c.- \ \ ( '^ "3 "^vo/L^c ^^dK.^2\xyO^^ ^^W^'v^M^ CdvCxt.\fc^rYVj llt^ . \ '^^^. Class £ Book. Copyright 1^^. COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV *5crr>§crz^ m J^)^ imuM ^^ um '0m' \\ ^) A COMPILATION OF 1 11. NTS, su(k;estions and experience of the most PRACTICAL AND SUCCESSFUL ^ :kBY F. W. COON.jds ■'-^^^.■^-^^^^^.^^^^■'^^^^■■■^^^ PKICK i^O CKINTS. COIPYI^TGHT 1885. ,..^r^^4^. WISCONSIN TOBACCO REPORTER STEAM PRINT 0. M. TURNER, Prest. 0. N. FALK, Cashier. N. F. LOVEJOY. Asst. Cashier. CAPITAL $60,000. AUTHORIZED CAPITAL $100,000. DANE COUNTY BANK, STOUG^TON, V/ISCQNSIN. Organized Under the State Laws of Wisconsin, November, 1883. Transncts auT'inM-al l{;inkins- Business. Negotiate Farm Mort,!.'-a','e loans. Draw dral'tsoii all principal Cities ot Europe and America. -I3II?&"E:CT0K-S:- JOHN ATKINSON- THOS. BEATTIE. JAMES NORRIS Milwaukee NO TOBACCO GROWER CAN AFFORD TO BE WITHOUT THE ^N/ GIVING FULL MARKET REPORTS UND IPORMATION OF TOBjlGGfl GEIUIIE. ■'-^^-t^f^THE ONLY PAPER IN THE WEST-^i*^- ^UKVOTEDTO.THE INTEREST OF TOBACCO GROWERS.^ SEND FOR ^Jf^ *)^^ SUBSCRIPTION ^f^ •^/^ SAMPLE copy. ^^ fif%. $l-80 PER y EAR. ^\^ F"U"BL,ISHE3D .A..T F. W. COON, Publisher, BEST ADVERTISIN-G MEDIUM IN THE WEST. COMPLETE JOB OFFICE. ■4 •HiTHE TOBjlGGO GI|OWERS' GUIDEin KISTOPtlO^L. Tobacco is grown in nearly every part of the world, yet it was knowii only to the Indians of North America prior to the landing of Columbus at the Island of Guanahani, October 12th, 1492, and it is easy to im- agine the surprise of the Spaniards at seeing the savages blowing clouds of smoke from their noses and mouths. The Indians wrapped a dry herb in a corn leaf, lighted one end of the roll and imbibed the smoke from the other. Such a roll was called by them tobacco, while the herb itself was called kohoba. They gav^e the name of tobacco to the two pipes attached to a funnel, by means of which they inhaled through their noses the smoke of kohoba leaves placed upon burning coals. They used fresh leaves of the kohoba plants for healing wounds, and filled the tents in which sick persons were lying with tobacco smoke to lesson their pains and cure them. In the council of the tribes and In- dian nations, in the assemblies of the warriors at the council house, and in later years in their parleys and treaties with the whites, the ceremony of smoking the pipe was of the first importance, and was the token of good faith. Passing the pipe around the circle of the assembly was the inductory ceremony of all the councils, whether for deliberation among themselves, or discussion and treaty with other tribes or with the whites. As a great discovery, Columbus took tobacco seed home with him, where at first the plant was deemed valuable for its medicinial proper- ties, but the Spaniards soon began smoking it. Then it became pop- ular and seed was sent to France, then Germany, and Italy, and soon became known among all civilized nations, and became famous as an approved remedy for all diseases. In Mexico, conquered in 1519, the Spaniards found tobacco in general use, and wherever they went thc\' saw the people smoking it from reeds, mixing rose leaves and aromatic gums with the dry herb. The Mexicans also chewed and snuffed ot- bacco. In the American Colonies, tobacco soon became a very impor- 4 rHEToHACCo (;KO\VEHs' fiUlDK. tant and popular crop, and much of it was shipped to the old countries. A farmer of Virginia has a bill of lading dated May i6, 1790. for the shipment of a lot of twelve hogsheads of tobacco from Rappahannock, Virginia, to Liverpool, England. All of the pioneers of Kentucky brought with them to the West, tobacco seed for the first planting ; and in their expeditions against the Indian villages north-west of the Ohio they would find tobacco growing in the fields, and packed away in the wigwams and cabins. CHEMICAL. COMPO.SITION. Tobacco contains an alkaloid called nicotine, C-6 H-I4 N-2, which, when pure, is a colorless liquid, sp. gr. 1.048 at 60 Fahr., boils at 482^, has an acrid odor and a burning taste ; very soluble in water, fixed oils, alcohol and ether. It is rarely used, and is so liable to turn brown by oxidation that it is next to impossible to maintain it colorless for any length of time. It is peculiar as being one of the liquid volatile alka- loids. According to Dr. Murry, tobacco contains: Nicotine, 2 to 9 per cent.; nicotianine, 2 grains per lb.; a bitter extractiv^e principle ; fatty matter ; tannin and gallic acid ; a yellowish oil ; gum mucilage ; salts of lime, potash, magnesia, soda, ammonia, silicia and moisture. Tobacco leaves are remarkably rich in inorganic constituents, the proportions varying from 16 to 27 per cent. According to Boussingault they con- tain, when dry, about 1 per cent, of phosporic acid, and from 2 to 5 per cent, of potash, together with 2 Vi to 4^4 per cent, of nitrogen, partly in the form of nitrate, so that to enable the plant to flourish it must have a rich soil or continual manuring. Tobacco smoke, when ana- lyized, consists of nicotine, resui, oil, ammonia, phenol, cresote. Co, Co-2 HCN. and H-2 .S. EFFECTS OF r()B.\CC(). In his luminous "ireatise on Poisons" Dr. Christinson states that "no well-ascertained ill effects have been shown to result from the habitual practice of smoking." The research of Dr. Richardson, F. R. S., are of immense value with regard to the action of tobacco upon the health. He is of opinion there are no grounds for believing that smoking — of course, we infer, when indulged in with moderation — can produce or- ganic change. I'unctional distm-bances of the heart, brain and vision, he tells us, may be traced to its excessive use. In the course of an im- portant discussion which took place between Sir Roland Martin, Mr. Solly, Dr. Ranking and other scientific physicians, the following impor- tant results were arrived at respecting smoking: 1. That the habit is predjudical when carried to excess. 2. Tliat tobacco is innocuous when compared with alcohol, aild in no case worse than tea, and by the side of high living contrasts most favorably. It is impossible to lay down any rule as to the amount of tobacco which may be consumed with delerious effect upon the health. Wliat would be moderation to one is often excess to another^ according to temperament, habit, and individual peculiarities. Each person ought to be able to judge for iiiK ror.Acco (;K(»\\i:us (iiiDi:. himself as to what is moderation. The best time for smokiiii;' is un- doubtedly after a meal; and the most injurious on an empty stomach. ON SMOKIXn. A peculiarity about tobacco is that its quality depends entirely upon the character of the (ground which it grows. That grown on the western portion of the Island of Cuba is far superior to that grown in the east- ern section. There is a marked difference in that raised on different plantations in the same section, and ev^en on different parts of the same plantation. Havana seed planted in the Connecticut valley produces an entirely different quality, the leaf being remarkably thin and silky and almost devoid of the aroma peculiar to the Cuban product. In Virginia the seed produces a leaf so rich in nicotine that it is entirely unfit for cigars, but well adapted for chewing and smoking purposes. Mary- land, Ohio and Kentucky each produce very different qualities, all of which find special uses. The Northern grown leaf makes the finest wrap- pers for cigars and is shipped in large cjuantities to Havana for that purpose. Cigars were not known until about I 815. Previous to that time pipes were used exclusively. Chewing had then been in vogue to a limited extent for some time, while snuffing dates back almost as far as smoking. The first package sent to Catharine de Medici was in fine powder. She found that smelling it in the box affected her similarly to smoking, which led her to fill one of her smelling bottles with the dust. Her courtiers adopted the habit of snuffing small portions of it up their nostrils, and as the precious stuff became more plentiful the snuffing habit became more general, until at last a man or woman was not considered as in proper form unless they snuffed. The custom become so common in England that a snuff bo.x was no longer an en- signia of rank. Then it was the law prohibiting the culture of the plant, except for medicine was passed. About the same time a heavy tariff was placed on the imported article, thereby practically placing it be- yond the reach of the common herd and giving royalty a complete mo- nopoly. Since the first began to be used as a luxury there have been conflicting opinions in regard to its effects. The Romish Church once forbid its use and the Church of Kngland declaimed against it. The Wesleys opposed it hotly, and at one time it was considered so unclean as to unfit men for membership in the Methodist Church. Baptist and Presbyterian ministers preached against it, and societies were organized to oppose the spread of the habit, but all to no purpose. Parents dis- owned and disinherited their children because they used it, and hus- bands divorced their wives on account of their having contracted the habit of smoking. It is singular that when women get into the habit of smoking a pipe they prefer a strong one. There are a few men who have nerve enough to smoke a pipe such as a woman likes when she has become a confirmed smoker. When they first begin puffing cigars they prefer them very mild, but it is not long until they want them black and strong" and lots of them. The first che--' or first ciear is alwa\'s THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. remembered, for they almost invariably produce a sickness only paral- leled by that of seasickness, and, like the latter, the victim is not at all frightened, but wants to die, or, at least, does not care whether he lives or not. As soon as the attack is over, however, he is ready to try it again. By patience and persistence the nauseating effects are overcome and the deathly sickness gives place to delightful sensations. Spanish and Portugese ladies of all ranks smoke cigarettes — little cigars, not those vile paper things that pollute the air, but fine flavored little cigars. They are also used to a considerable extent in France, but the custom has never prevailed to any great extent either in Eng- land or America. The pipe is less popular among ladies in this coun- try now than it was fifty years ago. In the Southern states, however, the women of the middle and lower classes nearly all smoke or rub snuff, and not a few do both. Storekeepers in many parts of tne South buy snuff by the barrel and keep it under the counter with the sugar and coffee. On the other hand, smoking fouls the breath, injure the sense of taste, vitiates the atmosphere of a room and entails unnecessary expense. Chewing is more filthy than smoking but not so expensive. Physi- cians are not agreed as to which is the more harmful. The better way to learn the bad phases of the tobacco habit is to ask some female hater of the weed who possesses the faculty of expressing her mind freely. Her advice will be never to use it in any form, and if you do, quit it en- tirely, which advice is sound, and no one will ever regret heeding it. A PLEA FOR THE SMOKER FROM A SANITARY POINT OF VIEW. So much has been written upon the question of tobacco, pro and con, that any attempt to discover new and untrodden ground would almost seem a hopeless task, altogether beyond the range of the explorer. It has had its votaries inumerable, who have seen in it a universal pana- cea, competent to deal with all the ills suffering humanity is heir to, mental and physical,on the other hand, it had its opponents, those who, contrawise, have attributed to its use influences of no common or trifl- ing order. In this, as in all such like cases involving great and impor- tant truths, the ultimate standpoint of appeal centres in the question of experience, and concerning which there is little need of citation in an- swer to the graver charge at the bar of public opinion ; once there its record would, as on many previous occasions, attest to facts difficult of contra version, facts too often in juxtaposition to argument unsuj)ported except by hyposesis of the most flimsy character. It has occurred to us, however, that the search for new paths, or subject matter in con- nection with the problem, is not so hopeless as might on first sight appear, and in the exploration we have availed ourselves of some of the more recent investigations and discoveries of science, which have invested the route with many new points and passages of interest and which we would fain think will bear fruit of considerable import- ance, That tobacco smoke has played in the history of disinfectants THE TOBACCO GROWERS CUinE. 