CULTURE AND CURING IN OHIO. 131 



In seasons of great humidity two causes conspire to make the curing of tobacco without fire very difficult. 

 Though well ripened, in long continued wet weather the tobacco will become full of sap, and after it is put in 

 the barn it requires a much longer time to effect a cure, even though the weather should be favorable. 



The barns, many of them constructed of rough logs, with the spaces between left open, are too little secured 

 against the invasion of dampness to make successful cures in very bad weather without resort to artificial heat, 

 and this is only used as a preventive of house-burn or mildew, and not for curing. The cost of the largest and 

 best barns in the district docs not exceed $500 or $000, and the majority not even $100 each. 



A certain amount of dampness is desirable, in order that the plant may attain its highest perfection of color. 

 Whatever the cause, if the leaf is entirely cured without becoming pliant during the process it becomes harsh. 



During the past decade there have been two years in which the planters have had great difficulty in curing 

 their crops. One of these was 1870, and the other 1879. Much " house-burned " tobacco was placed on the market, 

 and much that was mildewed and "funked", estimated to equal one-fourth of the crop. House-burned tobacco is 

 easily recognized by its rigid, lifeless appearance, never coming in condition even in the warmest and dampest 

 weather. It retains only the form of the leaf, with all the valuable properties destroyed. 



A large majority of the farmers in this district sell their tobacco loose to dealers at a stated price through, and 

 it is delivered to them in hands, each one containing eight or ten leaves. The tobacco is stripped as early after 

 the process of curing is finished as possible, and is hung up closely in the barns, where it remains until the 

 weather is suitable, when the sticks containing it are put wider apart, to bring it into condition for packing in bulk. 



Tobacco should remain in bulk several weeks, for nothing else improves the flavor and equalizes its condition 

 so much. If it should go through the sweat while in bulk, so much the better, as it can be watched, and all danger 

 from excessive fermentation can be avoided. 



Farmers, as a rule, do not grade their tobacco very closely in stripping. A few who understand the best 

 grading find their profits quite as great in handling, packing, and "prizing" the crop as in growing it. 



Dealers and the best informed planters usually assort into five grades. The first grade consists of the bright 

 perfect leaves of the crop; the second of the red perfect leaves. The third grade consists of the tips or top leaves 

 of the plant, which, though perfect in form, have a greenish tinge, and are generally immature when the plant is 

 cut. This grade is greatly lessened by low topping. The fourth grade is the worm-eaten and slightly damaged 

 leaves ; and the fifth grade, or trash, is made up of ground leaves. The second, third, fourth, and fifth grades are 

 often thrown together. 



After the tobacco has been properly assorted and has remained in bulk for a sufficient length of time it is taken 

 up and packed in casks, 52 inches high and from 42 to 44 inches across the head. Some 500 or GOO pounds are first 

 packed in the hogshead, when it is placed under a screw press, worked by hand with levers or sweeps, much like 

 a cotton-press, and pressed down to about half the space it first occupied. The hogshead is again filled and pressed, 

 and this process is continued until about 1,000 or 1,200 pounds are put in the hogshead. It is then headed up and 

 sent to market. These hogsheads cost from $1 75 to $2 each. 



The average price of the crop for the district in 1879, sold loose to dealers, was about $12 per hundred pounds 

 through. This, divided into grades, would give about 5 cents for trash, 10 cents for red fillers, and 18 cents for 

 fine leaf. Local markets are established at every convenient shipping place, Iliggiusport and Eipley being the 

 principal points. 



COST OF TOBACCO PRODUCTION. 



Good tobacco soils are rated very high in the Burley district. Lands capable of producing 1,500 pounds to the 

 acre readily bring from $75 to $100 per acre, and inferior soils, those that will yield from 500 to 800 pounds per 

 acre, are worth $25. Wages by the year for field-hands range from $12 to $20 per month ; by the day, in summer, 

 from $1 to $1 50, the highest prices in both cases being paid for hands skilled in the cultivation and management of 

 tobacco. A good hand can easily manage from 4 to 5 acres when the horn-worms are not troublesome. 



To cultivate 5 acres and prepare it for market will require the constant work of a good man for twelve months. 

 This quantity of laud will make 7,000 pounds. The following estimate of the cost of growing tobacco on the best 

 oils was made by four tobacco-growers of Brown county : 



DR. 



Hire of hand, twelve mouths $200 



Board of same 108 



Use of team for brea king laud and feed 15 



Use of team, harrowing, preparing for planting, etc 15 



Use of Team for three plowings 7 



Use of tools, wagou, burns, etc 5 



Kent, of land, general price 40 



390 



CR. 



By 7,000 pounds tobacco, at 12 cents 840 



Profit on 5 acres 450 



Cost per hundred pounds, $5 57. 



725 



