CULTURE AND CURING IN KENTUCKY. 51 



THE LOWER GREEN RIVER DISTRICT. 

 TOPOGRAPHY 



The Ohio river separates this district from those of a similar character in Illinois and Indiana. Much of the 

 surface is more or less broken, though not rugged, and there are large areas very slightly rolling or almost level. 

 An irregular range of hills extends along the western and southern border, forming a dividing line between the 

 waters of the Cumberland and those of the Green river. This range forms the only abruptly broken surface 

 of any extent in the district. Green river, which is navigable at all seasons, passes through the northeastern 

 part; the Ohio river skirts its northern border; the Saint Louis and Southeastern railway traverses its center 

 from north to south, and the Elizabethtown and Paducah railway crosses it a short distance south of a central 

 line east and west. All parts of the district are within a few miles of railroad or river, and are well provided with 

 facilities for transportation. 



The soils of this district are peculiarly adapted to the growth of tobacco, and have less general adaptation to 

 other crops than those of most other sections of the state. From the early settlement of this territory tobaeco has 

 been the staple crop, furnishing employment for a large amount of capital and labor, and several towns owe their 

 prosperity and commercial importance almost entirely to their positions as tobacco markets. 



TYPES OF TOBACCO PRODUCED. 



The types of this district may be divided into the two leading lines of heavy and light tobacco, and subdivided 

 into several sub-types. 



On the Ohio river bottoms the tobacco grown is large, coarse, and heavy, of strong texture, thick and leathery, 

 with little oil, easily dried, and of great capacity for absorption. This product is used almost entirely for making 

 English strips, some portions of the longer leaf being suitable for shipment to Africa. On creek bottoms and the 

 alluvials of Green river, and on flat lands of good soil overlying a red-clay subsoil, a richer and smoother heavy 

 tobacco, of less absorptive capacity and more oily, is produced, and consequently it is not so generally used for strips 

 as the former. When of sufficient strength and delicacy it is used for dark wrappers, and if free of gum, smooth 

 and of fine texture, it is used for cigar wrappers. The lower grades are sometimes sold for fillers in making common 

 dark plug for smoking in Canada. The lowest grades of both these sub-types are used for cutting into cheap smoking 

 tobacco and for export. A small proportion of the higher grades of the Green river heavy tobacco is suitable for 

 filling orders for the French and Italian governments. 



The light type of tobacco is grown upon the more siliceous soils of the rolling or broken lauds. When of good 

 length and breadth and sufficiently tough it is suitable for strips ; if of light and thin body and light color it is used 

 for brown roll wrappers. Bright lugs and the lower grades of bright and light leaf are made into strips for brown 

 roll, but the more fancy kinds of bright yellow leaf, with stems of the same color as the leaf, are used for cutting 

 into "bird's-eye" smoking- tobacco. The coarser and rougher grades of all the light types are used for cutting into 

 smokiug-tobacco, and the darker and tougher grades for spinning. This type, until withiu a few years, entered 

 largely into domestic cousumptiou. Its mildness of natural flavor and great capacity for receiving artificial flavors 

 made it especially lit for the use of manufacturers until the demand for an article of lighter texture, more decided 

 color, and finer fiber established a standard not reached by any but the very best and most carefully handled 

 product of this district. 



It is not possible, with the information at hand, to determine the average proportion of each type in the cured 

 product. The current opinion is that the general product is increasing in heaviness of body. 



Opinions difler as to whether the quality of the product has improved or deteriorated since 1870. Dealers 

 assert that the average quality is not so good as it was ten years ago, and account for the deterioration by the 

 decrease in the proportion of the crop grown on fresh lands. Many planters admit the falling off in quality, and 

 attribute it to various causes, as a series of unfavorable seasons, the too frequent use of mixed seed, or an 

 impoverished soil. On the other hand, equally well-informed planters claim that there has been no deterioration, 

 except perhaps a relative one, in so far as the requirements of consumers have raised the general standard of 

 quality. In some localities it is maintained that the quality of the product has improved, because of better 

 arrangements for handling and curing ; that planters are beginning to understand that the higher grades alone pay 

 a profit over the cost of production, and are planting less and making a better quality ; and there is little doubt 

 that the seasons are less favorable than when larger forest areas protected the fields and modified the effects of 

 excessive rains or cold winds, or the sweep of storms. 



VAIUETIES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES. 



Blue, Yellow, and Henderson Pryors are most generally cultivated. Tennessee lied, Orinoco, Little Hill, Twist- 

 bud, and Long Green are also planted. The low prices realized for export types have brought into favor varieties 

 the product of which is more suitable for domestic manufacturing. The Pryors make a leaf of good length and 

 breadth, of delicate fiber and texture, and are well adapted for making wrappers and fillers. They are easily 



645 



