150 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



VARIETIES OF TOBACCO CULTIVATED. 



So many kinds of tobacco have from time to time been tried by the growers that perhaps no single variety is- 

 grown in its purity. Every farmer has his favorite, which is now one kind and then another. There are what is 

 known as the Pennsylvania Seed-Leaf, the Glessuer, the Connecticut Seed-Leaf, and others named after the individuals 

 who claim to have originated them ; in fact, nearly all the varieties cultivated in the seed-leaf districts have been 

 tried. Whatever the kinds cultivated, unless renewed with fresh seed every few years they seem to lose their 

 distinctive features and eventually to become hardly distinguishable from what is known as Pennsylvania. Seed-Leaf. 



Cuba tobacco has been tried frequently, but the inferior yield in pounds has always more than counterbalanced 

 the increased price received for it. Latterly it has not been grown to any extent. In a few years it loses its 

 distinctive features and some of the qualities that give it the most value. A few acres grown by Mr. Fendrich 

 near Columbia, Pennsylvania, in 1879 attained a development of leaf that was astonishing, some measuring 18 by 

 40 inches. 



At the present tone the G-lessner is the principal favorite. It develops a very large and handsome leaf, and 

 yields more pounds to the acre than the others. The great size and weight of the leaves sometimes cause, them 

 to break when blown about by a strong wind. 



Seed is constantly brought from other parts, and growers make frequent changes. Where a foreign variety 

 is cultivated, this is no doubt necessary ; but some of the old growers believe that changes in domestic kinds are 

 not necessary. They hold that all the plants intended for seed should be standing near each other, instead of being 

 scattered here and there over the field. In that way they fertilize each other and bear prolific seed true to the 

 original variety. A few of the more advanced growers are in the habit of removing one-half or more of the seed 

 pods from each stalk left for seed. 



THE SEED-BED. 



A southern or southeastern exposure is always preferred for the seed-bed, and the same plant-bed is used for 

 several years in succession. Very few farmers burn over the seed-bed, the frosts of winter, heavy manuring, and 

 the most careful preparation of the soil being relied upon to secure a good stand of plants, free from the intrusion 

 of weeds. 



Tbe bed is prepared for seeding in the latter part of March or the beginning of April, and the seed is sown 

 immediately upon the freshly -prepared soil. Under favorable circumstances, the seedlings are ready for transplanting 

 about the middle of May, and the planting is usually completed by the 1st of June. Plants set as late as the 

 middle of June generally mature well and make a fair crop, but early planting is the rule. 



There is a current belief that early-cut tobacco cures into a lighter color, because the juices dry out more 

 rapidly, and it is thought the late cut cures darker, because it cures more slowly. For this reason some growers 

 do not plant till about the 10th of June. Their tobacco will then be ready to cut in September and cure in 

 moderately cool weather. 



PEEPAEATION OF TOBACCO GEOUND. 



As a rule, any land that will grow a good crop of corn or wheat will produce a good crop of tobacco. It i& 

 not necessary that any particular system of rotation should be followed. Grass lands are generally selected, 

 although some growers prefer fields planted in corn the previous year, as when planted on sod trouble from the 

 dreaded cut-worm is always expected, and the tedious and wearisome task of replanting is sure to be necessary. 



It is customary to turn the ground in the fall, and manure should be put on at that time. This is especially 

 desirable when it is sod or clayey soil. A sandy loam is preferable to a stiffer soil, and it is an axiom with the 

 tobacco-growers of Lancaster county that tobacco ground cannot be made too rich. The amount of manure which 

 farmers can afford to put on an acre varies with individual cases. From eight to twenty loads is the customary 

 amount. Colonel James Young, who is one of the largest growers in the county, in 1879 drew 100 six-horse loads 

 on a seven-acre field. The ground was more than covered, but the results justified the expenditure. Well-rotted barn- 

 yard manure is preferred to all other fertilizers, tobacco-growers not taking kindly to artificial fertilizers. There 

 are several reasons for this. In the first place, such fertilizers require a large outlay of money; and secondly, their 

 use is discouraged by the tobacco buyers, who assert that tobacco raised by means of artificial fertilizers, when 

 made up into cigars, does not burn with a pure white ash, which fashion at present demands, and which stable 

 manure yields; and they further declare that the flavor of the cured leaf is also inferior. The fact that the tobacco 

 raised in Lancaster county is preferred to any other grown in the state would seem to lend color to these views. 



Thorough preparation of the ground having been made, the earth is thrown up into hills or into ridges, the 

 latter being almost universally the practice. The ridges are 3 or 4 feet apart; when the ground is rich the latter 

 distance, although the former is thought sufficient on thin soils. Along the ridges indentations are cut. The 

 distance between these varies with the different planters, generally from 22 to 28 inches being allowed between tb& 

 plants. In a good season the latter is not too much. The indentations are not cut down to the general level of the 

 field, as in that case the plant might be flooded during heavy rains. The ground is never marked out two ways or 

 checked, the after cultivation being sufficiently thorough to render this unnecessary. 



744 



