ii8 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



a necessity to the human race should in such 

 a comparatively brief period increase to such 

 vast proportions is little less than marvelous. 

 It almost seems to imply the absolute neces- 

 sity of man's nature for mild stimulants of 

 Sjme sort. 



Its Culture in the Olden Time. 



Tobacco-growing in Pennsylvania is not an 

 affair of recent years. There was not a colony 

 of the original thirteen that did not begin 

 the business at an early day, and in this State 

 the culture soon reached considerable propoi-- 

 tions. In 1689 fourteen vessels sailed from 

 the colony of Penn laden with this commodity. 

 In the year 1729, the time Lancaster county 

 was erected, the tobacco product of the colo- 

 nies, South and North, gave employment to 

 300 sailing crafts of various kinds, represent- 

 ing a tonnage of 24,000 tons and amounting 

 in value to S3,000,000. The price then was 

 fixed by the Government ; in 1617 it was three 

 shillings per pound, but thirty years later it 

 had fallen as low as sixpence. 



The Tobacco Country of the World. 



The United States may be regarded as the 

 great tobacco-growing country of the world. 

 It can be grown in every one of the States. 

 From the beginning in Virginia, this country 

 has now reached a production of four hundred 

 million pounds, worth about $33,000,000 in 

 its manufactured state. Fully fifty thousand 

 persons are employed in its manufacture, 

 earning $14,000,000 in wages and turning out 

 a product worth $72,000,000. Tobacco ranks 

 sixth on the list of our exports, and last year 

 we sent abroad about $50,000,000 worth. 

 Germany is our best customer, but Great 

 Britain follows closely. 



Qualities of the Weed. 



Wliile tobacco can be grown in almost every 

 country, there are some especially adapted to 

 it. Climate, soil, and skillful manipulation 

 are the chief factors in its successful growth ; 

 the latter two are of paramount importance. 

 The Vuelta Abajo of Cuba is everywhere 

 known for its flavor, while Pennsylvania and 

 Connecticut are noted for certain qualities 

 possessed by the tobaccos grown by them. 

 The tobacQO of the Northern States is called 

 seedleaf, and is almost exclusively used in the 

 manufacture of segars. That of the great to- 

 bacco growing States of the South is far 

 different in quality and chiefly used in the 

 manufacture of chewing tobaccos. The former 

 is softer and silkier in texture, while the lat- 

 ter is stronger in flavor, thicker, and as a rule 

 contains more gum, and so is better adapted 

 to the purpose for wliich it is employed. 

 What Fashion Has Done. 



The growing of tobacco in Lancaster county 

 has been going on in a desultory sort of a 

 way for thirty-five or forty years. In early 

 days the rural population lived in blissful 

 ignorance of internal revenue laws, and the 

 tobacco was generally converted into segars 

 by the local segarmaker for home consump- 

 tion, and if there was a surplus, sold outright 

 to him. There is no way of arriving at an 

 estimate of the production twenty-five years 

 ago, but tlie amount was insignificant along- 

 side the crops of the present day. It was not 

 until about twenty years ago that our farmers 

 entered upon its cultivation on a large scale. 

 The war contributed its share towards this 

 end, and fashion did fully as much. Connec- 

 ticut had long been famous for the quality of 

 the tobacco grown in the Valley of the Housa- 

 tonic. Its fine, large leaves of admirable 

 color and texture often commanded as much 

 as seventy-five cents per pound, while forty 

 and fifty cents were no unusal prices. The 

 demand in those days by smokers was gener- 

 ally for light-colored segars, and this condi- 

 tion the Connecticut tobacco filled to perfec- 

 tion. But the inexorable law of fashion 

 stepped forward and demanded segars of a 

 rich brown. The Lancaster tobacco met this 

 want,'"and fashion has for once been stable ; 

 dark-colored segars still command the readiest 

 sale, and the production of this class of to- 

 bacco has progressed steadily. Color is not 



all that renders this tobacco desirable. The 

 segar manufacturer requires a leaf of good 

 size, soft, tough and elastic, but not leathery 

 in quality, of which the veins shall be small 

 and not light in color, and that shall when 

 consumed yield a clear white ash. These 

 conditions Lancaster county leaf supplies in 

 a favorable season. 



Preparing the Plant Beds. 



The beds for planting out the seed are pre- 

 pared towards the latter end of February or 

 early in March, if the season will allow. An 

 early plant is generally considered desirable. 

 A warm spot with an eastern and southern 

 exposure is best. Generally, but not always,, 

 weeds, brush, cornstalks, or similar substauces 

 are burnt over it and the ashes raked over 

 the bed. It is deeply spaded, twelve inches 

 or more, and enriched by a liberal application 

 of barnyard manure. A warm, mellow soil 

 is indispensable to the growth of fine, strong 

 plants. Being very minute, a heaped tea- 

 spoonful of seed is sufficient to sow a bed cov- 

 ering one hundred square feet. Care must be 

 taken not to get the seed too deep or it will 

 not germinate. If the weather is warm, with 

 soft, frequent showers, the plants come on 

 rapidly. Some are raised under cold frames, 

 which secure them against frosts and have 

 other advantages, but in most cases the beds 

 are open ; these latter yield the hardiest 

 plants. 



Setting Out the Plants. 



The tobacco field must be thoroughly pre- 

 pared ; sometimes the ground is ploughed in 

 the fall, but generally not until spring, and it 

 is heavily manured. This manure is not lost, 

 for when wheat is sown — the crop that always 

 follows tobacco — the yield is commonly ex- 

 cellent. Barnyard manure is preferred to all 

 other. Eye turned down also makes an ex- 

 cellent fertilizer. Too much care cannot be 

 used in putting the ground into fine condition. 

