CULTURE AND CURING IN KENTUCKY. 57 



tender, and upon the slopes is subject to injury by rapid washing. Its red-clay subsoil gives to these lands great 

 durability, makes them easily restored to fertility by manure or by proper rotations, and enables them to resist the 

 effects of drought. The limestone upon which this body of soil is based contains many nodules of flint, and is 

 very cherty in some localities, is of close texture, and disintegrates slowly. The soil is therefore slowly supplied 

 with mineral fertilizers from this source, and must have periods of rest from tillage by well-considered rotations, 

 in which clover and the grasses hold prominence, in order to maintain a given standard of productiveness. 



The characteristic timber growth consists of red, black, and post oaks, and hickory of rather small size, with a 

 prevailing undergrowth of hazel and dogwood. Where the growth of hickory is largest the soil is generally quick 

 and productive, and makes a leaf of smooth and fine texture, fine flbered, and with a good supply of oils. The soils 

 preferred are level or slightly-rolling surfaces of vegetable mold, or gravelly slopes of rather stiff consistency, with 

 good depth. Under average conditions the yield varies from GOO to 1,000 pounds per acre, but the chief value of 

 these soils consists more in the peculiar qualities of the tobacco produced upon them than in the weight per acre. 

 By some it is believed that their capacity is declining. The deterioration of quality may be attributed, in some 

 measure, to a succession of unfavorable seasons. For several years past there has been a general deficiency 

 of strength and elasticity of texture and a smaller supply of oils. Most of the tobacco now produced is grown upon 

 old lauds, and these, when manured well, produce the heavier and more oily types. No large area of new lands 

 suitable for tobacco culture is now available, and the proportion of the product derived from newly-cleared lands 

 is annually decreasing. The constantly lessening proportion of such types accounts for the presumed deterioration 

 in tlie quality of the general product. 



In Green and Taylor counties there are considerable bodies of soil, known as "beech lands", which produce oily 

 and heavy types of tobacco. These soils consist of a dark loam or vegetable mold, overlying a red-clay foundation 

 of good depth. The prevailing tree growth is of red beech, mixed with walnut, sugar-tree, and hickory. Uplands, 

 slightly rolling, are preferred, but the lowlands along the water-courses do well for tobacco, except in wet seasons, 

 when the product is likely to be coarse and of inferior quality. These lands contain a larger proportion of chert in 

 the limestone base and intermixed with the clay of the subsoil than those of the central area of the district already 

 described, but their general productiveness, ease of tillage, liability to damage by surface washing, etc., are very 

 nearly the same. The same methods for the maintenance or restoration of fertility are in common use, and are 

 found effective. About one-half of the wooded lands of Green and Taylor counties is adapted to the production 

 of tobacco; but, as elsewhere in the district, the proportion of the annual planting upon newly-cleared lands is 

 decreasing. 



In Hart county, and in a limited portion of the northwestern corner of Barren, is a distinct body of lands noted 

 for the production of tobacco specially suited for bright wrappers. The soil is calcareo-siliceous, overlying the 

 measures of the adjacent coal-fields, which here extend eastward in thin and irregular strata. The surface is ridgy ; 

 the soil thin, and of a mulatto color; the subsoil, compact yellow clay. The timber growth is scrubby hickory, white 

 oak, post oak, black oak, chestnut, and chestnut oak. The soil contains much gravel and sand, and the subsoil is 

 calcareous. The tobacco grown upon this soil is of light body, very fine and silky in texture and fiber, but so 

 firm and compact as to possess especial value for wrappers. The soils preferred for making " Hart county bright 

 wrappers " are freshly-cleared sandy uplands, with a timber growth of hickory, black-jack, and post oak and a 

 sparse undergrowth of hazel. The yield, especially of the finer types, does not exceed 500 or 600 pounds per acre; 

 but this moderate yield is more than compensated by the increased value per pound. 



Outside of these three distinct soil formations the lands of this district are of uncertain adaptation for tobacco 

 of well-defined character in market. The lighter types are sometimes available as plug fillers, and in rare instances 

 for a low grade of wrappers; the heavier types have little usefulness for any purpose. The soils are of low value, 

 not durable, and can be reclaimed only at a cost greater than their value. 



VALUE OF THE CROP OF 1879. 



The great variety of types of tobacco produced in this district, and the large proportion of nondescript, make it 

 difficult to state accurately the average values of the crop. As nearly as can be ascertained, the average values 

 maybe estimated as follows: For nondescript, $3 ; for lugs, $4 25; light-body fillers, $5; bright wrappers, $15 per 

 hundred pounds. 



LABOR AND THE LABOR SYSTEM. 



Laborers employed in tobacco culture are mostly colored, and are generally hired for the year at a stated rate 

 of wages per annum, ranging from $100 to $150, with board or rations, to men of the best class. Some crops are 

 grown on shares. Day laborers, men, are paid 50 cents per day, with board; without board, 75 cents. By the 

 month men are paid from $8 to $11, with board. A large part of the crop of this district is made by the proprietors 



themselves, with the help of such members of their families aare able to work. 



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