and stripping rooms, a cellar six or eight feet deep, with tier poles put in, npon which the tobacco may be hung FKi. l(>i>. HVKVKSTING 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 assortinu' 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 croj). YELLOW TOBACCO. 369 SmoTcers. — 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 wrajipers, 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 descrij)tion 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 CHAPTER 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 patlios — 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 vai'iation as to quantity, except when calamity visits the people. In 1859 the product of the Parish was 32,000 pounds, in 1869 it was reduced to 3450 ])()unds, by reason of political troubles. In 1879 it rose to 14,080 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 PERIQUE TOBACCO. 371 Pointe, which is three miles from the river, und 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 tliose 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 i)robably 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 enongh 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 FI«. 110. CUKING PERIQUE 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 1^ 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 snckering 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 sliould 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 the 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 tlien 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, exceeJingly 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 jjurpose, for in that case the juices would be gradually reabsorbed without being aerated. It is important that there be a C(mtinuity 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 fermenta- 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-cured-leaf. " Tiiere 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 wrapjjer, leaves are the highest grade of product. They constitute 10 per cent of the usual crop. Tlie 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 jiut 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 ojiened, 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- cliants, 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. < o|z > «;z " 1.° . ^ !=■ :u o ■="& I O N « P c-r- be 3.5^ = H ="*-? W s - < '-a ^ •< 1) = tH h- Oj ;- eS feSo C o [S OF CIGxi^R 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. Kales. Value Crop. Crop. Kales. Value Croji. Year. 175 lbs. per lb.* Value.* Year. 175 lbs. per lb.* Value.* 18G4, .50 17 2-5c $1,600 1880, 64,964 40 3-4C $4,530,000 1805, 189 Ml-5 16.000 1881, 82,356 413-4 5.792,000 1866, 174 41 12,000 1XH2, 102.050 49 3-4 8.566,000 1867, 224 25 2-5 8,000 is,s3, 93, .530 48 7,t;20 000 1868, 890 513-5 80.000 1884, 125,204 52 3-5 10,900,000 1869, 1,381 4(3 4-5 100,000 1885, 124.718 512-5 10,720,000 1870, 3,114 44 1-5 200.000 1886, 139,512 56 13,080,000 1871, 3.922 49 4-5 300.000 1887, 144,400 43 4-5 10,560,000 1872, 6,409 47 4 5 400.000 1888, 82,284 4<>2-5 14,200,000 1873, 9,238 66 1,000.000 1889, 182,241 53 16,180,000 1874, 12.895 54 2-5 1,140.000 1890, 234,062 26 1-4 10,320,000 1875. 15,a55 61 4-5 l..-)(;o.ooo 1H91, 225,629 33 2-5 12,640,000 1876, 29,030 .55 1.4 2,.5so.oon 1892, 144,689 45 3-5 10,9211,000 1877, 3(;,520 45 3-4 2,(i70.000 1893, U)9,.520 .52 2-5 15,040,000 1878, 48,550 45 3,648,000 1894, 192,767 43 1-5 14,000,000 1879, 57,553 42 1-8 4,120,000 1895, 204,347 32 2-5 11,330,000 ♦Values are in United States currency. The effect of the McKinley duty of $3 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 ])ound in l.S'.i-l, 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 cro]). It- signalized tlie 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 60,000 bales yearly. In 1893, it paid a dividend of 100 per cent, and the average divi- dends paia 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 11,608,000, with a reserve fund of ahnost 12,000,000, 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 jjlantations, — as much as 71,000 j)ackages 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 100 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 tine 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 13lanters to import coolie labor and jmy 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 tliree-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 CONSIDERATIOifS 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 18 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 tliat 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. Tt 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 13 cents per pound, according to its quality and yield per acre. On the 25 386 TOBACCO LEAF. s FIG. 113. SWEATED AVRAPPERS ^* Mamt?e''wra'npe? 'jl'lTMrrar.',',."" V'"J '''' •''* J'" Mapes T„l,acco jurtiiuif, n lappe iSiaiKl. alone. Jeiikiiis reports tliis i>lot a« rankiiur .^t^coiwi *"aroAv^" ,l^V,rrcel tihiri^'tf "*"' ^\'"""' '''"* v'thir'.K " aUho ' '1l ere "^ ,Mai(ei> an> perceptible liitferenee between tlie first five lots n? fni.D,-^,. " ^y'iir&veLlcceL^ye^'^'''^'''- ^""'^ P'°' ^^'^ received MapeVn^auitre §i 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 ; 13 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. 1500 cotton hull ashes, ^'^ ^'^ ^^ ^''^ D 3000 cottonseed meal, „,„ ,„„ .,,„ .gQ;; 1500 cotionhull ashes, ^^^ ^^*^ ^^ ^^^ E2000 castor pomace, ,„,- . .„ o^n iTi-i 1500 coltonhull ashes, ^"^ ^^^ ^''^ ^^^^ _ 1800 linseed meal, \^ 650 cotlonhiUl ashes, 105 150 150 1653 736 271 1007 45 16 61 260 l»oiie meal, GToocoUonZTSies, ^''" '^0 340 1700 758 266 1024 44 15 59 li'Zo'^ILX^:^Ues, 210 180 340 18811025 270 1295 53 14 67 _ 2500 castor ])omace, I 1500 cottonhull ashes, 210 150 340 1881 990 256 1246 52 15 67 640 nitrate of soda, _%00 castor pomace, J 1500 cottonhull ashes, 210 150 340 1992 1083 295 1378 54 15 69 640 nitrate of soda, -— 1500 cottonseed meal, J\_ 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 720 290 1010 42 17 59 400 bi>ne, 300 lime, M1500 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 l)one meal, _. 