THE KENTUCKY PLANTER. 333 



by any Southern tobacco. The system of cultivation is simi- 

 lar to that pursued by the Virginian, and the same process of 

 curing is also adopted. 



The Kentucky growers generally succeed in getting a 

 " good stand " and when once the plants have commenced 

 to grow they come forward with a rapidity that is truly aston- 

 ishing. The soil of Kentucky is well adapted for the pro- 

 duction of the largest varieties of tobacco as well as the 

 finest grades of cutting leaf. Much attention is paid to the 

 selection of soil, that the light standard of Kentucky leaf 

 may be further advanced. On the large plantations a vast 

 amount of tobacco is grown, in some instances equaling the 

 entire product of some of the tobacco-growing towns in the 

 Connecticut Yalley. The tobacco is packed in hogsheads, 

 each one containing twelve hundred pounds, the same as in 

 Virginia and Missouri. 



The Kentucky planter prides himself on the superior 

 quality of tobacco, as well as his famous blooded stock. If 

 there is anything more remarkable than the high character 

 of the latter, it must certainly be the renowned plant which 

 has given the wealthy planters of Kentucky a national popu- 

 larity among all cultivators of tobacco. The Kentuckians are 

 thorough in all of their methods of cultivation, and with the 

 first stock and tobacco farms in the country bid fair to achieve 

 still further honors as " tillers of the soil." Possessed of 

 the largest means, they have brought their farms up to a high 

 state of cultivation, and produce in their famous valleys the 

 very finest of Nature's products. 



Kentucky planters are men of the largest endowments ; 

 Nature, in her gifts to them has been most lavish, and the 

 princely fortunes which they have acquired shows how well 

 they have benefited by her munificence. In manners affable, 

 and in benevolence unsurpassed, the Kentucky planter gains 

 the plaudits of all. He is polite to both friend and foe, and 

 possessed with all of that polished manner which marks the 

 true gentleman, and especially all growers of the " kingly 

 plant." Easy of approach, he has still that reserve that bids 



