T. 



lie Burley flavor 



During the decade to 1970 there was a higher yield 

 per acre from Kentucky's tobacco farms though acreage 

 dropped from 197,000 acres to 143,000 acres. Good 

 leaf prices prevailed. Domestic cigarette production 

 rose to about 575 billion in 1971. In the same period 

 filter-tip cigarettes went from 52 percent of the market 

 to 80 percent. 



Consumer use of all tobacco commodities rose or 

 was maintained in recent years. Kentucky leaf is to be 

 found in all of these products. The latest official esti- 

 mate of domestic cigarette consumption in 1971 records 

 an advance to over 550 billion. Americans are maintain- 

 ing their reputation as the largest consumers of tobacco 

 anywhere and they clearly show their preference for 

 what is still referred to in the States as "the Burley 

 blend." 



From the earliest period of settlement tobacco has 

 had a powerful influence in shaping the economic and 

 social life of the Bluegrass State. 



Its potential as a commercial crop furthered emigra- 

 tion from other parts of the Union and from Europe for 

 many decades. Its realization as a salable agricultural 

 product was an important element in fixing settlers in 

 the soil, in building new towns and roads. Kentucky's 

 tobacco crops had an exceptional influence in develop- 

 ing the "new West's " first export trade. 



The annual harvests of desirable leaf created markets 

 that drew buyers from home and abroad. And after 

 Burley became the major product of Kentucky's farms, 

 it had the world as its outlet. In the fields, the auction 

 warehouses, the factories, along the transportation 

 highways, and in retail shops, Kentucky tobacco re- 

 mains a vital element in the healthy economic life of 

 the state. 



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