CULTURE AND CURING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 119 



GEADES OF TOBACCO. 



Fine tobacco is variously graded by different planters and in different counties in from foui to ten grades. 

 The best average prices round are obtained by those who exercise most fully a delicate discrimination, which results, 

 when the crop presents a great variety, in a large number of grades. The attempt to make fine carry coarse and 

 inferior leaves results in loss to the planter and benefits only the rehandler. It is to be understood, however, 

 that the grading is to be determined by the character of the crop. When assorted into six grades the proportion 

 of the various grades in each crop is about as follows: 1st, one- thirteenth ; 2d, one-tenth; 3d, two-sevenths bright 

 mahogany; 4th, two-tenths dark mahogany ; 5th, one-fifteenth bright lugs ; 6th, rest of the crop. 



Bright wrappers are sometimes classed in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4, beside tips, which are sometimes suitable for 

 wrappers. Lugs are generally divided into two grades : sand lugs and smooth, clean lugs. Sometimes a third 

 grade is made, called wrapping lugs, composed of larger and better leaves than the other two, and made of inferior 

 wrapping leaf and the best lugs. First-grade wrappers are used on the best brands of chewing-tobacco, and the 

 rest on lower brands, and are bought by all the best manufacturers in the United States and Canada. Tips are 

 thicker, have more body, and make first-class fillers. Tobacco commanding the highest price has a very large 

 leaf, bright yellow and mahogany or a clear, whitish yellow, of good body, with fine texture, toughness, and 

 elasticity, an oily appearance, small stems and fibers, and no holes or spots. Body, size, and color are indispensable 

 for the very best. Thin, papery tobacco, easily torn, brittle, inelastic, and lifeless, will not bring the best prices, no 

 matter how fine the color. 



DISEASES OF TOBACCO. 



"Firing", known in New England as "brown rust", "frenching", "Walloon", or "waterloon", and "hollow 

 stalk ", all make their appearance when soil conditions, bad weather, or inferior cultivation invite their attacks. 

 No great amount of loss or damage by diseases of any sort is reported. 



INSECT ENEMIES. 



The flea-beetle is the dreaded enemy of the plant-bed, and the gray cut-worm is sometimes very destructive to 

 newly-set plants. The horn-worm is more injurious than all other insects and all diseases combined. 



HAILSTORMS. 



Hailstorms are local, of narrow breadth, and the damage from such storms is of little consequence, being 



placed at from 2 to 5 per cent. 



AVERAGE VALUE OF TOBACCO. 



The average value of the product is thus reported by various counties from all parts of the tobacco region: 

 Buncombe, 15 cents; Madison, 15 cents; Hay wood, 20 cents ; Warren, 10 cents; Rockingham, 15 cents; Alamance, 

 15 cents; Caswell, 16 cents; Granville, 14 cents; Forsyth, 11 cents; Yadkin, 7 cents; Wilkee, 6 cents; Randolph, 

 12 J cents; Guilford, 8 cents; Person, 15 cents. 



VALUE OF DIFFERENT GRADES IN 1879. 



Reports from a number of counties are given in some cases two from one county as the best way to illustrate 

 the wide range in the prices. These are for 100 pounds, except where otherwise stated : 



MADISON. Average around, $8 to $20. 



BUNCOMBE. Common lugs, $6 to $8; medium lugs, $8 to $10; good fillers, $8 to $10; common wrappers, $10 

 to $15; medium wrappers, $15 to $25; fine wrappers, $25 to $50; extra wrappers, $50 to $80; small lota, exceedingly 

 fine, $2 50 per pound. 



WILKES. Common lugs, $2 to $4; good lugs, $4 to $6; bright wrappers, $15 to $40. 



YADKIN. Fillers, $3; smokers, $6; dark wrappers, $10; bright wrappers, $16; nondescript, $2. 



FORSYTE. Sixth grade, lug fillers, $2 to $7; fifth grade, bright smoking lugs, $8 to $20; fourth grade, lower 

 grade fillers, $5 to $7; third grade, best fillers, $10 to $15; second grade, wrappers, $25 to $40; first grade, best 

 bright wrappers, $40 to $80. 



WARREN. Shipping lugs, $2 to $4; dark nondescript, $4; shipping leaf, $5 to $6; dark wrappers, $10; bright 

 tillers, $8; sweet sun-cured fillers, $10; bright smokers, $12; bright wrappers, $30; fancy wrappers, $80 to $100. 



ALAMANCE. Dark lugs, $4 to $6; dark tillers, $4 to $7; good fillers, $7 to $18; good red wrappers, $18 to 

 $30; common smokers, $6 to $8; good smokers, $8 to $12; fancy smokers, $12 to $25; common yellow, $15 to $'25; 

 good yellow. $25 to $50; fancy yellow, $50 to $75; extra yellow, $80 to $90; extra fine, $90 to $150; small choice 

 lots, $3 per pound. 



HAYWO<p. First grade, $100 to $200; second, $50; third, $30; fourth, $20; fifth, $10; sixth, $5; seventh, 

 $4; eighth, $3. 



KOCKINGHAM. Common grades, $3 to $0; good fillers, $6 to $12; bright leaf, $15 to $30; fine wrappers, $30 

 to $80. From the same county: First grade, $50 to $70; second, $30 to $40; third, $12 to $20; fourth, $8 to $10; 



fifth, $6 to $8; sixth, $4 to $0. 



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