No. 98. ] 149 
seems to have increased with accelerating speed until the close of the 
rebellion. From the authority just mentioned we learn that in 1850 
the New York crop reached 83,000 pounds, which swelled to 5,700,000 
pounds in 1860, and by 1864 reached the enormous maximum of 13,- 
000,000 pounds. With the breaking out of the war the prices of to- 
bacco suddenly advanced to double and even triple their former figures, 
which readily accounts for the unprecedented increase in the produc- 
tion between 1860 and 1864. Farmers who had been accustomed to 
live by the slow but sure profits of grain and butter found that the net 
proceeds of a single acre of tobacco were often doubly sufficient to pur- 
chase the land on which the crop grew. It is hence not surprising 
that tobacco growing made rapid headway, and that many, eager with 
the prospects of wealth, devoted laryer areas to it than they were able 
properly to fertilize or care for. This too common practice may have 
been profitable in the panicy markets of war-time. In later years it 
has usually disappointed expectations, and has sometimes proved dis- 
astrous to the cautious as well as to the reckless grower. 
From 1865 to 1880 the production reported by the Department of 
Agriculture is approximately as follows : 
In Pounds, _ 
| ia sill ur a le 11,800,000 
Shu oe) Siig a ea aR Aaa era US bardling yclahae 10,000,000 
sa ee oe ae lel hae ee Na et a a 8,700,000 
RE Sd MS a Cai lke Bg baie uel elle e A '*ie0.0 12,000,000 
o7 "on enhaiiartaa ES als “Si ye Paap ener tal ie. 8,500,000 
naire we 2,500,000 
oy by veins cs agtanns cree chine 2,500,000 
EE at F ee Ese pg oss. a4 8h es 3,000,000 
ne INE Sila iG Pia ee lan, Ca alana Ra Oe 3,000,000 
I ee ate i, 4 Sab as oceans gang t 1,600,000 
ee NR a 8 cen 5 Pie lotelanspaitchane sldiace toe'an & 2,750,000 
ee ee ira eA) okccda nh dh heesn ¢ oe, eee 1,500,000 
ee, ee cites alae Syn d tines Paige igh al 
SF Bed olen a gc inbalcta stale, sielent cities 2,200,000 
alae eae tena eer vee Sap Naan ene a 2,400,000 
(int a 2 ice 3 ei iets ar nat eleghen Gi agree Te 6,600,000 
The quality of the tobacco produced in New York, judged from the 
prices it has commanded in market, is about the same as that produced 
in Pennsylvania, but inferior to that grown in the Connecticut valley. 
Thus the average price for seventeen years previous to 1880 was, in 
New York, 13.6 cents per pound; in Pennsylvania 13.5 cents per 
pound, and in Connecticut 22.1 cents perpound. ‘The highest average 
price that has been paid for New York seed-leaf was in 1864, 24 cents 
per pound; the lowest in 1876, 8.4 cents. Thirty cents per pound has 
sometimes been paid for good crops, both in the Chemung and Onon- 
daga districts. 
Until quite recently the only varieties grown were the different 
strains of the Connecticut seed-leaf. Since 1878, however, the Domes- 
tic Havana has been grown with excellent success in the Onondaga 
districts. Several Hybrids between the Connecticut Seed-leaf and 
Havana are extensively cultivated in this region, and the product is 
