38 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[March, 



manufacture of the plant, if we commence 

 agriculturally in its first production, and 

 carry it up to the last stage of its progress to 

 the hands of the consumer is of immense value 

 to every government and people engaged in it. 

 In our country, and some others, the culti- 

 vation of tobacco is free and open to every 

 farmer, who engages in it. But not so in a 

 large majority of the European governments. 

 In many of them it is a strict monopoly as in 

 Austria, farmed out to the tobacco growers, 

 manufacturers and traders, and in all of them, 

 directly and indirectly covered with taxation, 

 deriving therefrom a large revenue. 



The increase of the use of tobacco of late 

 years in America, Europe, and other coun- 

 tries has been immense, so that the subject 

 of tobacco has come to be one which deserves 

 the consideration and attention of every gov- 

 ernment and country, both in respect to its 

 cultivation and to its use. 



The annual value of all the agricultural 

 products of the United States is about $5,000,- 

 000,000, an enormous sum, and if cotton and 

 tobacco be left out of the calculation, the 

 greater portion of these products is consumed 

 at home, of this amount less than $300,000,- 

 000 in value, has been exported to foreign 

 countries, amongst which tobacco is one of 

 the principal items. 



Tobacco before it reaches the consumer is 

 much adulterated by various substances in- 

 jurious to the human system. Cigars are the 

 purest form of tobacco, even though the to- 

 ttacco be poor. No youth, no one not full 

 grown, should use tobacco in any shape. Tlie 

 most usual fraud among tobacco dealers is 

 moisture, which has the efEect of augmenting 

 the weight. 



The production of tobacco is so strictly en- 

 forced under the government monopolies in 

 Europe that the planters are allowed only a 

 certain space of ground, or in others only so 

 many plants for cultivation ; the governments 

 furnish the seed, and everthing is done under 

 government surveillance, which expects and 

 does receive all the profits. 



Under such circumstances the prodnction 

 is largely curtailed. Besides, there are other 

 causes which often operate against the profit- 

 able production of the crop of tobacco. Bad 

 weather, too wet, too dry, early frosts, poor 

 soil, damaged seed and weak plants ; slovenly 

 cultivation, careless management when the 

 plant is grown and removed to the sheds. 



Thorough culture is absolutely necessary to 

 raise leaves of the finest quality. It would 

 seem, however, that the soil and climate have 

 much to do in producing the fine scented leaf, 

 which possesses a peculiar aroma, while very 

 fine, very elastic and of a good color, for the 

 best cigars, gi'ows only in certain localities. 



Although the United .States have annually a 

 large surplus of crude and manufactured to- 

 bacco over from domestic consumption we are 

 assailed by rivals from remote countries in 

 the trade. 



Some of our dealers and growers of tobacco 

 treat the importation of Sumatra tobacco 

 lightly, and assert that we have nothing to 

 fear from the importation of foreign tobacco, 

 if we will only grow Havana and give it the 

 care and attention its importance demands. 

 This may be so, but it is very doubtful. 

 Taking into consideration that the Sumatra 



tobacco is raised by coolie labor, and on a soil 

 and climate highly favorable to its cultiva- 

 tion. 



Sumatra is a large island 800 miles long, 

 and 170 broad, with an area of 136,000 square 

 miles, nearly three times the size of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



Tobacco is the great product in Sumatra, 

 and the profits enormous, in spite of the duty. 



The Delhi Company, which is the chief to- 

 bacco concern, paid a dividend of 98 per cent, 

 last year. The Delhi Company has a planta- 

 tion which extends straight in one direction 

 30 miles, and there are some others even 

 larger than that. In a majority of the plan- 

 tations the coolies are poorly housed, poorly 

 clad, and poorly paid Sumatra is in part oc- 

 cupied by independent native powers, and 

 part by the Dutch. It is the enterprise of the 

 Hollanders we have to fear, only two hundred 

 years ago it was the greatest commercial na- 

 tion in the world, 



Mexico and its agriculture is not in a very 

 flourishing condition, notwithstanding that 

 there is every variety of soil and climate in 

 favor of it. Tobacco is extensively cultivated, 

 but mostly for home consumption. 



Cuba is celebrated for its tobacco. It is 

 said that the tobacco used in Cuba by the 

 lower class is chiefly imported from the United 

 States, Great Britain and other countries, 

 which import large quantities of United 

 State's tobacco, after reaping a rich harvest 

 of revenue from it, let it out to the manufac- 

 turers and consumers, according to quality, 

 much of it is of the poorest kind. Much has 

 of late been said in favor of Havana tobacco. 

