CULTURE AND CURING IN NEW ENGLAND. 



255 



CB. 



2,000 pounds at 12 cents $240 00 



Deduct cost 123 25 



Net profit 11C 75 



Cost per pound, 6.16 cents. 



Some of the returned schedules put the cost of production at from $10 to $12 50 per hundred pounds, which is 

 probably a little higher than the facts would justify for the Connecticut Seed Leaf. It comes, however, very near 

 the true cost of growing the, Havana Seed variety, which yields only from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds to the acre. 



Sometimes tobacco is cultivated on the so-called " share system". These contracts are varied sometimes by the 

 landlord's agreeing to feed the team and to furnish implements, the laborer feeding himself, or paying board in all 

 cases where he works on "halves". The quantity which one man can successfully manage is estimated to be 2 

 acres. 



In the warehouses the price paid assorters is $2 per day; packers, $1 50 per day, both being classed among 

 skilled laborers. A competent assorter must have an eye for color and a knowledge of grades, which can only 

 come from long experience. The packer should be acquainted with the proper condition in which to pack tobacco, 

 so that it may go through the sweat with safety, and should be able so to dispose the bundles in the boxes that 

 when drawn they may come out straight, with smooth leaves. As a general thing, laborers who know how to 

 manage a tobacco crop successfully command higher wages than ordinary farm hands. 



In consequence of the increased skill exercised in the management of the crop, the proportion injured by 

 pole-sweat and excessive sweating is becoming less and less each year, and the last may be said even now to be 

 inappreciable. The former is becoming more rare as the sheds are improved and new methods of ventilation are 

 adopted. 



QUALITY OF TOBACCO GROWN. 



The quality of the tobacco grown in the Connecticut valley near East Hartford stood for many years without 

 <i rival as a wrapper. It is a very handsome, showy tobacco, and is very attractive when new. More recently, 

 however, its light color has reduced its rank ; but its fine burning qualities and sweetness of taste, added to its 

 silkiness of leaf, still make it a formidable competitor in the markets. 



"New England tobacco," or that grown in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, is heavy, with, 

 comparatively coarse stems and fiber, and is altogether of a lower class when compared with the best Connecticut 

 leaf or the Pennsylvania tobacco. It is deficient in oily substance, and does not sweat to a good rich color. 



The points around which the finest Connecticut Valley tobacco grows are East Hartford,Windsor, Suffleld, and 

 Warehouse Point. There is a marked difference observed between the tobacco grown on the east and the west 

 sides of the Connecticut river, the former growing a light-colored, fine tobacco ; the latter, a tobacco of more 

 substance, but not so delicate in fiber. Sandy soils are more common on the east ; clayey soils on the west. 



It is generally conceded, both by dealers and by manufacturers, that the finest tobacco for cigar wrappers 

 conies from the Housatonic valley, having all the silkiness of texture and burning qualities of the Connecticut Valley 

 leaf and all the desirableness of color of the Pennsylvania Seed Leaf. In elasticity of leaf, in fineness of face, and 

 richness of color it stands unrivaled, and brings a higher price in the market than any other seed leaf grown in the 

 United States. The tobacco of the Connecticut valley is of fine fiber, has admirable burning qualities, and is of good 

 size, but the color is generally too light to suit the present requirements of the market. The Connecticut Valley 

 tobacco has a delicate, sweetish taste, and burns with a solid, yellowish ash, which presents an oolitic surface, 

 considerably reduced in size from the original cigar. The tobacco grown in the Housatonic valley also leaves a 

 pleasant taste, and burns with a similar ash. 



The following statement shows the production, acreage, yield per acre, value of crop in farmers' hands or in 

 primary markets, value per pound, and value per acre, of the tobacco crops of New England for the years 1876 

 1877, 1878, and 1879, only the figures for the latter year being from census returns : 



All the tobacco grown in New England does not enter into the commerce of the country, a small portion being 

 taken by local manufacturers, and another small part of it being retained for home consumption. This will 

 account for the discrepancy between the receipts at the principal markets and the 'returns of the census 

 enumerators. 



54 AG s.jy 