 As the roots of tobacco go down deeply the 

 ploughing must be deep, and the finer and 

 more friable the soil the better. 



Requires Constant Attention. 



If the weather has been favorable the plants 

 will be ready to set out by the latter end of 

 May or the first of June, while the planting 

 season continues until the 25th of the latter 

 month. With the setting out of the young 

 plants the farmer's troubles begin. The 

 plants are set in rows twenty-four or thirty 

 inches apart, the rows being from three to 

 four feet asunder. Advantage is taken of a 

 warm, soaking rain to set out plants. They 

 require moisture, and if dry weather sets in 

 must be watered. The cut worms at once begin 

 their depredations. Some seasons they neces- 

 sitate two or even more replantings. The 

 ground must be continually cultivated to 

 destroy weeds and give the roots air. This 

 is continued until the leaves attain such a 

 size as to prevent the passage of horse and 

 cultivator between the rows, and then the 

 hoe must be employed until the crop is cut. 

 Meanwhile the hawk-moth has not been idle ; 

 when evening comes it sails over the fields de- 

 positing its eggs on the leaves, which in a 

 brief time develop into the tobacco worms. 

 Two or three times a week — daily would still 

 be better— boys go through the rows, careful- 

 ly examine every leaf, and when the worm is 

 found kill him. A few holes in a fine leaf 

 destroy its value as a "wrapper," and con- 

 sign it to a lower grade. Turkeys are good 

 destroyers of these worms. The hunt for 

 worms must not be relaxed until the tobacco 

 becomes ripe. The worms continues their 

 ravages while it remains standing in the field. 

 Time of Ripening. 



Suckers also make their appearance. If 

 left, they crowd the leaves and appropriate 

 the vitality of the stalk. Towards the latter 

 part of July or the first of August, a plume or 

 shoot appears at the top of the plant, known 

 as the seed bud. This is pinched off, as the 

 stalk would bleed too much if it were cut. 

 How low to top the plant is a very important 

 matter. Low topping results in a larger 

 development of leaf. From twelve to four- 



teen leaves are generally left on the stalk ; 

 they are enough, if fine leaves are desired. 

 Tobacco matures in from one hundred to one 

 hundred and twenty days from the time of 

 planting. 



Cutting and Housing. 



In September the greater portion of the crop 

 is harvested, but last year I saw some cut on 

 July 11 that had been planted on April 10. 

 The more rapidly it attains maturity the 

 better the crop ; slow growth makes it thick 

 and leathery. Certain indications, well 

 known to the planter, tell when it is ripe. 

 The plants are cut off at the ground ; some- 

 times they are hung up in the field several 

 days to wilt, but more commonly they are at 

 once taken to the tobacco-barns, to be hung 

 up and undergo a curing process. If hung 

 too closely together they will mould and rot ; 

 if hung too wide apart valuable space is lost. 

 The Tobacco Barns. 



The tobacco barn is a high, commodious 

 building of timber, closely put together, with 

 either a perpendicular or horizontal method 

 of ventilation, the latter being preferable. 

 Twenty years ago, stables, wagon-sheds and 

 even the dwelling were used to hang up the 

 tobacco in. In 1868 upwards of two hundred 

 tobacco barns were built, at an estimated cost 

 of from $150,000 to $200,000. In these barns 

 the stalks hang until the moisture is dried out 

 and the process of curing is complete. Damp 

 weather is selected for taking them down and 

 stripping the leaves. They are then tied up 

 into "hands" and these into larger bundles, 

 and are then ready for the buyer. 

 Who Buys the Product. 



Buyers come from New York, Philadelphia, 

 Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans and San 

 Francisco. The leaf is generally assorted into 

 two kinds or qualities, wrappers and fillers, 

 although some planters make three and four 

 classes. A careful assortment is always to a 

 grower's advantage. During the past season 

 fillers sold from two to eight cents, and wrap- 

 pers from eight to thirty-five. The price has 

 fluctuated much in diflerent years. In 1861 

 it was five and six cents ; in '64 and '65, from 

 twenty to thirty-fiye cents, and was again in 

 '66 down to five and six. Good tobacco may 

 be spoiled in the handling, while a poor crop 

 may be vastly improved by careful manipula- 

 tion. 



Extent of the Crop. 



It is packed into cases by the purchaser, each 

 case containing about four hundred pounds. 

 The crop of this county is estimated in cases, 

 not hogsheads, as is the custom in the South. 

 The crop of the county in 1878 was about 

 30,000 cases, and for the whole State 38,750 

 cases. In 1877 we grew about 41,000 cases in 

 this county alone, and even exceeded that 

 figure in previous years. A crop of 40,000 

 cases represents 16,000,000 pounds, far sur- 

 passing any other single county in the United 

 States. Christian county, Kentucky, in 1875, 

 grew 9,313,950 pounds, the nearest approach 

 that has ever been made to this county's pro- 

 duction. 



The Yield in Pounds and Dollars. 



The average yield per acre in 1877 was 

 1,380 pounds, but under favorable circum- 

 stances as many as 2,500 pounds have been 

 grown. As much as five hundred dollars 

 have been realized from a single acre, while 

 three hundred dollars and four hundred dol- 

 lars are not unusual figures. Still, the aver- 

 age is not the half of that, after the great 

 cost of planting, manuring, and preparing the 

 crop for market is considered. The growth 

 of fine tobacco, however, is still in its infancy 

 among us, and we will improve our product 

 and prices as the years roll away. The value 

 of our crop in 1876 was $2,400,000, and in 

 1877 $1,760,000, a sum perhaps double that 

 produced by any county in the Union, and 

 approaching those realized from wheat and 

 corn themselves. Yet this large sum was 

 derived from the comparatively small number 

 of 9,565 acres. If the entire surface of the 

 county were planted in tobacco, our yield 



