190 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The estimated cost of the production of tobacco in the three divisions of the state, in detail, is subjoined. In 

 western Tennessee, on the best soils, one hand can cultivate 3 acres, and this will require his time for five months 

 of the twelve; so that we have: 



DR. 



Five mouths' labor, including board $72 91 



Rent of land, 3i acres, at $5 17 50 



Use of team, wagons, barns, and manure 20 00 



Hauling to market 7 50 



117 91 



CB. 



By 4,200 pounds of tobacco, at $5 $210 00 



Profit on 34 acres $92 09 



Cost per acre 33 69 



Cost per pound to produce on best soils, 2.8 cents. 



Should the production fall below 674 pounds to the acre, there would be a positive loss, unless the quality of 

 the tobacco is such as to command a higher price. At $6 per hundred, the cost of production can be met with 562 

 pounds to the acre; at $10 per hundred, a yield of 337 pounds will pay all expenses incurred in production. 



In i he Clarksville district, the quality of the crops produced and the yield per acre are variable quantities, 

 there being localities where 1,200 or more pounds can be produced to the acre, which will bring on the market, prized, 

 from 6 to 12 cents per pound. In other places the yield is not more than 500 pounds to the acre, and the quality 

 of the tobacco is such that it will not bring on the market over 5 cents per pound. Taking the best soils, however, 

 the estimate will be as follows: 



DR. 



Five mouths' labor, including board $83 33 



Use of team, wagon, and manure 20 00 



Kent of land, 31 acres, at $10 35 00 



Hauling to market 7 50 



Cost of growing 3i acres 145 83 



Cost of growing 1 acre 41 66 



CB. 



By 4,200 pounds of tobacco, at $6 $252 00 



Profit on 3i acres $106 17 



Cost per pound to produce, 3.47 cents. 



It must be borne in mind, however, that this estimate is for the very best soils and the best labor. Taking the 

 average yield for the district, which in favorable years is about 800 pounds per acre, and the average price 6 cents 

 per pound, which is a full one, the whole amount realized from the work of one man, cultivating 3.J acres, will bo 

 $144, or a loss on every hand employed of $1 83. Unfortunately this estimate is too often the true one, and it will 

 hardly be otherwise until the farmers of the district learn that heavy manuring of the laud and the production of 

 a superior article are the principal factors in the creation of profits. With manure to the value of $25 applied to 

 every acre the yield can be made to exceed 1,000 pounds. 



Still more variable are the profits in the Upper Cumberland River district. Where a fine type is grown and 

 good prices are obtained there are evident signs of prosperity, but no progress is visible where the planters grow a 

 poor leaf, which brings only 3 or 4 cents per pound. The average price of the best soils in Smith, Trousdale, and 

 Jackson counties is not far from $25 per acre, and the rental value $5 per acre. Labor is worth, with board, $100 

 per annum; without board, $140 per annum. The yield of tobacco on best soils is about 1,200 pounds per aero, 

 and the average yield, according to the returns of the enumerators, 819 pounds per acre. Taking the maximum 

 yield and basing an estimate upon it, and assuming the amount cultivated by each grown man to be 3 acres, we 

 shall have: 



Five months' wages of one man, with board $58 33 



Use of team, wagon, and manure 18 00 



Rent of three acres of land, at $5 15 00 



Hauling to market 6 00 



Total 97 33 



By 3,600 pounds of tobacco, at 4 cents per pound, the average of all the counties in this district 144 00 



Profit on 3 acres 40 67 



Cost per acre, $32 44 ; cost to produce, per pound, 2.7 cents. 



784 



