606 



DRUGS, FAECOTICS, ETC. 



was taken by the public to prevent frauds, ■which, however, was not always 

 effectual, for, even with all these precautions, many acts of iniquity and im- 

 position were committed. 



So little is this crop cultivated in the States north of Maryland, 

 that scarcely any notice has been taken of it in the agricultural 

 or other public journals. 



In Connecticut, in some few towns of Hartford county, con- 

 siderable attention has been directed to it for a number of years 

 past. A ton and a-half the acre is said to be no uncommon yield. 

 The tobacco is planted very thick, two feet and a half each way. 

 The seed came originally from Virginia. It is cured in houses, 

 without having been yellowed in the sun, and without the use 

 of fire. It is said that the best Havana cigars (as they are 

 termed) are often manufactured from mixed Cuba and American 

 tobacco, and sold under that name in Connecticut, 



In the Connecticut Valley is produced about 500 tons of 

 tobacco annually, the average quantity, 1,500 lbs. per acre, value 

 from seven to ten cents per pound. 



Culture. — Seed bed made rich and sown as cabbage early in 

 April as possible. 



Land well ploughed and manured and harrowed as for corn, 

 laid out in rows three feet apart, and slight hills in the row about 

 two and a-half feet apart ; begin to plant about 10th of June, 

 the ground to be kept clean with hoe and cultivator, and examine 

 the plants and keep clear of worms. 



When in blossom and before seed is formed, the plants must 

 be topped about thirty-two inches from the ground, having from 

 sixteen to twenty leaves on each stalk, after this the suckers are 

 broken off, and the plants kept clean till cut. "When ripe the 

 leaves are spotted, thick, and will crack when pressed between 

 the fingers and thumb. It is cut at any time of the day, after 

 the dew is off, left in the row till wilted, then turned, and if 

 there is a hot sun, it is often turned to prevent burning ; after 

 wilting it is put into small heaps of six or eight plants, then 

 carried to the tobacco house for hanging, usually on poles twelve 

 feet long ; hung with twine about forty plants to a pole, twenty 

 on each side, crossing the pole with a hitch kuot to the stump 

 end of the plants ; when perfectly cured, which is known by the 

 stems of the leaves being completely dry, it is then taken in a damp 

 time, when the leaves will not crumble, from the poles and placed 

 in large piles, by letting the tops of the plants lap each other, 

 leaving the butts out ; it remains in these heaps from three to ten 

 days before it is stripped, depending on the state of weather, but 

 it must not be allowed to heat. When stripped it is made into 

 small hands, the small and broken leaves to be kept by themselves ; 

 it is then packed in boxes of about 400 lbs. and marked "Seed 

 Leaf Tobacco." 



One acre of tobacco will require as much labor as two of corn 

 that produce 60 bags to the acre, and requires about the same 

 quantity of manure. If the tobacco can be cured without fire 



