CULTURE AND CURING IN TENNESSEE. 175 



The acreage of tobacco iii the district in 1879 was about 10 per cent, greater than in 1878, but 30 per cent, less 

 than in 1877 and 50 per cent, greater than in 1876. The, yield per acre in the census year was about equal to that 

 of 1878, 15 per cent, less than in 1877, and 20 per cent, greater than in 1876, and the quality of the crop of 1879 was 

 10 per cent, better than in 1878, 10 per cent, worse than in 1877, and 5 per cent, better than in 187(5. 



VARIETIES OF TOBACCO GliOWX. 



The varieties of tobacco planted are numerous, and correspond closely to those in the Kentucky part of the district, 

 most prominent among them being the Orinoco, Yellow Pry or. Blue Pry or, Yellow Mammoth, and Morrow. The 

 Yellow Mammoth, when grown upon rich soils, is inclined to be coarse and harsh, but when planted on the thin 

 whitish soils which prevail in some portions of the district it makes a very flue Swiss wrapper. This variety has a 

 large, broad leaf, and stands long on the hill after it is fully ripe, becoming more yellow and better up to the time of 

 cutting. The tobacco of this district, under the name of ''Clarksville Leaf", is tough and strong, large, tine tibered, 

 silky and oily, is of a blackish brown or chestnut color, retaining well its strength and elasticity after passing through 

 the sweat, making it specially useful for cigar and spinning purposes, and is consumed mainly in Germany, Austria. 

 Switzerland, England, Italy, and France, as indicated in the description of the part of the Clarksville district lying 

 in Kentucky. There are many variations of this standard raised in various portions of the district having a general 

 likeness, and too distinct from any other growth of the West to be classed as anything else than "Clarksville". 



The African leaf, which goes to the Guinea coast, is used in a singular way. The negroes dip the bundles into 

 a pot of boiling lard and then hang them up to drip and dry, and the leaf is then made into huge cigars, a foot or more 

 long. A circle is then made, the cigar passed from hand to hand, and the smoke swallowed, until, one by one, the 

 smokers fall back insensible from tobacco drunkenness. 



SOILS ADAPTED TO THE GROWTH OF TOBACCO IN THE CLARKSVILLE DISTRICT. 



On heavy clay soils, long cleared and heavily manured, the tobacco leaf is very thick, heavy, and fatty, and cures 

 up a dark or blackish-brown color. Grown on thin laud and poor ridges, the tobacco is light and thin. A slight 

 admixture of sand and gravel in the soil is no disadvantage, but when in excels the plant blisters in the hot sun 

 before it ripens and the product is much damaged. A soil with an excess of vegetable matter produces an overgrown, 

 course article, and the tobacco ripens too rapidly to insure the requisite amount of gum. For this reason alluvial 

 lauds on the streams are not so well adapted to its growth as uplands, where the soil, though thin, is fertile. Some 

 of the finest tobacco grown in the Clarksville district is raised upon soils not three inches deep, where the prevailing 

 timber is black-jack and hickory. When grown upon such soils it has a tine, smooth, silky texture, small stem and 

 fibers, and a lively, rich brown color, and is very elastic, oily, and soft. Rich, heavy shipping leaf may be grown 

 ii|)ou river and creek bottoms when well drained, and when the alluvial deposits have not an excess of vegetable 

 matter. The best tobacco lands in the district, or rather those which grow the quality which has given character 

 to the region, are characterized by a brownish loam, resting upon a deep red subsoil, and underneath the latter a 

 stratum of chert, which, alternating with clayey beds, rests finally upon limestone at a greater or less depth. Such 

 a soil as this is made warmer in the spring by the excellent drainage induced by the cherty beds, and is kept cool 

 in summer by the constant but gradual evaporation from the underlying clay. Three good effects result from the 

 peculiar physical condition of the soil: 1. The earth being warm in spring, the plants get an early start. 2. The 

 plants are guarded against the blistering heats of the sun by the coolness produced by evaporation. 3. The plants 

 stand long on the hill, ripening, thickening, mellowing, and secreting the gums and oils that have given to this 

 tobacco a world-wide character. 



The subsoil of these best tobacco lauds is remarkable for its tenacity, unctuousuess, and peculiar red color, due 

 to the presence of oxide of iron. In the early settlement of the state these lands were called " barrens", because 

 they were destitute of timber, and it was the universal custom of the aborigines and early settlers to burn off the dead 

 grass from these lands annually. In this way a large amount of potash, so necessary to the growth of the tobacco- 

 plant, was accumulated in the soil. The presence of this constituent gave rise to harsh forests of black-jacks, with 

 a bark thick enough to resist the heat of the fires, and following these came the scrub hickory, which was known 

 to the early settlers as " grub hickory", so named because a sprout an inch in diameter often has a root <> or 8 inches 

 through. As soon as tires were interdicted hazle bushes, dogwood, and black gum shot up, and what was once a 

 wide expanse of prairie or open woods became a tangled mass of thick underbrush, above which towered the 

 black-jack, oak, and hickory. In the course of years the black-jack gave place, in large part, to red oak in swales 

 and on rich hillsides, and to post oak on rocky hills. The lands hero described are par excellence the tobacco lauds 

 of the Clarksville district. 



Wild cherry, black walnut, tulip tree, ash, and beech, with an undergrowth of dogwood, papaw, and blackberry 

 bushes, are indications of a most desirable soil for the growth of the cereals and grasses, but it is not suitable for 

 49 AG 709 



