TOMCCO How to Cultivate, Cure and Prepare for Market. White Buriey Tobacco and its Culture. Seed Leaf Tobacco and its Culture. BY j. B. KILLEBREW. A. M., Ph. D. EXPERT ON TOBACXIO FOR TENTH CENSUS. Issued By The Fertilizer ManufaChirers' 205 La SaHp^(rcel CHICAcb ^ TOBACCO: HOW TO CULTIVATE, CURL AND PRE PARE FOR MARKET. By J. B. Kiilebrew. A. N., Ph. D., Expert on Tobacco for Tenth Census. Tobprcu IS one of the most, iniportaru crops that enter into the oomme e of nations. It is used in every country, from the most savage to the niost civilized. Unknown by th natior,; oi the Old World, prior to the discovery of America, is is now used b\ the .unnan family more than any other article, except tea and salt. Whether it be a good or an evil, it is the least injurious of all the narcotics or stimulants. It does not affect the moral sense like spirituous liquors, opium, hasheesh, cocaine and other drugs of like character, and there is no doubt of the fact that its effect is to lessen :he appitite for more injurious substances. Tobacco belongs to the nightshade family, and boi^ i^ically is akin to the Irish potato, tomato, red pepper and Jimpson v^'ecd, all native products o£ America. Tlie plant was first < ti.i.'.^L.,.; li\ lih- rmunists in Virginia in 1586, but did not become of commercial or social imv'>r,ti'''oth tj2,884,900 lbs. Then ^ine in the order of their rank ' 'hio. To lossce, Pennsylvania. aryland. South Carolina, Connecticut an York. No other ' ates pro- duce as much as 10,000,00^ lbs. iht total value of '' '^f 1899 :n farmers' hands was $^ -993j003. MA NG PLANT BEDS. The first and most i: :)rtant stej) in.t)ro(i.;cin|c rop^of lobacco is to have an abundanc of ^^ood, stratg, -10: ky p:;ints. : he land selected for a plant h. a should b< "' - n soil witk a slightly Southern exposure, if , ■s'^ible, in the youn^f lants may _. _-. ^aK^'. ..£i' 2 ^ ' 'mcco, Ha^< tfi Cudf^jft^, Cnre and Prepare for Market. g^et the benefit or the warm rays of the sun in early spring. This is anportaut to bring them forward as cafly as possible. The soil ould "be a rich, fertile, black loam. Black is preferable because it jsorbs more heat from the rays of the sun than does any other color, and brings forward the plants several days sooner, which is much to be desired by the tobacco grower. After the wild growth has been cut oflF and the leaves and trash removed, brush and wood should be piled on the surface in suffi- cient quantity to burn the top earth to a reddish tinge or soft-brick color. After the bed has cooled, and' without removing the ashes, it should be coultere r>i t!ie surface water, that is apt to collect the seed in the low places of the beds. liedAshould be burned as eail^ as possible when the land is suffi- ciently div after the Christmas holidays. Those burned and sowed in Fehrulrv nnd March, when suiuibly prepared, always do best. Be careful use too many seed. When this is done the plants are '=;o crcwded that they grow up with iants remain in the field before maturing are most fruitful in the ■ lorag'c of gums, resins and the so-called fatty matters that give the greatest valuo to the product. There is as much difference in the fragrance of ripe tobacco and green as there is between a ripe peach with it.^ luscious juices and a green one with its acidity and icridity. No tobacco should be cut immediately subsequent to a hard rain, because niuch of the gummy matter so necessary to its fragrance I ad usefulness that has been secreted upon the upper surface of the leaves will be dissolved and w^ashed away. Nor should tobacco be cut when there is a probability of a rain, for the reason that if caught in a shower of rain after it has been cut it is liable to be be- spattered with dirt and its value impaired. Nor should it be cut •\ hen the dew is on the plant, for when inverted upon the ground .Iter the stalk is severed a considerable quantity of dirt will ad- here to the wet leaves. The best time for cutting is in the afternoon when the fierceness of the noonday sun has been tempered by the coolness of evening. A cloudy or foggy day when there is no imme- diate prospect for rain is a good time to cut tobacco. If cut while the sun is hot many of the leaves will be blistered, or sunburned, a condition for which there is no remedy. The green spots made by iinburn impair the quality and destroy the beauty of the product alter it is cured. The most careful attention, therefore, should be given in protecting the green plants from sunburn. The implement most commonly used for cutting the plants is a butcher knife. The stalk is first split down to a point within three or four inches of the lower leaves and then severed immediately be- 10 Tobacco, Ho'ic to Culiivate, Cure aiid Prepare for Market. low these leaves and turned over on the ground. After remaining in this condition long enough to wilt sufficiently to be handled with- out breaking the leaves, the plants are pned from six to ten in a place, the number being regulated by the size of the plants. These ar*" afterwards straddled over a stick stuck in the ground at an angle of about sixty degrees, the stick sloping from the sun to lessen the ef- fect of the direct rays so apt to burn the tobacco. Some planters prefer to haul the plants to the curing house before stringing them upon the sticks, but this practice has been for the most part aban- doned. There is only one thing to commend this method, and that is, the tobacco is taken up and more quickly and removed from ex- posure to the sun's rays and therefore is less likely to be damaged by sunburn. After the tobacco plants have been strung on sticks about four and a quarter feet long and about one inch and a half in diameter, they are hauled to the curing houses and arranged on the tier poles with a distance of about eight inches between the sticks. It was once almost a universal practice to put the sticks of tobacco on a scaffold erected in the field. The advantage in this is that more may be hauled in each load. When the distance between the tobacco field and the curing house is as much as a mile, this practice is to be com- mended. All leaves broken from the stalks should be strung sep- arately upon a stick. CURING OF HEAVY TOBACCO. The curing of tobacco after it has been arranged properly in the curing barn is at once a difficult and, to some extent, a dangerous operation. If the fires are not placed under the tobacco at the right time it is apt to houseburn, which is as bad as sunburn, being a half decayed condition of the leaf in which all or nearly all the sub- stances that give strength and value to the cured tobacco are de- stroyed, leaving only the form of the leaf, stiff, harsh and well- nigh worthless. Houseburn is caused by heat evolved by the crowded condition of the leaves, which prevents the air from circulating free- ly. A moisture is generated by the sap and heat which produces a fermentation and causes the partial decay. To prevent this fires made of two logs lying in pairs at intervals of five feet on the floor of the barn should' be started after the tobacco plants begin to turn yellow. For twenty-four hours these fires should keep the tempera- Tobacco, Ho7i' to Cultii^air, Cure ami Prepare for Market. 