CULTURE AND CURING IN MARYLAND. 



SELLING OF TOBACCO. 



Maryland tobacco is nearly all prized and sent to Baltimore, where it is stripped of the hogshead or tierce, 

 broken in several places, and samples drawn therefrom, which are intended to represent fairly the contents of the 

 package. These samples are drawn by inspectors, and are taken by the commission merchants to whom the tobacco 

 is consigned. The tobacco is sold by sample. The cost of selling is $1 50 per hogshead, charged by the 

 commission merchant and paid by the planter or owner. There is also a charge of $2 per hogshead for inspection, 

 storage, etc., called outage, which is paid by the purchaser; but the whole cost of $3 50 per hogshead cornes at 

 last out of the tobacco. The usual cost of hogsheads is $1 50 each. 



Tobacco inspection in Maryland is under state control. The board of trade of Baltimore has recently petitioned 

 the governor and members of the legislature to repeal the present tobacco-inspection laws of the state. 



The best qualities of yellow tobacco, grown in Montgomery county, sell from $18 to $20 per hundred, and 

 inferior sells down to $3; a difference owing not to soil and cultivation only, but to the condition of the tobacco- 

 when cut and to the varying skill in curing, handling, and packing. 



DISEASES OF TOBA.CCO. 



"Red-tire", "black-fire," and '-white-speck" prevail more or less every year, and '"frenching" and "Walloon" 

 trouble tobacco-planters in all parts of the state where tobacco is grown. "Hollow-stalk" is found occasion ally in- 

 fields of healthy tobacco. Fortunately, the loss from diseases is comparatively small, except "fire", which does 

 more damage, one year with another, than all the others combined. 



ENEMIES OF TOBACCO. 

 The Maryland planter has no peculiar experience with insects not indicated in Chapter XX. 



CIGAE TOBACCO. 



The small product of cigar tobacco raised along the border in northeastern Maryland finds its way into' 

 Pennsylvania, and is absorbed with the product of that state. A few samples of this type are sent to Baltimore. 



COST OF RAISING TOBACCO. 



The rate of wages paid for field hands averages about $8 per month for good men ; by the day, for men, 50. 

 cents, and for women, 25 cents, with board. Most of the farm labor is hired by the month and by the day; 

 but occasionally a man is hired by the year at from $80 to $110, with board. 



Lands capable of producing, without manure, 1,000 pounds or more of tobacco sell at from $30 to $50 per 

 acre; and inferior lands, capable of producing, without fertilizers, 450 to 500 pounds per acre, are valued at from 

 $8 to $10 per acre. Location and improvements are factors influencing the prices of farming lands. 



Tobacco hands command no higher wages than other field laborers, but experienced sorters and packers are 

 paid higher prices. 



Lands are rarely rented at a fixed price per acre. The usual custom is for the cropper to pay rent in kind : 

 from one-half to one-fourth of the crop, according to the fertility of the soil and other contingencies. 



Estimates of the cost of raising tobacco vary widely. In southern Maryland the average cost of production, 

 is placed at $4 80 per hundred pounds; in western Maryland the average is estimated at $6 08 per hundred pounds. 

 The average number of acres planted to the hand in southern Maryland is 4 acres; in western Maryland, 3 acres. 

 Planters are of the opinion that, under adequate supervision, the cost of production is somewhat decreased in a 

 large crop. 



The following statement shows the total yield of tobacco in pounds, the acreage, yield per acre, value in 

 farmers' hands, value per pound, and value per acre in the state of Maryland, for the years 1876, 1877, 1878, and 

 1879: 



In this table the figures given for the first three years are estimates from the most reliable data attainable, 

 and only those for 1S79 are from the census of 1880. 



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