168 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



pouiid. In 1841 prices rose, and the crop proved remunerative to the planters. From that period until 1846 prices 

 for good crops, pressed in hogsheads, ranged from 2 to 8 cents. The last-mentioned year was a disastrous one to many 

 dealers, the occurrence of the Mexican war reducing prices to a very low point, from $1 to $3 being generally paid 

 round for crops loose, and planters were glad to dispose of their crops at almost any price. It was not until 1850 

 that fair prices again prevailed. 



About the year 1834 dealers began to put up factories in Clarksville and to purchase loose tobacco. Several 

 establishments for making strips sprang up shortly thereafter, and in 1840 the number of stemmeries had considerably 

 increased. The erection of these stripping establishments gave great animation to this industry, millions of pounds 

 of tobacco being annually brought to Clarksville and prepared for the English trade, and in 1800 there were 

 sixteen of these factories in operation, handling over 2,000,000 pounds of tobacco. 



The first effort to establish a market for the sale of tobacco in casks was made in the same place in 1842; but 

 it was a difficult thing to persuade such planters as still adhered to the practice of pressing and shipping their 

 tobacco to New Orleans, influenced also by the agents of the New Orleans houses, to consent to sell in Clarksville. 

 It was not until February, 1845, that warehouses were open for the inspection and sale of tobacco in casks, and 

 from September 1, 1844, to September 1, 1845, there were reported as sold on inspection 900 hogsheads. 

 Encouragement was given to these sales by the merchants and business men of the place, who attended and swelled 

 the list of buyers. Three or four of these warehouses were opened by 1846, and since that period they have been 

 increased, Isoth in size and in number. With the single exception of Louisville, Clarksville opened the first 

 inspection warehouses in the West. A warehouse was opened at Trice's Landing, a point across Bed river from 

 Clarksville, in 1847, and at this place the rich product from southern Kentucky was sold, and the sales continued to 

 increase until the opening of the line of railroad to Louisville, in 1860, when a large portion of the production of 

 southern Kentucky found its way to the latter city. The occurrence of the civil war paralyzed the market at 

 New Orleans and Clarksville, and Saint Louis and Louisville swelled into the largest tobacco markets in the West, 

 a position they have maintained to the present time. 



Nashville also was a point where some business was done in tobacco as early as 1835. In 1840 the receipts 

 amounted to 4,000 hogsheads, but the hogsheads were then light as compared with those of the present day, and 

 until 1850 they remained about stationary, varying from 4,000 to 5,000 hogsheads annually. About 1850- two 

 tobacco stemmeries were put up, which prepared from 125 to 150 hogsheads of strips and put up leaf for the 

 New Orleans market, the tobacco being bought loose, and being grown principally in Williamson county, with small 

 quantities from Wilson, Maury, and Robertson counties. During the decade between 1850 and I860 the trade 

 increased considerably, reaching between 7,000 aud 8,000 hogsheads annually, the weight of'the hogsheads having 

 been increased about 20 per cent, and the handling of the crop being greatly improved through the influence of the 

 local market. Mr. A. Hamilton established the first regular sales warehouse about the year 1851, which stimulated 

 the trade at this point, and the great losses resulting from shipments to New Orleans made the opening of local 

 markets much easier. The sales of tobacco in Nashville closed in 1861, and the receipts were very light, 

 dropping from 7,000 to 500 hogsheads. A great part of it was kept in the country, and during the war dealers 

 from Louisville and from other places bought it up on speculation. The business did not greatly revive until 1872. 



In the territory tributary to Nashville the crops of 1878 and 1879 were small. About three-fifths of the total 

 receipts of this market come from, the Upper Cumberland River district, one-fifth from western Tennessee, and the 

 remainder from the Clarksville district. 



There are at Paris, in Henry county, six tobacco factories, only three of which are in operation. These 

 factories buy annually about 400,000 pounds of tobacco, paying from 3 to 8 cents per pound for fillers and from 

 10 to 15 cents for wrappers. One hundred and sixty hogsheads of strips, or 208,000 pounds, were put up in the 

 county during the season of 1879-'80. 



In Clarksville, while the annual sales of leaf tobacco in hogsheads vary considerably with the success or the 

 partial failure of each crop, there is always a considerable amount sold loose to factories for the manufacture of 

 strips. In 1879 the number of hogsheads of strips was less than for many years. In that year five factories in 

 operation in and around the town reported an aggregate make of strips of 544 hogsheads, weighing 1,250 pounds 

 net, a total of 680,000 pounds. The usual number of hogsheads put up varies from 800 to 2,000. 



The following were the shipments from Clarksville mainly from planters' hands for eight years, 1873 to 1880, 

 inclusive: 1873, 15,607 hogsheads ; 1874,15,161; 1875,4,245; 1876,16,737-, 1877,11,233; 1878,22,554; 1879,14,434; 

 1880, 16,566. 



TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, AND SOILS OF TENNESSEE. 



In natural facilities for transportation Tennessee is unsurpassed, the Mississippi river washing the western 

 boundary, and the Cumberland and the Tennessee, with their sources in other states, sweep in concentric 'curves 

 through the fairest agricultural and mineral districts of the state. The state has eight well-marked topographical 

 divisions : 



1. The Unaka mountains, on the east, swelling in great ridge-like masses, some of which attain an elevation 

 of more than 6,000 feet above the sea, upon the summits of which the flora of Canada is found. This division has 

 an area of 2,000 square miles 

 76* 