11 ture of tlie barn to about 90 degrees, and after this the heat should be increased to 100 to 120 degrees. The heavy tobacco planters, previous to 1870, fired much ^harder than they do at present. Keeping up very hot tires without cessa- tion for four or five days was then the general method of curing the tobacco. Now much gentler fires are kept up for four or five days, then they are extinguished until the tobacco leaves become pliant, when the fires are again kindled and kept going gently, day and night, for about thirty-six hours or until the leaves become dry the greater part of their length while the stem and stalk remain green. The fires are again withdrawn and re kindled alternately as the to- bacco leaves become dry or in a humid condition. It now requires from ten to fifteen days to complete the curing of a barn filled with green tobacco. The larger the tobacco plants and the more they are engorged with sap, the longer the time required for a successful cure. It is justly claimed by the tobacco growers of- the present time 'hat a greater uniformity in color and a more beautiful finish are produced by allowing the tobacco leaves to absorb humidity fre- juently during the process of curing. It is a good practice to dry Dut the tobacco whenever damp weather occurs. If long continued ■ains surcharge the stems -with excessive moisture a rot is en-' rendered which at once injures the quality of the tobacco and re- duces its weight. A nicely cured black or brown stem, pliajit but firm )f texture, is greatly to be desired. Sometimes tobacco, and especially that grown on newly cleared and, cures a beautiful yellow color, but if allowed to "come and j^o" in '"order," will become reddish in color. If there is a demand or the yellow leaf, the color may be retained by kindling fires under he tobacco every morning until the stems and stalks are cured. It liould then be bulked down or crowded closely together on the tier )oles so as to preserve the yellow color. All tobacco perfectly cured both as to leaves, stem and stalk, hould be taken from the tier poles when in proper order and bulked •n a platform elevated above the ground six inches or more. This ,)latform should be about five or six feet wide and of a suflScient ength to hold all the tobacco in the barn when tjie bulk is built up the height of four or five feet. When finished the bulk should e covered with plank or tobacco sticks and weighted down. If the 12 Tobacco, Horc to Cultivate, Cure and Prepare for Market. sides of the bulk should be protected from drying winds by old car- pets, blankets, straw or wagon sheets, the tobacco will be in a condi- tion for assorting and stripping at any time during the winter months. The inquiry is frequently made if tobacco cured by atmospheric influences alone is not as sweet and salable as that cured by fires. The tobacco used mainly for home consumption, such as the White Burley seed leaf and Havana leaf varieties is almost always air- cured. The tobacco used for exportation is, for the most part, cured by the use of artificial heat. Experience has demonstrated that to- bacco cured by fire will pass through the sweat of suninijr much better than that air-cured, and will also be less liable to injury from a sea voyage. Many European consumers also like the creosotic flavor produced by smoke, and this makes a steady demand for the open-fire cured tobacco. Consumers in the United States like also the flue-cured tobacco of North Carolina and Virginia, but this is free from the smoky flavor that characterizes the tobacco cured by open fires. The fiue-cured tobacco is sweet to the taste, delightfully fragrant and is more in demand as a chewing tobacco than the cheaper brands made of air-cured White Burley or the lighter sorts cured by open fires, though the latter is preferred by sailors, lumber- men, farm laborers, and miners, on account of its great strength. ASSORTING AND STRIPPING. Tobacco is assorted by separating the various colors and quali- ties and afterwards arranging those into different grades. In almost every crop there may be found bright ai,'' 'lark tobac- co, heavy and light, long and short, the result of different plantings, of diversified soils, of freshly cleared lands, or of manured lots. At the time of harvesting, much may be done in keeping the product of new lands and that of old lands separate, as well as long tobacco and short tobacco. This will relieve the -planter of much trouble when the time for stripping arrives. The most careful and discriminating hands only should be per- mitted to sort tobacco. To do the work properly, good sight, good judgment and close attention are all needed in the assorter. A few bad leaves appearing with the good in a sample drawn by an inspector will reduce the price of the hogshead almost to the level of the price of the bad leaves. Short leaves appearing in a bundle of long tobacco, or bright leaves in a bundle of dark to- Tobacco, Ho-w to C II iU', Chit aud Prepare for Market . 13 bacco, or rich with poor lea^ , all violate the primary laws of clas- "^ification and injure the sale. Three classes, subdivided into three others, are usually made in assorting heavy shipping tobacco : I. Lugs, which represent ground leaves and those badly worm- eaten, blistered, field-fired, house-burned, and these may be, sub- divided into light lugs and heavy or snuff lugs. z. Seconds, which represent that portion of the crop which is ^lightly worm eaten or field-fired, off-color, short, thin or papery. These may be sub-divided like the first grade. 3. Good, or selections which are made up of those leaves best matured, best cured, and which have the best color and best body. This grade may be sub-divided into long or short, heavy or light. In tying up the leaves into bundles, an inferior leaf may be used and this is generally taken from the lowest grade and well dampened. However good the tie leaf may be, it is reduced to a lower grade by being wound around the head of the bundle. If the tobacco is to be delivered to a stemmery, any number of ■ leaves that may be convenient for handling may be tied into a sin- gle bundle. The larger the bundle the better, but if it is to be prized into hogsheads from five to eight leaves make a bundle of proper size, the larger number of leaves being used for the inferioi' grades. If the tobacco is in proper order when first taken down from the tier poles, it may be bulked as fast as stripped, but if it is too high or too dry it will be necessary to put the bundles on sticks and hang the tobacco up in the barn again for re-ordering. The most approved condition for permanent bulking and prizing is one in which the leaf is damp enough to open freely without breaking and the stems near the larger ends will crack but not break when bent. In this condition it will keep through all seasons, will go through the sweat with improvement and will bear the ocean voyage without damage. As the prizing of tobacco is now rarely done by the tobacco grower but by experts who have made a study of it, I do not deem X necessary to extend this paper by describing this work. Rarel\ does the planter grow a crop large enough to make all the classi- fications demanded by the various markets. A cask containing types guited to several markets is limited to one buyer, viz., the re-handler. li Tobacco, Hoiv to Cultivate, Cure and Prepare for Marki i. In a crop, say, of 50,000 pounds there may be several hogsheads of these mixed types or grades and but few specially suited to anv of the foreign markets. So it has been shown by experience that it is much safer for the planter to sell his tobacco loose or to unite ^vith several others in having it prized than to prize it himself. WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE. By J. B. Killebrew. A. N., Ph. D. The natural variation in the species of tobacco has brought about comc wonderful economic results. This was especially true of the White Burley tobacco, a variety that within the past four decades has increased in production more rapidly than that of any other va- riety whatever. The fortunate development of this variety, so well suited to the requirements of our domestic manufacturers in making plug tobacco, has wrought a complete revolution in tobacco culture