CULTURE AND CURING IN PENNSYLVANIA. 165 



to$l. Tbe estimated cost of growing an acre in tobacco is $60 ; average yield on best lands, 1,600 pounds; average 

 price, 8J cents; profit per acre, $73 33. From 2 to 3 acres are generally allotted to the hand. Artificial curing 

 with charcoal, costing 25 cents per bushel, is sometimes practiced in very damp weather. 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 



This county lies in the southeastern portion of the state, directly west of the Susquehanna river, which forms 

 its eastern boundary. Its natural boundary on the north is the Blue mountain, and on the south the South 

 mountain. The surface of the county is comparatively level, especially in the limestone sections, but the slate 

 region is uneven and hilly. Along the South mountain there are numerous tracts which are composed principally 

 of hard, white sandstone. There is also a detached bed of limestone in this portion of the county, although further 

 to the north nearly the entire formation is of this stone. The county is unusually well watered, and the wood is 

 principally oak, hickory, and walnut. Tobacco is grown on limestone loam with clay subsoil, and some on black 

 and yellow slate, but the former is the preferred soil. The eastern half of the county only is well adapted to tobacco 

 culture, and the larger portion of the crop is grown in the central portion of the eastern half a strip about 16 miles 

 long and 10 wide. As long ago as 1862-'63 a few small lots of tobacco were grown in this county, and little 

 attention was afterward given to it until about 1876, since which time the growth in acreage has been rapid. The 

 increase in product is due, for the most part, to the fact that growers are better informed as to the requirements of 

 the crop iu the matter of preparing the soil, kinds of soil, manures, planting, cultivation, and general handling. 

 The product has steadily increased in quality as well as in quantity. About 10 per cent, of the crop is grown on 

 newly-cleared lands, and it may be stated that, in round numbers, about 40 per cent, of the timbered area of the 

 county is adapted to the growth of tobacco. Freshly-cleared lands are always preferred, and there is no perceptible 

 difference between the product of level and that of rolling lands, in case both are equally manured. No artificial 

 fertilizers are used, but stable manure is applied at the rate of from 20 to 40 tons to the acre, at a cost of from $25 

 to $50, increasing the yield largely, and at the same time improving the quality; and a neglect to use it in the 

 growing of the crop is at once indicated by a loss of from 25 to 50 per cent, of its quantity and value. Wheat 

 generally follows tobacco iu the rotation of crops, after which the fields are left in grass for several years, when 

 they are again plowed. In some cases the manure is plowed under, while in others the application is made to 

 the surface and mixed with the soil by means of thorough surface cultivation. The cultivation of the crop and 

 the varieties planted are the same as in Lancaster county. The schedules report the following prices: 20 cents per 

 pound for wrappers, 10 cents for seconds, and 5 cents for fillers, making an average of about 14 cents per pound. 

 The houses in which the tobacco is cured have been mostly built for this special purpose, and some of them are 

 very large. Tbe tobacco is mostly sold at home to dealers from New York and elsewhere. There are two packing 

 establishments in this county, located at Mechanicsburg. The cost of growing an acre of tobacco is estimated at $75. 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 



Eocks: Limestones and hills of slate; timber: hickory, oak, ash, walnut, and chestnut. Tobacco is cultivated 

 mainly in the lowlands along the eastern side of the Susquehanna, and on the numerous islands with which that 

 wide stream is everywhere dotted. The crop has greatly increased since 1876, that of 1878 being a very fine one, 

 much better than auy of the preceding ones. The varieties grown are the Connecticut Seed-Leaf, Glessner, Mud 

 Island, and Pennsylvania Seed-Leaf. The soil preferred for tobacco is a rich loam, known as bottom lands, and 

 it is said that the first and second crops grown on freshly-cleared bottom lands are superior to any grown 

 subsequently. Twenty four-horse loads of barn-yard manure, the value of which is from $75 to $100, are often 

 applied per acre, the crop being doubled in quantity and greatly improved in quality by such applications. Lime is 

 freely applied to the soil, as much as 100 bushels being used every five years. It takes from fourteen to twenty-one 

 days for tobacco to ripen after being topped, and the average value of the crop through is 7 cents, fillers bringing 

 2 to 3 cents, seconds 4 cents, and wrappers 7 to 10 cents. There are packing-houses at Middletown and Conewago. 



LEBANON COUNTY. 



The best tobacco soils in this county are found along the line where the sandstone and limestone belts join, 

 the preference being given to those on the limestone side, especially in the bottom lands, where water stones or 

 small, round bowlders prevail, but all parts of the county, except the northern portion, are adapted to its growth. 

 Plaster and gypsum are occasionally applied to the hill. Five thousand four hundred plants are usually set to the 

 acre. Transplanting may be done as late as July 5, and forty-five days elapse between planting and topping. The 

 plants are topped to from eight to fourteen leaves, and the time between topping and cutting is about twenty-five 

 days. The plants mature earlier on rich soils than on thin ones, and when ripe are cut with a corn-knife, a saw, or 

 with tobacco shears. There are but few houses built expressly for curing tobacco, and the crop of the county is sold 

 loose at Lancaster and at Lebanon. .The best tobacco lands are worth $200 per acre, and will yield in good 

 seasons as high as 2,000 pounds per acre when well manured and properly managed. Inferior lands cost $60, and 

 yield 000 pounds per acre. Good laborers cost $1 25 and board per day during summer, and 75 cents per day, with 



759 



