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TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



should not be pressed sufficiently hard, the pins are worked out by a reverse process, the beam thrown up and 

 more blocks put under, and it is then again worked down. The illustration on the preceding page represents the 

 beam and lever prize, and the dimensions of each piece are given, so that any carpenter can erect one. 



A is an upright post, 18 by 6 inches, with mortises 6 feet apart for beam and undersill. The size of the mortises 

 is 10 by 3 inches. This post is set in the ground to the depth of 4 feet. N is a ground sill 18 inches thick, of which 



the top surface only is hewn. This is placed level with the sur- 

 face of the earth, and forms a foundation for the hogshead to 

 rest upon. This sill is let into the upright post by a mortise. 

 is the prize beam, 11 by 9 inches, tapering to 9 by 7, and 15 feet 

 long. It has two mortises, the first 9 feet from the post (A), 5 by 

 3 inches, for the uplifting sword (D); the second one foot from 

 the smaller end of the beam, and 4 by 20 inches. Through this 

 both the movable sword (F) and the fixed sword (E) are put. E 

 is a fixed sword, 12 feet long, 7 by 2 inches, dovetailed into the 

 ground sill. F is a movable sword, 10 feet long, 7 by 2 inches, 

 and is moved up and down by the lever G, which is 24 feet long, 

 with mortises for E and F and a half mortise for D. The size of 

 the lever is 7 by 7 at the larger end, tapering to 3 inches at the 

 smaller end. 



This pfize, with one even more simple in construction, has 

 been used by the average planter in Tennessee for nearly half a 

 century. With two such, filling up the casks alternately under each one, thereby giving time for the tobacco to be 

 fixed in its pressed condition, three good hands may prize a hogshead weighing 1,600 pounds every day. 



More recently screws of various kinds have been introduced, all of which are convenient and efficient. The 

 accompanying illustration represents one of the best, which sells at from $40 to $60. 



MARKETING THE TOBACCO CROP. 



When tobacco is sold loose to dealers, it is usually tied up in hands of from twenty to thirty leaves, and 

 sometimes it is sold in small bundles of five to six leaves to local dealers, who prize and ship it without stemming. 

 The usual time of selling and delivering loose tobacco is from November to April. When tobacco is prized and 

 put on the market the season for delivery extends from February to October; but more or less is delivered to the 

 warehouses every month in the year. 



From 15 to '25 per cent, of the crop of the Clarksville district is sold loose to dealers, generally at a specified 

 price for the crop round, though sometimes definite prices for different grades are agreed upon. In almost all 

 contracts it is stipulated that the tobacco shall be in good keeping order, and that only a certain proportion, generally 

 25 per cent., shall belong to the lower grades. 



In the Upper Cumberland River district and in western Tennessee fully four-fifths of the crop is prized by the 

 planters, except in Henry county, where probably half the product is sold loose to dealers for making strips and 

 for manufacturing purposes. 



When tobacco is sold at auction on the market, samples are drawn, from four or more places, the cask being 

 first stripped from the tobacco. These samples are drawn by inspectors, who are the warehousemen themselves or 

 their deputies. The state laws permit any citizen to open a warehouse under certain conditions and regulations. 

 Among other regulations, the warehouseman is required to keep good and sufficient scales for weighing tobacco, 

 which shall be tested at the beginning of each tobacco year, and every three months thereafter, by the keeper and 

 sealer of weights and measures for the county, and at.auy other time when written application is made by two or 

 more planters or burghers. He is required to keep the necessary breaking-irons for the proper inspection of tobacco, 

 and screws for proper cooperage aid return of loose tobacco to the hogshead after inspection. By the law he is 

 created inspector of tobacco, and is required to take an oath for the faithful performance of his duty. He is also 

 empowered to appoint deputy inspectors or samplers, for whose acts he is responsible. This inspector, or one of 

 his deputies, is required to inspect the uncasing or breaking of any tobacco for inspection and to examine and 

 classify the same according to law; to break each hogshead for inspection in at least four different places, drawing 

 from each break at least four bundles from different courses or layers, so as to get a fair and just representation 

 of the quality and condition of the tobacco; to place these bundles together in one sample, stamp it "state tobacco 

 inspection", and mark with ink upon the label of the sample the name of the warehouse, the planter's name, the 

 warehouse number, its approximate gross weight, date of inspection, and the name of the inspector who drew the 

 sample. These samples be is required to mark "A" or "Admitted", if sound, well-assorted leaf tobacco, clear of lugs 

 or trash, and in good keeping order, but to mark all lugs or trash, or clean leaf tobacco if not in good keepii/g order, 

 with an "R", for "Refused". If the hogshead is insecure, or is made of green timber, he is required by law to condemn 



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