in many parts of the country. HISTORY OF WHITE BURLEY. The White Burley had its origin in Brown County, Ohio, in 1864. ^ farmer named George Webb, living near Higginsport, in the spring of that year, sowed the seed of the Red Burley, said to have come from the farm of Jos. W. Barkley, of Bracken County, Ky. A part of the plants on one side of the bed had a creamy, sickly appearance. These were thought to be worthless for trans- planting, but being hard pressed for plants enough to set out his crop, Mr. Webb made use of a few of these white plants rather than go to a neighbor for a quantity sufficient to finish his field. For two or three weeks the white plants grew but little, but after becoming established and well rooted they grew with remarkable rapidity, soon reachmg large size and retaining all their creamy richness of color. They ripened two weeks earlier than the green plants set out at the same time. Wlien cured in the ordinary way, by atmospheric influences, there was a whitish tinge on the under side of the leaf, while the upper surface was of a beautiful golden yellow. A few- plants were cut and cured which measured six feet in length and were put on exhibition in the Bodmann warehouse in Cincinnati. These plants attracted a great deal of attention and interest among all tobacco men who examined them. Buyers gave encouragement to their further cultivation. The next year, 1865, Mr. Webb planted ten acres and produced 11,000 pounds of tobacco, which was exceedingly handsome and silky, having all the characteristic marks of coloring which the sam- ple of the previous year had displayed. When offered on the market it brought from 25 to 45 cents per pound, and a premium of $300 was awarded, in addition to this large price, to the successful grower. 16 White Burley Tobacco and itslCuUur^. The White Burley district lies on both sides of the Ohio Rlvef, and occupies about twenty-four counties, in whole or in part, in Kentucky, and three counties exclusively in Ohio, viz., Adams, Brown and Clermont, and parts of counties in the Spangled or East- ern Tobacco district of Ohio lying in the Southeastern corner of the State. The boundaries of the district in Kentucky are limited by the Ohio River on the North, and by lines on the South and East passing from Louisville, Kentucky, to Paris, and from the latter place to Portsmouth, Ohio. TOPOGRAPHY AND SOILS. The surface of this region is greatly diversified. High ridges and knobs, rising from 300 to 400 feet above the valley of the Ohio River, are alternated by deep ravines and rocky gorges. There is a lofty elevation known as Dry Ridge, upon which the Cincinnati Southern Railway passes through the center of this district from North to South. Innumerable spurs shoot out from this ridge, and are often cut by the transverse gorges into conical hills, with some- times gentle, but often abrupt slopes. Numerous rills, creeks and rivers ramify the entire district, while level stretches of land are to be seen in the southern portions of the district around Georgetowii and Lexington and in several counties in Central Kentucky. The geological formations for the most part belong to the lower Silurian, the rocks are limestone, and the tree growth is oak, hickory, w.ilaut, beech, poplar, sugar tree and other varieties indicating great original fertility in the soil. The unevenness of the surface makes tillage difBcult, and great care must be taken to prevent the rapid destruc- tion of the upper soil by surface washings. Blue Grass is indigenous to the entire district, and covers with its verdant turf the slopes of the hills and the rich valleys between. All the rocky beds of the lower Silurian are exposed in some parts of the district. Many of these beds are thin, flaggy and soft, undergoing a rapid disintegra- tion when exposed. The soils derived from the blue limestones have gieat strength of constitution, for though apparently exhausted, the dissolution of the rocks soon adds the necessary inorganic ele- ments, while the turf of the blue grass that carpets the surface supplies all the humus required to restore the soil to its pristine fer- tility. It is a fact well established that phosphoric acid abounds in the limestones of the district, and is by far the most valuable of all fertilizing elements in any soil. Dr. Peter, of the Geological Survey. U'/ti/i- A'ur/iv 'Jobacco and ils Cult inc. 17 ascertained by chemical analysis that some of the soils in this dis- trict contain as high as .466 per cent, of phosphoric acid, while the richest soils of Todd county contain only a third of this quantity. He ascribes the fertility of the soil of this region : First — To its state of extreme division. Second — Its large proportion of phosphates and the alkalies. Third — The great amount of organic matter. The latter ingredient gives the soil its rich black or brown color, makes it light and very retentive of moisture and gases favorable to vegetable growth. This organic matter materially aids in the solu- tion of the mineral elements of vegetable nutrition, and by its de- composition furnishes plants with a large supply of the most assim- ilable plant food. The soils of this region contain fourteen times as much lime, three times as much phosphoric acid, and twice as much potash as the sandstone soils of the coal regions. The large content of oxide of iron and alumina as shown to exist by the analysis of Dr. Peter, contributes to their durable fertility and the rapid powers of recuper- ation, by assimilating through leguminous plants ammonia from the atmosphere. In addition the alumina prevents the soluble salts from filtering away from the roots of pinnts and also supplies soluble salts of potash by disintegration. The gradual liberation of potash from the alumina of the soil accounts tor the fact, which is well known among the tobacco growers of the district, that a field planted in tobacco for two or more years in succession apparently becomes exhausted for the production of another crop, but when seeded to grass or clover, and allowed to remain in pasture for a few years, it regains its fertility, and shows no permanent injury in conse- quence of the previous crops of tobacco taken from it. The subsoil of this region is also very rich in mineral fertilizers. Phosphate of lime is of common occurrence in appreciable quantities — not. it is true, existing in the form of crystallized or massive apa- tite or coprolite, but disseminated through the whole body of the limestone rocks to such an extent that many beds, if crushed to powder, would make an excellent fertilizer. This makes it impos- sible ever to destroy the fertility of the region permanently, even by the most injudicious cultivation. The subsoil and the rocky strata beneath constitute an accumulated capital held in trust for future generations ; while the surface soils may be compared to the avaiN 18 White Burley Tobacco and its Culture. able interest subject to the uses of its present owners. The latter may be improved or dissipated by bad tillage, by excessive crop- pings, by washings ; but no limit of time may be assigned beyond which the blue limestone lands shall cease to have a permanent value. Nature is forever at work in deepening the soil and restoring the ravages af cultivation. The midsummer sun« warm and expand the rocks ; the rains fall and penetrate them ; frosts turn the mois- ture into an infinite number of little wedges, which enter, and tear, and split, and crumble the surface into dust, and thus from year to year, from generation to generation, from century to century, the work goes on, constantly meeting the interest demanded by each successive age. The following is an anaylsis of the typical soil of this region as made by Dr. Peter : Organic and volatile matter 7771 Alumina, oxide of iron and manganese 12.961 Carbonate of lime 2.464 Magnesia 0.173 Phosphoric acid 0.319 Sulphuric acid 0.170 Potash 0.393 Soda 0.130 Sand and insoluble silicates 75.266 Total 99.647 Moisture driven off at 300 4-700 Some other analyses may show larger quantities of phosphoric acid and potash, but the above is a fair average. Dr. Peter, in the course of his investigation, took the pains to make an analysis of the richest prairie soils of Illinois with those of the region under consideration. The large amount of available nourishing plant food to be found in the former gives great luxuriance to the growth of the first crops. It has probably greater immediate fertility, but none of the durability of the blue grass soils. It has a larger interest but smaller capital, and when the accumulated available soil is once consumed or exhausted by thriftless husbandry, there is no inher- ent power left to make restitution for the destruction. There is a class of soils which occurs in the counties of Owen. Gallatin, Grant and Boone in Kentucky, derived from a silicious mudstone far inferior in productive capacity to the blue limestone soils. This mudstone is buff in color and is probably 100 feet in thickness and from 200 to 300 feet above the Ohio River. The soil While Burlcy Tobacco and its Culture. 19 from it is poor in lime and potash, but rich in sulphuric acid. Owing to the central portion occupied by the mudstone in the vertical range, the strongest soils are found capping the greatest elevations or in the valleys. The character of the mudstone soil is, however, greatly niiprov d by the presence of limestone gravel which rolls down from heights above and commingles with the soil. Oak, poplar and sugar tree are the prevalent growths on the "best quality of this soil. Beech forests with a sobby ^oil characterize more generally the mudstone, and such land" are of inferior value, both for the growing of tillage crops and for the grasses. In the eastern portions of Lewis and Fleming Counties the stiff soils of the Devonian shales appear, be- low them the brownish red soils derived from the magnesian lime- '^•tones of the upper silurian formations. The portion of the White Burley district lying in Ohio consists of a river basin fringed by cliffs of modified drift, rising to the height of 500 feet above the Ohio River, and in topographical outline is the counterpart of the district in Kentucky. The bluffs run off into a plateau, sometimes deeply washed by the numerous tributaries of the Ohio and Little Miami rivers, but generally the erosion has not been deep, and frequent instances occur where small streams mean- dei for many miles through broad valleys. Broad areas of level land cccur, sometimes so flat that in times of excessive rains they over- flow, and form temporary inland lakes. Limestones of silurian age, are often found cropping out in this district. Some of these beds are full of fossils, and analysis shows that potash, soda and phosphoric acid, as in the Kentucky limestones, enter largely into their compo- sition. The drift of glacial deposits are extensive and contribute mainly to u!c formation of the soils. This origin gives them a somewhat dift'erent character from those in Kentucky derived immediately from the underlying limestones. The drift is composed largely of clay, and its thickness upon the rocky strata varies from 10 to 50 feet. Its usual thickness, however, is about 20 feet, and it is com- poses for the most part of the following materials, beginning at the surface and descending-, 1. Surface clays, creamy in color, sometimes darkened by an accumulation of humus, especially in swamps or basins. 2. Yellowish clays, abounding in limestone gravel, forming the surface where the first had been carried away by denudation. 20 White Biirhy Tobacco audits Ciiliun'. 3. Forest bed, a dark carbonaceous clay abounding in the re- mains of vegetable matter — often peaty, generally resting upon a bed of bog-iron ore one or two feet in thickness. 4. Hard pan, a blue, compact, putty-like mass, with occasional layers of inter-collated sand. This last usually rests upon the bed- rock. There are four classes of soil recognized in this district north of the Ohio River, viz. : 1. Native soils, formed from the disintegration of the bed- rocks of the country, 2. Drift soils of the uplands. 3. Black soils of swampy areas. 4. Alluvial of the river bottoms. The native soils are not widespread, but are confined, for the most part, to the slopes bordering the streams. Some of them abound in vegetable humus, are dark in color, very friable and exceedingly fertile. This fertility comes from the carbonate of lime, potash, soda and phosphoric acid, which abound in the rocks, and their fer- tility is still further increased by the arenaceous character of the limestones from which they are derived, which makes them open and light. On account of the general unevenness of the surface, where they exist, they wash easily but are the soils preferred for tobacco. The principal trees are sugar, maple and walnut. The drift soils are capable of subdivision into yellow clays and white clays. The yellow clay soil is derived from the weathering of the drift, which in this region is largely composed of gravel. There are oc- casional seams of sand and gravel in the soil. The surface, how- ever, is made up of one or two feet of whitish clay, fine-grained, comparatively free from gravel, which is due in part to the decay of vegetable matter, and in part to the work of earth worms and animals which bring up fine particles from beneath. The white clay is identical in character with the last described, except as to origin, and changes to a yellowish hue under the surface. Analysis shows a considerable amount of potash and soda in its composition, as well as phosph^^te and carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia. It also contains over 6 per cent, of the sesquioxide of iron. The black soils of the swamps are, for the most part, composed of humus in a greater or less degree of decay, and when sweetened by aeration are very durable and highly productive. IVkite Jiur/ry J'ohacco and its CuUiur. 21 The alluvial soils of streams partake of the nature of the region whence their material has been derived, sometimes being very sandy, sometimes gravelly and at other places highly, argillaceous and stiff, but generally very productive. The soils on the smaller streams are not generally so sandy as those on the Ohio River, TWO CLASSES WHITE BURLEY TOBACCO. In the White Burley districts of Kentucky two different classes of tobacco are produced from the same variety planted. In the counties of Owen, Franklin, Henry, Oldham, Scott and Trimble cutting tobacco, or what may be used for cutting purposes, was until within a recent period grown almost exclusively, while in the re- maining counties of the district heavier styles used for fillers mainly are now and have heretofore been grown altogether. Latterly, how- ever, both cutters and fillers are grown in the section of which Owen County may be considered the center. All observant cultivators agree that the character of the soil determines the quality of the product, other conditions being equal. Bottom lands and black soils grow coarse, bony tobacco, long but not fine. Eastern or Southeastern slopes have open soils and will pro- duce a quick growth, which is essential in making a porous product. These are preferred for making the finest classes of tobacco, es- pecially when they have stood in grass for many years and have long been cleared. Newly cleared land makes a very bright, thin cutting leaf, which at one time commanded the highest prices. Before the introduction of the White Burley variety, a variety called Twist Bud w^as grown on new land for making the highest >t}les of cutting leaf. Ridge-land has a fine grained soil, and does not produce such rapid growth, which is necessary to give absorp- tive capacity to the product. The product on such land is therefore not so valuable. West lands, or lands facing west and mudstone lands are cold and clammy, and produce a slow growth, making a hard, compact quality of tobacco, of dark color and poor powers of absorption. On the Northern slopes or North lands as they are called, the product is very rich, heavy and gummy, deficient in color, and though more pounds to the acre are produced, the quality is not such as commands the highest prices. 