CULTURE AND CURING IN OHIO. 139 



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Dealers buy the crop, after inspection, while growing and curing, and about three-fourths of it is bought and 

 packed by them. 



May, June, July, and August are the months in which tobacco goes into sweat or fermentation, and during 

 this process it grows very warm, reaching a temperature of from 100 to 140 F. It remains in this condition 

 from two to three months, but it can be artificially sweated in a much shorter time by placing the boxes on their 

 sides in a close room and keeping up the heat of the room to 100 or more. The loss by sweating is 12 per cent, 

 for Ohio Seed-Leaf. 



A few strips are put up in Miami valley for European consumption, amounting, however, to only about fifty 

 cases. This is the only instance reported in which strips are made of the seed-leaf varieties. 



COST OF GROWING AND MARKETING SEED-LEAF TOBACCO. 



The price of the best lands for tobacco in the Miami valley ranges from $80 to $100 per acre, and rent readily 

 at from $10 to $20 the acre, the prices varying with the comparative fertility and nearness to market. The crop is 

 often cultivated on what is known as the "share system". Laud owners agree to plow the land and cultivate the 

 crop, furnishing sheds, laths, etc. The cropper does the remainder of the work, and the proceeds of the crop are 

 equally divided between them. Sometimes the cropper agrees to furnish the tools and team and feed, and he then 

 gets three -fifths of the crop. It is estimated that one man can cultivate 4 acres. The price of farm labor (men) varies 

 from $15 to $20 a month and board; by the day, in summer, the prices are $1 and $1 25 and board. 



The cost of cultivating and marketing one acre of tobacco is given by Mr. Jacob Zimmer as follows: 



Cost of milking seed-bod for one acre $1 00 



Weeding and attention to seed-bed 100 



Rent of land (interest on price) ." 6 00 



Stable manure, $10; eost of applying same, $5 _ 15 00 



Breaking one acre twice ., 3 00 



Harrowing, lining out, ridging, and hilling 3 00 



Drawing and sotting out plants 2 00 



Cultivating and hoeing 4 CO 



Topping, worming, and snckering 5 00 



Harvesting 10 00 



Taking down, assorting, and shipping 5 00 



Bulking 1 50 



Use of barn, laths, etc 2 00 



Hauling to market 150 



Total cost . 60 00 



The best average yield on the very best soils of the valley is 1,800 pounds per acre. This would make the c6st 

 of producing and marketing the crop $3 33 per hundred pounds. The average yield is 1,124 pounds, which, at the 

 same cost per acre as stated above, would show a cost of $5 34 per hundred pounds ; and other estimates, without 

 giving details, put it at $5 per hundred pounds. 



The yield of the different varieties on the best land is about as follows : Baltimore Cuba, 1,500 to 2,000 pounds; 

 Connecticut Seed-Leaf, 1,200 to 1,800 pounds ; Little Dutch, 800 to 1,000 pounds. The Spanish varieties yield about 

 1,000 or 1,500 pounds. 



In Chippewa valley the prices of the best tobacco soils vary from $100 to $250 per acre, and are capable of 

 producing from 1,800 to 2,400 pounds per acre. The clay uplands are rated from 25 to 50 per cent, lower in price, 

 and the yield is so much lower on them that the average of the district does not exceed 1,260 pounds per acre. 



Two to three acres are considered as much as a good man can cultivate well. The rate of wages paid for farm 

 hands by the year ranges from $150 to $200 and board for common to good hands; by the day, in summer, the 

 price is from $1 to $1 25. Crops cultivated on shares are equally divided between landlord and tenant. 



Six dollars per hundred, as given by others, is about the average cost of raising tobacco, taking all qualities of 

 soil into consideration. It will be observed that much more expense is incurred in making and taking care of seed-beds 

 in the Medina district than in the Miami valley, and also that the quantity of manure applied per acre is much larger, 

 while the average yield is somewhat greater. The quality of the growth, however, would seem to justify a larger 

 outlay ; for while the average price of the crop in the Miami valley is reported to be G cents per pound, its average 

 price iu the Medina district is from 7 to 8 cents per pound, and when put in casks and sweated it will average 

 from 10 to 15 cents. It is thought that the cost per pound decreases considerably in a large crop, and that 12 

 acres, cultivated by three men, working together, can be produced at 10 per cent, less cost than for each man 

 to work separately upon 4 acres. The reason assigned is that three men are a necessary group in the cultivation 

 of the crop. When the tobacco is transplanted, one person is required to drop the plants for two to set; and 

 when it is harvested, the wagon can be loaded proportionally much sooner for one to place the laths on the frame, 



