CANADA: Production of Tobacco by Type 1956-68 
Production 
Type 
Average! Average 
1957.59 1960-64 1965 1966 1967? 19689 
Million Million Million Million Million Million 
Flue-Cured: pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds 
Ontations dys,ies ces sos: 2 157.0 177-5 154.0 214.7 195.9 215.0 
Quebee sayy eben ei 4.8 5.8 4.4 7.9 7.0 7.5 
Otherareas). 2... hs .04 4 8 1.2 1.4 2:5 
MOtal yr gens) i0 icles 161.8 183.7 159.2 223.8 204.3 225.0 
Burley, 
Gitariop seers: «eve eke 10.2 2530 4.0 5.5 4.7 () 
Dark tobacco, 
Ontario. ce so u8 so 5 8 8 5 5 (5) 
Cigar tobacco, 
Quebec.......... 2.6 5.0 4.5 3.9 3.1 CG 
Pipe tobacco, 
@Mucbeets les ber ieee”: a 9 4 5 5 (°) 
MOtalegewket feet ss 175.8 196.3 168.9 234.2 213.1 CF 
Three-year average. 2 Revised. 3 Preliminary. 2 Four-year average; allotted for burley in 1960. 5 Not available. 
Harvesting and Curing 
Ontario flue-cured growers are in the midst of mechanizing the harvesting operation. 
Growers who have a large investment in present equipment, such as conventional kilns and tying machines, and 
especially those who have plenty of family labor to help with the operation, may be slow to spend additional money 
for mechanization. Growers who need new equipment and are forced to hire high-priced labor will likely examine 
the advisability of more mechanization and the use of bulk-curing equipment. 
Growers have for years used an incline-plane type of conveyor to carry the “sticks” of tobacco up into the 
curing-barn or kiln. Another, and much later, development which caught on after 1960 was the tobacco-tying 
machines; these sew or stitch the stems of the primed leaves onto the tobacco sticks or lath, replacing the skilled 
hand labor formerly used to tie the tobacco on the sticks. Machines that help mechanize the pulling of the leaves 
from the standing stalk—called “priming”—are now a reality, and several different versions have been bought or 
made by growers. The machines now being used in Ontario assist the person actually pulling the leaves from the 
mature stalks. 
Some of the tobacco growers who were interviewed during harvest in 1968 hesitated to claim that their 2-row 
“priming assist” or “priming aid” machines were actually cutting down the number of workmen needed. They did 
say they could utilize local help, particularly high school and college boys, who would rather work on a crew using a 
“mechanical harvesting aid” than the back-breaking old-fashioned method of “priming” leaves. 
One of the interesting new machines that growers like is the “pony type” primer’s assist or priming aid. Briefly, 
this machine is low and operates between the rows of flue-cured tobacco. It is self propelled, with self steering, and 
is powered with a governor-controlled gasoline engine. It carries two persons, one to prime the ripe leaves from the 
row on the right and the other to prime the leaves from the row on the left. Sometimes, two or more machines are 
operated in tandem. 
When the leaves are pulled, they are placed in holders located directly in front of the primers. The holders are 
picked up at the ends of the rows and transported to the kiln. The machines, perhaps, do not save much labor, but 
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