﻿132 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  THE 
  CULTIVATION 
  OF 
  TOBACCO. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  country 
  came 
  under 
  the 
  dominion 
  of 
  Spain, 
  

   a 
  market 
  was 
  opened 
  in 
  New 
  Orleans 
  ; 
  a 
  trade 
  in 
  tobacco 
  

   was 
  established, 
  and 
  a 
  fixed 
  and 
  remunerating 
  price 
  was 
  

   paid 
  for 
  it, 
  delivered 
  at 
  the 
  king's 
  warehouses. 
  Tobacco 
  

   thus 
  became 
  the 
  first 
  marketable 
  staple 
  production 
  of 
  

   Mississippi.'''" 
  

  

  The 
  tobacco 
  plant, 
  indigenous 
  to 
  the 
  country, 
  soon 
  

   came 
  into 
  general 
  cultivation. 
  

  

  The 
  larger 
  planters 
  packed 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  way 
  in 
  

   hogsheads. 
  Much 
  of 
  it, 
  however, 
  was 
  put 
  up 
  in 
  carrets, 
  

   as 
  they 
  were 
  called, 
  resembling 
  in 
  size 
  and 
  form 
  two 
  small 
  

   sugar-loaves 
  united 
  at 
  the 
  larger 
  ends. 
  

  

  The 
  stemmed 
  tobacco 
  was 
  laid 
  smoothly 
  together 
  in 
  

   that 
  form, 
  coated 
  with 
  wrappers 
  of 
  the 
  extended 
  leaf, 
  

   enveloped 
  in 
  a 
  cloth, 
  and 
  then 
  firmly 
  compressed 
  by 
  a 
  

   cord 
  wrapped 
  around 
  the 
  parcel, 
  and 
  which 
  was 
  suffered 
  

   to 
  remain 
  until 
  the 
  carret 
  acquired 
  the 
  necessary 
  dry- 
  

   ness 
  and 
  solidity, 
  when, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  surrounding 
  

   cloth, 
  it 
  was 
  removed, 
  and 
  strips 
  of 
  linn-bark 
  were 
  bound 
  

   around 
  it 
  at 
  proper 
  distances, 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  manner 
  as 
  to 
  

   secure 
  it 
  from 
  unwrapping 
  and 
  losing 
  its 
  proportions. 
  

  

  The 
  rope 
  used 
  for 
  this 
  purpose 
  was 
  manufactured 
  by 
  

   the 
  planter, 
  from 
  the 
  inner 
  bark 
  of 
  the 
  linn, 
  or 
  bass- 
  

   wood, 
  then 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  trees 
  of 
  the 
  forest. 
  

  

  One 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  rope 
  was 
  made 
  fast 
  to 
  a 
  post, 
  in 
  front 
  

   of 
  which 
  the 
  operator, 
  seated 
  with 
  the 
  roll 
  of 
  tobacco 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  1V83, 
  Mr. 
  Win. 
  Dunbar, 
  writes: 
  "The 
  soil 
  of 
  Natchez 
  is 
  par- 
  

   ticularly 
  favorable 
  for 
  tobacco, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  overseers 
  there 
  who 
  will 
  

   almost 
  engage 
  to 
  produce 
  you 
  between 
  two 
  and 
  three 
  hogsheads 
  to 
  

   the 
  hand, 
  besides 
  provisions." 
  

  

  