1500 cottonseed meal, P 1700 don b car' po'sh& 105 150 340 1414 5.50 231 781 38 16 54 mag, 360 bone meal. Average of all the plots, 141 155 328 1718 7;i4 265 1058 45 15 63 The larger the amount of nitrogen used, the heavier was the crop and the hirger the per cent of wrappers. (See Plots D, H, I, J.) There were no very marked differences in yield dne 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 apjilied between the rows, at first cultivation, the yield of wrappers averaged 132 pounds SPECIAL FERTILIZEKS. 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 jDoorest 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 imjoerfections, 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 (|aalities being e((nal — the more it is worth. The McKink^y 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 tlie 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 Avas 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 kist three columns of the following table. For conven- Table VIII.— QUALITY OF THE VARIOUS CROPS. Plot Yield of * in-app's pr Lb Fire Holding Value as Wrappers Wrappers Lon;/ Short Cured Fer. 1892 '93 t'94 A 950 68 91 205 333 10 23 5 B It-t-l 69 90 223 305 12 1 6 C KKG 63 86 221 275 2 5 11 D l'i2f. 61 89 202 248 3 8 16 E 1O40 61 84 167 236 16 29 28 F IIIOT 07 91 237 415 8 3 4 G Km 62 82 208 245 4 22 15 H 1295 63 86 205 . 262 5 9 14 I 12-46 64 83 202 240 19 21 20 i i;s78 05 80 233 266 22 6 19 1141 61 89 159 215 6 15 17 L 1010 65 86 153 233 9 25 7 M 905 69 84 147 209 23 28 26 N 993 65 85 163 188 7 19 25 919 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. tThe '95 crop is yet iu 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 cxi)eriments 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 liere. Especially would we reiter- ate that the proper use of appropriate commercial ferti- lizers or agricultural chemicals 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, cottonhuU ashes, wood ashes and bone meal. Both wood and cottonhuU 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 cottonhull 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 suj^plying 150 pounds actual potash, phosphoric acid 57 pounds, lime over 200 jwunds, 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 tlie 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 aci-e 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 IGO 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 cottonhuU 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 widespreadiiig 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. n £ K c^. SPECIAL FERTILIZEKS. 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 189G, 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 manure 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." 26 402 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 189G, 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, tlie eighteenth in succession on the same laud, is the finest he ever raised, and it is the eigiith year tluit 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. CHAPTEE 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 Avell 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 Avell- 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 tlie 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 giown 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. AVhitney's investigations in Pennsylvania con- firm the foregoing statements. The soils which contain much silt and clay also contain much water, and pi oduce 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 shoidd 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 CTJLTUEE 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 in 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 in 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 4:08 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 ]iracticed to a large extent, but the best growers are rapidly coming to adopt the Connect- CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 409 iciit practice on this point. Tobacco has been produced oil the same i)iece 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. Prejmi'ation 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 possil)le, 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 stablB 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 snb-varieiies, was generally grown tliroiighout 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. The way in which this variety has supplanted tlie 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 RIDOER 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. IIG) 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 pjirtly 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 pi'opa- gated plants are finer and of higher quality than those CUliTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 411 of the mother plant. We find, npon 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 tlie 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 tliis is proven, we must sow the seed, raise the plants, and set them out witii 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 tlie 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 ai)art, and plants 13 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 npart, 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 1 8 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 jmlverized 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, tliat 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 FKS. 117. PUOUT'8 HOEINCi MACHINE. For tobacco and other crops requiring close culture. It can be used with one or two horses. When the ground Is level and you wish to keev it so, run tha, hoes even, but If vou wish to ridge, the hoes can be fitted to the desired angle. It can be adjusted so as to hoe the most delicate jdants without injury, and to any width of row. It is made by the Belcher & Taylor Agricultural Tool Co., of Cliicopee Falls, Mass. keep the under soil mellow. A good stirring of the soil iit 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 ar. 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 tkit after the plant is half grown, the cultivator does more harm than good by disturbing the roots, and tlie 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 hiiler, 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 hiiler can again be used to advantage, but place a four-inch block upon the point of the hiiler. 