5 L ^ is an assertion by no means new, and the statement to that effect will take none of our readers by surprise, nevertheless, the assumption has had little or no solid resting ground as a basis and in support of such claims. It has been reversed for modern chemistry to establish the broad fact and to teach us that we are justified in regarding the pro- ducts arising from the combustion of tobacco (in other words, tobacco smoke) as an actual and powerful antiseptic, and as such from its diffu- sive character, a simple and effective sanitary aid, more potent and real in dealing with "germs" than scores of nostrums and preparations ad- vocated for such purposes. Our grounds are simply as follows : In the combustion of tobacco, and as brought about in the act of smok- ing, the products of decomposition envolved consist mainly of a series of powerful organic compounds known to chemists as the Pyridine Bases, or Alkaloids, conjointly with traces of Nicotine ; to the latter compound has been attributed the entire narcotic properties of tobacco smoke in its physological action on the animal economy. Chemists, however, are now pretty well agreed that the action referred to is chief- 1}' due to the presence of the basic substances named. And it becomes highly interesting to learn that in the case of pipe smoking the more highly volatile and intoxicating pyridine is evolved, whilst that of cigar smoking little pyridine, but more of the associated collidine, is formed and given off; but these facts are not the only ones springing from the study and investigation of the chemi.st ; it has long been known that the so-called pyridine bases numbering nearly a dozen distinct compounds, and as alread}^ stated arising from the destructive distilation of tobac- co, also exist in certain well-known coal-tar products and allied bodies, notably creosote. VVe need scarcely remind our readers J,hat the latter substance has long enjoyed a world-wide reputation both as a disinfect- ant and antiseptic, and has found important application and uses in the technical arts ; the efficacy of creosote has invariably been attributed to the presence of carbolic acid, but quite recently it has been demon- strated, and beyond much doubt, that the true antiseptic character of the fluid has been due far more to the contained alkaloidal bases than to carbolic acid ; indeed, carefully compounded experiments have prov- ed that these compounds occupy a position in the very foremost ranks of antiseptic, minute proportions of which completely sterilize sub- stances prone to decomposition and the formation of "germs." So much for the broad facts and deductions of chemistry, and which, we venture to think, will not prove unproductive interest to the smoker. In the cloud arising from his favorite clay, and in the aroma of the "fragrant weed," he will discover more than a mere solace for his troubles and woes, or an hour passed in visions of dreamland ; he will regard it as a charmed atmosphere, charged with elements of antiseptic value and within which he may enjoy comparative safety and immunity when in the presence of noxious emanations. Armed with the knowledge thus gained, ma)' we not say he will find there are periods and times atten- THE TOBACCO (IROWF.RS' ClU DE. dant upon the daily walks of life in which his pipe may play the part not only of a friend indeed, but of a real friend in need ? EXTENT OF TOBACCO PRODUCTION. The following statistics show the production of tobacco in some of the leading states in the year 1 880. Since that time there has been a large increase of production : 1)>S Kentucky . 171,120,840 Virginia 80,000,000 Connecticut 14,044,052 Illinois 3,935.825 Indiana _. ... 8,872,842 Maryland 26,000.000 Mas.sachusetts 5 ,369,436 New York 6,481,431 North Carolina -. . 26,986,213 Ohio • - 34,735>235 Pennsylvania 36,943,272 Tennessee 28,365,052 West Virginia 2,296,141 Wisconsin 10,908,423 Missouri 12,015,657 The tobacco of the Southern states is exported to a great extent. What is retained in the country is manufactured in':o fine cut an:l plug, used for smoking and chewing. The tobacco of the Northern states is mostly manufactured into cigars ; a comparatively small amount of it is now exported. We more particularly represent the tobacco used for cigars. Previous to the year 1881 the domestic tobacco furnished all the wrapper leaf needed by our cigar manufacturers and was used al- mo.st exclusively to cover cigars. Only about one-half of an average crop of tobacco is fitted for wrappers and that grade alone can be pro- duced at a profit by farmers. THE GROWTH OF THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY. It is a well known fact that the soil and climate of the United States are peculiarly adapted to the successful growth and production of fine tobacco. It is therefore one of the leading productions of our agricul- ture in several of the most important states and is rapidly growing in prominence in several others. In tobacco production a great amount of labor is employed all through the year in its growth and preparation for market. Tobacco is grown to a greater or less extent in every state and it is a crop largely growing in importance in fifteen of the mo.st populous states of the Union, as one of the chief money crops of the farmers upon which they depend for a living. With the expectation of its continued successful production, farmers have invested millions of dollars in buildings for curing tobacco, warehouses, sorting rooms and appliances to fit the crop for market ; these would be mostly useless for any other farm purpose. While its production has been kept up, the value of farm lands and other property has been greatly enhanc- ed. THF. TOBACCO CiROWKKS Cl'lDE. In the amount of tobacco grown in Wisconsin stands second in the Hst of cigar leaf growing states, being led only by Pennsylvania, and with the natural increase of the past five years for the coming five, the Badger State promises to rank first in the list. The increase of this industry in the past ten years will prove interesting statistics. The following figures are taken from the reports of the county clerks to the seceratary of state, ^s required by law each year : Acres. 1874 1,4'14 1875 4,399^ 1876 ... 3,296 1H77 4,842 1878 4,6.53 1879 7,440 1880.... 13,359 18SI 12,.588 1882 14,924 1883 _12,307 1884 15,836 Thus in ten years the acreage of this crop has increased from 1,444 acres to 15,836 acres. Tobacco is now grown in thirty counties, the following table gives the amount in each, as shown by the records in the office of the secretary of state : TOBACCO GROWING IN 1 884. Acres. .Adams 2 lirown 2 ("ohimliia 104 Crawford 10 Dane 7>58S Dodge 14 Kond du Lac i <;i"ant 37 (Ireen 194 ( ; reen I ^ake 3 Iowa 6 Jackson 5 fefferson 45S I .a Crosse 2 La Fayette 4 M anitowoc 13 M arathon 4 Marquette 14 Milwaukee 30 ( )conto 2 Pierce 2 Richland 17 Rock 7,084 Sauk 18 Sliawano . . I X'ernon 136 Walworth 42 Waukesha 6 Waushara 2 Winnebago 38 Total 15,836 TOBACCO GROWIX(i IN WISCONSIN. The name of Pomeroy is intimatel)' connected with the history of TFiE TOBACCO liKdWKKS liULDE tobacco growing in the West. In the \'ear 1838 Thomas and Ralph Pomeroy raised the first crop of Connecticut seed leaf every grown in Wayne township, in the Miami valley, Ohio. About twelve years later the two brothers, Ralph and Orrin, and a cousin, Chester Pomeroy, journeyed across the country by wagon to Rock county, Wisconsin, taking the Connecticut seed with them. The)' settled upon a beautiful prairie two miles south of Pldgerton, where two of the brothers still re- side. Ralph Pomeroy grew his first crop of Wisconsin tobacco on rented land on the prairie near Syene, Dane county, in 1854. The next season he located at his present home in Fulton. Chester Pome- roy grew his first tobacco crop in the State in 1857, and a crop has been grown on the farm every year since that date. A still earlier date is claimed by S. S. Richmond, of Ea.st Tro)% Walworth count}', who raised a crop of tobacco in 1 847 and on each succeeding }'ear, except 1 860. His crop was generally small and sold to manufacturers. During these 37 years the highest prices realized was 35 cents, and the lowest 7 cents per pound. From the beginning of this industr}- in the State as out- lined, the tobacco interest has grown until it now stands to-day onl}' second in the list of cigar leaf producing states. For the first few years those engaged in tobacco culture met with but indifferent success. It took years to establish a market and to demonstrate that Wisconsin to- bacco was of more than average quality. A few New York buyers controlled the market and held the prices down, so that the grower re- alized but a small proportion of the profits on his industry. To free this monopoly the "Wisconsin Tobacco Growers' Association" was formed and samples of Wisconsin leaf were sent to all the large man- ufacturers, opening the eyes of the trade to the fact that Wisconsin to- baccco was equal if not superior to the seed leaf of any other state. New buyers came into the market, and from that time on the area de- voted to its culture increased with each succeeding year. In 1874 the total acreage reported by the different county clerks was i ,444 acres. Ten years later the same records show an increase to 15,836 acres. About fourteen-fifteenths of the entire crop is cultivated in Dane and Rock counties, of which Dane has 7,585 and Rock, 7,084 acres. The towns of Christiana, Pleasant Springs, Dunkirk, Dunn and Albion, in Dane county, and F"ulton, Porter, Union, Janesville and Center, in Rock, are the leading tobacco towns. The village of Edgerton being the geo- graphical center of the tobacco di.strict, was the first shipping point and market, and is yet the principal receiving place for this product. There are located there twenty-five packing houses, which handle from 8,000 to 20,000 cases each year. In addition there were ten new warehouses constructed. Stoughton has fifteen, Jane.sville sixteen, Ev^ansville three, and Madison four tobacco warehouses, while two are located at Milton Junction, one each at Milton, I"t. Atkinson, Albany, Marshall, Sun Prairie, De Forest, Brooklyn, London and two at Deerfield. Thus there are not less than seventy packing houses in the State. 