34 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



TOBACCO DISTRICTS. 



Since the cultivation of the seed leaf varieties has become general in some of the northern counties the trade 

 has recognized two distinct tobacco districts in the state: 



1. The seed-leaf district, comprising Stepheusou, Jo Daviess, and a very small portion of Carroll county. The 

 tobacco raised in these counties is packed in boxes, and is consumed, for the most part, in the United States. 



2. The shipping district, embracing all those counties that lie in the southern part of the state in which tobacco, 

 whether of the seed-leaf or of heavier varieties, is packed iu casks instead of boxes. 



THE SEED-LEAF DISTRICT. 



This district is composed of high, rolling prairies, interspersed with " oak openings", with a soil derived for the 

 most part from the drift formation. Local accumulations of a yellow clay are found, which generally form the more 

 elevated portions of the district, and upon which a timber growth of elm, burr oak, basswood, maple, birch, pin 

 oak, black-jack oak, shell-bark hickory, and wild cherry is found. 



The increase in acreage was about 15 per cent, greater in 1879 than in 1878. The yield, though the same in 

 Stephenson county, was somewhat increased in Jo Daviess in 1879, the crop being of a very superior quality. 



The Connecticut and the Pennsylvania Seed-Leaf, and a variety known as Sweet-Scented, or Spanish, are planted 

 throughout the district. The latter variety is doubtless the same as that known as Havana Seed, which is so 

 extensively grown iu New England. This seed was introduced into Illinois by the Agricultural Department, 

 and it is becoming the most popular variety grown. It is only about two-thirds as large as the seed-leaf varieties, 

 has a pea-green color, grows with upright leaves, and is preferred by farmers, because it has a better flavor, a finer 

 texture^ is more elastic, and brings a better price in market. The flavor resembles that of the Havana, but is not 

 so decided. It occupies a position intermediate between the seed-leaf varieties and the Havana, both in size and in 

 aroma, and is said to make a cigar mild and pleasant to the taste, neither so strong as the genuine Havana nor so 

 insipid as the seed-leaf. The same \ariety of tobacco grown on the dark prairie soils is thought to have a better 

 flavor and to cure up to a deeper color than if grown upon the clayey soils of the timbered lauds. Upon the latter 

 soils it is lighter in color, heavier in body, and approximates the heavier sorts used in the manufacture of plug 

 chewing-tobacco. Successively grown on well fertilized prairie lands, tobacco improves in flavor, iu elasticity, in 

 texture, and in burning qualities. Land from which the water will gradually drain off, not level, but nearly so, is 

 preferred, whether originally prairie or timbered land, but the soil must be dark in color, loose from an accumulation 

 of humusor of arenaceous material, or, better, from acombination of the two. The timber growth which characterizes 

 good soils for tobacco is pin oak, black-jack, hickory, and burr oak. Prairie land is, by a majority of planters, preferred 

 to timbered lands. The gentle slopes bordering the streams, with a southern exposure, are generally selected, and 

 are highly fertilized with stable manure better a year old than fresh forty or more loads per acre being applied 

 for the first crop of tobacco; but afterward half that quantity will suffice to keep the land in good tilth and to 

 increase its fertility. A load of manure is about half a cord. Tobacco succeeds tobacco year after year without any 

 rotation, as the product so grown shows a constant improvement. Should there be an undue proportion of 

 argillaceous matter in the soil, a crop of rye is found to be beneficial if turned under in the spring, but even the 

 crop of rye does not break the continuity of the tobacco crop. 



No attempt is now made to grow tobacco without fertilizing, for experience has demonstrated that when tobacco 

 is grown, even upon virgin soils, without manure, the texture is coarse and the flavor poor. The yield per acre has 

 been increased during the past ten years; the average now is 1,392 pounds per acre. The seed-leaf varieties run 

 from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds, and the sweet-scented from 800 to 1,400 pounds per acre. The quality of the tobacco 

 has greatly improved within the same period, due to increased care and skill in manuring. There is also a bettor 

 knowledge of the soil, and there are better houses for curing the crop. 



SEED-BEDS. 



A deep, dark soil, having a southern exposure, is selected for a seed-bed, and the same place is used for a 

 number of years. It is not burned, but spaded up, and a liberal quantity of fresh stable manure is worked into the 

 soil. The sowing is done as early after the 1st of April as possible, and may be extended even into May ; the 

 transplanting is done from the 1st to the 25th of June. 



In the preparation of the soil for the crop manure is applied in the spring, though the land always receives 

 one plowing in the previous fall. A second plowing to the depth of 5 inches is given after the application of the 

 manure, and afterward a third, with frequent harrowings, to keep the land well worked until the plants are 

 ready to set, at which time rows are made 3 feet apart, and the plants are set in the rows seed-leaf 24 inches, and 

 sweet-scented, or Spanish, 20 inches apart. A few growers make hills in the rows for receiving the plants; others 

 set out on the sides of the furrows. The first method is the neatest and the best should unfavorable weather 

 set in after transplanting. In the cultivation of the crop a fine-tootlied cultivator is first run between the rows; 

 afterward a two-horse cultivator, provided with shields, which run under the leaves of the tobacco plant, is 

 employed, the shovels to which throw a small quantity of dirt to the plant. The latter implement is employed 



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