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 tlie 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 np, the leaves do not lop towards the ground as much as do those of the seedleaf plant ; consequently it can be cul- tivated later witliout danger of the liorse stepping on the leaves. The shorter roots of the Havana also admit of later cultivation by horse power than is practicable, or desirable, with saedleaf. 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 miicli more desirable at this late day than any transfer from distant tobacco beds, as the roots are less disturbed and ■£a &H o < rrt/J t- d) > 0) A ■f. ^«M ■i. be© ©•tf - -" d =03 H a ^ < t« tc be < H % — < 4) > & tH >-) ^ 0, Ed d h o /» 53 o i-. O 1^ 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 latlis 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 tlie 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 ofE 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 paj^er, 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 CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 435 FIG. 122. PKESSINO (JUJAK LEAF INTO THE CASE. 430 TOBACCO LEAF. leaves are found with green, or ''fat," stems; these should not be mcluded 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 j)latform 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 toj) 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 wlio 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 CULTURE 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 Boxiyig. — When cased, the boxes for wrappers are 30 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 tlie 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 A\nne ; 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 »re 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 m 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. CIGAE-LEAF TOBACCO AT THE WEST AXD 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 crojis have been largely grown. Xot 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 Xebraska. Hops were formerly largely grown in Xew England, but were superseded by hops produced in Central Xew 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 Xew 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 Xew England, Central Xew 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 l^een 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 Xebraska, especially at Schuyler, in ?s 433 434 TOBACCO LEAF. r*; »ounds 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, lias 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 Eegie 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 stripi^ing. 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 arc not booked sometimes get too dry for use, when tliey 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, Ko. 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 i^p 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 wraj^per 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 MANUFACTUKE 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 bunch while anotlier 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 tlie 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 co^^rse, 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 Avere too short to he 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, ^'hese 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 Geii. 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 siglit was fully restored. He reports physicians using a tol)acco 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 REMEDY. 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 jaice 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 T015A0C0 LEAF. TOBACCO AS A REMEDY. 479 tobacco moist. When one wishes to cure a hiiiiion or corn, after tlie to})acco lias l^eeii applied as above directed, it is easy to get tiie sock over it, and by moist- ening tlic sock from time to time, a cure is usually effected in a single night.- General Clinginan, 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 tlie head was swollen to almost douljle size, and the paiient was sup- posed by the attending physicijin iibout to die, an aj)[)li- cation of tobacco effected a complete cure. Again, all cases of sore eyes, whether caused l)y injury or disease, and whether old cases, or fresli ones, have been cured. In some cases, where there was total blindness, a cure was at once effected and the sight restored i)erfectly. In the third })lace, all wounds, whether cuts, bruises or contusions, have been easily cured. Sprains of the knee or ankle joints, wliere they were swollen to double the natural size, have been comi)lctely cured by a single night's application. Old eases, where the })atient has suffered for months and years, have been cured. Cases of sore throat are cured, whether caused by diphtheria, croup, scarlet fever, or (j^uinsy. In more than one instance, the })atient 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 numl)er of cases in which the tobacco was a])plied as a remedy for hemorrhoids, and in every instance a single night's ap{)lication is represented to have effected a cure. If to])acco 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 463). 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 luilf an hour he was relieved and immediately recovered. Again, a great i TOBACCO AS A REMEDY. -ibl 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, aud 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 Avater over them. This gives a concentrated li([uid, 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 dijiped 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 31 483 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. APPEE'DIX. 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.— COMPO.SITION OF VIRGINIA LEAF (AVERAGE OF MATURE BRADLEY BROADLEAF, GOLD FINDER, PLANTS OF WHITE BURLEY AND YELLOW ORINOCO). 100 lbs. of each part of the plant contains Leaf. 55.03 7.62 21.59 70.79 Stalk. 