'llli: I'OliACCo (iKoWKKS CUIDK, THE EDUCATED TOHACCO GROWER PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. {('or. Haldifinxt'ille, N. Y. Jnunial.) Whoever engages in growing tobacco or any other product on a farm ought to be as thoroughly educated and posted in the various necessary educational branches, as any person who makes a regular profession his special business. He who thinks an inattentive farmer can grow crops as well as he who is agriculturally and practically educated, labors under a great mistake. It cannot be possible that an ignorant man, uneducated and unread, can cultivate a piece of tobacco, raise it from the seed, and carry it through all the various stages re- quired to make it merchantable for the world as well as he who poss- esses proper attainments w ith proper learning and intelligence, the two indi\'iduals being equal in all other respects aside from their education. All must admit that there is no place for slothful and slovenly people on a farm. A skillful farmer should really have more knowledge than tile so-called professional men in one sense of the word ; for the trained agriculturist is presumed to understand manual and mental labor, and ought to have mental culture fitting him properly for raising his crops in an intelligent manner. This mental culture coupled with prac- tice is what makes him a professional agriculturalist. Why not a pro- fessional tobacco grower as well as a professional lawyer or architect? Placing two men side by side — every thing else being equal, the one an intelligent, reading and educated man, the other an uneducated and non-reading man — which one, we ask, would be most likely to get along in the world, and which of these gentleman would most probably suc- ceed in growing the best and most thoroughly cultivated crop of to- bacco ? The reading man of course — the one who reads the agricul- tural papers and books on practical agj "iculture. There are hundreds of tobacco growers and farmers in the/ country who would make just as good doctors and lawyers, with good opportunities, as many of those who are now practicting these professiCns. It is a mistaken idea that farming does not require brains. The/miount of brain work necessary to produce good crops and to making farming a paying business is just as great, indeed it would seem to be greater than that deemed necess- ary to be expended in any of the professions now-a-days. Intelligence, skilled workmanship, and science are rapidly growing among the farmers of this period. The necessity for education and a large degree of reading of the right kind among tobacco growers and farmers is quite as apparent and needful as among college professors. There is much to be learned by reading the well conducted agricultur- al papers and works published at this time ; but he who would learn must read and observe, study and experiment, introduce new and prac- tical systems of farming, try new varities of seed, new and considerate methods of tobacco culture, new methods of curing the leaf to advan- tage, and observe what others are doing and how they do it, who are successful growers. lO THE TOBACCO OROWKKS GUIDE. The well read and observing tobacco grower would hardly venture now-a-days to top his tobacco high ; he would top it low and sucker it well to succeed. Nor would he build a shed for curing it unless he first made inquires and observed how the best ones were made. He w ould follow the most approved methods of assorting and packing, and post himself, in a thorough manner a.s to the best plans to adopt by reading and inquiring how to produce one ton of leaf to the acre in- stead of twelve hundred pounds of inferior tobacco. In everything we do — in all our labor both mental and physical — in- telligence and reading seem so essential that it is like folly for the most humble farmer to do without agricultural papers and books. One needs to read these in order to keep up with the times and know what is go- ing on in the world in an agricultural point of view. We must be practical, too, and adopt method, system and common sense if we would make successful tobacco growers. SOIL FOR TOBACCO. The wide variation in the character of soils on which tobacco is grown in seed leaf producing states makes it outside the province of this work to lay down an}' rule that would hold good in all sections as a guide in the selection of soils for tobacco. As a general proposition, any well drained soil in any part of the United States capable of pro- ducing Indian corn can produce tobacco. By this statement we would not have our readers infer that tobacco can be grown with suc- cess, or at a profit wherever Indian corn is produced, but the proposi- tion that it will mature and ripen, holds good. The heavier and darker soils invariably producing the darker types. There are three classes of soils recognized by the tobacco growers of Wisconsin. First, the calcareous sandy; second, clayey soils, light and dark; and third, prairie soils. The first produces a plant that matures a week or more earlier than the others ; the leaf is apt to be light in color, elastic, thin and silky. On quite sandy soil the leaves often grow rough, lacks ten- acity and very often devoid of the main esstential, gum or finish, as it is more commonly called. Clay soils, varying from light to hea\'y, grow a good quality when not too heavy and well drained.. The timber growth of this soil with a hazle under-growth, after the second or third crop, will produce the very finest quality of leaf grown in the State. On heavy clay the tobacco seems inclined to grow too thick and co^irse. The third class of soils, prairie, produces b)- far the largest proportion of Wisconsin leaf It is naturally rich, deep and black and when well drained as most of it is, the very best results are obtained. It produces a leaf large in size, soft and silky, even in color and rich in gum or finish. The soil lies loose and requires less cultivating than clay lands and is less liable to wash. The largest yields per acre is obtained from ])rairie soils. Tobacco grown on new land has a harsh, woody, stiff leaf, inclined to be light colored and contains but little gum. The working of the soil one or two seasons with an application of fertilizers THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. II changes the character of the leaf, gives it elasticity fit for wrapping" pur- poses. A dark soil will sustain a more vigorous existence in the plant than a light soil, other things being equal. The reason for this is ap- parent when it is considered that dark colors absorb rays of light and light colors reflect them. The more sunlight that can be absorbed by the earth and the plant, the more vigorous the growth. The myriad rootlet mouths of the plant will discover the hidden ray and devote it to its use. The dark colored soils are warmer in cold periods, and they are colder in hot, by reason of the lessened reflections from the surface. Every argument is in fa\'or of the dark soil. Witness the richness in growth of the soils made dark by the carbon of decaying vegetable matter in the great West and in bottom lands generally. The color partially accounts for the vigor of the soil. On all dark soils the season begins earlier and lasts later. The dark soils imprison the sunshine by absorption and hold it for gentle distri- bution to the need of the plant, while from the light soil it rebounds with arrowy and destructive intensity. In the reflection of the sun's rays from any object they are gathered together and are more severe than the direct rays. The burning glass is an example. The lay of the land to be selected for a tobacco field is a matter of small importance providing it is well drained and sufficiently level to prevent washing. Moderate slopes running to the east are preferred by some as the effect of the early morning sun is visible upon growing tobacco. Slopes jutting upon water courses and lakes are considered good sites as the influence of the water often prevents early frosts. Avoid low sags or cold, wet fields as being the first to be touched with frost. Select for your tobacco field the richest land your farm contains, and if not naturally rich, make it so artifically — you cannot get it too rich. Manures upon tobacco lands pays better returns than upon any oth- er crop. DOES TOBACCO EXHAUST THE SOIL? The question is frequently asked if tobacco does not impoverish the soil, and none can be more easily answered. In Virginia thousands of acres have become barren, but careless farming did it. The farms of Lancaster county produce better crops to-day than they did twenty )'ears ago. The land is richer and more productive. Not an acre lies waste. From three to five per cent, of this land is thought as much as a farmer should put in tobacco. It is very heavily manured, and the crop of wheat, which nearly always follows tobacco, is better on toba'cco ground than elsewhere on the farm. The manure makes the two crops. The farmers understand the situation. Should they observe deteriora- tion in their lands this crop would at once be given up. But under the present system deterioration seems impossible. Thirt}' years of tobacco farming has steadily improved their farms. The Pomeroys in the town of Fulton, Rock county, have raised to- bacco on the same lands e\'ery year since 1858 and their farms are 12 TIIK TOBACCO CRUWKKS (iUlDK. to-day richer and more productive than tliirt)- years ago. The \'alue of manure depends upon what is fed : Too often farmers in feeding have no regard to this tact. They look upon the worth of the manure pile according to its size alone, not bearing in mind that ma- nure from certain kinds of feed is twice, three times or ten times more valuable than that from other kinds. To be sure, it is well known that hen manure or the contents of privy vaults are very rich as fertilizers, but this is often attributed to the mere fact that hens and human beings are the producers instead of, more correctly, that the food from which these come is very rich in those properties that go to the making of rich manure. The manure from beans, peas, linseed cake, malt spirits and wheat from bran fed to animals is worth comparatively from twelve to twent)' times more per ton than that from carrots, turnips, mangles, parsnips and potatoes similarl}' fed. That from cotton-seed cake is ex- ceedingly rich, being in all essential properties worth nearly thirty times as much, on an average, as that from the roots named. The grains, oats, wheat, Indian corn and barley yield manure worth about one-half or less for a given weight, than that from the articles first named above. That from clover hay is worth rather more per ton than that of any of the grains just mentioned, while from meadow hay is about equal to these, The manure from one ton of clover is worth as much as the manure from a ton of wheat straw and a ton of corn stalks together. Bean-straw^ and pea-stra\\' are worth a half more per ton for adding value to the manure heap, by teeding than that of the straw from the cereals such as wheat, barley and oats. Clover is exceptionalU' useful on wornmit soils. Its varied offices restore the finer elements essential to the best forms of plant growth, but the use of it as a substitute for manure is a howling delusion. It will no more take the place of annual fertilization than a drink of wa- ter will satisfy a hungry man. Used instead of manure it only giving the ground its own — it can only put back what it takes out. It is a well attested f-dct that tobacco grown on land where clover is substituted for manure is invariably thin and weak, lacking gum, body and substance. In short, it is a ghost, deficient in everything that goes to make up all that is desirable in cigar leaf TOBACCO STEM.S AS A FERTILIZER. The four leading constituents of plant food which must be present in all producti\e soil, it is well known, are nitrogen, potash, pliosphoric acid and lime. Hy a continuous course of cropping, these elements can be so reduced that the result, a barren soil, is sometimes seen even in this highly favored Connecticut valley. Now it has been demon- strated over and over again that such soils can be restored to their or- iginal condition of fertilitiy by a judicious application of the lacking- elements of fertilization and that each and all of these can be easily furnished to the soil in the form of animal manures and commercial fertilizers. But some other substitute is needed in places where it is THE TOBACCO (iKUWKKi GUIDK. not convenient to procure large supplies of expensive animal manures, and immediate results are desired. Something is demanded that is economical and efficient. I have found several good substitutes which have worked well in producing excellent crops and in keeping up the fertility of the soil. For several years past I have experimented extensively with cotton- seed meal, which contains a large percentage of nitrogen, lime, bone, meal and tobacco stems in bales procured from cigar manufacturers. In addition to the large amount of potash and lime, the stems contain also a small percentage of nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Their ac- tion on the soil above the amount of ash constituents they contain, in furnishing organic matter (humus) to the soil, is like that produced b)' stable manure, operating as a mulch, retaining moisture and the valuable ammonia which under ordinary conditions has a constant tendancy to escape into the atmosphere, also preventing to a great extent the in- jurious effects of a long season of drouth. I have obtained excellent crops of tobacco by the combination of cottonseed meal, bone, lime and stems. Their analysis proves that the)' two together combine the elements of an almost perfect manure that will produce superior crops at less cost than can be obtained in any other way known to the writer. i'hc tobacco stems alone, I have proved to my own satisfaction, to be a good fertilizer for potatoes on poor, worn-out, neglected soil during