CULTURE AND CURING IN TENNESSEE. 



173 



TOBACCO DISTRICTS OF TENNESSEE. 



Tennessee has three well-defined tobacco districts, as recognized by the trade, each producing types more or 

 less distinct : 



1. West Tennessee tobacco district. 



2. Clarksville tobacco district. 



3. Upper Cumberland Kiver tobacco district. 



THE WEST TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 



This district embraces all the tobacco-growing area lying between the Mississippi river on the west and the 

 Tennessee river on the east. This region is well adapted to the growth of cotton, fluctuating in cultivation 

 between that staple and tobacco. When cotton is high and tobacco low a comparatively small amount of tobacco 

 is grown, and when tobacco is high and cotton is low the acreage of the latter crop is largely decreased. When 

 both staples bear good prices, it is no uncommon sight to see large fields of both cotton and tobacco on the same 

 farm. 



VARIETIES OP TOBACCO PLANTED. 



A large number of varieties of the tobacco-plant are grown in western Tennessee, prominent among them being 

 the White Stem, Orinoco, Yellow Pryor, Blue Pryor, Kentucky Bull Pace, One Sucker, Little Yellow, Nimblewill, 

 Thickset, Sleek Stem, Twistbud, and many others with local names. 



The White Stem has a long, narrow leaf, which cures up with good body and of a dark-brown color usually, but 

 the stem is very large and out of proportion to the leaf. It is probably not identical with the White Stem of Vir- 

 ginia, which has weeping leaves. The leaf is of bad shape for wrappers, but is not ruffled about the base of the 

 stem. The Orinoco grows better on thin soils than the other varieties, ripens about two weeks earlier than the 

 Yellow Pryor, and is preferred by many on account of its peculiar sweetness. The Yellow Pryor will stand on the 

 hill longer, resisting field-fire, and will ripen more perfectly than any other variety planted in western Tennessee. 

 The Blue Pryor is probably more extensively cultivated in Weakley county than in any other. It breaks but little 

 in handling, and resembles very much the Yellow Pryor, but makes more pounds to the acre. The Kentucky 

 Bull Face is very valuable for making strips. The One Sucker is the "lazy man's pride", because its vitality is 

 so feeble that it sends out only one crop of suckers after being topped. It has, however, a very long, narrow leaf, 

 coarse in texture, and is suited for scarcely any purposes of manufacturing. This variety sunburns easily when 

 cut, and when growing every leaf extends downward until it touches the ground, making "luggy" tails, the only 

 redeeming quality being its weight and usually large yield. It is called by some Lizard-tail. Little Yellow 

 makes a nice wrapper. It has a well-shaped leaf, drooping from the top and widening for about one-third of its 

 length, and then gradually coming to a wide, well-rounded point. Grown upon suitable soils, it cures up a bright 

 yellow, which commands a high price; but when planted upon a rich, clayey loam, it develops a rich, heavy 

 shipping tobacco. Nimblewill has a leaf of the same shape as the White Stem, but is coarser in texture, and is not 

 popular. The Twistbud, so named from the habit which the plant has of developing a screw-shaped bvid with the 

 terminal leaves twisted, has narrow leaves, growing close together, and is chiefly commended for its hardiness and 

 its disposition to grow very heavy. The Thickset is but little cultivated. The Sleek Stem makes a valuable 

 " shipper ". The Yellow Pryor, Blue Pryor, Little Yellow, Orinoco, and Sleek Stem are generally preferred, some 

 in one county and some in another.- The tendency is now largely toward the White Burley. 



SOILS PEEFEEEED FOE TOBACCO. 



It is universally true throughout western Tennessee that rich upland soils with a clayey subsoil will produce a 



leaf much finer in texture than the alluvial soils, and with much better body, but not so large. When the same 



variety of tobacco is planted upon these different soils the quality differs so materially that it can rarely be used for 



the same purposes. The following will approximate the proportions of grades for the several counties in western 



Tennessee : 



767 