21.87 6.18 13.28 80.54 Root. Leaf. 7.62 4.37 5.74 5.43 0.96 0.50 1.94 73.44 Stalk. Root. Percent, of parts of plant, 100 lbs. each part contains Water 23.10 6.22 8.14 85.64 6.18 3.17 5.02 2.22 0.59 0.65 0.66 81.51 6.22 Ash Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 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 34.98 21.96 1.88 100 lbs. of the ash contains Potash 1.78 1.28 0.21 0.21 2.88 85.54 Total 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 pliosphoric 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 plant, — root, stem and leaf,— at three stages of growth, calculated from the average results for three leading vari- eties (White Biiiiey, Medley Pryor and Yellow Orinoco) show that their composition at these three stages is alike only in nitrogen, soda 485 486 TOBACCO LEAP. and magnesia. As woiiM be, ]a7il, from ilie i))ant, ljehorie aeid. The pereentag(!S of lime and chlorine are just the reverse of the phos- phoric acid and potasli, as they increase with tiie age of the plant. The percentage of the insolultie matter is comparatively small in the plant from tin; ]>laiit IxmI, and is only about ont;-foiirth as niucli as at the t iine of to|>piiig and (;nl ling. It appears that the plant taken from tlie plant bed contains, in the air-dri<,'d state, nearly three jM-r cent of nitrogen, ncsarly 1 per cent of phosi)ti]>iicco, conducted by Dr. Gideon E. Moore for the tenth census, I rrnn which the following table is compiled : Table X.— AVEBAGB COMPOSITION OF CIGAR LEAF (POLE CURED). .S2 ^ V 0^ 'H "^ 0-l 5.71 TlM .5.79 Vj H j^ Av. 12 Conn, crops.. New Milford, Cti... 0.33 10..05 4.24 0.21 0.3.'t 0.02 0.4H 0.10 1.71 5.20 trace 15.10 4.97 Hartford, Ct 0.20 2.14 o.t;2 0.01 5.3;i 1.40 7.00 0.05 1K..5(I 4.10 i'a., Lancaster Co.. 0.1!) 0.27 0.47 i.o;i 5.13 1.47 H.92 O.Oli 17.9K 2.70 Ohio 0.44 0.22 0.40 0.01 4.03 2.40 4.75 0.04 14.22 4.42 New \()rk 0.75 0.05 0.50 0..50 (i.OO l.:i3 5.13 0.00 15.50 4..59 Wis. and 111 0.72 0.35 0.15 T)7i(i 0.(>0 O.lrl 0.4« 0.t!2 5.17 1.94 l.(i7 5.97 0.17 0.10 15..52 10.19 5 2.'! Average 5.50 G.20 4.12 Omitting from the above the percentage of nitrogen In Peimsyl- vania s(!edleaf, which is exceptionally low, the average of the other samples gives 4.44 per cent of nitrogen In pole-cured tobacco leaves. Table XI.— THK amkimcan top.acco crop. The United States crop of 1849 was returned by the censtis at 199,7.53,000 pounds, and of 1859 at 434,209,000. The census for 1KG9 was inconiplel*! ill tin; South, and, esi)e(Mally in North Candina, h;is been imperre<-,l since. Tliat State was credited with only 30,000,000 pounds in 18»9 by the 11th census. "NV. W. AVood's elaborate inquiries APPENDIX. 487 sliow it l.o li.ave beon 7(i,000,0{)0. Tlio census fifitires are used lielow, ex()(i 1, ()()(» i,r)0(t 4(),4(H (i.lHf) ;i,40(> 4,!):i7 152 27. 5(10 141,480 4 :i8,i74 40,791 4,071 57,208 109 <<71 90 78,0:i8 ;!4,O70 11,955 5,012 170 8,810 lo;i 092 15,521 101 XV.', 274,;i22 220,120 41,5:i2 2,197 1,471 253 085 2,004 147 43 84 174,173 W<'iglit of crop. In tli(>UMiri. "03,313 171 131 5,.30i» 1 14,045 0,481 172 .30,94.3 13(i,0.51 1 2(i,082 1 7!l,989 2,290 20,980 4t> 229 21 70,994 :t4,7.35 8,87.3 3.9.30 84 10,()08 70 420 12,01(; 58 192 202,000 171,121 2!),.305 4.52 415 5(i 221 970 101 17 7.3 110,131 18()i». 21,730 15 1.55 73 7,313 1 8,.329 2,350 41 3,4(i8 00,548 15,785 .37,080 2,04(i 11,150 .35 289 157 4fi,721 18,742 9,.325 5,249 5 901 8 72 12,.320 C .33 125,0.50 10.3,.300 21,405 1.5.3 01 Ki m 595 81 1 1 2 4 202,7.35 488 TOBACCO LEAF. Table XII.— GROWTH of tobacco MANUFACTUKING IN EACH STATE. Alabama Arkansas , Califoniia Colorado , Coiiiieciicut Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts . . Michigan Minnesota.. .... . Missouri Montana Nebraska New Hampshire. New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina. . Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania . . . South "Carolina. . Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia.. . "Wisconsin Total 28,173 a Cigar factories 1894 61 43 602 216 434 400 73 2,256 794 596 308 295 177 875 699 1,123 394 878 77 342 160 1,077 10 6,847 42 2,028 164 5,661 13 67 127 241 138 955 1886 33 22 383 100 311 194 39 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 36 53 168 115 596 21,053 Millions of cigars made. 1894 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 2.1 277.1 1.2 847.9 1.1 3.5 4.6 24.8 41.7 60.1 4,163.0 3,462.0 a No. of factories. 24 18 60 11 20 348 92 102 45 147 67 36 29 144 87 92 17 64 8 74 5 371 253 238 21 355 4 63 28 134 31 79 3,080 971 99 211 40 37 1 42 2 197 12 6 Product mil'n's lbs. 11.9 26.3 1.3 10.5 17.0 7.6 24.9 17.9 24.7 19.3 6.9 2.6 36.3 3.6 6.3 268.6 8.1 15.2 2.0 7.1 9.7 34.5 30.2 16.9 18.1 14.0 3.2 1.4 39.3 5.4 210.4 aEach 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. Pl}(eads at .'$7.81; '95, 103,198 liogslieads at, $6.65; '90, from January 1 to August 15, 63,935 liogslieads, 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 ping, smoking, fine cut, snuff, etc., each year. Column No. 2 shows the millions of cigars made each year ; APPENDIX. 493 No. 3, TTiillions of cigarettes ; while column 4 gives tlie total miniber of both cigars and cigarettes made each year. Column 5 shows tlie pounds of leaf tobacco used in making cigars and cigarettes during the calender year ended December 31 ; and the other data are lor fiscal year ended June 30. Under " Internal Revenue Taxation," is first given tlie average tax (in cents per pound) paid on manufactured tobacco in each year, then the amount of revenue collecied from this source, also the amount collected from the internal revenue taxes on cigars 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 ol 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. Consumption. | Internal rev. tax. | -Cm CO o S^os. n millions. | _ "? Millions dols. | 5S 2| n Y'KS. 3c s rt T ^^ rt m - o o ci ^ 9 .0 5~ M M o '5 i eS bj) o M S £ 199 JJ__ 199 f-J psa 2.6 s H tf < 18li3 23.8 ? m S 11 0.5 3,098 1864 64.5 492 — ^02 11 7.3 1.2 8,592 1865 37.6 693 20 713 tH -^ 22 8.3 3.0 11,401 1866 37.4 347 — 347 35 13.0 3.4 16,531 1867 47.6 106 378 484 _a. g « 34 16.0 3.6 19,765 1868 4(5.7 . .590 .590 g=l' ■■a. 15.0 2.9 18,730 1869 64.3 991 2 993 27 17.3 4.9 23,431 1870 90.2 1,139 14 1,153 liS^ 27 24.3 5.7 31,351 1871 95.1 1,314 19 1,.333 •§s-s-§ 27 25.5 6.5 33,579 187'2 95.2 1,507 21 1,.528 •w u C 26 24.5 T.5 33,736 1873 114.7 1,780 27 1,807 o^"? O 20 23.3 8.9 34.386 1874 107.7 1,858 29 1,HS7 20 21.9 9.3 33,24:} 1875 119.4 1,927 41 1,9()8 •*~."^ " '^ 21 25.2 10.2 37,303 1876 110.3 1,829 77 1,906 5'5?'