502 FIELD CROPS 



factories close to the tobacco fields, so that the farmer need 

 not pack his crop. 



655. Returns. The price of tobacco varies widely from 

 year to year, according to the supply and other causes. 

 There are also wide differences in price among the different 

 grades. The average price per pound for the ten years from 

 1902 to 1911 was 7.96 cents in Kentucky, where smoking and 

 heavy export tobaccos are largely grown; in North Carolina, 

 where chewing and the better grades of smoking tobacco 

 are grown, it was 9.33 cents; in Connecticut, where the crop 

 is entirely used for the manufacture of cigars, the average 

 price per pound was 17.11 cents; while in Florida, where the 

 best grade of cigar wrappers is produced, the average return 

 to the grower was 31.15 cents. 



As the acre yield varies from 600 to 1,500 pounds or even 

 more, it can readily be seen that the value of an acre of 

 tobacco is high. This is justly so, as the expense of growing 

 the crop is heavy. The average value per acre in Kentucky 

 for the same ten years was $66.81; Virginia, $62.10; North 

 Carolina, $59.98; Connecticut, $287.52; and Florida, $253.22. 

 The Connecticut and Florida tobacco is largely grown under 

 the shade of muslin screens, and the cost of production is 

 high, so that the net returns, while greater than in the other 

 states, are not so large as might at first appear. 



SUPPLEMENTARY READING 



Farmers' Bulletins: 



60. Methods of Curing Tobacco. 



82. The Culture of Tobacco. 



83. Tobacco Soils. 



Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, Vol. II, pp. 639-653. 

 Billings' Tobacco, Its History, Culture, and Varieties. 

 Burkett's Farm Crops, pp. 242-247. 

 Killebrew and Myrick's Tobacco Leaf. 



