CULTUEE AND CURING OF TOBACCO IN THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTEE I. 

 STATISTICAL REVIEW OF THE TOBACCO CROP OF 1879. 



Tobacco is grown to some extent in every state and territory of the Union, except possibly Utah, Montana, 

 and Wyoming. As a staple crop it is produced in only sixteen states, in one of which (Arkansas) the industry is 

 of recent origin. Of the total crop of the United States in 1879 (472,661,158 pounds) these sixteen states produced 

 469,816,203 pounds. The remainder (2,844,955 pounds) was grown upon small patches in all parts of the country, 

 embracing a range of 22 degrees of latitude and 52 degrees of longitude, and exhibiting the remarkable facility 

 with which the tobacco plant accommodates itself to varying conditions of climate and of soil. 



A considerable quantity of tobacco is grown in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. 

 This product rarely finds its way even to primary markets. It is raised for home use, mostly cured by sun and 

 air, and is consumed almost entirely for pipe-smoking. A very small part of it is stripped and made into twist for 

 chewing, the manipulation being of the rudest character. 



In Alabama the plant is grown in all but three counties. The average yield in 1879 was only 206 pounds per 

 acre, an evidence of careless culture and wretched management. More than one third of all the tobacco produced 

 in the state was grown in the eight counties lying along the Tennessee river 163,264 pounds on 757 acres. In 

 Madison county, upon 224 acres, was produced 36,356 pounds 162 pounds per acre. The very small yield can 

 only be explained by stating the fact that the plant is raised only in patches, simply for a cheap article. 



In Georgia three-fourths of the product was made in that part of the state north of Atlanta, though grown to 

 a small extent in ninety-six of the one hundred and thirty-seven counties. The average yield for the state was 

 only 235 pounds, that of Cherokee county (17,900 pounds on 35 acres, an average of 511 pounds) alone showing an 

 approach to profitable production. 



In Mississippi the average yield was 282 pounds. Of the total product more than nine-tenths was grown north 

 of the latitude of Jackson, and of this not more than 5,000 pounds were produced along the Yazoo and in the country 

 between that river and the Mississippi. The only county, producing a yield indicating even moderately careful 

 culture was De Soto, making 12,026 pounds on 27 acres 445 pounds per acre. The soils of De Soto, Marshall, 

 Tippah, Tishomingo, and of all the northern and eastern counties, except the bottom lands, are well adapted to 

 the production of a fair grade of tobacco, only needing mannrial applications and good cultivation to produce 

 remunerative crops. 



In South Carolina three-fourths of the total product was grown in nine counties in the northwestern corner of 

 the state. The average yield per acre in this section was 262 pounds, Oconee county making 4,775 pounds on 13 

 acres 367 pounds per acre. The plant is grown to a limited extent in 23 of the 33 counties of the state. 



In Texas the average yield was 323 pounds. The plant was grown in 91 counties; but more than three-fourths 

 of the total product was raised in 35 counties in the eastern part of the state, from Fanniu county, on Bed river, 

 to Newton county, on the Sabine. Lamar county, in northeastern Texas, adjoining the Indian territory, made the 

 largest yield : 15,003 pounds on 29 acres an average of 517 pounds. Attempts made by German colonists to 

 produce a marketable tobacco met with little success, the product being coarse and of inferior quality. This may 

 have resulted from an improper selection of varieties, or possibly from unfavorable seasons. Extensive bodies of 

 land well adapted to certain types of tobacco are found in the northern and eastern sections of Texas. 



In New Jersey, upon soils and under conditions very much like those of southeastern Pennsylvania, tobacco is 

 grown to some extent, Mercer county producing 69,810 pounds upon 60 acres in 1879, an average of 1,163 pounds, 

 and Burlington county 94,487 pounds upon 76 acres, an average of 1,243 pounds per acre. Only 8,018 pounds were 

 grown in other counties. 



Michigan and Minnesota have succeeded well in growing a fair quality of tobacco for home consumption. 

 In Michigan tobacco was planted to a limited extent in forty-seven counties, with an average yield of 494 pounds 

 per acre. Leuawee county, on the Ohio border, reported a yield of 6,863 pounds on 10 acres ; Monroe county, on 

 lake Erie, in the southeast corner of the state, 5,757 pounds on 11 acres ; and Van Buren county, in the southwest, 

 4,586 pounds on 9 acres. In Minnesota the average yield was 429 pounds, and the plant is grown in fifty counties. 

 A yield of 613 pounds per acre was reported in Saint Louis county, in latitude 46 30' an evidence of the peculiar 

 climatic conditions of this region, and of the wonderful capacity of the plant to adapt itself to a new habitation. 

 In Houston county, in the southeastern corner of the state, on the Mississippi river, a yield of 6,253 pounds on 12 

 acres was reported ; in Meeker county, a degree and a half farther north, 6,403 pounds were grown upon 12 acres. 



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