ceased to function and it was not until the Reconstruc- 

 tion period that tobacco production and manufacture 

 began to rebound. 



The dark-fired areas prospered again and, with the 

 development of Burley, tobacco production started to 

 spread throughout the state. 



M 



amafacturing makes the scene 



Tobacco factories in the state became almost as 

 numerous as textile factories and grain mills. Licorice 

 and sugar were imported in large amounts for use in 

 special chewing tobaccos. Before the end of the 19th 

 century, a variety of plugs with enticing brand names 

 such as "U Jo's, Five-Cent Pocket Piece," "Peach and 

 Honey," "Old Time," "The Old Tennessee Twist," "Half 

 Bushel," "Select Brazil Smoking" and "All Southerners" 

 represented one of the major, stable sources of income 

 for almost any country store. 



Tobacco products did not escape the attention of 

 the revenue collectors, even a hundred years ago. In 

 1874, while writing a treatise on Tennessee's resources, 

 state Commissioner of Agriculture Killebrew said: 



We have dwelt long on tobacco because it is 

 the only great product of the state that is sub- 

 ject to a burdensome tax, and every effort of 

 our people should he made to reduce or 

 lighten the load upon their industry. 

 In 1875, the Tennessee tobacco crop came to 35 

 million pounds. Commissioner Killebrew, in a letter 

 to the governor on February 18, 1875, stressed the 



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