the last two years. It is an accepted maxiom among farmers that "like produces like," and the leaf stem being akin to the leaf in tobacco, then it follows that tobacco stems should furnish what is needed to grow tobacco. Their value as a fertilizer is well known to florists and market garden- ers in the vicniitv of great cities. — S. G. Hubbard, Hatfield, Mass. MANURKS FOR TOBACCO. The Harrisburg Independent makes the following deliverance on a \'ery important matter to farmers. It does not contain much that is not well known to practical tobacco growers, nor does it very cleverK' point out to novices the best method of manuring ; but we print it as a contribution to a subject that is very imperfectly understood, and upon which there is a wide difference of opinion, even among the most suc- cessful tobacco growers : "It is claimed that the tobacco growers of Lancaster county and oth- er portions of this State are dissatisfied with the result from the use of artificial fertilizers on tobacco. Whether the farmers or tobacco grow- ers in general make this .statement, or whether it comes from a few, is not clear, but several agricultural journals are advocating the use of barnyard manure only for tobacco. A look over the fields will con- vince tobacco growers of the fact that they have been placing their con- fidence almost entirely in superphosphate. This substance, while ben- eficial to a certain extent, is onh' a partial fertilizer. Tobacco requires 14 THE TOBACCO CiROWKKS GUIDK. a large amount of potash, and in tobacco regions of Virginia and North CaroHna the growers have made the best crops by burning brush over the fields in order to get the ashes. Very seldom do they use any ma- nure, and this course has done inuch to depreciate the value of the soil. Magnesia is another substance demanded by tobacco, usually left out in applying fertilizers. The crude sulphate of magnesia (im- pure Epsom salts) is a cheap article, the market price seldom going be- yond half a cent per pound. It furnishes a soluble ingredient for to- bacco plant food. Bulk does not always mean value, nor does a liber- al application of manure made from straw and other inferior material prove as satisfactory as that from animals in good condition and fed on grain, good hay and oilcake. The manure heap, if it is of good qual- ity, contains usually all the elements (ov plant food, and when fertilizers are used they should be prepared in strict compliance with all that is demanded with the formula. It should be borne in mind by novice to- bacco growers that so far as the quality is concerned, new land pro- duces a different effect from old ; wet seasons from dry ; good cultivation from bad ; heavy land from light ; new manures from well rotted, and, finally, that if the slightest mistake is made in curing the crop damage is done. Thus it can be seen that there is much to be taken into con- sideration before the tobacco growers can make a just comparison be- tween artifical and barnyard manure for use on that crop." SALT INJURIOUS. I desire to remind the growers of tobacco that the use of salt in con- nection with the growth of tobacco will destroy the burning qualities of the leaf A few years since a neighbor who used quite an amount of salt and plaster on his tobacco land was quite elated over raising as nice looking tobacco as I ever saw. His disappointment was at its height when it was found that the tobacco would not burn. A cigar rolled from this leaf would, when smoked, look like a piece of .stove pipe. Salt will always produce the same effect upon tobacco, hence growers should look sharp at some of the special fertilizers prepared especially for use that they do not injure their crops by the use of sub- .stance. It is rumored that some of the compounds of fish and potash contain salt, and perhaps this may be the case with some of the chem- ical preparations sold as fertilizers. ON FERTILIZERS. The tobacco plant quickly shows improvement from any food gix-en it. If the bed be but slightly moistened the young plants will bristle with gratitude, a sprinkling of wood ashes will clean and strengthen, and judicious supply of liquid manure will cause them to spread and crowd and grow vigorously. An occasional watering with milk-warm soapsuds is benefical. and the most acceptable food of all, in this lime- stone soil, is a moderate application of poultry manure. Of course practical planters understand that young plants, like young children THK TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDK. I 5 will appropriate too much rich food if placed within their reach, and that too great of tit bits will injure. In the ordinary plan of rotation of crops as is the practice with all Western farmers, it is found that poultry manure is one of the most valu- able fertilizers that can be used, yet on a majority of farms it is allowed to waste without an effort being" made to save it. There is no difficulty or expense in cooping" poultry at night through the winter, and chang- ing their roosts outside for the summer, so that the droppings may be saved. Poult^re manure, being nearly free from water, is more con- centrated than that from the stable, and being rich in ammonia decom- poses very rapidl)-. It should never be used alone, but can be proper- ly prepared with road dirt or muck. One part of the manure should be composted with two parts dirt, and the whole thoroughly mixed. There are two methods of preserving this manure. One is to mix as above and keep perfectly dry ; another and an excellent method is to keep the mixture always moist with strong soapsuds, not clear water, which not only hastens the process of decomposition but fixes the ac- tive principles by direct union with the fat acids. Wood ashes are un- fit for mixing with poultry droppings, as potash in the caustic state rap- idly liberates ammonia. As a starter for young plants no other fertil- izer will do so well as a handful of this mixture placed in the hill. Af- ter the plants are well underway they may. with benefit, be treated to a good handful scattered around the hill. Another source of waste about the stables and barnyards, is the liquid manure that accumulates from rainfall in the low places, some of which may leach through manure still unremoved, and is rich in fer- tilizing material. This should not be allowed to go to wa.ste. Any litter that is convenient should be applied as an absorbent. No labor upon the farm pays better than to save the urine of all the farm stock by means of absorbents. In ordinary farm practice this is lost, no effort is made to save it. Cisterns need not be built, for they are expensive, but a good plan is to have convenient to hand a supply of marsh sod, or sawdust, or straw, as an absorbent that should be cleaned up every two or three weeks and thrown upon the manure heap. With care like this, splendid compost can be made, and the plan once tried will not be abandoned. Tobacco growers are rapidly learning the val- ue of fertilizers, and that the checking of this great waste is one of the most profitable of a farmer's winter work. As to the application of fertilizers, there is in the tobacco field de- cided objection to surtace spreading" unless the manure is to be plowed under within reasonable time. Scattering manure broadcast unless it is very plenty, it is a loss to the tobacco. Manuring the hill and mixing thoroughly with the soil, although more laborious, will pay well. The tobacco plant is a surface feeder, that is the smaller roots occupy the soil nearer the surface and will feed and thrive better upon the fer- tilizer that is covered with but two or three inches of soil to save it. l6 THE TOBACCO GROWKKs' GUIDK. In times of drouth the roots will penetrate much deeper for moisture, or will seek a fertilizer wherever it may be placed; but to simply sup- ply nourishment for the one crop of tobacco, the soil need not be en- riched to any considerable depth down, but the owner of the land de- siring to keep it in good condition, will of course, endeavor to mix the manure all through the soil as deepl>' as either corn or tobacco roots will go. A thorough farmer tills the soil for all crops alike one year after another, plowing deep, stiring the soil with the manure, providing a rich mellow condition for the roots, large and small, to gather moist- ure and sustinence. The American Agriculturist says : It is often difficult to decide — for barn3^ard or stable manures, or for any artificial fertilizer — whether to put in the hill or broadcast, and whether to apply it on the surface or bury it deeply. If not strong enough to injure the first tender roots, a little manure at hand gives the plant a good send-off, like nourishing food to the young calf or other animal ; the aftergrowth is much better if the young animal or plant is not dwarfed by imperfect or insufficient diet. Therefore, drilling inocuous hand fertilizers in with the seed is useful, as is putting some well rotted manure or leached ashes into hills of corn, potatoes, indeed, with all planted seeds. Hut there are good reasons for distributing most of the manures or fertiliz- ers all through the soils, and as deeply as the plant roots can possi- bly penetrate. The growth and vigor of all the plants or crops depend chiefly upon a good supply of strong roots that stretch out far, and tluis gather food over the widest extent of soil. If a flourishing stock of corn, grain or grass, be carefully washed, so as to leave all its roots or rootlets attached, there will be found a wonderful mass of hunch eds and even thousands of roots to any plant, and they extend off a long dis- tance, frequently several feet — the farther the better, to collect more food and moisture. Put some manure fertilizer in place two feet away from a corn or potatoe hill, or from almost any plant, and a large mass of roots will go out in that direction. So if we mix manure or fertilizers well through the soil, they attract these food-seeking roots to a greater disance, and they thus come in contact with more of the food already m the soil, and find more moisture in dry weather. A deeply stirred soil, with manure at the bottom, develops water-pumping roots below the reach of any ordinary drouth and the crops keep right on growing, all the more rapidly on account of the helpful sun's rays that would scorch a plant not reaching a deep moisture. In answer to the question what is the best chemical manures to buy for tobacco, Mr. S. G. Hubbard, of Mass., writes as follows: For a satisfactory answer, a knowledge o( the soil constituents of the given locality would be necessary. In so far as soil is more or less deficient in potash, lime, magnesia, and phosphoric acid, these must be supplied. A formula of several successful growers in the Con- necticut vallev is about as follows : One cask of lime previously slack- THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. ly ed by exposure to the air, 400 lbs. of sulphate of potash, 500 lbs. of pure bone dust and 2000 lbs. of cottonseed meal sown separately broad- crst over one acre of land and harrowed in. A good foundation of humus should be present in the soil or be supplied in the form of com- mon stable manure or vegetable substitutes. The lime and potash are used to improve the quality of tobacco, particularly the burn. The burn of a cigar is unsatisfactory when it starts off white and soon changes to an earthly yellowish color, which shows it to be deficient in potash. When potash is present in sufficient quantity, the burn will be white with a bluish tinge, and will be clear which quality it will retain until consumed. The inquiry suggests a problem that could be worked out at our agricultural college — to find by analysis the relative amount of the several elements which form a perfect tobacco as compared with tobacco good and bad taken from various sections. The information gained would be of great value to farmers. TOBACCO SEED. The question of seed for the tobacco crop is one that every grower should interest himself in. Shall we continue to use the same seed we have grown on the farm year after year, or try some earlier date Span- ish ? "What is the use of changing seed," says one grower, "when I have no trouble in selling my crop for a good price, and have used the same seed each year over and over ? It's good enough forme." It would take