° 24 26.7 11.1 39,795 1877 116.1 1,800 149 1,949 «SS2 24 28.1 11.0 41,107 1878 108.8 1,905 165 2,070 S S Mo 24 26.3 11.7 40,092 1879 120.3 2,019 238 2,257 oz'Z-p, 21 25.6 12.5 40,135 1880 1.36.2 2,368 409 2,777 61.2 16 21.8 14.9 38,8'70 1881 147.0 2,683 567 3,250 66.4 16 23.5 17.0 42,855 18H'2 161.3 3,041 556 3,.597 73.6 16 25.8 19.2 47,392 1883 170.3 3,228 640 3,868 77.2 13 22.8 17.8 42,104 1884 174.1 3,456 908 4,.364 79.4 8 13.9 10.8 26,062 1885 180.7 3,359 1,05^ 3,417 76.7 8 14.4 10.6 26,407 7,356 33,763 1886 191.5 3,511 1.311 4,822 84.9 8 15.3 11.1 27,907 8,311 36,219 1887 206.4 3,788 1,584 5,372 82.9 8 16.5 12.1 30,108 9,128 39,235 1888 209.3 3,845 1,863 5,708 83.5 8 16.7 12.4 30,()62 9,735 40,.398 1889 221.5 3,867 2,152 6,019 83.5 8 17.7 12.6 31,867 11,195 43,061 1890 238.2 4,088 2,233 6,321 91.7 8 19.0 13.3 33,9.W 13,318 47,276 1891 253.8 4,475 2,685 7,160 94.5 7 17.8 14.7 32,79(; 16,172 4S,069 1892 265.1 4,549 2.893 7,442 100.8 6 15.9 15.0 31,00(1 i(i,2(;.'i 41,266 1893 264.3 4,814 3,177 7,991 96.9 6 15.9 16.0 31,890 14,832 ■i6,722 1894 247.1 4,067 3,183 7,250 89.9 6 14.8 13.7 28,618 13,669 42,286 1895 259.1 4,725.6 4,164 82,369 3,328 7,492 108,536 *90.4 6 15.6 14.1 29,705 Total 30,417 tl, 322.3 13 av 618,9 349.2' 998,479 1 t Total for 16 years. * Partly estimated. 494 - TOBACCO LEAF. The United States internal revenut 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 ou cigars valued at $20, an average of $2.37 per M oil 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 .11.50, and heavier than that, $5. These rates prevailed until March 3, 1875, when cigars and cheroots were taxed $6 per M and cigarettes iifl.75. These rates were again re- duced March 3, 1883, to $3 per M for cigars and cheroots of all descrip- tions and 50 cents for cigarettes weighing not over 3 pounds per M. These latter rates are still in effect. The tariff on tobacco imported into the linited 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 cejits respec- tively, aiul remained there until 1846, except tliat it was 20 and 24 cents from 1812 to 1816. lu 1846, a tariff of 30 per cent ad valorem was im- posed ou leaf tol>ac('0, which was matle 24 per cent in '57 and 25 per cent in '01, but iu '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 matle 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 tlie 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 luitil 1883. The United States tariff of 1883 imposed a duty on cigar wrappers of 75 cents i)er ]iound, 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. Tliese rates Avere greatly changed by the McKinley act ot 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 pomid, and 25 per cent ad valorem. Under the MMlson tariff of August 28, 1894, the rate on wrapper leaf was reduced to $1.50 per pound, or $2.26 if stemmed, on filler leaf 35 cents per poun(;, 00, 292 lleavv shiiiping t<)l)accd 148 Sale of shij>ping tobacco 272 Sanderson, W. W xi v Screw press for prizing 308 Sectional plan Wisconsin barn 196 498 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Sectional view cigar barn Selling hogshead tobacco at auction Ijy sample Setting plants by hand Setting plants in Tennessee Side elevation German barn. . . Side view German frame Sims, John Spearing tobacco onio lath — Stamping room in factory Stoves and flues for curing seedleaf Street scene in Louisville mar- ket Stringing Sumatran seedleaf .. Stripping casks for inspection at Cincinnati Sucker, heavy shi]>ping Sumatran seedleaf 36, Sweated wrapper Ta|)pan, AVallace Tui>acco drinker Toba(!CO field in old Virginia... T()l)acco in storage Tobacco miner Tobacco sale at Clarksville . . : . Tobacconist's shop, 1600 — .... 6 Tobacco smoked through tube. 4 Tobacco worm of the Nortii — 242 Tobacco worm of the South ... 244 Topping heavy shipping leaf .. 294 Transplanting machine 160 Transplanting tobacco in olden times 14 Traveling cutworm 223 Tree cricket 227 Typical negro helper 324 Vertical section Wisconsin barn 195 Vuelta Abajo 446 Wagon for hauling 306 Watering set iilanis 165 Weighing hogslieads 280 Wei 1 braced frame 177 White Burley...40, 44, 48. 52, 346, 349 White Burley hung in barn — 34!) White Burley hung in tield ... 334 White Burley on scaffohl 338 Wimljerly, 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 Periqne 7(J White Burlej 333 Yellow 12 Assorting Cigar leaf 430 Heavv leaf 318, 450 AVhite Barley 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 Clarksville district heavy leaf 173-175 Florida 200 Flues for curing yellow 185 Frame 176-178 Framed in South 185 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 tobacco 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 xii Carr, S. P viii, 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 38? 500 INDEX. Priming 415 Quality 385, 387, 395 Cigar leaf at the West and South Calif oi'nia 435 Colorado 435 Fermentation house in Fla... 443 Fertilizers used in Florida... 444 Florida soil 446 Florida 435 Georgia 435 Harvesting in Florida 448 Nebraslta 433 Planting in Florida 444 Quantity fertilizer applied .. 392 Ripening 418 Rotation of crops 407 Soils 405 Special fertilization 391 Status of industry 379 Stripping 425 Suckering 418 Sweating 431 Texas 435 Varieties 71, 409 Washington 435 Wisconsin 433 Yield of wrappers 396 Cigar manufacture Casing 468 Flavoring or scent 473 Form cigars 472 Handmade cigars 471 Machinery 468 Packing 473 Prepari ng for work 471 Regulations 407 Stripping 409 Waste from 474 Clark, Lewis R vii, xi Clark, M. H vii, xi Clingman, Gen. T. L 475 Classification 46, 78 African shippers 49, 69 Chewing 47, 50 Cigars 49, 71 Cigar and snu)king 71 Continental shippers 49, 58 English shippers 49, 54 Fine cut and plug fillers 47 For exportation 49 Mex i CO (see America and West Indies shippers) 47, 70 Navy plug 58 Nondescript 71 Plug wrappers 47, 53, 57 Smoking 49 Stems 71 Stogy wrappers 77 Yellow . 69 Climatic effect 29, 46 Cohn 101, 102 Competition Foreign leaf 21 Composition At various stages of growth 84, 485 Average cigar leaf. 486 Connecticut broadle.af Description of 35 I Plant in flower 23 Topped plant 19 Connor, H. G xii Constituents of leaf Ash or mineral 82, 89 Effect of 82 How to supply 84 Magnesia 397 Nicotine 79, 291, 295 Nitrogen 89, 101 Starch 81 Sugar 81 Woody fiber 81 Consumption European countries 16 France 16 Increase 16, 26 Per capita 16 United States 16,492 Commercial distinctions 46 Culture Cigar leaf tobacco 404, 432 Cross fertilization 31 Kentucky 7 Mexico 27 Origin and spread 3 Yellow tobacco 10 Culture cigar leaf Cult i vation 405, 412 Management of crop 415 Preparation of soil 409 Priming 417 Rotation of crops 407 Soils 404 Topping 417 Varieties 409 Curing Artilicial 226 Assorting 430 Casing or boxing 431 Escai)e of water in 226 Hanging 424 Harvesting 421 Heavy shipi^ing , .216, 217 House 227 In leaf vs. stalk 215 Leaf alone vs. on stalk 231 Loss of weight in 224 Object in 218 I'ennsylvania resulls 226 Reordering 325 Ripening 418 Seedleaf 221 Strijiping 425 Sucli ering 418 Sweating 215, 431 Temperature 209, 215, 219 Time required 211, 224 White Burley 219 Wisconsin experiments 226 Yellow 209 Cutting Hest weather for 313 In hot sun . 