600 



FARMERS' REGISTER— STRIPPING AND PRESSING TOBACCO. 



these tlie best sample of a whole acre. I accord- 

 incrly resolved to let my crop take its chance. 

 VVeeding and thinning "were performed by the 

 hand, which greatly increased the solidity of the 

 soil. My crop was pulled up without attention 

 beins paid to any particular time or form; the 

 onions composing it Avere sound and good, while 

 the crops of my neighbors were suffering from 

 what are termed mouldy-nosed onions. I had 

 several bushels from a small piece of ground, and 

 was oblisred to exchange with my neighbors for 

 picklers."" I presented Mr. Atkins, nurseryman, of 

 Northampton, with twelve which weiglied eleven 

 pounds. I planted twenty-lour of them the suc- 

 ceeding spring, for seed, which weighed nearly 

 twenty^-two pounds, and were shown to several 

 friends before they were planted, who can testify 

 the fact. I cannot say Avhat quantity of seeds 

 they produced, as I left my situation at that time. 



A great deal has been said about growing large 

 onions; bat, according to my humble opinion, large 

 onions are not the most desirable. From my ex- 

 perience (which, I confess, is not a lengthened 

 one, as I am but a young gardener,) an onion 

 from one to two inches diameter is the most profi- 

 table, of the readiestsale, and the best for garden- 

 ers and gentlemen. When a large onion goes 

 into a gentleman's kitchen, it is cut, and a part 

 only is used; the remainder loses its quality, and 

 ultimately bears company with the peelings to the 

 dung heap. I advise John Mitchei, if he wishes 

 for large onions, to try as I have suggested above. 

 His soil will suit every purpose. He will find an 

 advantage in time; run no risk in displacing the 

 roots, which is apt to check vegetation; and he will 

 not be so likely lo get disease in the crops, as the 

 trampling forms gutters in which he can, if dry 

 weather occur, put water, and supply the roots 

 more arradually with moisture; or, if a continuance 

 of rain should happen, these gutters will carry off 

 the fiuperffuous water. 



Chicheley Hall, Bucks. 



For the Farmers- Register. 

 TOBACCO CULTURE NO. 4. 



[Continued from p. 223, Vol. II.] 



Stripping and pressing. 



Stripping and pressing being the subject of my 

 fourth number, (already too long delayed) the re- 

 marks thereon will conclude the practical part of 

 the subject. As soon as tobacco is thoroughly 

 cured by fire, it should be taken down, and re- 

 moved to the presshig house, (which should be kept 

 as a store house,) and crowded away on the tier 

 poles as close as possible, to prevent its getting in 

 "high order," as tobacco loses in weight, and 

 changes color, every time it gets very high. As 

 soon as the pressing house is filled, other houses 

 should be set apart for the same purpose, until the 

 whole crop is stowed away. Tobacco thus crowd- 

 ed away, is in much better condition than Avhen 

 hanging open, or bulked down: for it retains the 

 color and substance which it had when cured, and 

 is not liable to acquire a sour smell, which is very 

 often the consequence of early bulking. 



When there comes a season for stripping, the 

 tobacco on the lowest tiers will be in order, which 

 should be taken down and bulked; and then there 

 will be room to open that above, which, when it 

 comes in order, should in like manner be taken, 

 and eo on, until the whole crop is gone through. 



Tobacco should not be taken down in very high 

 order to strip, as it will be impossible to strip as 

 much, owing to the difficulty in pulling the leaves 

 off" of the stalks: and it will be impossible also to 

 get the dirt off of it, which should always be 

 done before it is bulked down; or else it can never 

 be as eHectually done afterwards. This is a mat- 

 ter of considerable importance, particularly in the 

 management of a dirty crop. 



In si ripping, the tobacco should be carefully as- 

 sorted into at least three classes, to wit: long, short, 

 and lugs. I have usually divided it into four class- 

 es, the fourth being simply a separation of the 

 bright from the dark. The first and second quali- 

 ties should be tied up into neat bundles of about 

 six or eight leaves, all being nearly of the same 

 length. The lugs can be tied into much larger 

 bundles. 



As the tobacco is stripped, it should be bulked 

 down, until a sufficiency is procured to commence 

 pressing, when it should be re-hung in uniform 

 and open order, and suffered to remain until it gets 

 thoroughly diy, leaf and stem, and then the first 

 time it comes in order to be handled without much 

 breaking, it should be taken down and neady 

 bulked, and heavily weighted. 



Too much caution cannot be used about the or- 

 der in which tobacco is taken down for pressing. 

 Experience has taught me that no season is to be 

 relied on between the months of November and 

 April, unless the wind is Irom the south or south- 

 west. No matter how fine the order may appear 

 to be, if the wind is from the north-east or north- 

 west, let it alone, for it will certainly prove too 

 high when it is opened in market. If any one 

 thing is more essential than another in the man- 

 agement of tobacco, it is dry order. I have al- 

 most invariably pressed my tobacco so dry as to 

 make it necessary to steam it a little over a fire 

 immediately before handing it into the hogshead, 

 in order that it may be packed without breaking, 

 and I never had a hogshead that was said to be 

 too dry when opened in market. 



The casks should be made of well seasoned 

 staves, about three-fourths of an inch in thickness, 

 and should be thirty-eight inches in diameter 

 across the heads, and fitty-four inches in length, 

 made nearly straight. The mode of packing the 

 tobacco in the casks is so well understood, and so 

 universally the same, that it is deemed unneces- 

 sary to give a minute description of it. The sim- 

 plest and most convenient machines for pressing, 

 are those that are worked with a lever. The beam 

 should not be more than twenty-two feet long, and 

 the lever is worked in a permanent sword that 

 passes through the end of it. Three hands can 

 press two hogsheads in four or five days, which 

 should each weigh about sixteen hundred pounds 

 net. 



These views on the subject of tobacco culture, 

 are submitted with great diffidence to the intelli- 

 gent planters of Virginia; and should they fail to 

 suggest any thing new or valuable, may be the 

 means of eliciting information from others, much 

 more capable than myself, to give instruction in 

 this, the most intricate and laborious of all our ag- 

 ricultural pursuits. The effects of tobacco culture 

 on the agricultural interest of Virginia, will form 

 the subject of my next number, and will complete 

 the series promised in the commencement. 



Wardsfnrk. G. 