considerable argument to convince this farmer that his practice was not a good one. He measures his theory by the results obtained, and the size of his wallet is what tells best. The writer I'ecognizes that it is of little use to talk to Wisconsin to- bacco growers about scientific theories concerning the degeneracy of seed, or change in varieties grown, or improved methods of culture, when the market booms and buyers loose their heads, as has been the case with the '83 and '84 crops. When a run-out and shoe-string crop will bring as much as the finest qualities, when quantity alone is the point buyers consider, when weight means money the grower is not going to bother himself to change a leafy, thick-veined varities even if it is only one remove from seedleaf for a fine-leafed and small- er tobacco yielding only two-thirds as much per acre. There is, how- ever, one or two points we desire to call attention to: Wisconsin enjoys an enviable reputation as a Tobacco State. It is this reputation which has brought to our tobacco farmers good prices for the present crop while other States are neglected and growers are now almost begging for a market even at smaller prices. It means that if western tobacco can hold the advantage they can reap golden benefits. Now, it has become a serious question if the good name and reputation of Wisconsin Spanish tobacco can be maintained if our grow- ers are careless and indifferent as to the varieties grown and the meth- ods of culture. The writer insists that it cannot be done. Attain : 18 THE XOB^'yj.CU .QKUWEKS' GUIDE. buyers will not always be crazy.. The time will ■ come M'hen there will be no boom or excitement in our market and the crop will be bought strictly on its merits. Fine tobacco will bring the best prices, and the coarse, overgrown rubbish will grade where it belongs. Then the farmer who pays strict attention to his seed and culture will reap the benefits of experience and knowledge. Talk with any of the buyers who are packing in this market, and they will tell you that a *large proportion of the present crop is too leafy and veiny or, in other words, run-out. That new and better seed is needed. Spanish tobacco, to make a desirable wrapper, should be of medium size, small-veined, and of fine texture and finish ; in fact, the virtues of original Spanish of ten years ago. There will probably be a hundred different persons supplying seed to Growers in this State every year. If this number could be reduced to one party, and the seed known to be right in every particular, the reputa- tion of Wisconsin tobacco would be improved. The first element of success in tobacco culture is good seed. Don't forget it. HOW TO CARE FOR SEED. To be absolutely sure that your seed will grow it should be housed before a frost. If the entire .stalk has not ripened, pick the ripe pods off and place them in a dry place until all the moi.sture has evaporated. If the heads have ripened and you ha\'e any quantity' of them, string them upon lath and hang in the sheds until dr>' when it can be shelled. After the seed has been shelled it should be put into glass jars, tin cans or cloth bags in some place where it will not gather moisture or the mice molest. When seed has been thus carefullj' preserved its age will not injure it and can be planted with safety for \'ear.s. .\ SMALL M.ATTER. (Wi.scf)Htiin Tohacei) Reportir.i Tobacco seed it is claimed, is the smallest seed in proportion to the size of plant it produces, there is known in the vegetable kingdom ; and further, it produces more seeds than any other plant in existence. The editor of The Reporter has been growing a small garden plat of tobacco seed the present sea.son, and being on rich ground the -plants grew thrifty and large. A few days ago curiosity prompted us to count the seed pods on one of these plants. The result gave 298 .well deyeloped pods. The nurnber being greater than we expected, we thought w'e would gratify our curiosity stiH further b\' making an at- tempt to count the contents of one of these pods. The task was ho .small one, but by opening the pod on a sheet of whiter paper and using a, :magnifiying glass it was finally accomplished with a fair degree of accuracy. The number was found be 3,412 seeds. A little coriiputa- tion.would then show that the seed talk counted produced 1,0 1.5. 776 seeds or enough to plant L25 a^^es if the seeds all.grow, and if the' to- bacco produced would bring a shilling a pound it would be worth $1.8',- 375. Here is a seed that produces o\'cr a million fold! Think of it. THE TOBACCO GKOWEHS GUIDE. I9 a single plant producing seed for $18,375 vvorth of tobacco! It hardly seems possible and yet it is said that figures won't lie. HOW MUCH TO BUY. An ounce of seed will sow a bed sixty feet long and five feet wide, and with good care will furnish twenty thousand plants, which will set a three acre field. It is an excellent fault to have plenty of plants when setting commences so most dealers count not less than an ounce of seed for every 2 acres planted. Some even buy more than this. A perfect- ly safe estimate would be 2 oz. for every three acres of ground. HOW TO TEST SEED. In the purchase of seeds one is apt to be deceived. A correspon- dent recommends a test which he has used for many years with com- plete success. It is that of fire. Take at random a number of seeds from the bag ; say eight. Put some live coals on a shovel, and deposit each of the seeds successively thereon. Blow the coal and watch how the seeds behaves. If the combustion is slow, merely giving off some smoke, you may conclude the seed had some damaged germ ; if, on the other hand, the seeds leaps and turn.s about on the coal, producing a dry sound (tac) proportional to the size, it may be inferred to have good germinative qualities. In this way the proportion of good and bad seeds may be ascertained. As for the larger seeds, such as acorns and chestnuts, it is sufficient to throw them into the fire, and keep them in view. If the quality is good this will be indicated ere long by detona- tion of the seed. A correspondent in the Farm and Fireside gi\'es the following direc- tions for testing the quality of seeds. My plan, he says, is to make a box six inches deep. Fill in four inches of good soil ; on this lay a thin piece of muslin, just enough to fit the box, and make it nicely level on the soil. On this muslin put one hundred seeds of the kind you wish to test. Cover them with an- other piece of muslin, and an inch of earth. When done, \A'ater with slightly warm water and set away in a warm place. The sprouting process can be much facilitated by placing the box on the stove, daily, after the fire is nearly out, so that the sto\e is ju.st warm enough to heat the bottom of the box. Otherwise the box can be set on bricks that are heated daily for the purpose. . After four or five days lift off tht^ top dirt and its covering of cloth carefully.- Count the seeds that have sprouted, and if only fift}- of each sort have sprouted, procure new seed: If oxer seventy-five are sproutetl, and the sprouts all look vigorous,- the seed will do'ver\'well, ()f course, the greater the per 'c'-eight days. Hence how plain it is that we should use common sense and not only raise early plants, but set them out early as well. Do not wait for ram, if it does not come in time to set out your plants, but set them in water, in order to fur- ther your interest and get the Havana plants on their feet in time .so that no risk will be run on account of frost, etc. 32 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. I believe more than two-thirds, if not three-fourths, of the growers in 1883 (and also in some previous years) put out their plants too late. Now, in a word, the best possible plans should be adopted by our growers for improving the early raising of plants, chiefly and truth- fully because the risks are too numerous, and the danger too imminent to attempt to raise good crops of Havana and tobacco in climate by the late setting of plants. TRANSPLANTING IN DRY WEATHER. This question which has become one of the decided interests should be well inquired into, and when it is once well understood it will be found to possess far more importance than any one would at first be- lieve. It has been only a short time when it was the rule to wait for a rain before setting plants, and as soon after a shower as pos- sible all hands would get to work to do their transplanting ; and now, those who have posted themselves well up in the matter, would rather set out their plants in dry weather than after a rain. Not a great many years ago many people would wait for certain signs of the moon before sowing their seeds ; but as we have come to altogether disregard such an allusion, we shall equally disregard the idea that we can transplant only after a shower, and go right on and do it at any time, only observing due care. The way, therefore, people now do who understand how things can be done, is to go over the ground where the plants are to be set, and make the necessary holes deep down in the soil with a dibble, where the plants are to grow, and fill these holes with water. This will soon soak away, leaving the ground m a half dry, half wet condition. The plants to set out are then taken from the seed-bed, and the roots doused in a vessel of water, and then one by one are taken out and put into the holes, pressed firmly, and the work is done. They need no more water, will wilt very little, and go right on to grow, and far better than when half a bucket of water is poured around each plant when set out and then let alone for a time, at least. Should dry weather follow, the plants must of course be again wa- tered, but not in the old way of pouring around each plant a gallon, only to run away and do no service. How then, it will be asked, are they watered? A little of the earth is removed from the plants by a hoe, so as to form a sort of basin about it, a moderate quantity ot wa- ter is poured into the basin, and in a few minutes, the water having all soaked away about the roots, the earth is restoretl around the plants, and the surface is as before. This prevents the water from running away, and the sun from baking the earth, and the wet soil underneath will be retained, and not more than two such waterings will be requir- ed to continue the steady growth of the plants during any dry spell or even prolonged drouth. If this hint is taken up and properly pursued, it will not only save a great deal of hard labor, but it will insure a good and satisfactory THE TOBACCO GKOWEKS GUIDE. 