313 Cutworms (see I'ests) Paroczi, Dr 410 Davidson ix, 88,90,485 Davis, R. 15 211 IHDEX. 5U1 Development Cigar making 18 Compared witli other iiuliis- tries 18 Deli Maatscliappy's enteii)rise 383 Dibrell, Wm. M x Diffeiulerfer, F. R ix, xiii Diseases of tobacco A new disease 241 Black fire 238 Frencliing 240 Hollow stalk 241 House burn 218 Leprosy 237 Of growing jjlants 238 Pole burn 9(5, 208, 217, 230, 233 Spotted leaf 240 Stem rot 98, 235 Walloon or Waterlooii 241 White veins. 98, 208, 235 Distance between plants Connecticut broadleaf 411 Havana seed 411 Heavy shipping 299 Dowell, Chas xi Duties Collected in 1590 by England. 6 Effect of McKinley duty 383 Higher duties to come 381 Imposeil 15 Levied in 1(;19 5 Of 1883 380 On strips. 285 DuBon, Jolin E xiii Exports Of America to Austria C2 Azores and Madeira Island .. Cti Belgium (>9 Denmark 07 First 5 For four years before Revo- lution 7 France 58 From provinces of Maryland and Virginia C, 7 Germany 05 Italy 01 Netherlands 07 Portugal 00 Spain 02 Sweden and Norway 00, 07 United Kingdom 54 Export tobacco African shipjiers 49, 09 Continental sliippers 49, 58 Englisli sliippers 49, 54 Mexico, South America and West Indies 49, 70 Regie types 58 Stems 71 Trade. 282 Family 27 Fertilizers Acid phosphate 112 Actusu requirements 116 Ammonia 123 Ammonite 112 Amouut tu apply ■ • 1:^0 Analyses of 112 Applying lime 143 Applying potash salts 138 Availability of nitrogen 121 Availability of different ni- trogenous manures 122 Barn manure 114 Best time to apply 119 Bone black 112 Castor bean pomace 113, 122,127,394 Chlorides 109 Commercial 147, 394, 407 Cottonseed hull ashes 112, 139, 395, 397 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 80, 118 Fish 113, 122, 131 Formulas 145, 140 Gluten meal 127 Gypsum 112 Hen manure, fresh 113 Horn and hoof 122 Horse manure 113 Irrigating tobacco 106 Kainit 112 Krugit Ill Leather 122 Lime 112, 142 Linseed or flaxseed meal 113,122, 126,395 Manufactured 147 Manure 114 Manuring heavy leaf 297 Mechanical condition .. Ill Muriate of potash 112 Nitrate of potash 112 Nitrate of soda 112, 122, 135 Ni trogen 120, 394 Nitrogen salts 133 Peruvian guano 112 Plant food removed by to- bacco 88, 90 Plaster 112 Potash necessary 130 Potash salts 137, 140, 408 Principles of 108 Seed bed l.")9 Sheep manure 113 Soft Florida phosphate 112 South ('arolina floats 112 South Carolina rock phos- phate ~ 113 Special for cigar leaf (see Chap. XVIII) Sulphate of ammonia 112, 134 Sulpliateof lime 144 Sulphate of magnesia 112 Sulphate of potash 112 Supplying 84 Tankage 113, 122, 128 Temperature and rainfall 100 Tobacco leaf 113 Tobacco stems 113, 141 Using cumiuercial, 147, U'J, 397, 4U1 502 INDEX. Vahie of manure 115 What not to use 109 White Burley 344 Wood ashes 112, 140, 390 Financial interests'represented 20 Foot, Walter A xii Frear, Prof. Wm. ix, 91, 208, 226, 232, 486 Frye, H. S xii, xiii Fulton , A. W xiii Garman, Prof. H ix Gentry ,"Jas. M x Goessnian, Prof. C. A x, 486 Goff, E. S x, 224, 226, 230, 233 Gummy substances Affected by distance in plant- ing 301 Belgian cutter 67 Chewing tobacco 50, 53 Cigar leaf 75 Destroyed by house burn .... 181 German types 63, 65 Heavy shipping 295, 310, 312 In Southern States 30 Perique contains 371 Plug wrappers 54 Present in tobacco 81 Scotch Elder 58 Shag 57 Shii)pers for Mexico 70 Hanging Cigar leaf 424 Distance of poles apart 424 Heavy 314 Number of plants on pole — 424 With lath 424 With twine 424 Harthill, Alex xii, xiii Havana Cuban 382 Cultivating 414 Culture 387 Description of 37 Management of crop 415 Plant :n flower 32 Topped plant 28 Heavy shipping Assorting and prizing 320, 321 Color of soil for 294 Cultivating 303 Culture 298, 313 Curing 290 Cutting and housing 310 Distance between plants 301 Districts 291 Favorite varieties 43 Field ready to be hung 300 Hanging 314 Kentucky field of 292 Laying off land for 299 Manuring 297 Name 290 Number of leaves left 308 Ordering 323 Preparation of new ground for 302 Preparation of soil for 295 Seed plant 60 Soil for ,,,, 291 Topped leaf . 56 Topping 294, 307 Transferring from field to barn 317 Worming 310 History 4 Florida 9 In New England 8 Kentucky 7 Miami valley 9 North Carolina 10 Pennsylvania 9 Tennessee 12 Virginia 4, 10 White Burley 12 Wisconsin 9 Yellow tol)acco 10 Hoeing machine 413 Hogslieads Shipping tobacco 326 Size 326, 348 Weight 7 Wood made of 327 Imports Increase in 22 Leaf tobacco 380 Sumatran 9, 383 Insects Crickets 247 Flea beetle 243 Grasshoppers 247 Snow fleas 243 See Pests Irrigation 106, 107 Florida tobacco 447 Jenkins, Dr. E. H.. ..ix, 392, 443, 486 Johnson, Dr. S. W. .x, 88, 90, 161, 486 Kendi-ick, J. C xi Kerr 356 Kerr, Norman 24 Killebrew, A. B xi Killebrew, J. P xi Lee, J. G ii Lowell, O. K 482 Manufacture Amount for chewing 17 Cigar 18, 467 Cigarettes 18. 464, 488 Development 18, 488 Favorite varieties for 43 Fine cut 488 Money invested. 20 Pipe-smoking tobacco 462 Plug tobacco 453, 488 Smoking 489 Snuff 459 Snuff, lugs and smokers — 66, 489 Varieties for smoking 49 Varieties for cigars 49 Manure Analyses 112, 113 B^rn 114 Content of average ton 116 Definition 114 Effect on soil 118 Feed affects quality 115 Fertilizing slow to act 117 Promotes quick fermentation 118 INDEX. 503 Value of 115 Markets Austria 62 Belgium 67 Clarksville 8 Denmark 07 France 58 For lieavy shipping 28G Germany 57, 65 Great Britain 54 Italy 61 Louisville 8 Netherlands 66, 67 Russia 65 Spain 62 Sweden and Norway 66 Switzerland 66 United Kingdom 54 Marketing Assorted for 275 Auction system 279 Cigar leaf 263 Cincinnati market 266 Competition in 264 Drawing samples 271 Ex port trade 282 Loose 267 Magnitude heavy leaf trade. 