30 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The red subsoil is very arenaceous, and is inclined to be porous, sufficiently, at least, to allow the superfluous 

 water to percolate through it. A few hummocks have a sandy subsoil. These are very warm, and when planted 

 in tobacco produce a quick growth. The leaves of the plants upon such soils become covered with white specks, 

 locally called "turkey-egged". At one time tobacco so specked was very much in demand, 1.12 rix dollars per 

 pound having been paid for it by the Germans. The fashion having changed for this peculiar style of tobacco, 

 such soils are no longer desired for its culture. 



About two-fifths of Gadsden county are pine lands, almost perfectly level. These lands have a grayish soil, 

 with a salinon-red clay foundation. At the depth of 20 teet a bed of yellow saud occurs, and still lower a white 

 sand, with a soft, whitish limestone rock, which hardens by exposure to the air. The soil of the pine lands is thin, 

 varying from three to five inches in thickness, but will grow a good quality of tobacco when fertilized with cotton- 

 seed, the quantity applied being about a pint to each hill of tobacco. The tobacco is equal in quality to any grown 

 on the hummock lands, and many farmers prefer the pine lands for its growth. The droppings of cattle on the 

 sandy pine lauds enrich the laud, while their tramping gives a degree of compactness to the soil which is highly 

 beneficial. While some of these lands are very sandy, the soil of others is argillaceous, cold, and compact. Tramping 

 the latter is attended with bad results. The chief difference between' the pine and the hummock lands in the 

 raising of tobacco is that the latter will grow it without fertilization and the former will not. 



While the quantity of tobacco grown in Florida lias been gradually decreasing for several years, the increasing 

 demand for cigar leaf at Jacksonville and at Key West induced, as is reported, a larger planting for 1880 than for 

 many years past. 



VARIETIES OF TOBACCO GROWN. 



Several varieties of tobacco are cultivated in Florida: the Florida Leaf, the Connecticut Seed-Leaf, the Havana, 

 and the Virginia. The seed of the Florida Leaf was originally introduced from Virginia, and, while it has retained 

 the size of the Virginia tobacco, it has, through a succession of years, acquired a silkiness and elasticity from the 

 soil and climate which make it very valuable for wrapping purposes. 



The Connecticut Seed-Leaf was introduced a few years since. It has a much broader leaf than the Florida 

 variety, will grow a larger number of pounds per acre, and is more easily cured a chestnut color, the color most 

 sought after at the present time by the manufacturer. Nor is it liable in as great degree as the Florida Leaf to the 

 white speck, which is now considered a -defect in the Florida variety. 



The Havana is small, but commands a higher price. More plants may be grown to the acre, and two or even 

 three crops may be grown in a single year upon the same land by leaving a sucker on the stalk near the ground 

 in succession as the various crops mature. Another reason for its popularity is that it can be grown on old manured 

 lands, while the other varieties are confined almost exclusively to the freshly-cleared areas. 



The Florida Leaf and the Connecticut Seed-Leaf are grown for wrappers mainly, though the worst leaves are 

 taken for fillers for common cigars. The Florida Leaf, though not so large as the Connecticut Seed-Leaf, has a better 

 body and more gum. The Cuba tobacco is grown for both fillers and wrappers, and is said to preserve to a 

 considerable extent the aroma of the Cuba-grown tobacco, becoming, however, larger and longer, until it assimilates 

 the Florida Leaf. It is thought, however, that the deterioration, if it may be called such, will not occur in regions 

 further south. 



Many years ago a variety called the Spanish was extensively grown. It is reported to have had great silkiness 

 and elasticity as a wrapper. 



The Virginia is only grown for home consumption. 



Tobacco planted upon sandy soils or gray hummock has less weight and a lighter color than when planted upon 

 rich, loamy soil or manured lots, where it will grow heavier, coarser, and darker. A great deal depends upon the 

 time at which it is planted. 



The cultivation and curing of the crop is done very much as in eastern Ohio, from eighteen to twenty-four 

 leaves being left on each plant when topped, the latter number for the Cuban varieties. In three or four weeks the 

 lower leaves begin to turn from a dark to a light yellowish green. When in this condition three or four of the under 

 leaves are plucked from the stalk and carried to the curing-house. The gatherings from this time on until all the 

 leaves are stripped from the stalk occur at intervals of three or four days. Men, women, and children all find 

 active employment during the harvesting season. A wagon is taken to the field, and those who are to pluck the 

 leaves from the stalk wait until the dew is off, and then with both hands strip off the ripe leaves, laying them 

 straight, a dozen or more in a pile. Others follow and take up the piles, either in their arms or in large square 

 baskets, and carry them to the wagon, placing them regularly in the wagon bed. The leaves are then immediately 

 conveyed to the barn or drying shed. Here they are taken out and placed on a platform elevated 2 or 3 feet above 

 the ground. They are then taken one by one and an incision is made near the butt of the midrib long enough for a 

 stick three-fourths of an inch square to pass through readily. The instrument used for making the incision is a 

 hawk-bill knife, or a piece of tin made in the same form, attached to a handle. The sticks are made 4 feet 2 inches 

 long, and thirty leaves are put upon each stick, care being taken in stringing the leaves to put them " back to back 

 and face to face". In other words, the leaves must not be put upon the sticks so that they will conform one to 



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