33 crop ; and we suggest that it be tried by those who "live to learn," and desire to reap the best harvest from whatever might be sown. TO REMOVE PLANTS FROM THE BED. Mr. H. S. Pomeroy gives the following directions for removing plants from the beds : Soak the bed well and pull the plants with a table fork. Keep the plants straight and dip the roots into water. Let them drain a minute, and place carefully in the basket with the roots toward the center. Take a lath or other stick and break the crust in the center of the hills, but do not make deep holes. Now pour about half a puit of water on each hill. In about ten or fifteen minutes set the plant. Set while the dirt is still sticky, but not too soft. By having one or two ahead and water the hills, the setters can follow at the rigjit distance to have the soil in right condition. Do not water after setting as it will do more harm than good. Tobacco care- full)' watered out in this way do nearly or quite as well as when set out after a rain, but will require more labor. Do not set large and small plants together, but have them of even size. Do not let the plants wilt or the roots dry after pulling or before setting. ]>lantin(t tobacco. The effort is to keep the ground loose and mellow for the tender roots to readily take nourishment at first setting, that the soil may be in this condition to encourage the roots to spread, giving favorable start to the plant. The grower is to be ready to take advantage of the first favorable weather. If the ground is too dry, the plants are to be watered as they are set out. Haul the water to the field in barrels and pour a cupful in each hole ; this will make moist earth for packing loosely around the roots. The plants may need watering for a day or two, (M' at least until thoroughly revived. The poorer the land, the closer should the plants be set, to protect the ground and plant from the hot scorching suns. In rich ground, set in rows three and a half feet apart, and plant from twenty to twen- ty-four inches apart ; but, if the land is poor the rows should be three feet apart. All conditions being favorable then, and the plants show- ing leaves as large or larger than silver dollars, select plants of even si/,e, low bunchy tops if possible, as they are sure to be .strongly rooted ; and draw from the bed one at a time. As care must be taken not to injure the roots or leaves, the seed-bed should be moi.st enough to let the plants be pulled easily. Slender, spindling plants are not desirable nor should small ones be set out except to complete a planting. Have a care in pulling the young plants from the beds, nor to tear or bruise roots or stock, nor keep them out of the ground too long. In setting giving the roots their natural position, so as not to cramp them ; draw the dn-t nicely around so that they may take food and moisture at once. Such attention will pay well and will not delay the work. If the ground is wet, or it should rain soon after jilanting, the\- will 34 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. soon take root ; and although they wilt during the day, they will re- cover at night. The cut worm is the first enemy to be conquered in the field, and he is liable to open the attack at once the plants are set, and to keep it up until the leaves are five or six inches long ; therefore go over the field day after day until the stocks are hardened enough to resist the worm. He is readily found. A leaf will be eaten off, or the entire stock, and you will see it wilted and partly drawn into his hole. There may be one or more. Early morning is the best time to hunt him, as he is then nearer the surface ; later in the day the sun drives him deeper in the soil. From these pe.sts much replanting will be necessary. Close watching will cause them to disappear as plants grow stronger. If the plants are not set out until they are strong enough to resist the shock of transplanting, the probabilities of a good stand are increased. A good plan is to divide the field into three parts. The first portion is devoted to the most forward plants in the plant bed. Then as soon as a propitious time occurs the second portion is set, and finally the third and remaining part of the field. This arrangement provides against any of the plants being harvested either too early or too late. In an ordinary season the planter can tell within the first day or two what hills will need replanting, and to supply such he should ha\e in reserve a quantity of thrifty plants. All plants that do not revive promptly, or are weak or injured in setting, should be replaced with the best that are in the bed, to preserve an even stand over the field, and to have the use of the land, for the missing plants would haxe been all profit to the farmer. The number of the vacant hills depend upon neglect or carelessness at the first planting. PLANTS IN THE FIELD. Numbers of planters neglect to replace plants which are destroyed by insects or die, or which are stunted in growth, and others will re- place them, but at too late a day and use inferior plants. No doubt the failure to replace is often due to the scarcity of plants, and for this reason great care should be taken to have an abundance of plants, and as soon as one is destroyed or wilts, replace it with a good, strong healthy plant at the first opportunity offered. By this means your To- bacco will mature uniformil)- and you will get the be.st results possible out of each acre. If you fail to replace plants, you will find, when you come to weigh your Tobacco, thatyour yield is far below what you expected and what your land should produce. A plant or two missing, at short intervals, will materially reduce the yield per acre. If you have nothing but weak, stunted plants, the refuse of your plant beds, with which to fill up the frecjuent voids, ten chances to one your extra care will be thrown away, as the plants may not mature before frosts occur, and, at best, yield but a very inferior Leaf, which will detract considerably from the intrinsic value of the balance of your crop. Planters should therefore bear in mind that to insure good results an THE TOBACCO growers' GUIDE. 3$ abundance of healthy plants must first be grown, and then all stunted or diseased plants or voids must be filled up and replaced with prompt- ness by the healthiest plants it is possible to secure. Besides your land should be free from all insect germs. Droughts, and violent storms cause destruction, but they are not to be dreaded any more than the pestiferous fly or worm, which, if unchecked in their march, inflict greater injury in one day to a crop than would result from ten days of drought, or the most violent storm. — Western Tobacco Journal. CULTIVATION. There is no great experience required for the proper cultivation of the tobacco field, and the grower may leave it all to his farm hand to do, only regulating the quantity of tobacco that he puts out by the time that can be spared from plowing and attention to other crops. The plant does not require much hill, but rather a good body of soil between the rows that will hold moisture, and made rich with food for the roots that spread through it just under the surface. If the soil be nicely pulverized, work with the cultivator may be postponed for two or three weeks after planting, but great benefit would be found from going over the field pulling by hand whatever weeds are found around the plants, and using the hoe to lighten the soil and cut down all the weeds between the rows. When the plants are well rooted then work with the cultivators must begin, each time going a little farther from the plant and not so deep, as the plants increase in size. It will be noticed as the growth progresses that when the soil is dis- turbed too close to a plant the leaves on that side will wilt. Surface cultivation is all that is required, but should be kept up as long as it is possible for horse and man to pass between the rows without in- jury to the spreading leaves. Grass and weeds must be kept down that all nourishment may go to the plant, weeds being the signals of careless cultivation. On one farm the land may be only drawn upon for food for the crops, while on the next moisture and nourish- ment must be furnished to waving weeds and starved plants. The utter waste of weeds is always clearly shown in a dry season. It will pay to give the crop special attention during the growing season. Keep the field free of weeds and do not let the surface of the ground become crusted. Shallow cultivation will prevent both, although it may be necessar\' to use the hoe to keep the weeds from clo.se around the young plants. Pulverize the clods and hoe down the ridges. The more frequently the field is gone over the less likely are the worms to bother or the grass to annoy. Let the latter get no foothold, and the field will be better for it the entire season through. But in all events the worms must be kept out, even if it requires that the field shall be gone over every other day. The worm begins to feed as soon as it emerges from the shell, and grows and increases in size so rapidly that it soon becomes a formidable enemy to the farmer, and if not destroyed will soon cut the plant in shreds, and, not content with spoiling one 36 THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. plant alone, will visit and demolish several more before entering the earth and becoming a chrysalis. HEALTHY PLANTS. Set good healthy plants, and in two to four days cultivate deeply, once in a row, without disturbing the ridge ; cultivate again after the first rain. When the plants are well rooted, loosen the soil lightly around the plants to break the crust and destroy the weeds. Keep the soil loose between the rows, and when the plants are about one and one- half feet high, use a horse-hoe that will place the fine soil upon the side and edge of the ridge. A simple attachment made with two bar- rel staves in the shape of a V placed underneath a common cultivator will answer the purpose. Very little hand-hoeing is necessary. In about one week place more soil around the plant to keep erect. This variety of tobacco is very liable to tip over before it is topped, and when it does it should be set up at once ; the sooner it is done the less the damage. It should be topped so low that the leaves will be about as large as any upon the plant when all are ripe. I am aware a wide difference of opinion exists as to how much it pays to sucker tobacco, but it should be suckered once about half way down, and again clean, for the simple reason that suckers suck the juice absolutely necessar}- to perfect the leaves, hence the name suckers. A perfect crop cannot be obtained unless the suckers are removed, besides it is less liable to pole sweat and damage from fat stems and tearing. Tobacco should not be cut until it is thoroughly ripe. The practice of cutting a little green to obtain a darker color is wrong ; it should be fully matured, and if allowed to stand a few days after it is suckered clean, more weight and better quality is obtained. Hax'ana Seed usually requires four weeks or more to ripen after topping, the slower and darker it can be cured the better. Tobacco should be taken down only when in justthe right condition. When stripped the butts should be kept exen and the leaves tied with two strings in neat bundles of from ten to fifteen pounds each. — New England Homestead. TOPPING. The good judgement of the grovver mu.st be carefully exercised as to time and manner of topping, as he alone can decide when his crop is ready, and mistakes will be found expensive. One portion of a field may be ready to top and the remainder ma}' come in a week later ; this is what is planned in planting, so that it will not ripen at once. The plant itself will show )'ou when to top. Top when it is in the bud, not waiting for the blossom to appear, for strength and nourishment that should aid m maturing the upper leaves of the plant will be spent in the blossoms. By judicious topping the grower holds for the top leaves all nourishing power of the roots, thus driving to maturity the more backward portion of the plant, giving even quality to upper and lower leaves. How to top is to be determined by the probabilit)- for maturing. THE TOBACCO growers' GUIDE. ^7 which depends upon the condition of the plant, fertihty of the soil and the season. The temptation to top high comes from the hope of gain- ing weight, but this is where the greater number of mistakes are made. If the season has been such that topping could be done early, then more leaves will mature than if the season were backward. Again, from the quality of soil, one field may properly mature sixteen or eighteen leaves to the stalk, while in another field eight or ten leaves may exhaust the soil. Low topping produces larger leaves, more body and firmness, more weight, with less labor, and, ripening earlier, escapes the frost. A grower urges that to give the plant the proper "spread" close at- tention be given to topping ; that it be done when the seed buds show, and that as many leaves should be left on the stalk as the grower thinks from the quality of soil and condition of the plant will mature. Proper topping throws the strength of the plant to the leaves, developing the top leaves to ripen with the lower ones, giving even quality and merit to the crop. After topping he says, look out for suckers, pluck them off at first sight, to give all benefit to the top leaves. Attention of this kind will show great results immediately after the crop is hung in the shed. He thinks the quality of all leaf is improved after topping in proportion to nourishment given. Therefore, no strength must be wast- ed in buds or suckers. The life of the upper leaves is cut off by the stalk maturing below, but if the plant has been topped in time all will ripen alike. The question of topping is next in order and, as it is one of the most delicate and most important with which the planter has to deal, the subject is worthy of the most careful consideration. Vou will readily admit that the object in topping is to attain size and uniformity in the leaf, but this