286 New England 263 Prized or inspected leaf 269 Shipping tobacco 272 Stemmeries and strips 282 Storage and auction fees 273 Strips 286 Warehouse charges 281 Warehouse system 265 Yellow districts 277 McKeage, B. F 4t>2 Mason, Thos xi, xiii Moore, Gideon E 374, 48(> Moodie, Col. F. B yiii, xiv, 440 Morse, W. C xiii Miiller-Thurgau 95 Myrick, Lockwood xiii Name, derivation of 3 Nature 27 Negro labor 327 Advantages of 329 Characteristics 329 Chiefly employed 327 Difference between negro and white labor 331 Employed by warehousemen as well as planters 329 Nessler x, 83, 99 Nicotine As active principle 79, 81 Changes in amount 81 Disappears in sweating 161 Formation and accumulation 80 Percentage of 53, 79, SO Nitrogenous fertilizers Ammonia 123 Amount to apply 120 Analyses 112, 113 Availability 121, 122 Best time to apply 119 Cottonseed meal 123, 125 Driedjblood 122, 130 Dried flsh 122, 131 Gluten meal 127 Linseed or flaxseed meal 12(; Necessity of 120 Nitrogen salts 135, 136 Other sulistances 133 See Fertilizers Pace, Capt. E. M xii, 214 Packing 327 Perique tobacco Area 370 Carottes 376 Cultivation of 372 Curing 372 DescriiJtion 39 Harvesting 273 Making of seed bed 371 Nature of soil 371 Quantity 370 Pests Bordeaux mixture 245 Broom rape 2.56, 258 Bud worm 225, 247 Crickets 247 Cutworms 223, 245 Early frost 260 Flea beetle 243 Grasshoppers 247 Hail 259 Horn worms 239 Miner 237,249 Moths of cutworms 223 Red-legged grasshopper. .229, 235 Remedies for 250 Rust or fire blight 238 Snow flea 243 Sucking bugs 248 Tree cricket 227 Wind 261 Wireworms 247 Worm 242, 244, 250, 251 Plant Analyses 485 Composition Va. leaf 485 Distance between leaves 27 Flowers of 27 Plant beds. . .115. 117, 119-121, 132, 148 Poquonock resul is Burn of tobacco 83 Fertilizer 105, 120, 391, 394 Field 393 Quality of crops 396 Powell, E. P 262 Price ' At interior markets 491 Cigar leaf at N. Y .city 489 Comparative 490 In 17.54 in London 7 In 17.54 in Virginia 7 Increase 16 In home and foreign markets 489 Yellow wrappers 368 Propagating from slips 410 Pole burn Chief among diseases ... 233 Description of 97 In cigar leaf 419 504 INDEX. Notes in Wis. Exp 230, 233 Occasioned by clianges in cui-iny 9G, 208 Reiaecly tor 234 Unknown in Florida 448 Ventilators 217, 227 Production Increase in United States. 17, 48G. Profits (>, 20 Psyehronieter 211, 228 Quality Influenced by soil and cli- mate 29 Ragland, R. L 209, 214 Revenues English in 1670 G English in 1731 G Government increase 18, 20 Greatest producers of 15 Internal lax 18 Successful producer of 21 Ridger 410 Sanderson, W. W xiii, xiv, 402 Schloesing, Th . . x, 83, 99 Schultz, Jos. K 412 Science and tobacco 79, 81, 90 Scovell, M. A ix Seed Amount sown in Connecticut 153 Analyses sown in South.. 153, 485 Number to ounce 1G7 Price of 1G4 Raising best 1G3 Selection of IGG Selecling plants 1G4 Sprouting 153, 155 Testing vitality 1G7 Using too mucli 155 Yield per acre of 1G4 Seed be< I Best time for burning 159 Burning 151 Care plant beds 1G2 Covering for beds 15G Florida 447 Location seed bed 150 Methods in dill'erent sections 158 Perique 371 Preparation and sowing 152 Setting plants in Tenn. soil.. 154 Sims, John xi, 3G3 Slate, W. C 1G4 Smith, J. B 3G4 Snuff Kinds 459 Maccaboy 4til I'roduct for '9G 489 Rappee 459, 4G1 Scotcli 459, 4G1 Sweet 4G1 Soil Cigar leaf 404 ('oh)r of soil affects color i)f leaf. 294 Effect of manure on 118 Effect on leaf 29, 4G Florida 444, 44(> Heavy shipping .291, 294, 296 Poverty 87 Soil vs. manures and fertili- zers 105 Tobacco does notexhaust 08 What tobacco takes from 88 White Burley 335, 339 Yellow 355, 358 Status of industry Acres devoted to tobacco 17 Advance in value IG Compared with other indus- tries 18 Demand increasing IG Development in manufactur- ing 18 Increase in consumption 16 Increase in production 17 Per capita consumption, in- crease IG Present 20, 22 Stenimeries and strips 282 Stemming Favorite varieties 45 Stripping Condition for 427 Method of 428 When done 425 Stubbs, Wm. C ix Sturgis, Dr. Wni. C .97, 98, 233 Suchsland, Emil 102 Sugg, Col. Isaac xii Sumatran leaf Amount required to wrap 1000 cigars 381 Average importation 381 Countries experimenting with 381 Description of 41 Effect of McKinley duty 383 Growing in Florida 434 Imported into United States. 380 Plant in ilower 36 Profits of 381 Quantity and value imports.. 383 Topped plant 36 Sweating Clianges during 101 Nature of process 102 Ordinary leaf 100 Stogy 77 Yellow 215 Sydnor and Treadway xii Tal)les American crop 487 Analyses of fertilizers . . . 112, 113 Comparative relative prices 490, 491 Composition cigar leaf 486 Composition Va. leaf 485 Consumption anil taxation in United States 492 Fertilizers usedatPoquonock 394 Growth of manufacturing in each State 488 Imports of leaf 380 Number cigar jilanters and acreage 390 Plant food removed by aver- age yield per acre 90 INDEX. 505 VI ant food removed from an acre tobacco and other crops UO Pounds plant food removed from soil 88 Prices and values citrar leaf . 390 Prices cigar leaf N. Y. city. .. 489 I'rices interior markets 491 tonality PoquouDck crops 396 Sumatran tobacco, quant) ly and value 383 Yield per acre and toial crop cigar leaf 390 Tappan, Wallace x, xiii Tariff Of 1883 494 Of 1890 9 In different years 494 Taxes Direct 21 English 15, 58 Internal revenue 18, 494 United Stales 492 Tazzinari experiments 24 Thomason, Jas. I xii Thompson, W. C xii Tobacco as a remedy Cholera morbus . . 480 Decline 475 Effect 477 For sprains, bruises, etc 475 Insect 481 Kind of tobacco 477 Neuralgia 481 Poultice 475, 477 Skin diseases 475, 4 ('9 Sore eyes 475 Transplanting Field ready for machine 162 Hand 170 Machine at work 160 Machine-set |>lants 173 Prej)aration for 109 Replanting 173 Time ol 176, 178 Watering plants after 172 Types 15elgi;in cutter 67 Clarksville 67 Dutch saucer 66 Frencii regie 58 German saucer 63 German spinner 63 Scotch elder 58 Snuff lugs and smokers 6G Swiss wrapper C6 Uses As disinfectant 24 First 3 Is its use injurious?.. 14, 22, 24 As a remedy (se« Chapter on Tobacco as a Reincily) Value Advajice in 10 Varieties Adcock 34 Baden 34 Baltimore Cuba 34 Ray 34 Real-All 34 Relkujip 34 Hoiiauza 42 RulUace 34 Bullion 42 Bullock 35 Rurley, White 35, 40, 44, 48, 52 Chewing 43 Clardy 35 Climax 42 Connecticut seedleaf 17, 23, 35 Cu ba 35 Cunningham 35 Duck Isiaml 35 Favorite in the South 43 Flanagan, 37 Florida 37 Frederick 37 Glcssner 37 Gold tinder 42 Gooch 37 Gourd leaf 37 Governor Jones 37 Havana seed 28, 32, 37, 71 Heavy shipping 60 Heavy stemming 45 Hester 37 Hickory leaf 37 Honduras 43 Johnson green 38 Kentucky yellow 44 Kitefoot 38, 78 Little Dutch 38, 78 Locks 38, 74 Long green 38 Lancaster broadleaf 38 Lovelady 38 Mahogany wrappers 45 Mann 38 New manufacturing 42, 43 Nicotiana pessica 29 Nicotiana repando 29 Nicotiana lustica 29 Orinoco, short 38 Orinoco, big 38 Orinoco, yellow 38 Pennsylvania seedleaf 39 Perique ...39, 76 Pittsylvania, yellow ... 