iding the woikers and theiry 



2i^ 



f,^ INTRODUCTION 



Tobacco, its history and the devel- 

 jpment of its culture, pioduction and 

 'the manufacture of its products, are 

 closely connected with the faming and 

 ndustrial progress of North Carolina 

 One of the chief industries in the 

 State today is the tobacco industry. 

 Thousands of our citizens; farmers, 

 merchants, warehousemen and factory 

 workers are dependent upon its culture, 

 markedns and the manufacture and 

 sale, not only in North Canalina, but all 

 over the wo rid. 



The farmer and his family receive 

 income, education, conveniences and 

 better rural living from the culture of 

 tobacco. About a half million people 

 living in 94 of our 100 counties, divide 

 500 million dollars annually received 

 from the tobacco crop. Wori<ers in the 

 manufacturing and processing plants 

 receive more than 70 million dollars 

 annually in gross wages. This part of t 

 the industry employs an average of 

 35,000 individuals, bringing higher liv- j 

 ing standards to more than 100,000 

 people, inclu( 

 families. 



To the wholesale and retail sale^ 

 people, and their families, the handling 

 of tobacco products means hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars in income and pur- 

 chasing power. 



To the Federal govemmait, tobacco 

 is one of the richest sources of reve- 

 nue. Tax collections on cigarettes 

 manufactured in ISorth Carolina amount 

 to more than 700 million dollars annu- 

 ally, or more than 50 per cent of the 

 tax received by the government from 

 this source. Merchants and profession- 

 al people also derive benefits from to- 

 bacco and tobacco products by parti- 

 cipation in various phases of the thriv- 

 ing tobacco industry. 



Tobacco is first mentioned in Amer- 

 ican History in the second voyage of 

 Columbus to the New Worid in 1515. As 

 Columbus approached shore he saw the 

 natives smoking a long stick with a 

 ho^ow end; he asked the natives what 

 ey were smoking. The reply was, 

 "tobago, " meaning the pipe. Since 

 then the leaves smoked in the pipe 

 have been referred to as, "tobag),",or 

 today, tobacco. 



On Columbus' return to Spain he 

 carried some of the seed of the tobacco 

 plant with him, and introduced the cul- 

 tivation of tobacco to Europe. 



It was believed that tobacco had 

 medicinal value and its first use in Eu- 

 rope was as medicine, rather than for 

 smoking. A famous doctor of that time 

 saidof tobacco, "as an ointment it has 



/. 



great healing powers. 



Th^jis e of tobacc jj^ for sm okingjn 

 EuropTTTlrediteTlo^Jean NrcoTTa 

 PraicHminrwHo"slafted"its cultivation 

 in the year 1561. John Rolfe is given ^ 

 credit for being the first farnier to raise . 

 tobacco commercially in the New World. / 

 He Uved on the James River in Virginia. 

 It was soon discovered that tobacco / 

 raised in America was superior in aroma •/ 

 and flavor to any other, and this has i 

 accounted for the great strides that 

 have been made in the industry in the 

 South. 



f During the first half of ^^ nine- 

 teenth century tobacco was air-cured 

 by hanging it in loosely built bams to 

 allow the passage of air while curing. 

 Later, fire curing became almpst unir 

 versal in the tobacco growing areas of 

 North Carolina. This was short-lived, 

 and many growers returned to air-curing. 

 Many stories are told about how 

 nue-cunrig C^ ^bacco started, but the 

 .11 . ' -* an old slave 

 most logical one is Dia^ , _ _-- 



was curing tobacco in the old manner 

 by maintaining a wood fire on the 

 ground in the bam. He fell asleep and 

 the fire~bumed down to a few coals. 

 The wood was too wet to catch readily, 

 so the slave ran to a charcoal pit at 

 the nearby blacksmith shop, got a sack 

 of charcoal and put it on the fire. It 

 caught readily and he continued to use 

 it. He and his owner noticed that the 

 tobacco was curing up a brigjit yellow. 

 This curing process made the tobacco 

 milder and produced a better smoke. 

 From this beginning in Caswell County 

 North Carolina in 1856, the present 

 flue-curing and production methods 

 have developed. 



The manufacturing of tobacco pro- 

 ducts began to expand with the dis- 

 covery of the flue-curing method. 

 Chewing tobacco was the first product 

 to be manufactured in a few small fac- 

 tories around 1850. Later a few fac- 

 tories manufactured granulated tobacco 

 for "roll your own " cigarettes and 

 pipes. However, the first real expan- 

 sion of the industry was '" 1^^ with 

 t he invention of the ji garette _makij].g_ 

 machine. 



The production of flue-cured tobac- 

 co continued to expand in North Caro- 

 lina until today tobacco growers in the 

 State plant about 735,000 acres annu- 

 ally, or 67 per cent of the total grown 

 in the United States. The planted ac- 

 reage produces an average of 950,000,- 

 000 pounds of tobacco per year. Flue- 

 cured tobacco has been developed to 

 the point where it is used principally 

 in the manufacture of cigarettes; about 

 95% is used for this purpose. The 

 growth in the use of cigarettes ac- 



counts for the increased production of 

 this type of tobacco. 



There are five different types of to- 

 bacco grown in the United States. They 

 are - 



1. Flue-cured, used principally in 

 cigarettes. 



2. Burley, used in cigarettes, chew- 

 ing and smoking. 



3, Fire-cured, used in snuff and 

 chewing. 



4. Cigar filler and binders, used in 

 cigars. 



5.agar wrappers grown under shade 

 for cigars. 



If you will notice on any package of 

 cigarettes, you will see the word 

 "blended," which means that a certain 

 amount of several types of tobacco are 

 niised together to make the filler for the 

 cigarette. Flue-cured tobacco is the 

 meat or body and mildness of the 

 blend; burfey tobacco is added for fil- 

 ler and burning qualities and Turkish 

 for spice or aroma. Most cigarettes 

 contain these tobaccos in different pro- 

 '■■* !n standard brands, the 

 portions, uui ... — j__ f^^ 



real secret of one blend ditlenug -- 

 another lies in the flavoring or casing 

 tiiat is put on the tobacco in tiie blend- 

 ing process. 



The principal flavoring used in the 

 blending process are: Rum, Glycerin, 

 Saccharine, Maple sugar, Brown sugar, 

 Apple honey. White honey, and alcohol. 

 So, if you prefer one brand of cigar^ 

 ettes to another, generally it is not 

 the tobacco used so much as it is the 

 flavor employed in the blending pro- 

 cess. The usual proportions of tobac- 

 co used are - 



Tobacco Plant Beds 



The production of tobacco probably 

 seems rather simple to people who 

 have grown up with it, but to others the 

 many steps and processes involved in 

 producing, harvesting and marketing a 

 crop of tobacco may not be quite so 

 simple. 



The first step in producing a crop 

 of tobacco involves the preparation of 

 a seed bed during the winter months 

 for the tiny tobacco seed. The seed 

 are so small that it takes 442,970 

 seeds to make one ounce, or three 

 tablespoon fuls. If all the seed in one 

 ounce should produce strong healthy 

 plants, til ere would be enough plants 