22 White Burley Tobacco and its Culture. In Kenton and other counties, where there are sandy soils of a very fertile character, the highest type of Burley Tobacco is grown ; the heaviest and darkest product on deep, reddish loam soil, and the lightest and often the highest priced article, used both for wrappers and fine cut, is grown upon white oak lands. TOBACCO IS AFFECTED BY SURFACE AND SOILS. The quality of the product, as affected by the surface exposure and the character of the soils, both in Ohio and Kentucky, may be summarized as follows : On new lands the product is thin, light and bright, and suitable for cutters. On second year land the product is heavier, with more body, often cherry red in color, and suitable both for cutters and fillers, but in an inferior degree. On old sod land the product is of better body, less color, more useful for plug fillers with more pounds per acre. On alluvial or black soils the product is dark in color, rough, bony, lacking in softness and low in absorptive capacity. The order of preference as to exposure is: i. Eastern or South- eastern ; 2. Southern ; 3. Northern ; 4. Western. Beech lands are preferred for the White Burley variety, but the oak lands were formerly preferred for producing the cinnamon colored fine cut- ters. There is one point of difference between the soils of this dis- trict as they occur in Ohio and Kentucky. In the former state they are mainly derived from the drift and are usually tender. RAPID DESTRUCTION OF SOILS. It is a somxe of disquiet to the well wisher of his country to observe the rapid destruction of the soil in this district — within a quarter of a century the diminution of the yield of the staple crop has been from 25 to 50 per cent. Very few farmers pay any atten- tion to the fertilization or preservation of their soils. The hills are scarred and ribbed with deepening gullies, down which the rich plant food is carried with every rain. The district in Ohio has no such natural reservation of soil power as the land in Kentucky, and when once exhausted the work to reclaim the land will cost as much or more than it will be worth when redeemed. From the testimony at hand, not one farmer in five in Brown, Adams or Clermont U'/iitr liitrlcy Tobacco and i/s Culture. 23 Counties considers it necessary to apply fertilizers to restore or pre- serve the fertility of the soil. I have thus given an outline of the character of the soil in what is known as the White Burley district, but the reader will make a grave mistake if he should be led to believe that this variety of tobacco is grown nowhere else. It is now planted in Virginia, Ten- nessee, West Virginia, Missouri, Maryland, Indiana, Ohio and Ar- kansas, and in nearly every district in Kentucky. The truth is, there has been a WHiite Burley mania among the farmers of the Southern tobacco-growing States, but it has nearly run its course. When- ever the prices for this variety and the heavier styles shall be equi- librated the farmer of each district will return to the production of such types as may be best and more profitably produced in his dis- trict. In flavor, in substance, in strength of the essential ingredients of tobacco, the White Burley variety is inferior. Its greatest recom- mendations are its highly absorptive quality, its mildness and its less baleful effects upon people of sedentary habits. Its absorptive ca- pacity being over twice as great as the rich, gummy type, makes it exceedingly profitable to the manufacturer, while its mildness per- mits it to be used by the weak and the nervous with comparative mipunity. This variety has few qualities that old tobacco growers would call good. It is very weak. It is thin. It has hardly gum enough in its composition to make it supple. It is probably the mildest to- bacco grown, and is admirably suited on that account for consump- tion by a large class of persons of weak nerves, to whom the use of stronger tobacco is a positive injury. Since 1872, at which time it began to be used for making plug, (before used for making cutting tobacco) it has well-nigh super- seded all other varieties in the manufacture of plug. The "sweet" chew of Missouri, the sun-cured product of Virginia, and, indeed, all the favorite types theretofore used by the plug manufacturer, have been dethroned by this tobacco king of the Ohio Valley, and still the conquest extends. France calls for it ; England wants a part of its supply from this variety and Italy is buying it. A prominent New York tobacco dealer thinks its popularity is due to the highly-wrought nervous condition of the American peo- ple. Persons performing outdoor work, sailors, fishermen and farm- ers, and all with strong physical constitutions, reject it and prefer 24 White Burlcy Tobacco and its Culture. types richer in the essential properties of tobacco, but persons of sedentary habits, students, clerks, merchants, professional men — all prefer the milder form as represented in the White Burley vi: riety. Three-fourths of this product is taken for the home trade. It i used for making fine cut, for plug fillers, for smokers, and it ha been used to some extent in the place of mahogany wrappers fcr plug. A few years ago when there was a very limited demand for fil". ers, the principal object of the grower of the White Burley variet was to increase the proportion of cutting leaf and to dimmish th; quantity of fillers. The tobacco was planted thickly and topped high . so that thin and gumless leaves, suitable for cutting, might predom inate. A wider space is given to the plants when it is sought to pro duce more gum, body and sweetness, and each is used in the manu- facture of domestic plug. PREPARATION OF LAND FOR WHITE BURLEY. In the White Burley districts of Ohio, composed mainly of th counties of Adams, Brown and Clermont, on the Ohio River, th' soil intended for tobacco is prepared by turning it either in the fal' or early spring, going to the depth of six or eight inches. Just be- fore the plants are large enough to transplant, the soil is agaii broken, usually with a disc harrow so as not to reverse the soil, and by repeated harrowings afterwards it is reduced to a fine state o^ pulverization. The distance between the rows is variable. Som farmers prefer a width of two and one half feet, others three, anc some three and a half and even four feet. The latter distance i- preferred when tobacco of good body is desired, but when the objeci is to make a cutting leaf the shorter distances are adopted. Whei the field has been marked off in one way the plants are set usually with a machine twenty-two inches apart on the mark. In the White Burley districts of Kentucky old sod land is gen- erally preferred. This is also broken in the fall or early spring and allowed to remain in this condition until about the first of May, by which time the sod will be well rotted. The soil is then disced and well pulverized, the land is then marked ofif for planting, the marks being three feet to three feet eight inches apart. The plants, with- out hills, are set in the marks at the ijifttSSe of about twenty inches 5*^"^ IV/iiti' BtirUy Tobacco and i/s Culture. 