39 Pryor, blue 39 Pryor, silky 39,64, 68 Pryor, yellow.. 39 Pryor, white 39 Ragland's Conqueror 42 Ragland's Improved Orinoco, 42 Red Burley 12 Safrano 42 Shoestring 39 Sleek stem 39 Smoking 43 Spanish seed... 39 Suniatran seed 36, 41 Thickest 41 Twist bud 41 Vallandigham 41 AVand 41 White-stem Orinoco 41 506 IXDEX. Williams 41 Wilson's liybrid 41 Yellow 43, 69, 74 Yellow niauiniol.h 41, 56 Zimnier's Spanish 42 Ventilation (see Uarns) Warehouses First established 7 Greenville 260 North Carolina 264 Water in leaf Brought to surface by sap- ping 210 For making strips 285 In tobacco ready for curing. . 215 Rate of passing off 225 Weather Cool 316 In relation to fertilization. . . 106 Weight Casks for tobacco 455 Connecticut crop 89 Leaf cured in stalk 232 Loss in making strips 284 Loss in sweating 432 Viiginla tobacco 88 White Burley Assorting and si iiflfing 346 Best cutting leaf 3.50 Care of growing crop 345 Character of leaf U Curing 11 Cutting 3M Description' of 35 Experiments with 333 Fertilization .and rotation . .. 344 Harvesting 346 Largest producing counties of 333 Manufacturing leaf 350 Origin 11 Packing for marlcet 348 Preparation of land 343 Prizing 348 Seed plant 44 Soils of 335, 339 Topped plant 40, 48, 52 Topping 345 Two varieties 341 Where grown 333 Whitney, Mr 405 Williamson, Bright xil Wimberly, Geo. L x, xv, 210 Wrapper Favorite varieties for ma- hogany 45 Per cent, of in sugar crop. . . . 388 Plug 53,57,459 Yellow 368 Wright Co., J X Yellow tobacco Altitudes grown in 352 Assorting 367 Classiflcaiion wrappers 368 Cultivation 11, 361 Curing 366 Cutters 369 Description of 41 Favorite varieties 43 Fertilizers for 361 Fillers 368,369 Finest leaf 353 Harvesting 362 Management afler curing — 366 Origin 10,357 Patents for stringing 363 Planting 361 Preparation of land 359 Quantity produced 352 Rise and progress 10 Seed plant 68 Smokers 369 States grown in 11 Stripping from stalk 362. 364 Topped plant 64, 74 Topping 362 Typical soils for 11, 355, a58 Wrappers 368, 369 SENT ITRBB ON AFFLICATION DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF RURAL BOOKS, CONTAINING 116 8vo. PAGES, Pkofusbly Illustrated, and giving Full Dkscriptions o» Nkaklt 600 Works on thb Following Subjects: Farm and Garden, Fruits, Flowers, Etc. 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A series of familiar and practical talks between the author and the Deacon, the Doctor, and other neighbors, on the whole subject of manures and fertilizers; including a chapter especially written for it, by Sir John Bennet Lawes of Rothamsted, England. Cloth, 12mo. ■'•T5 Truck Farming at the South. A work which gives the experience of a successful grower of vege- tables or " truck" for Northern markets. Essential to any one who contemplates entering this promising field of Agriculture. By A. Oemler of Georgia. Illustrated, cloth, 12mo. 1.6C Sweet Potato Culture. Giving full instructions from starting the plants to harvesting and storing the crop. With a chapter on the Chinese Yam. By James Fitz, Keswich, Va., author of "Southern Apple and Peach Culture." Cloth, 12mo. .60 Heinrich's Window Flower Garden. riie author is a practical florist, and this enterprising volume em Dodies his personal ex]ierieiices in Window Gardening during a long period. New and enhirged edition. By Julius J. Heinrich S'ully illustrated. Clotli. l2mo. /5 Greenhouse Constructioik. By Prof. L. R. Taft. A complete treatise on Greenhouse stnictnres and arrangements of tlie various forms and styles of Plant Houses for professional florists as well as amateurs. All the best and most approved structures are so fully and clearly described that anyone who desires to build a Greenhouse will have no difficulty in deter- mining the kind best suited to liis purpose. The modern and most successful methods of heating and ventilating are fully treated upon. Special chapters are devoted to houses used for the growing of one kind of plants exclusively. The construction of hotbeds and frames receives appropriate attention. Over one hundred ex cellent illustrations, specially engraved for this work, make everj point clear to the reader and add considerably to the artistic ap pearance of the book. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 Bulbs and Tuberous-Rooted Plants. liy C. L. Allen. A complete treatise on the History, Description, Methods of Propagation and full Directions for the successful cul- ture of Bulbs in the garden, Dwelling and Greenhouse. As gener- ally treated, bulbs are an expensive luxury, while, when properly managed, they afford the greatest amount of pleasure at tlie least cost. The author of this book has for many years made bulb grow- ing a specialty, and is a recognized authority on liluiir cullivatioii n-id management. The illustrations which embellish this work liavc been drawn from nature, and have beeii engraved especially toi Ihis book. The cultural directions are plainly stated, practical and to llie point. Cloth, 12mo. 2.00 Henderson's Practical Floriculture. By Peter Henderson. A guide to the successful! propagation and cultiv.ation of florists' plants. The work is notone for florists and gardeners only, but the amateur's wants are constantly kept in mind, and we have a very complete treatise on the cultivation of flowers under glass, or in the open air, suited to those who grow flowers for pleasure as well as those who make them a matter of trade. Beautifully illustrated. New and enlarged edition. Cloth, 12mo. 1.50 Long's Ornamental Gardening: for Americans. .\ Treatise on Beautifying Homes, Rural Districts and Cemeteries. A plain and practical work at a moderate price, with numerous illustrations and instructions so plain that they may be readily followed. By Elias A. Long, Landscape A.rchitect. Illustrated, Clotli, 12mo. 2.00 The Propagation of Plants. By Andrew S. Fuller. Illustrated with numerous engravings. An eminently practical and useful work. Describing the process of hybridizing and crossing speiMes and varieties, and also the many dlffeient modes by which cultivated plants may be propagated ana -isultiolied. Cloth, 12mo. 1-60 APn 3 i3<7