﻿BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 16 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chie: 

 October 22, 1913. 



THE CULTURE OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. .- 



By E. H. Mathewson, 

 Crop Technologist, Tobacco and Plant-Nutrition Investigations. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In its origin the flue-cured type of tobacco is associated closely with 

 the old Virginia dark type and is really an offshoot from the latter, 

 dependent primarily upon soil modification. Later the type was 

 further modified and differentiated by cultural adaptations prompted 

 by trade preferences. As the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia was 

 pushed back to the lighter sandy lands of what is now the southern 

 tier of counties of that State and the adjoining counties of North 

 Carolina, the character of the tobacco produced was naturally some- 

 what changed. It was milder and generally lighter in color and be- 

 came popular for home consumption, particularly as a chewing to- 

 bacco. It was preferred also by a certain class of the export trade, 

 particularly in France, where the milder, lighter tobaccos were more 

 popular. The dark Virginia tobacco was cured by means of open fires 

 and smoke, which gave it a smoky, creosotic odor and flavor. This 

 smoky flavor was objectionable to the trade desiring the milder to- 

 bacco, and the use of open fires in curing was limited as much as pos- 

 sible, and much of the product was merely air cured, fires being used 

 only when necessary to protect it from damage in damp, muggy 

 weather. Charcoal was often substituted for wood in order to keep 

 down the odor of smoke. The use of charcoal grew to be the regular 

 practice until, in turn, it was superseded by the use of flues, which 

 came into use soon after the close of the Civil War. At first these 

 flues were constructed of rock, but later they were made of sheet iron, 

 as is the almost universal practice to-day. The use of flues still 

 further did away with any tendency to smokiness and gave more 

 uniformly satisfactory results in obtaining lighter and more uniform 

 colors, as well as greater convenience in tending the fires. 

 6907°— Bull. 16—13 1 



