30 



growers, but tbey are the exception rather than the rule. Such men 

 make a study of tobacco, and from them the larger growers obtain 

 each year good and valuable points. The dealer who wishes to suc- 

 ceed becomes a farmer; he knows that while 4t may cost him more to 

 produce the tobacco than to buy it from the small farms, it will be 

 more profitable in the end, as he will then have what the market 

 demands. 



As has been previously stated, the manipulation of the barn is entirely 

 governed by weather conditions. This much, at least, can be said — 

 the barn should be so managed as to have the tobacco go in and out of 

 case once in every twenty- four hours, care being taken not to allow the 

 tobacco to become too damp or too dry. When this is done with care, 

 the tobacco that is hung on the stalks will cure in about thirty days; 

 that which is primed and strung will cure in about fifteen days. The 

 present method of manipulating these tobaccos after they are pole-cured 

 is quite different from what it was years ago. Then they simply took 

 the tobacco from the poles, made it into three assortments — loug wrap- 

 pers, short wrappers, and fillers — and packed them into boxes, where 

 they remained until a buyer came. When sold, the buyer had the case 

 well closed and shij^ped just as it was. If the tobacco hapi^ened to 

 sweat and cure out well in the case, all well and good; but if not, it 

 did not seem to occur to the growers that any thing could have been 

 done to insure good curing. To reach the present methods many 

 expensive experiments were made. At first it was thought that only 

 a slight curing was necessary, and the tobacco was baled raw. The 

 trade found fault with this because the tobacco was rank. Then the 

 fillers were thoroughly cured and all went well, the light wrapper — or 

 so-called light wrapper — still being cured but little, as thorough curing 

 would so darken the leaf that it could not pass for light. The result 

 was that the Florida wrappers were condemned by the trade. The 

 packers of Florida to-day will not offer to the trade tobacco that is not 

 thoroughly cured. The outcome is that Florida wrappers are in 

 demand at present, and the fillers from the Cuban seed bring the 

 highest price of any filler tobacco produced in the United States. 

 This is largely due to the methods of fermentation, as well as to the 

 methods of cultivation. 



The values of these different grades vary so greatly that any figures 

 given would be merely conjectural, as the first wrappers will be valued 

 at from $1 to $2.50, the seconds from 40 to 75 cents per i:)ound, and the 

 fillers from 30 to 45 cents per pound, so exact figures can not be given. 

 Of course these prices refer to the tobacco baled and ready for the 

 manufacturer. The prices paid the local farmers vary from 12 to 40 

 cents, according to the style and quality of the crop. Some years the 

 farmers have lost money, while other years they have realized good 

 prices and made fine profits. As a whole the farms of Gadsden County 

 are in good condition and the farmers are prospering. 



