1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



531 



I hoped it to be. The fact is, there have been no 

 •warm nights, to press forward and mature corn. 

 On some pieces where the land was thoroughly 

 pulverized to the depth of eight inches or more, 

 liberally fertilized by home-made manure, and 

 early planted with the right kind of seed, there 

 will be sound corn to the amount of sixty bush- 

 els to the acre — but generally the crop will not 

 be found to exceed thirty bushels to the acre. 

 The old fashioned way of cutting the stalks has 

 genexdlly been followed, but nobody can toll ex- 

 actly why it is done, except that the fodder is 

 better. 



When the corn stalk fodder is the principal 

 reason for growing corn, then this will be a good 

 reason for the practice of cutting the stalks ; but 

 while it is grown for the corn that will mature 

 the best, such management should be adopted as 

 will yield the greatest quantity of best corn. 



Of potatoes the report is highly favorable — lit- 

 tle or no rot, of large size, and excellent in qual- 

 ity. What more can be asked? 



Of grass — there has been enough of it where 

 the land has been properly taken care of, and 

 where it has not, there is no right to expect a 

 crop. My attention was particularly called to 

 the ancestral farm of the Walker family in Con- 

 cord, N. H., now cultivated by the Hon. Joseph 

 B. Walker, who has had the wisdom to leave the 

 law of quibbling and to engage in the law of cul- 

 ture. If more of our kid-glove gentry would do 

 the same thing, they would earn a reputation 

 "more durable than brass or bronze." P. 



Oct. 6, 1859. 



For the New England Farvier. 

 TOBACCO VEESUS USEFUL. CROPS. 



It is not without much hesitancy that I at- 

 tempt to introduce anything into the i'^aj-mer rel- 

 ative to the most worthless of all cultivated pro- 

 ducts — tobacco. I have observed, with pleasure, 

 thai this vile weed is not allowed the distinction 

 of ranking among those farm crops, to the dis- 

 cussion of which, and the best method of raising, 

 our best agricultural journals are devoted, and 

 that they are inclined to discourage its culture. 

 But the rapidly increasing attention paid to this 

 crop, and its usurpation of the best lands of the 

 country, which might otherwise be devoted to 

 useful and almost as remunerative crops, induces 

 me to write a few words upon the subject. 



Many farmers, carried away with the idea that 

 growing tobacco is superlatively a money-making 

 jusiness, devote to this crop the attention and 

 ■nanure properly belonging to the other and more 

 egitimate farm products, and often find, at or 

 before the sale of their tobacco crop, that "all is 

 •jot gold that shines," and that money cannot be 

 )lucked from the passing breeze, or obtained 

 lonorably without hard toil, at least on the hills 

 ind pldins of New England. Recently the cul- 

 :ure of tobacco has increased surprisingly, audit 

 aas been stated that during the past season there 

 have been 250 acres raised in each of the towns 

 of Hatfield and Whately, in this State, 200 in 

 Hadley, 125 each in Northampton and West 

 Springfield, and probably 100 in Springfield and 

 W^estfield, and from 50 to 200 or more in all the 

 owns in this State and Connecticut that border 

 on the Connecticut river, besides a large amount 



in other towns, and patches scattered about all 

 over the New England States. How many thous- 

 ands of bushels of corn, or rye and wheat, or of 

 root crops, this land might be made to add to the 

 annual amount of these crops grown in New 

 England ! and how much richer the country 

 would be by their culture in the place of tobacco ! 



1 propose to notice a few items in regard to 

 the real profits of raising tobacco. First, the 

 very best land must be employed, and highly 

 manured, to ensure a remunerating crop. It can- 

 not be manured too highly ; and a field that 

 would produce a fine crop of corn, an old tobac- 

 co-raiser would not set with tobacco plants. 



The average amount of tobacco per acre is gen- 

 erally regarded as 1700 pounds; some lands 

 yielding much more, while a good deal yields less. 

 Let the medium price be twelve and a half cents 

 per pound, and it will give $212,50 as the pro- 

 duct of an acre ; though I believe 8200 is consid- 

 ered as the average amount of money per acre for 

 tobacco. The cost of the various items in its 

 culture may be stated as follows, after the land 

 would be considered well fitted for a crop of corn 

 and potatoes, which is rather a low estimate, 

 however, of the cost of raising an acre of good 

 tobacco, and does not include many little things 

 always occurring to be done in the culiure of 

 the "weed :" 



Cost of extra plowing and harrowing $4 00 



'• hilling out 1.25 



" plants 6,00 



" setting 4,00 



" hoeing three timej 12 00 



'■ topping, mowing, &c 3.75 



" Buckering 4,25 



" cut.ing hanginc;. twine, &:c 12, fO 



" stripping, packing, &c 9 CO 



$66,75 



In addition to this is the rent of slorage-room, 

 while the tobacco is curing, or the interest of 

 capital invested in tobacco sheds — say at least 

 six dollars, for I have heard it remarked by old 

 tobacco-growers that a barn of ordinary height, 

 40 feet long by 30 in width, is none too ample 

 accommodations for an acre of stout tobacco. 

 And the expense of getting plants, when not 

 raised at home, is often considerable ; for in- 

 stance, I have known people to travel twenty 

 miles and back, repeating the journey two or 

 three times, in procuring ))lants for an acre. 



The money received for tobacco is not all prof' 

 its. I have known tobacco culturists to offer 

 fifty dollars for the use of an acre of ground for 

 tobacco, and manure to fit it with, or eighty to 

 one hundred dollars after the ground was fitted. 

 Deducting about ninety dollars for the use of 

 the ground, manure, fitting, &c., in addition to 

 the expense of raising, leaves as small a per cent. 

 of profits on the amount of capital invested as 

 the majority of farm crops. And I believe that 

 people are deceived in regard to the real amount 

 of profits in tobacco growing, by the large am 'unt 

 of cash received as the avails of an acre, and do 

 not stop to consider the costs of growing, nor 

 estimate the risks incurred. The labor bestowed 

 on one acre of tobacco would cultivate quite a 

 number of acres of corn, which, if grown on the 

 ground devoted to tobacco, would yield GO to 70 

 bushels per acre. The gain on the money invest- 

 ed in the culture of corn is generally from thirty 

 to fifty per cent., but by the above estimate, 



