236 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The crop of Spanish tobacco, when sold loose, averaged 11 cents round in 1879. 



The crop of 1879 was damaged to some extent by winds and storms, and while the average price of the crop of 

 seed-leaf did not exceed 7 cents per pound, the better crops readily brought from 8 to 10 cents. 



LANDS, LABOlt, AND COST OF TOBACCO PRODUCTION. 



The price of tobacco lands in Wisconsin ranges from $35 to $75 per acre, the average being about $50. When 

 rented, laud commands $10 per acre, or one-half of the crop prepared for market, the landlord furnishing sheds and 

 team, but not boarding the tenant. The price of labor is $30 a mouth for men, $1 25 per day, or $150 per year, 

 board included. In such cases tobacco laborers command about $5 per month more than other field hands. 

 Strippers of tobacco are paid $1 per day, and to strip from 150 to 250 pounds is considered a fair day's work. 

 Packers are paid $1 25 per day. A good man, with help, during the season of harvest, can plant and cultivate five 

 acres of tobacco. 



The following detailed estimate of the cost of cultivating, curing, and marketing an acre of seed-leaf tobacco- 

 was made by Mr. Thomas Hutson, of Bdgerton, one of the largest and most successful growers in Rock county : 



DK. 



Cost of making seed-bed for one acre $050 



Cost of seed 50 



Weeding and attention to seed-bed , 1 00 



Rent of land (interest on price, at 10 per cent. ) 5 00 



Stable manure, six cords, cost 600 



Cost of applying same 6 00 



Cost of breaking one acre three times 3 75 



Harrowing, lining out, and billing 150 



Drawing and setting out plants 3 00 



Cultivating and hoeing 7 00 



Topping, 25 cents ; worming, 50 cents ; suckering, $2 50 3 25 



Harvesting 5 00 



Taking down, assorting, and stripping 12 00 



Bulking 25 



Use of barn, laths, wagon, etc 5 00 



Delivering crop to market 150 



Total cost... 6125 



CR. 



By 1,600 pounds of tobacco, at 7 cents $112 00 



Profit 50 75 



Cost, $3 83 per hundred pounds. 



It is believed that the cost will be reduced in a crop large enough to employ a full set of hands ; that is, hands 



enough to handle the crop most expeditiously and to employ the team to its full capacity. As the Spanish varieties 



bring a much higher price, though not yielding so much per acre, it is probable that they pay as good if not a 



better profit than the seed-leaf. The estimated cost of production for the whole state may be stated as $4 95 per 



' hundred pounds. 



PECULIARITIES OF WISCONSIN TOBACCO. 



The burning qualities of the Wisconsin tobacco are generally excellent, leaving as a residuum a whitish solid asb T 

 much diminished in size from the original bulk. The tobacco is peculiar in holding more water than any other 

 grown in America ; is always limp, and retains its humid, flexible properties during the coldest weather, but loses 

 from 18 to 20 per cent, during the sweating process. The Wisconsin tobacco has great uniformity in color, being a 

 dark brown, but the leaf is extremely thin, and often lacks substance. When it has been resweated it very much 

 resembles the Connecticut seed-leaf in texture, though somewhat darker in color. It then has a very fine linish, and 

 but for its tenderness would take a very high rank among cigar manufacturers. The same humidity is observed in 

 the Havana or Spanish leaf, and this excess of moisture often causes it to damage during the sweating process. Ft 

 IB probably owing to this excessive presence of water that the Wisconsin tobacco is so uniform in color. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Hailstorms are sometimes very destructive, one which occurred in 1878 destroying in the vicinity of Edgerton 

 10 per cent, of the crop. These storms occur more or less every year, but usually in narrow belts. 



Cases 2 by 2J by 3J feet, suitable for packing tobacco, cost $1 each, from 300 to 450 pounds being packed in 

 a case. New York buyers pay local agents $1 per case for buying. 



A day's labor is ten hours when the laborer is employed for one day only, but if he is employed by the month 

 twelve hours are reckoned a day's work. 



