722 



TOBACCO, CULTURE OF. 



settlement of the country, and was introduced 

 into Kentucky and Missouri very early, as well 

 as in several of the Southern States. The Vir- 

 ginia and Maryland tobacco is mostly manufac- 

 tured into plug and fine-cut tobacco and snuff, 

 as is much of that raised in the Western and 

 Southwestern States. Within the past twenty- 

 five years the culture of a different variety, 

 which is mostly used for the manufacture of 

 cigars, has made great progress in the Con- 

 necticut valley, in New York, Pennsylvania, 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 

 and Iowa. The crop is so large and its value 

 so great, both for export and for home manufac- 

 tures, that some account of the plant and its 

 mode of cultivation and preparation for market 

 seems necessary in this work. 



The tobacco crop more than doubled in quan- 

 tity between 1850 and 1860, being in the for- 

 mer year 199,752,655 Ibs., and in the latter 

 429,390,771 Ibs. Its culture in Virginia and 

 Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennes- 

 see, Missouri, and Arkansas, was considerably 

 diminished by the war, and probably has not 

 yet recovered its former proportions, but in the 

 Northern States it has increased with great ra- 

 pidity since 1860. In twenty-one of the North- 

 ern States, and Nebraska Territory, the to- 

 bacco crop was, in 1863, 163,353,082 Ibs. ; that 

 of 1864, 197,460,229 Ibs. ; and in 1865, 185,- 

 316,953 Ibs., the year having been unfavorable. 

 The value of the crop raised in these twenty- 

 one States and one Territory was in these suc- 

 cessive years $24,239,609, $29,335,225, and 

 $23,348,013. The following table shows the 

 amount of tobacco raised in the States specified 

 in 1850, 1860, 1864, and 1865. The only other 

 States which made over a million pounds of 

 tobacco in 1860 were Virginia, which produced 

 123,967,757 Ibs., nearly one-third of the entire 

 crop, and Tennessee, which produced that year 

 38,931,277 Ibs. During the war the crops of 

 both these States fell off probably two-thirds. 

 It will be noticed in the table that the produc- 

 tion of Kentucky in 1864 and 1865 was only 

 about one-half what it had been in 1860, and 

 that of Missouri but little more than half, while 

 the crop in Maryland had fallen off from 15 to 

 25 per cent. Meanwhile Massachusetts, Con- 

 necticut, New York, and Illinois, had increased 

 their production enormously, three of the four 

 States having more than doubled it, and Penn- 

 sylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, having made a 

 large advance in their crops. 



Of the fourteen species of the Nicotiana, 

 or tobacco- plant, enumerated by Loudon, only 



two are cultivated to any extent, viz., the Ni- 

 cotiana rustica, a hardy plant, grown in the 

 colder climates of Europe, and to some extent 

 by the North American Indians ; and the Ni- 

 cotiana tabaceum, which % furnishes the great 

 bulk of the tobacco of commerce. Of this 

 species there are fifty or more varieties culti- 

 vated, each having its peculiar qualities. The 

 Havana or Cuba tobacco, when raised from the 

 seed, does not yield as well as some other va- 

 rieties, in the United States. The plant is 

 smaller, and yields fewer pounds to the acre, 

 than most other kinds, while it does not retain 

 folly the flavor and good qualities which cause 

 it to be so highly prized in Cuba. For chew- 

 ing-tobacco, whether in the form of plug or 

 fine-cut, the Big Orinoco, the Little Orinoco, 

 the Brittle Stem, the Yellow Prior, the Blue 

 Prior, the Big Frederick, the Little Frederick, 

 the Blue Stalk, or some other of the Virginia 

 or Maryland varieties, are preferred. The 

 greater number of cultivators, however, prefer 

 raising what they can for cigar-wrappers, the 

 second and third quality furnishing fillers for 

 the cigars. For this purpose some of the sub- 

 varieties of the seed-leaf tobacco are preferred. 

 The Connecticut seed-leaf, the broad-leaved 

 subvariety, stands highest in favor. The Penn- 

 sylvania and the Ohio seed-leaf are very similar, 

 and whatever difference there may be in them 

 is due more to difference of climate and soil 

 than any thing else. The Pennsylvania is said 

 to be somewhat larger and coarser, and to re- 

 quire a little longer time for maturity. It is 

 well to change the seed every few years, as it 

 is said otherwise to deteriorate in quality. The 

 seed is very small, an ounce containing, it is 

 said, 875,000 seeds. The variety of seed best 

 adapted to the purpose of the tobacco-grower 

 having been selected, it is necessary, in the 

 Northern States, to sow it in a seed-bed at 

 first, in order to bring the plants forward suffi- 

 ciently for them to mature before frost. 



The Seed-Bed. A rich loam is the best soil 

 for tobacco-plants ; select a spot for a bed on 

 the south side of a gentle elevation a warm 

 spot as much sheltered from the winds as 

 possible; make the bed mellow by spading 

 deep, burn a brush-heap upon it, and carefully 

 remove every sod, root, stick, or stone, then 

 rake evenly and carefully. Mix one gill of seed 

 for every ten square yards with a quart or so of 

 clean ashes or plaster, then sow as gardeners 

 sow small seeds, and" tramp, where sown, with 

 the feet, or roll with a roller. The bed should 

 be made rich with manure, and sown as early 

 in the spring as the ground can be worked. 

 The ground, however, must be in good con- 

 dition not too moist, and be well prepared. 



Keep the weeds from growing by careful 

 weeding, daily, after the plants are up ; a little 

 liquid manure then applied once a week will be 

 of much benefit to them, increasing their 

 growth and vigor very much. 



The plants should not stand too thick in the 

 bed, not more than an inch to half an inch 