process is so intimately connected with that of cutting that the latter must be held constantly in view if the work is to be performed intelligently and successfully. The question is, how and when to top. The answer depends largely upon the variety of tobacco, and in no small degree upon the condition of the crop, the soil and the season. Let us first consider Havana Seed and the Hybrids. If you are accustomed to Seed-leaf and have had no experience with new varieties you will have need to re- member that those new-comers are quick growers and that appear- ances, compared with Seed-leaf, will prove deceptive unless this fact is faithfully regarded. For in.stance ; Havana Seed makes very . little show in the field, as compared with Seedleaf, when it is ready to top. The plant literally "makes itself " after topping. If the soil and season are favorable and the growth in the twelve to fourteen days intervening, between topping and cuttmg will be surprising. For this reason the planter accustomed to seedleaf is apt to top too late and too high. The safe rule is to top, fourteen to eighteen leaves, as soon as the bud can easily be reached. If the bud is allowed to project very high a large 38 THE TOBACCO GROWERS* GUIDE. wound is inflicted in topping and the plant is actually bled. Bear this in mind, if you make any mistake at topping it will likely be in the direction of late and high topping. It is rare to hear of a crop injured by early and low topping. The exact number of leaves to be left must be determined by the planter. If too many are left the spectacle of "saving at the spigot and letting run at the bung" is presented, for while the upper leaves are growing the lower ones are decaying and the planter is forced to cut at last with the top leaves half matured to make fat stems. The object is to top so that twelve to fourteen days will be sufficient to bring all of the leaves left upon the plant to a uni- form degree of perfection. Now if the planter could tell in advance just what sort of weather would follow, this problem would resolve it- self into simplicity itself, but as this is not possible he must top on the safe side — that is the low side. Don't wait for rain. — Bulletin. SUCKERING. The principal buds (one or two at the top of the plant) will start out first after topping, if left for a few days ; but they are not to be allowed to make much growth — ^just enough so that they can be pinched out. If left to grow, they take just so much from the development of the leaves, adding nothing to the value of the plant, but rather detracting therefrom. The breaking off of these suckers, as they are called, sends the growth into the leaves, while at the same time another set of buds, one on either side of this principal one, is started out from its dormant state, and principal buds lower down on the plant also begin to grow, all of which must be broken off as soon as they come to a size sufficient to be pinched out with thumb and finger. By the time the tobacco is fully ripe the buds have started the whole length of the main stem, some of the upper ones having .started a second or third set of suckers, from dormant buds. If any of these are allowed to get large, they are difficult to remove by breaking, often damaging the leaves, even to breaking them off the plant ; if not thus bad, often the break leaves a bad wound in the main stalk above the leaf petiole, which hold water caught from rains, causing a rot to set in ; also, when topping the stalk they should be broken or cut, with a clean break, or like results occur to the stalk, causing the leaf at the top to fall off, or be otherwise injured. Some few years snice I noticed an article, "Secret Remedy," adver- tised, pretending to be an antidote to suckering Tobacco, preventing the growth of suckers ; but as I never saw it applied, or where it had been applied, I am unable to say what it or its effects might be ; but from what little knowledge I have of nature and natural laws, in regard to the growth of suckers on Tobacco, I should think that anything ap- plied, as this was recommended to be, it would prove instead of a benefit, a real damage, aside from the labor of applying it, which would not be inconsiderable, as it was to be applied at the axil of each leaf where suckers would natui'ally grow. As the thing never found much favor THE TOBACCO growers' GUIDE. 39 among practical growers, it soon went the way of many other hum- bugs. Nothing, probably, can be made an economical substitute for hand labor in suckering Tobacco, disagreeable as it is — especially on a hot day with a somewhat humid atmosphere. Few can withstand the effects of breathing the air of a Tobacco field on such a day with their heads, as they naturally have to be, bent over and among the plants, especial- ly when suckering is necessarily low down on the plant, just betore cutting. Even the most inveterate chewer of the weed I have seen acting as if he would like to get rid of something which did not lie easy after dinner. All the time of topping, suckering, etc., we must be on the lookout for the green worms, and the eggs which produce them, as both will sometimes be found on the same plant — oftentimes you will overlook the young ones, as they are exceedingly small, scarcely half an inch long, and no larger through than a fine cambric needle. Although one of this size will do but little present damage, that little always shows, and as they grower larger rapidly, they in short time are cap- able of destroying the larger part of a full grown plant by eating into the leaves, often going from one to another. The case being such, too much stress cannot be laid upon keeping the crop free of the green worm, neither can there be too much vigilance in keeping the crop free of weeds, the ground loose and mellow around the plants, from the time they begin to grow till they arrive at maturity. Thorough, care- ful culture is the rule, not the exception, in growing a good and suc- cessful crop of wrapper leaf Tobacco. INJURIOUS INSECTS. There are a few insects which cause us much trouble in our Tobacco, sometimes injuring growth and quality, one or two of which I shall here notice. The first and most mjurious I will notice is the "green worm," larvae of the "sphinx quinquemaculata" this species is our "Tobacco worm." In the south it is "sphinx Carolina." The two sphinxes so nearly resemble each other that they are sometimes confounded by cultivators. While both kinds may be found in the middle section, the true Tobacco worm larvae of South Carolina is only found in the south, and the "sphinx quinquemaculata" is the Northern species. The larvae of these sphinxes are very destructive to the growing Tobacco unless they are closely watched and destroyed. With us I have noticed a hornet or yellow wasp which destroyed the young larvie of the moth ; the same has been observed in other sec- tions and reported. In a somewhat lengthy article on "wasps and their habits," in the American Entomologist, is embodied an article, con- tributed by Mr. A. Fendler of Missouri, to the Gardners' Monthly, in which he states that he found hornets and orange colored wasps busy from morning till night during the months of July and August search- ing out the worms, and when one is found they roll it into a small ball 40 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. and carry it off; so faithfully did these wasps work that they kept the Tobacco quite clean of worms till the approach of cooler weather in September; and that some seasons these wasps seemed less numerous than others, and that when the most plenty the labor of worming was very much less then when few were observed to aid in destroying the worms. This agrees with my own and others' observa- tions in the Connecticut river valley in regard to these hornets and wasps destroying the young larvae of S. quinquemeculata, which here works almost exclusively on Tobacco, although an occasional one is found on potatoe vines or tomato plants. These wasps are unable to carry off the worms after they have at^ tained the size of above one inch or so in length, and it is mainly after they attain this size that they are the most destructive. The green worm does not come on to injure the crop until some growth of plant is made, and only end their work of destruction after the plants are hung in. the curing barn, if allowed to remain without destroying them. The eggs which produce these worms are laid on the under side of the leaves, singly, and are only found by close observation, as they are near- ly the same color of the leaf, of oval shape, and about the size of a small pin's head ; they should be looked out for and destroyed, for they hatch out in a few days, and immediately commence to eat away the leaf, making minute round holes in the leaf at first ; but they grow- fast, molting often, and with increase in growth their eating increases, while they move from one place to another. I have known a single worm, when nearly full grown, to eat a third, or more, of a good sized leaf in a few hours. After attaining full growth, they remain a day or two inactive — sort of stupid, after which they bore into the ground, burrow- ing therein, and there pass into the chrysalid .state, from which they emerge a perfect moth the following spring or early summer. When the moths are full grown they measure, with spread wing.s, five or six inches ; length of body, from head, two inches or a little over ; their trunk, or tongue, which at rest is coiled watch-spring fashion, is four or five inches long, to facilitate gathering their food from deep and trumpet shaped flowers, which they seem fond of visiting, which habit is often taken advantage of in poisoning them by placing some poison- ous solution in the flowers or by striking them down and killing. The color of the moth is a dusty brown, with five orange colored spots on each side of its body, wings double. In common with the moth tribe they fly principally at night, laying their eggs and sipping their food deep down from trumpet and cup shaped flowers. I have often seen them visiting a bed of petunias close beside the door during twihght, and they have sometimes entered the house through an open door or window. Grasshoppers and crickets also eat the leaves on the outer edges of the field, giving them a ragged appearance and spoiling them for wrappers, but this damage seems confined to a few of the outer rows. THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. 4I The principal reliance for defense must ever be vigilance and constant destruction by careful hand picking and destroying. CUTTING. The upper leaves of the plant will mature rapidly after topping as by proper suckering the whole power of the plant has been so directed. Greater care is then necessary to be exercised in working about the plants that are growing brittle as they so mature. It will pay to thus carefully go through the field, worming and straightening any leaves to their natural positions that may have been turned up by the wind, for the exposure of the under side injures in color and quality. We believe that the quality of a crop of tobacco, of whatever variety may be wholly controlled by the grower, whether it be a wet season or tlry season, early or late. In judicious topping he holds for the top leaves all nourishing power of the roots, thus driving to maturity the more backward portion of the plant. This gives even quality to the upper and lower leaves for wrappers. By cutting at the proper time, the grower holds the quality for curing. Therefore, the good judgement of the farmer shown in the selection of seed, in sowing, transplanting and cultivation, must be continued through topping, cutting and curing. He alone can decide the proper time for cutting his crop. Topping is done as aid in maturing ; cutting when that uniformity is accomplished. At this stage — cut, for no advance must be allowed to curing while the stock is standing, nor does it do to cut green. A poor crop intelligent- ly worked in cutting and curing, will prove much more profitable than a good crop neglected. Cutting should not be done in the hot portion of the day, for the tendency is to sunburn rather than the desirable even wilting of the plant. If all other conditions are favorable, the very best time to cut is after two o'clock in the afternoon, but even