74 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



ANALYSIS OF A SUBSOIL. 



Organic and volatile matter 6.450 



Alumina and oxides of iron and manganese 13.773 



Carbonate ot lime 3. 476 



Magnesia 0.354 



Phosphoric acid - 0.447 



Sulphuric acid 0.032 



Potash 0.498 



' Soda - 0.005 



Sand and insoluble silicates 75.434 



It is the universal belief among the farmers of this region that when a field fails to produce a good crop of corn 

 or tobacco it is only necessary to seed it in blue grass and let it remain for four or five years, that all its pristine 

 fertility may be restored. Only one or two of the schedules received from this region mention the practice of 

 manuring. The very great fertility of these limestone soils is attributed by Dr. Peter, of the geological survey : 



1. To its state of extreme division. The very fine sand will pass through the finest bolting cloth of 5,000 

 apertures to the square inch, leaving 0.04 of 1 per cent, of quartzy grains not as large as a mustard-seed. 



2. Its large proportion of phosphates and the alkalies. 



3. The great amount of organic matter which it contains. This gives a dark color to the surface soil, which 

 increases its power to absorb and retain heat, and also gives it such porosity that it will retain a large amount of 

 moisture. Heat and moisture, combined with the large proportion of the most essential elements of plant food 

 and the excellent mechanical condition of the soil, make it among the most productive and desirable soils in the 

 United States. 



WHITE BUELEY TOBACCO. 



Mention is made in the chapter on Ohio of the origin of the variety of the tobacco plant known as the White 

 Bnrley. It is believed that fully four-fifths of the plug tobacco used in the east, north, and west is made from 

 this variety, and its introduction and culture has worked one of the most remarkable revolutions known to the 

 agriculture of this country. 



Within the last ten years the whole of what is now called the White Burley district has abandoned every other 

 variety. This tobacco is porous, but of fine texture, is almost destitute of gum, and cures up a remarkably uniform 

 bright or yellowish-red color, varying from bright yellow to bright red and cinnamon. 



At first the White Bnrley was planted closely, the rows being 3 feet apart, and the plants set in the rows from 

 li to 2 feet apart, and it was topped from eighteen to twenty leaves. This was done to give thinness to the leaf 

 and to adapt it more fully to making cutting 1 tobacco. In 1808 the manufacturers of cutting tobacco rejected the 

 White Burley on account of its bright color, and in 1871 and 1872 the production was very limited. Toward the 

 close of the latter year Spaulding & Merrick, of Chicago, determined to establish a brand of cutting tobacco made 

 from this peculiar type. This they did, and successfully competed with nil other brands on the market, and there 

 sprang up at once an active demand for the White Bnrley from all the cutting trade. 



Cutters now prefer about one-third of the heavier sorts and two-thirds of the lighter kinds. The heavier sorts 

 are used in manufacturing plug and navy, and to some extent for bright smokers, and the lower and medium grades, 

 when prices'will justify, are taken in small quantity for export to Germany. The medium grades are also in 

 demand for making brown roll In England and for making bright-cutting strips, but nine-tenths of the whole 

 product is consumed in the United States. 



The crop of 1875 was noted for its excellent cutting qualities, and was larger by 25 per cent, than that of the 

 preceding year, which latter crop was readily taken at good prices. The crop of 187G was about 12 per cent, 

 greater than that ot 1875. The high prices stimulated the planters to a more careful culture and a more extended 

 planting, and the crop of 1876, in consequence of this unusual culture, had a heavier leaf and larger absorbing 

 qualities. This especially fitted it for the ping manufacturer, and experiments which had been made showed it to 

 be suitable for making very popular brands of chewing-tobacco. Orders came in from New York, Richmond, 

 Petersburg, Lynchburg, Chicago, and other poiiits so rapidly that the prices of the heavier grades were relatively 

 advanced, and the attention of growers of the White Burley was, after this period, directed to the production of a 

 heavier type than the cutting leaf, to meet the constantly-growing demand of the ping manufacturers. Since 

 1877 what was believed to be exceptional in 1876 has become the standard type. The consequence is that, while all 

 shipping styles of tobacco have been dull or depressed, the leaf tobacco of the White Burley district has commanded 

 prices double, and sometimes quadruple, those paid for the best shipping leaf produced in other regions of the state. 

 Nor is the profit confined to the increased prices received for the White Bnrley tobacco. The labor necessary for 

 making this variety is much less than that demanded for the export tobacco, and the risk of curing, by not using 

 fire, is reduced to the minimum. The farmers living in the northern part of the state raise the same product as 

 those in the southern and western parts, and receive from two to three times the remuneration -for labor expended; 

 yet all these cultivate soils that do not differ materially in fertility and capacity of production, nor in accessibility 

 to good markets. 