 The trouble is, it is light in weight and the 

 seed is apt to degenerate and turn in our soil 

 and climate to seed leaf. 



In some of the governments of the old world 

 they furnish the seed every year to the cul- 

 tivators, having secured seeds from other 

 countries where tobacco is raised, thus 

 having fresh seed to hand every season. We 

 rather think seed that was supposed to have 

 degenerated into seed leaf was seed leaf all 

 the time and not Havana seed. 



Tobacco is a subject of taxation. There is 

 no other oljject of general consumption more 

 fitted for direct and indirect taxation than to- 

 bacco ; nor any which brings in so large a 

 revenue with so little perceptible inconveni- 

 ence to the consumer. 



The social aspect of the use and abuse of 

 tobacco, have not been discussed in this essay; 

 nor the policy of governments heavily taxing 

 and deriving therefrom their chief items of 

 revenue from tobacco and spirits. But I do 

 think no other objects of general taxation 

 could well be selected to take their place, and 

 less felt by the country. 



Selections. 



THE IMPROVED CREAMERY PRO- 

 CESS. 



For some years tin 



have been discussion 



and a series of experiments in the dairying 

 districts of Eastern Pennsylvania regarding 

 the establishment of the creamery system, 

 and its relative advantages with the old sys- 

 tem of individual butter making. In Bucks, 

 Delaware, Montgomery and Chester counties, 

 nearer the Philadelphia market than Lancas- 



ter and more distinctly dairy regions than 

 this, the creamery system has been gradually 

 adopted, though the original co-operative 

 plan of management has generally been aban- 

 doned and that of private and individual 

 ownership substituted for it. Lancaster 

 county has had few, if any, milk and butter 

 dairies, and no cheese factories, its distance 

 from Pliiladelphia interfering with milk ship- 

 ments and its marketable butter — generally 

 the surplus of that made, first for farnily use, 

 in connection with the regular routine opera- 

 tions of farming — has been sold in the Lan- 

 caster market or gathered up by traders. Con- 

 sequently it has taken no high rank for quality. 



With the development of more scientific 

 agriculture the creamei-y system has come 

 into vogue, and there are now two in opera- 

 tion in this county, one near Manheim and 

 the other near Bird-in-Hand, the first of 

 which is run on the co-operative plan, and 

 the other as an individual enterprise. Ar- 

 rangements are also in progress for the estab- 

 lishment of a co-operative creamery near 

 Quarryville. As the new system involves a 

 complete change in one branch of farm and 

 household operations and may eventually 

 affect the price and quality of our market 

 supply, a description of its workings will be 

 of interest to all classes of our readers. 



Enos H. Weaver and Franklin Bowman, 

 who compose the firm of Weaver & Bowman, 

 proprietors of the Bird-in-Hand creameries, 

 are farmers who became tired of the labor of 

 butter making and marketing on a small 

 scale. In November, 1882, they bought eight 

 acres of land along Mill creek, about a mile 

 southwest of Bird-in-Hand, walled up a fine 

 spring on the grounds, erected a commodious 

 two-story building. Stocked it with the neces- 

 sary machinery and began to receive milk, the 

 first day's patronage amounting to 760 lbs. of 

 milk. At first the conservative farmers of the 

 community, disinclined to abandon the good 

 old ways— "old ways are always good" — . 

 withheld their favor from the enterprise, hut 

 one by one they adopted this market for their 

 milk, quit butter-making, except for their 

 own table use, and now the daily receipts and 

 consumption of milk at the creamery amount 

 to over 7,000 lbs., except on Sunday. 



The milk is brought in every morning 

 about seven o'clock, when the milkings of the 

 morning and evening before are received. It 

 is taken in at the receiver and weighed, for 

 all milk is bought by weight, and 2} pounds 

 to the quart is the standard. While milk 

 ditters somewhat in weight there is little vari- 

 ation from the standard in that section ; and 

 although it varies somewhat in butter-mak- 

 ing quality all is received at the same price. 

 From the receiver it is poured into the cool- 

 ing vats, of which there are four in number 

 with a total capacity of 10,000 pounds— or 

 950 gallons each. It is here cooled to a tem- 

 perature of o8 degrees and when the cream 

 has gathered the milk is run off from below 

 into the vats where it is curdled for cheese 

 making. The cream is then run off by itself 

 into the cream vats where it is left for one 

 day. 



The Butter Making. 



Next day the cream is churned in the sugar 

 acid and at a low temperature. The churning 

 is done by steam power and the butter is 