25 or two feet apart, so as to have about 7,000 plants to the acre. Some prefer a shorter distance for the plants in the rows, under the im- pression that the shorter the distance, to within eighteen inches, the smaller will be the stem and fibres. Others aim to produce tobacco of a little heavier body that may be used either as a heavy cutter or as a bright filler. It is claimed by some excellent planters that a silkier quality of tobacco may be produced by cultivating the sod land the first year in corn, following the corn with tobacco, but the experience of a major- ity goes to demonstrate that tobacco following blue grass does best. \\'hcn planted after timothy sod it is greatly troubled with insects, and when planted after corn it is lacking in suppleness. CULTIVATION OF WHITE BURLEY. About six days after the plants have been set, and when they are fully established, one furrow is run between the rows and some dirt pulled up to the plants. It is claimed by some of the very best growers in Owen County, where probably the highest grade of product is made, that no advantage whatever is derived from mak- ing hills to receive the plant ; that the mark or furrow upon the lower side of which the tobacco is set, serves to protect the plants against excessive rains ; that it makes it easier to plow without dan- ger of covering the plants with dirt, and thst it insures a bed of freshly worked earth about the plants after they begin to grow. Three or four plowings with two or more furrows to the row. are given (one plowing every week) with a double shovel plow. Especially is it thought important to plow the crop after every rain. When the tobacco comes in top the plowing ceases. Level culture alone is practiced. The most vigorous plants are topped without priming to sixteen and eighteen leaves. The average of the first topping is fourteen leaves. The suckers are pulled off at least once and the worms arc rarely sought for, though it is thought the worms prefer the White Burley variety to any other. It is succulent and tender, and in my own experience I have found them much more troublesome with this variety. Something may be due to its pale green color, so much like the color of the worms, making it more difficult to find them. 26 IVhitc Btirley Tobacco ami its Culture. HARVESTING AND CURING. In about three or four weeks, if the weather should be seasonable after the plants are topped, they are thought to be ripe enough to cut. In this the White Burley growers have decided advantage over the growers of the heavy shipping tobacco. The latter have to wait from six to seven weeks for the crop to ripen. In the meanwhile their best efforts are required to keep the worms and suckers from injuring the product. Another advantage grows out of the short length of time re- quired for ripening — more acres may be cultivated and cared for by one person. The limit to the number of acres to be cultivated is the ability to keep down the worms and suckers ; and as this work is ended within three or four weeks in the Burley districts, and ex- tends to seven or eight weeks in the heavy shipping districts, it will be seen that by successive plantings one person may cultivate and manage during the season considerably more acreage in the former districts than in the latter. From four to five acres are considered a reasonable crop in the Burley region for one hand, while three m the Clarksville heavy tobacco region are thought to be the full meas- ure of one man's capacity to cultivate and care for. The period between topping and harvesting, however, is by no means a fixed quantity. It varies upon different soils : it is influenced by high or low topping, by the prevalence of wet or dry weather, and by the different exposures. The earliest maturity takes place on warm, southern exposures, and on a quick black or brown limestone soil. Northern exposures, heavy, clayey soils, wet weather, as well as high topping, all delay the time of ripening, but the average length of time between topping and cutting may be put at between three and four weeks. When fully ripe the harvest begins. The plants are cut with an implement made for the purpose, though a common butcher's knife is used by many for cutting, and owing to its adaptability to other uses, is probably more extensively used than any other implement for this work, A common hand-saw, with the blade cut squarely off to within eight or ten inches of the handle, and sharpened on the end is pre- ferred by many. Tlie stalk is split as in the heavy tobacco districts already described, and about five plants put on a stick. A method of cutting and hanging prevails, to some extent, in U'hite tiurlcy Tobacco' ami H:s Ciiltiiic. 27 Bracken County which is both neat and unusual. Each cutter takes three rows, and as each plant is severed it is straddled over a stick set up in the ground in the center of the space occupied by six plants, that number being allotted to each stick. In this way the plants are cut and hung without being laid upon the ground. This both saves time and secures neatness in handling. These sticks, a little over four feet long, with their loads of tobacco, are either taken directly to the barn and hung twelve inches apart on the tier poles, or arc- placed upon scaffolds erected in the fields or near the barns. Nearlv all the planters scaffold their tobacco and it remains upon the scaf- fold from five to eight days. This greatly facilitates the curing aft- erwards ai\d economizes barn room; for space of eight inches be- tween the sticks will be ample after the tobacco has been exposed to atmospheric influences on. the scaffold fdr several days. It is thought also that exposure to the sun for a few days makes it much sweeter and diminishes the danger from houseburn. The tobacco is car- ried to the barns on a frame having one or two tiers. Some plant- ers use sleds. No fire is employed in curing the crop. In barns provided with ample facilities for ventilation, about eight or ten weeks are re- quired to perfect the curing. The openings to the barns are not closed either day or night, unless there is an excess of wet weather, when all apertures are closed. Too much dry weather during the process of curing injures the tobacco by decreasing the elasticity and toughness of the leaf and preventing a uniformity of color, leaving the leaves mottled. An old, experienced grower says : *Tf the weather is very dry it will be changeable in color; if too wot the color will be too dark, but, after cutting, if the weather is fine, with occasional showers, the tobacco will cure a beautiful bright color." There must be dampness enough in the atmosphere to pro- duce a transfusion of the juices through the leaf, and this insures a uniformity of color. ASSORTING THE CROP. The tobacco being fully cured it is taken down when in proper condition and assorted into four or five grades, beginning at the bottom of the stalk and going upwards. The grades are as follows : First — The sand leaves, trash, or flyings. This grade is made 28 White Buiiey Tobacco a lid its Cultmc. up of soiled and earth-parched ground leaves, varying in number from one to three leaves. Second — Good trash or lugs, taken from the stalk next above the ground leaves, varying in number from two to three leaves. Third — Bright and prime leaves, taken from the central part of' the stalk in number from four to six. Four — Tips, or top leaves, generally a little immature, and red- dish or greenish in color, in number from one to three. Two classes of ''reds" are sometimes made known as first and second "reds." Some planters only make three classes