AMERICAN-GROWN PAPRIKA. 



21 



a 5-acre tract in which the seed was planted directly in the field, 

 yielded 4,800 pounds, an average of 960 pounds per acre. Plat No. 3» 

 occupying 3 acres, showed a very poor stand, the plants growing in 

 the seed bed being transplanted to the field in June. As a result of 

 late transplanting a large proportion of the plants succumbed. A 

 yield of only 1,504 pounds was obtained, averaging 501 pounds of 

 dried pods to the acre. The total yield of the whole year's planting 

 of 18 acres was 20,273 pounds of dry pods, an average of about 1,126 

 pounds per acre. This land would have produced under ordinary 

 circumstances about 

 1 bale of cotton per * 20'- o- *l 



acre. 



FINANCIAL RETURNS. 



■Sca/e of Feef- 



/ O / 2 -3 -? & 6 



After a small quan- 

 tity needed for lab- 

 oratory work at 

 Washington had 

 been taken out, the 

 peppers grown in 

 these experiments 

 were put on the mar- 

 ket. Samples were 

 taken by one or the 

 other of the writers 

 to the chief dealers 

 in dried peppers and 

 placed in direct com- 

 petition with red 

 peppers imported 

 whole or ground for 

 use in the American 

 market. At first, largely on account of the novelty of the article, 

 buyers were somewhat slow to purchase. Others were in the habit 

 of buying peppers already powdered and did not care to buy pods. 

 The first two crops were picked with the stems attached to the 

 pods in imitation of the imported article. When it was found that 

 the presence of the stems was an objectionable feature, the peppers 

 were picked without stems, eliminating one factory process for the 

 purchaser. This was found to help the sale of the pods, and although 

 the weight of the crop was somewhat reduced it was deemed best to 

 meet the manufacturers' wishes. A noticeable increase in the cost of 

 picking was also charged to this innovation, but it appears probable 

 that the attempt to satisfy the buyer in this particular was a most 



Fig. 11. — Plan of floor of a paprika curing barn, show- 

 ing on the right side the arrangement of the timber 

 supports and on the left the crates in position. 



