202 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



and stable manure and use in the hills or drills about 150 pounds of one of the tobacco compounds, this preparation of 

 the soil costing not much less than $15 per acre. These farmers think that commercial fertilizers alone do not 

 produce perfect tobacco. 



In all the tobacco districts of south-side Virginia the use of commercial fertilizers is general. In some of these 

 counties no special efforts seem to be made to save and utilize the bulky but valuable accumulations of the farm-yard 

 and stables, and too much reliance is placed upon the numerous special manures sold as tobacco fertilizers, lii 

 Halifax home-made manures from the stables, hog-pens, farm-yards, hen-house, etc., are hauled on the land in the 

 spring and plowed in at the rate of from five to twenty wagon-loads per acre, according to the quality and kind of 

 manure. This goes over from orie-half to two-thirds of the land to be planted, the balance being supplied with 

 commercial fertilizers, at a cost of from $3 to $10 per acre. In the remainder of the south-side counties this practice 

 is followed more or less. From three-fourths to nine-tenths of the lands planted in tobacco are manured with either 

 domestic or commercial fertilizers, at a cost varying from $3 to $12 per acre. 



In Piedmont substantially the same practice is general. Superphosphates, ammoiiiated superphosphates, bone 

 meal, kainit, guanos, and numerous "tobacco compounds" are used in hills or drills, and sometimes broadcast, as the 

 experience or the fancy of the farmer may direct ; sometimes alone, but usually as an addition to a previous application 

 of home manures, and, more rarely, composted with stable manure. The quantity of commercial fertilizers used varies 

 from 150 to 500 pounds per acre. 



In the tobacco counties of the Middle division north of the James Kiverthe increase of yield, where commercial 

 fertilizers alone are used, is from 20 to 50 per cent., and in combination with a liberal dressing of farm manures the 

 increase is from 25 to 80 per cent. ; but on the poor sandy soils of Hanover tobacco cannot be raised without the help 

 of guanos or other nitrogenous fertilizers. It is the common opinion in this section that the use of commercial 

 manures has not improved the quality of the product. 



In the south-side counties, where the nse of commercial manures is general, the quantity of the product is 

 increased from 25 to 200 per cent., according to the soil, its previous condition, and the greater or less quantity 

 of such manure applied. Many of the "tobacco compounds", containing, as the manufacturers claim, certain 

 constituents especially adapted to the needs of the tobacco-plant, prove of little value, either because of insufficient 

 quantity, injudicious application, bad management, unfavorable seasons, or the want of real value in the fertilizer 

 itself. 



In the Piedmont counties the use of fertilizers in generous quantities has increased the yield from 25 to 100 

 per cent.; but the quality of the product is somewhat inferior. As fertilized crops "ripen earlier, some advantage is 

 thus obtained. 



In the Blue Eidge district, and in Botetourt, Roanoke, and Montgomery counties, of the Valley, commercial 

 fertilizers are found to increase the yield quite as much as elsewhere from 25 to 75 per cent. and it is claimed 

 that the quality of the tobacco is improved from 10 to 20 per cent, by their use. In the other counties of the Valley 

 very little tobacco is grown, the small amount planted being usually on new lands, rich enough to produce good crops 

 without manures. 



As a general thing, concentrated fertilizers of real merit pay better in the yellow belt than anywhere else. 

 They hasten growth and ripening, and contribute, when of the right materials, toward yellowing the plants as 

 they mature on the hills. For heavy, rich, dark tobacco, no manures have met the requirements so completely as 

 that of the farm-yard and stable. 



DETERIORATION OF TOBACCO SOILS. 



North of the James river fresh soils sufficiently fertile to produce one good crop of tobacco will produce a second 

 of fair quantity; but if further cropped will deteriorate rapidly, and soon fail to repay cultivation. The usual plan 

 is to follow the second crop of tobacco, grown on new land, by wheat, seeded to clover, under which system the 

 land improves. Old lands planted to tobacco are always manured. 



In south-side Virginia heavy alluvials withstand the effects of repeated cropping in tobacco for some years 

 without great loss of productive capacity ; but the light, gray soils, so well adapted to the growing of bright yellow 

 tobacco, deteriorate rapidly unless fertilized every year. 



In Piedmont the deterioration of tobacco lands is estimated as high as 15 per cent, per annum, especially the 

 light soils on the rolling uplands and slopes. This damage is more than half the result of surface washing, and can 

 be prevented, in great measure, by careful tillage. 



PREPARATION OF LAND FOR TOBACCO. 



The usual mode in preparing old land for tobacco is to turn the soil with two-horse plows 5 to 8 inches deep in the 

 fall or winter ; but this work is done from September to April, as opportunity permits. New land is first cleared of all 

 brush, grubs, and trash, making the surface as clean and free from obstructions as possible, and is either broken 

 with the turn-plow, if practicable, or plowed closely with the common colter, or with the implement known as 