or grades, viz : trash, lugs and good, the first being the ground leaves, the second the imperfect leaves, and the third the bright, middle and top leaves. If the to- bacco has been topped low there is generally great uniformity in color and length of all the -leaves near the top; but if topped high the upper leaves or tips are small and of bad color. These various grades are tied into bundles of ten or twelve leaves each, re-hung upon sticks, and either crowded upon the tier poles or put upon a platform in coops, each grade being kept sepa- rate. When suitable weather for ordering comes, if the tobacco hai been put upon tier-poles, the sticks are given a greater distance, so that the tobacco may become sufficiently pliant to handle without breaking, at which time it is taken down, bulked and weighted, each grade being kept separate ; or if it has been cooped it is hung thinly upon the tier-poles, and when in proper condition it is taken down and treated in the same manner. Probably the safest way after stripping is to coop it down, because it is then less liable to injury from the vicissitudes of the weather. A very large proportion of the tobacco grown in the district is sold loose to local dealers who receive it in houses in which con- veniences are provided for packing and prizing. From 700 to i,ioo pounds of the highest grades are put in a hogshead, and from 1,200 to 1,800 pounds of trash and lugs. These casks are by no means of uniform size. Some are very large, being five feet high and forty-eight inches in diameter, and they vary in size from this down to fifty-two inches in height and forty inches in diameter. Local dealers buy at all times from the period when the crops can first be examined after curing until the following May or June. It is estimated that the cost of prizing, shipping and selling the crop, including the cost of hogsheads, will amount to $2 per hun- \V/iitf lUirlty Tobacco and Us Culture. 29 ilred poiuuls. This also includes shrinkage in the weight of the tobacco from the time it goes out of the planter's hands until it reaches the market, where it is inspected and sold. This shrinkage is estimated to vary from 3 to 8 per cent., and if the tobacco is per- mitted to go through sweat before being sold 5 per cent, more should be added. A crop that has grown upon suitable soil, properly cultivated, kept free from worms, neatly and carefully handled, well assorted into grades, tied in neat hands, artistically packed and prized in hogsheads of the weight required for each grade, will bring in the market from 35 to 50 per cent, more than one that has been handled in a slovenly manner. There is in the White Burley crop a very wide range in prices, usually varying from 4 to 30 cents per pound, though of course the present depression of values has greatly reduced the ordinary stand- ard. The grades are sometimes classed as smokers, cutters, fillers and nondescript, each of these having subdivisions. It will be seen that the cultivation of tobacco in the White Bur- ley districts has been much more profitable than in the best shipping iiistricts of the state, and this is due to three facts: First — A hrger amount of land is cultivated for each hand, the proportion being as four to three. Second — The yield per acre is greater, being in the proportion of eight to five. Third — The price of the White Burley has been much higher, being nearly in the proportion, for the first few years, of two to one. The value per acre in the White Burley districts is about $90.00, the value of the product per hand employed $450.00. At the same time the value per acre in the heavy shipping districts is $60.00 per acre, the value of the product per hand $180.00. Evidently in the heavy shipping districts of the state the margm of profit in the cultivation of tobacco has been reduced to a minimum. It may be well here to add that there are many places in Vir- ginia, Maryland, Eastern Ohio, West Virginia and Missouri, where tobacco product is admirably suited for the domestic manufacturer. Some of this is air cured and cured by fire. The methods of curing do not differ, however, from the methods in use in the heavy ship- ping or yellow tobacco districts. An exception may be made in the case of Eastern Ohio and West Virginia in what is known as the 30 UViifc Burlcy Tobacco and its CuUierc. Spangled district, composed of the counties of Belmont, Monroe, Noble, Washington, and portions of Harrison, Athens, Gallia, Guernsey, Morgan, and two or three counties in West Virginia on the opposite side of the Ohio River. PULLING OFF LEAVES IN HARVESTING.; The manner of harvesting in this region demands attention, as it is practiced in but few other places in the United States. The variety most generally planted at present is the White Burley and the harvest begins by pulling from the plant four or five of the lower leaves after they are fully ripe. This is done in the morn- ing after the dew is off and the leaves are strung in the field and put upon scaffolds or taken imemdiately to the curing house and strung. The work of stringing is done by girls or women. A needle with a strong thread somewhat longer than the lath or stick upon which the tobacco is to be strung is employed, or a string is used to loop the leaves. Two leaves are pierced in the midrib or looped about an inch from the end of the midrib. These two are hung on one side of the stick. Two more are then strung in the same manner and hung on the opposite side of the stick, and this is ccm- tinued, two being plac ed alternately on each side of the stick until it is full. Care must be taken to put the leaves face to face or back to back. If strung back to face in the process of curing they will involve or enfold one another so as to produce damage. When the stick is full the thread is fastened to the other end. From seventy to one hundred leaves are put upon each stick, the number being regulated by their size. The usual weight of a stick of tobacco thus harvested is one and a half pounds. These sticks are placed upon the tier-poles of the curing house ten or twelve inches apart, but if the tobacco is permitted to remain on a scaffold for four or five days this distance may be decreased to six or eight inches. In about a week after the first gathering four or five more leaves are plucked from each plant and strung in the same manner. Usually about four gatherings are made before all the leaves are harvested, the object being inferior Lugs and Trash, the leaves being more or less soiled with dirt and punctured with holes and sometimes half destroyed or dried up by the heat of the ground. The last plucking, which embraces the top leaves, is the next least valuable, curing up a dingy green, like the leaves harvested late in the season. The H7ii/c llurhy 'Tobacco ami Us. Cult mr. 31 best selections come from the second and third gatherings. The occurrence of wet weather during the period of gathering indicates a second growth, fiUing the leaves with fresh sap and militates grea^- ly against the production of fancy colors. The growers in this district claim many advantages from gath- ering the leaves instead of cutting the stalk. No leaves are plucked until they are fully ripe ; this insures greater weight. The dififerent qualities or grades are kept separate, and less time is spent in assort- ing and preparing for market. The crop is cured in a much shorter time, less fuel being required. There is great economy in the sav- ing of barn room, the same height 'required for four tiers when the stalk is housed being ample for six. The trouble of stripping after the product is cured is saved. Cheaper labor can be employed, and girls, who would be of but little service in the housing of the crop in the