CULTURE AND CURING IN KENTUCKY. 



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The following is an estimate of the cost of production, under average conditions, with good management: 



Wages of one man and board $200 00 



Use of team and feed 65 00 



Bent of 3 acres of tobacco land, at $6 18 00 



Kent of 15 acres of wheat laud, at $2 50 37 50 



Rent of 15 acres of corn land, at $3 45 00 



Wear of implements and fixtures 10 00 



Total cost . . 375 50 



2,000 pounds of tobacco, at 5-J cents $ 110 00 



180 bushels of wheat, at 75 cents 136 00 



450 bushels of corn, at 30 cents 135 50 



Total value of product 380 50 



VALUE OF THE CROP OF 1879. 



The average value of this crop in farmers' hands did not exceed 5 cents per pound, and it is probable that a 

 close estimate of net proceeds, clear of cost for casks and conveyance to market, would not show a value much, if any, 

 over 5 cents. The following is given as the estimate of an experienced dealer, made after the crop had been almost 

 entirely sold, the prices being based upon sales made in the Hopkinsville market: Best grades for baling and Swiss 

 wrappers, 10 to 13 cents; good German types of leaf, 6J to 10 cents; Regie leaf, 4 to GJ cents; good lugs, 3^ to 4 

 cents; common lugs, 3 to 3 cents per pound. 



The weight of product in the Clarksville district for the first three years is obtained for the statement below 

 from official returns made to the auditor of Kentucky. For 1879 the weight of product, acreage, and yield per 

 acre are derived from returns made to the United States Census Bureau: 



THE CUMBERLAND RIVER DISTRICT. 



This district is situated in the southeastern part of the state, and is bounded on the south by the Tennessee 

 line, west and north by the Upper Green Eiver district, and east by the eastern coal-fields. 



Most of the surface is very broken, with an occasional small body of level or rolling lands. Its eastern half, 

 lying near the base of the Cumberland mountains, is penetrated by spurs of this range, and is very rugged, while 

 the remainder is cut. into sections of hilly and rolling lauds. The Cumberland river passes through it from 

 northeast to southwest, and on either side tributary streams have cut the face of the country into deep and narrow 

 valleys, separated from each other by a very broken and elevated country. 



TYPES OF TOBACCO PRODUCED. 



The heavy types of tobacco are produced mostly upon low or bottom lands, and are rather coarse in fiber and stem, 

 rough, wanting in flexibility, deficient in oils, but of good weight. In parts of Adair and Metcalfe counties a type 

 of heavy tobacco is grown possessing smoothness, delicacy of fiber and texture, with a good supply of oils. This 

 is grown upon fertile uplands, and is very similar to the better styles of heavy tobacco grown in the Upper Green 

 River district. The light types are of fine fiber, light texture, and bright and red colors, and approximate similar 

 types grown in adjoining districts. Some portion of this product has found use as bright wrappers and fillers for 

 domestic manufacturing, for cutting into fiue-cnt chewing, and for the better gradesof smoking tobacco. The more 

 progressive farmers have been successfully endeavoring within four er five years to improve the quality of the 

 product, especially of the lighter types, by a careful selection of appropriate varieties and the adoption of improved 

 methods of curing. 



Only three counties of this district furnish estimates of the proportion of different types produced. These 

 estimates are as follows for the crop of 1879 : 



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