CULTURE AND CURING IN KENTUCKY. 



55 



cultivation than the limestone soils, it is the received opinion that both the quality and the quantity of the yearly 

 product of tobacco have decreased during the past ten years to a material extent. 



The values of lands in this district vary between wide limits. Low-grade lands, producing from 150 to 500 

 pounds of tobacco per acre, are worth from $1 to $5 an acre; lands of the best grade, capable of making 1,000 

 pounds, are worth from $20 to 825 per acre. The rental value of the best lauds is $5, and of the poorer lands from 

 $1 to $2 per acre. Men employed by the year are paid from $100 to $120, with board, and day laborers get from 50 

 to GO cents per day, with board, and 75 to 80 cents without board. The cost of barns, fixtures, implements, etc., 

 does not vary from that of other districts in the state. 



The following estimate is made of the cost of production on the best lands : 



Rent of aj acres, at $3 $12 50 



Wages and board, one man, tlireo months 50 00 



Cost of 10,000 plants, at 10 cents per hundred 10 00 . 



Stripping, packing, and prizing. 7 50 



80 00 



Product, 2,500 pounds, \vorth $5 per 100 pounds, $12T>. 



From this estimate are omitted interest upon cost of barus and fixtures, the use of team and feed for same, and 

 cost of repairs to implements. Upon the low-grade lauds it is said that "the tobacco crop would always bring the 

 producer in debt if it were not made by the women and children, who would be otherwise unemployed". 



The value of the crop of 1879 is estimated at $4 50 for dark shipping ; fillers, $2 to $-4 ; bright wrappers and 

 smokers, $5 to $8; cutting, $5 to $8; nondescript, $2 to $4. No prices are given for trash, lugs, and low leaf. 

 The value of the crop round is estimated at 5 cents per pound. 



In the following statement the production of the Green River district for the first three years is obtained from 

 official reports to the auditor of Kentucky. For 1879 the weight of product, acreage, and yield per acre are 

 derived from official returns to the United States Census Bureau, and the rest of the statement is estimated : 



THE UPPER GREEN RIVER DISTRICT. 



This district occupies a central position between the eastern and western boundaries of the state, and extends 

 from the Tennessee line to within 25 or 30 miles of the Ohio river. Its surface is greatly diversified. Some 

 portions of the district are covered with a growth of heavy timber ; in other parts the forest is thin, and the trees 

 are dwarfed and scrubby. It is well watered by Green and Barren rivers, both of which are navigable, and by 

 numerous small streams. The Louisville and Nashville railway passes nearly through its center north and south, 

 with branches from several points on the main lino, affording, with the river navigation, abundant facilities for 

 the shipment of its products. Tobacco employs a larger amount of capital and labor than any other farming 

 industry. 



TYPES OF TOBACCO PRODUCED. 



In Green, Barren, Warren, Taylor, and to some extent in tlie other counties, is produced a type of heavy 

 tobacco, rich, and oily, strong, elastic, and of fairly smooth structure, solid and firm. Being very flexible, it is desirable 

 both for dark wrappers and for spinners. Some portions of this type possess the oils and weight of body necessary 

 for the manufacture of snuff. It furnishes a portion of the export to Germany, the north of Europe, to Switzerland, 

 and a limited amount goes to Canada. Some part of it is taken for the French and Italian Regie. The lowest 

 grades are adapted for the Spanish Regie, and are also used for cutting into the cheaper smoking-tobaccos for 

 domestic consumption. 



In a small district of Hart and Barren counties are produced some excellent bright wrappers, of small and 

 rather short leaf, very fine, and rather oily, and of a mild and delicate flavor. This type is thin and light in body 

 and colored, but is of sufficient strength to be used as wrappers for plug chewing. The amount is very limited, and 

 is estimated to be not more than one-twentieth of the general product of Hart county, where nearly all of it is 

 grown. The lower grades and lugs of this typo are used as plug fillers, and the better flavored of these grades for 

 cutting into pipe-smoking tobacco. This line of types requires soils of peculiar character, with high culture and 

 careful management in curing, and is made by a small class of planters, whose large experience in its production, 

 aided by the employment of fixtures of the most approved construction, has brought them much personal reputation 

 as well as profit. . 