ordinary way, are by this method of more service than men, because they have more dexterity with the needle. One-third of the crop is air-cured, and goes into American consumption. The remainder is cured with open fires, and finds a market in Europe. No fires at any time are used for curing in the White Burley districts proper. It is a singular fact that but little manure or fertilizers are used in the White Burley districts. The soils are naturally very fertile and some growers maintain that stable manure is a' disadvantage as it induces field fire and a too rapid ripening. Some sow about four bushels of salt over the land after it is prepared for setting out the plants under the belief that it will preserve humidity and give some protection against cut worms and grasshoppers. There is no doubt, however, that the application broadcast of 400 pounds of am- moniated superphosphate of lime with 8 per cent of potash would greatly increase the yield and add to the value of the product. It should be tried especially upon the hilly soils. Seed beds are prepared by burning the land thoroughly. Some- times the land selected for plants is old fence rows or virgin soil. In either case, however, the land is well burned and well prepared before sowing seed. It requires about a heaping tablcspoonful for icx) square yards. SEED LEAF TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE. By J. B. Killebrew, A. N.. Ph. D. Seed Leaf Tobacco is grown almost exclusively for making wrappers for cigars. It is not used for chewing purposes nor for making smoking tobacco. The growing of this type is of compara- tively recent origin. Previous to 1833 very little, if any, tobacco was grown in Connecticut Valley and that which was grown was narrow in leaf, coarse in texture and undesirable for the manufacturer. A broad leaf variety was introduced from Maryland about thai time, which, under the influence of climate, high culture and a suit able soil, has developed into the now famous Connecticut seed leaf. From the Connecticut Valley its culture extended into the other New England States, and also into Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois. The entire seed leaf product in 1840 did not exceed i,ooo,ooc> pounds, while the product in 1879 was a little over 90,000,000 pounds. In 1889 the amount grown was 69,500,000 pounds, and in 1895 was reduced to 56,100,000 pounds. About 175,000,000 pounds of cigar tobacco are produced annually in the United States. This includes seed leaf, Narona seed and Sumatra leaf. The varieties at present grown in the Connecticut and Housatonic Valleys are the Connecticut seed leaf, Connecticut broad leaf, Ha- vana, Havana seed, Belknap, Barber and John Williams. The value 01 the seed leaf consists in the fact that it is thin, elastic and silky, and is almost tasteless, so that when used as a wrapper for Havana Fillers it does not impair the flavor. TOBACCO IN CONNECTICUT VALLEY. In the Connecticut Valley the soils cultivated in tobacco have been in careful and skillful tillage from one hundred to two hundred years or more. The general rotation practiced is, grass several years, after which tobacco is planted for a number of years, two or three usually, but frequently four or five, and then the land is again seeded to grass. It is difficult to have any regular rotation, be- cause the local variations in soil characteristics make some of r: peculiarly adapted to the growth of tobacco, while other soils are found to be better fitted for hay, corn, buckwheat, or are more profit- able in permanent pasturage. The soil intended for tobacco is rarely broken in the fall in Connecticut, unless it is a heavy, clayey loam, which needs the Sft'd Leaf Tobacco and its'J'td/uir. 33 ameliorating effects of freezes to make it crumble well. On sandy land the work of preparation begins in the spring. The land first receives a heavy application of barn yard manure, and is plowed, with a good turning plow, to the depth of six or eight inches. In Alay it is cross-plowed, or cross-disced, and smoothed. With a "Ridger" beds are thrown up for seed leaf varieties, three and a lialf feet apart, and for Havana seed three feet. Following behind the ridger, and attached to it generally is a wheel of such a size as to mark on the ridge with small pegs set in the circumference, the i>laces for the plants, which, for the larger varieties are twenty-six inches apart, and for Havana seed eighteen to twenty inches. When very thin tobacco is desired, the distance between the plants is de- creased. Hills are very rarely made. In the raising of a tobacco crop in Connecticut and Housatonic Valleys, manures enter as much into the cultivation and the cost of production as the labor employed. When stable manure alone is applied from five to fifteen cords are used to each acre Probably the district around East Hartford uses a greater variety of fertilizers than any other in the United States. The following table will show the various kinds used, the prices of the same, and the amount ap- plied per acre : Kinds. Stable manure. Castor pomace, Peruvian guano, Cost. $6 to $8 per cord. $22 per ton. $50 to $55 per ton. Superphosphates, $30 to $40 per ton. Bone meal. Fish guano, Tobacco stems, Lime, i.eached ashes, Xewton marl. $30 to $40 per ton. $18 to $20 half dry. $10 to $14 per ton. $1.20 to $2 per barrel. 26 cents per bushel. Stockbridge fertilizers, Sheep manure, 3 Amount Applied per Acre. 5 to 15 cords. 2 tons. 300 pounds with 5 cords stable manure. 300 to 500 pounds with stable manure. Always used with other fertilizers. Not much used for Tobacco ; is thought to injure the product. i/^ to 4 tons; thought to injure the burning qualities. 2 barrels ; improves the burning qualities. Very popular; quality variable. 2 tons; makes Tobacco of su- perior quality. 500 pounds. All that can be obtained. to $10 per cord When it is desired to supplement the application of the stable manure with other fertilizers, the land is furrowed out at the dis- tance intended for the ridges, and the fertilizers drilled in the fur- ows. On these, other furrows are thrown, so as to make a bed vhich after being smoothed, is marked for hills by a wheel. Some- • >4 Seed Leaf Tobacco and ils Culture. times the commercial fertilizers are sown broadcast over the land, and harrowed in before it is marked ofif. No attempt is ever made ro grow a crop of tobacco without fertilization. Even when the land is rented, the tenant does not hesitate to expend money liberally for fertilizers, sometimes paying out two or three times as much for manures as for rent. Dr. Riggs, in a Connecticut Agricultural report, gives an ex- ceedingly interesting account of the manner in which he prepared his soils for the growth of tobacco. He says immediately after one crop is taken from the soil the land is ploughed lightly and one and one-quarter bushels of rye sown to the acre. This gets a good start before winter, and in the spring when the time arrives for ploughing for tobacco, the rye is four or five inches high. Two or three weeks before ploughing, a leveling plank is drawn over the rye; the soil is fertilized with 300 pounds of guano to the acre, which is turned under with the rye to the depth of twelve inches. In this condition the land lies until it is nearly ready to prepare it for the plants, when about one-third the quantity of barn-yard manure is applied that would have been applied but for the rye and guano. This manure, with about 400 pounds to the acre of additional guano, IS spread over the land and mcorporated in the soil by the use of a harrow. The field is then smoothed and permitted to remain untouched for several days until the guano and manure have become absorbed into the soil. The field is then mari