88 



TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Nearly all the tobacco grown iu Maryland is produced in the counties of Aniie Aruudel, Calvert, Carroll, 

 Charles, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Saint Mary's. 



There are three distinct types grown : Air-cured, lied and Yellow Bay, and Spangled Bay. 



Air-cured tobacco constitutes fully four-fifths of the total product, and is grown in the district composed of 

 Saint Mary's, Charles, Calvert, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and Howard counties. 



The Red and Yellow Bay and Spangled Bay are produced in Montgomery, Frederick, and Carroll. 



In portions of Carroll, Cecil, and Harford small patches of cigar tobacco are cultivated, the product finding a 

 market in Pennsylvania. 



Hailstorms in summer are not of frequent occurrence, and when they appear it is usually iu narrow belts, 

 causing but partial damage in contracted areas. \Yind storms, occurring about the autumnal equinox, sometimes 

 cause considerable damage, particularly when they are violent and occur before the22d of September. Heavy rains 

 occasionally inflict great injury, drowning some and washing away other portions of the crop, and bespattering all 



with mud and sand. 



GEOLOGY. 



Saint Mary's, Charles, Calvert, and portions of Prince George's and Anne Arundel are of Tertiary formation, 

 the northern portions of Prince George's and Anne Arundel are Cretaceous, and the other tobacco-producing counties 

 are primary. The soils of the three states of Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey are strikingly similar in many 

 respects, and this is especially true of the light gray, micaceous, and feldspathic soils. For the cereals and many 

 other crops they are considered poor, but good for certain types of tobacco. This class of lands is attracting more 

 attention as their capabilities for improvement are becoming better known. Of these soils a recently published 

 Geology of New Jersey says: "It is observed that the rocks are in many places subject to decay, and that in such 

 localities the soil is susceptible of high cultivation." The following are given as analyses of specimens of such soils, 

 -the same mentioned above as being common to Maryland and Virginia: 



TOPOGRAPHY AND SOILS OF THE SEVERAL COUNTIES. 



SAINT MARY'S. The southeastern portion is low and level; the northwestern undulating. The soil, originally 

 a rich, black mold, has been impoverished by continued cultivation, without rest or manuring; but it is gradually 

 improving under the free use of lime, with better management. 



CHARLES. Like Saint Mary's, generally low and sandy, but rolling enough to drain well. Soils once rich, but 

 now greatly worn by excessive cropping without manure. 



CALVERT. Level or gently rolling. Soils, sand and clay loain; quick and productive where not too much 

 exhausted. 



PRINCE GEORGE'S. Lauds generally lie well, and were once very rich. Though worn, they produce well with 

 a little h;>lp. The best soils are a clay and sand loam. 



ANNE AKTTNDEL. Southern part level; northern rolling. Above Annapolis the soil is light gray and not 

 -considered productive: below that city the lands are richer, darker in color, staffer, and more clayey. 



Nearly all the soils of the five counties above named are alluvials, and -were originally very productive. 



HOWARD. General surface undulating, and the soils of the southern part are very much like those above 

 described. In the west and northwest of the county the formation is primary, and the soils are more like those 

 of western Maryland and middle Virginia, There are narrow belts of limestone running through the county, upon 

 which the soil is productive and susceptible of high improvement. 



MONTGOMERY. Rolling and hilly, and the soils vary as greatly as the geological formations upon which they 

 ^est. The eastern part of this county is primary, the rocks mostly gneiss, mica, and hornblendic slates, and the 

 soils arc mostly light and sandy, with clay subsoil. Though not rich, they can be made to grow paying crops of 

 tobacco by the aid of manures. The western portion is talcose slate, with areas well adapted to tobacco, the poorest 

 soils producing the finest grades. 



FREDERICK. Rolling, almost mountainous; well drained. Has a variety of soils limestone, granitic, gneissoid, 

 and slaty. The sandy and slaty soils are the best for tobacco. Here, as in Montgomery, the poorer soils produce 



the finest tobacco. 



032 