then only so much as can be safely housed or hung on the scaffold that day. It should not be piled in any great bulk for a long haul to the barn, as the life for anything but fillers would be quickly smothered out of it. The plant should never be cut when damp from dew or rain ; and after a dashing rain, or even a succession of drizzles that wash the leaves, if possible, the crop should .stand in the field for two or three days. Rain will wash away much of the gummy matter that coats the leaf and gives it substance and weight, and the quantit)' of water that the broad leaves take up will seriously effect the quality. If the crop is not too ripe the leaves will recover their natural condition if left to stand a day or two after a rain. The plants must never be taken wet into the shed, for pole rot or must)' tobacco is sure to be the result. In wet or dry weather if the plants are to be left in the barn unhung over night, they should be spread out singly for air. Unless rain threatens, it were better to let the plants lie in the field over night rather than pile them up any 42 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. where, for in one warm night a crop may be smothered. In all varieties of cigar leaf the quality may easily be affected by be- ing left standing even a day too long after the plant is matured ; light colors will surely be the result of late cutting and even more serious lowering in quality is endangered. Mr. H. S. Pomeroy, a grower of experience, gives the following hints on harvesting. The harvesting is usually done with a knife made for the purpose. A broken hoe blade is cut into from the eye down, and these will make two knives. Drill two holes near the upper edge of each piece. Saw a scarf in the large end of a buggy spoke, or other piece of hard wood, insert the hoe blade and fasten with rivets. A broken saw blade or other piece of thin steel may be used instead of the hoe blade. A knife made in this way is better than a hatchet, as it does not jar the plant and break off the leaves. Cut close to the ground so that no leaves remain on the stub, and lay carefully on the ground, keeping the leaves straight. When wilted just enough to handle without break- ing, put four rows of plants in a row of piles, and from twenty to thirty plants in a pile. The sticking horse is made of a piece of two by tour seven feet long, with two legs at one end, three feet and eight inches long, made of fencmg. Make a mortice at upper end of two by four three inches deep, to msert the end of lath. A tin spud with iron point is slipped on the other end of the lath, and you are now ready for sticking. In large tobacco put five or six plants, evenly dis- tributed on each lath. In small tobacco put on more but do not crowd. To haul to the shed use a rack fitted to the wagon, sixteen or eigh- teen feet long and three feet and eight inches wide at the top, and four feet high. Commence loading at one end, and press the lath close together till the rack is full. A man .standing on top of this rack can pass the tobacco to the man hanging as high as the fourth tier or story in the shed. Hang the lath about seven inches apart. Small tobacco can be hung closer, and very large not so close. When cut- ting if the day be hot and clear, no tobacco should be left in the field dur- ing the middle of the day, as it would sun-burn. At such times cut in the morning, after the dew is off, only what can be taken to the shed before dinner. In the afternoon it may not do to commence cutting until three or even four o'clock. A part of this may be left out over night in piles, to be got in the next morning, if there is no danger of rain. Tobacco in snug piles is not damaged much by a light shower, but a heavy rain washes the soil out and into the leaves and nearly spoils them. Never leave tobacco long in piles if it was piled when hot, as it will heat or coddle as it is called. WHEN IS rc)B.\cco 1 rr to cut. There is two signs that indicate when Tobacco is fit to cut. The leaf on close examination appears mottled with spots of a lighter green, approaching to orange. Second, the xeinlets on being bent between the thumb and finger, breaks off with an audible snap. Tobacco that THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. 43 shows both of these signs should be cut at once. Many good growers think that the first appearance of the mottled leaf indicates the proper time for cutting. Tobacco that shows both of these signs should cer- tainly be cut at once. Before the plants are cut they should be "wormed" and "suckered" carefully. There is a right way to do the suckering. The shoots should not be broken off, leaving a stem one or more inches long in the axils of the leaves, but they should be broken out, close down to the stalk. If a stem is left, the leaves in curing become folded close around it, so that it is nearly impossible to take them off in strip- ping without tearing them more or less. The suckers should be picked out clear down to the lower leaves. In sultry weather it is unsafe to leave a load of Tobacco on the wagon over night, as it is liable to damage from heating. The best way to manage loose leaves, is to slip the stems of one or two behind a plant after it is hung on the pole. The weight of the plant will hold them in place, and they will cure out as well as the leaves that are not detached. THE SHED OR BARN. Various styles of sheds or barns are used for curing tobacco. If economy is desired, the shed known as scantling shed, is the best and cheapest. This shed is twenty-eight feet wide and three and a half tiers high, h^ach bent consists of two pieces of two by four, four- teen feet long for outside posts, two pieces two by four, eighteen feet long for purlin posts, and one piece four by twenty feet long for center posts. Seven pieces of fourteen feet fencing are required for each bent for hangers, on which the ends of the lath rest. These hangers are nailed to the posts e.xcept the two for bottom tier, which should be ar- ranged to slip out while hanging, and thus make two drive-ways, lengthwise through the middle of shed. The outside and middle posts are put perpendicular and the purlins are slanted. The bottoms of pur- lins are put two feet from outside posts, and their tops are about six feet from center posts. This is to leave room for drive- ways through shed. Put the bents three feet, ten inches apart and build as many bents as you require. Build foundation of blocks fourteen to sixteen inches high for ventilation at bottom. Stay the shed by braces of fencing or scantling, and cover with sixteen feet boards. A frame shed of the same dimensions, but with center posts twenty- two feet long, having posts of six by six and fourteen feet bents, covered with shingle roof, and large double doors for each bent, so as to drive crosswise through each bent, makes one of the best sheds now in use. Sheds with shingle roofs should have ventilators in roof, and a space for ventilation at the bottom of shed. For hangers use poles or two by six scantling. In a shed of these dimensions, twenty-one feet in length is sufficient for an acre of good sized tobacco. Some hang thick- er, but often loose by doing so. As soon as tobacco is in the shed, look out for shed-burn. New raisers are often misled by the term shed- burn. They think if the tobacco is burning it should be hot. Such is 44 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. not the case. It is usually cool and damp. It is not properly a burn but a rot. If it is burning or rotting, you notice a strong tobacco smell when on the side of the shed opposite the wind. If the suckers on the butts are turned up and growing, and look white, it is a pretty sure sign of shed-burn. If the weather is warm and close, tobacco may shed-burn, even though there is no rain. When it is found that tobac- co is shed-burning, ventilate the shed as much as possible, when the weather will permit, but do not let the wind whip the tobacco. If the weather is very dry, so that what is cured does not feel damp, keep the shed closed as tight as you can. If the weather gets very cold before all the leaves and stems are cured, the green portion will freeze, causing what is known as fat stems. TO BUILD A TOBACCO SHED. In answer to questions as how to build a tobacco shed, we would sa)- there are various ways to build and ventilate a shed, each one having some merit. Probably as good, if not the best way, is the latest Penn- sylvania shed which is constructed on the following general plan: In the first place a cellar is built under the whole shed, the walls being built so that the first floor of the shed will be a trifle over three feet above the ground. Part of this cellar is divided off and a floor put down to be used as a stripping and assorting room. The rest is used as a damp and dark cellar in which the tobacco is hung after being taken from the poles. This puts it in a splendid condition for stripping. The shed is built on these cellar walls with a doorway at either end to drive in and out of. Ventilators are placed on the roof of the shed, one, two or three, according to the size of the shed. At the bottom of the shed, on all sides, doors three feet wide open from the floor, the hinges being placed on the upper edge, the doors swinging up. These doors are never less than three feet wide. Then between the tiers there are small doors, ten inches wide, hung in the same manner. In addition to the ventilators on the roof, frequently ventilators are placed in the gables also. These ventilators above and also the upper doors, are controlled from below by means of cords and pulleys. These doors between the tiers are only open on very close and sultry days, when there is danger of burn. The wide opening at the bottom, (below where any of the tobacco is hung, so that the wind cannot whip it and damage it,) with the ventilators on the roof give an excellent circulation o( air through the slied, a better and more uniform temperature can be kept, and the tobacco cures down with a better color, and the shed is much easier to handle. This describes, in a very general way, what is considered, in Pennsylvania, the best and most practical shed for the curing of tobacco. The putting of the tobacco in a damp cellar after it is taken down from the poles, keeps it in fine condition for handling at any and all times. HOW TO BUILD A SHED FOR CIGAR LEAF. In speaking of the construction of a Tobacco shed or barn, an ex- THE TOBACCO GKOWERS' GUIDE. 45 change says : From experience and information we gather from exchanges, we say : A shed twenty-eight feet wide, fourteen feet high, and long enough to accommodate the crop raised, twenty-four feet being long enough to hold one acre, the bents being twelve feet each. Commenc- ing at the plates, the tiers should be four feet and three inches apart ; this will give a wide space at the bottom for ventilation. Commencing at the outside to hang the Tobacco, will leave a space in the middle of about three feet up through the shed for the air to pass. The shed should be boarded horizontally or around the building. At the bottom of the shed, on all sides, doors should open from the ground, the hinges being placed on the upper edge, the doors swinging up. These doors should be three feet wide, and between the tiers there should be small doors ten inches wide hung in the same manner. Ventilators are placed on the roof, one in each bent and gable. The doors between the tiers are open when the Tobacco is first put in, and on very close and sultry days, when there is danger of burn, the wide opening at bottom should be below where any of the Tobacco is hung, so that the wind can not whip and damage it. With the ventilators open in the roof it gives an excellent circulation of air through the entire shed, a better and more uniform temperature is kept, and the Tobacco cures down with a better color and the shed is much easier to handle. Immediately after hanging, the Tobacco should have as much ventilation as possible for the first week or ten days, or until the leaves become thoroughly yellowed, and the ventila- tion should be given in such a way that the wind will not bruise the leaves. After the plant has become thoroughly yellowed care must be taken that it does not cure too fast. This may be prevented by closing the ventilators, as Tobacco cures by evaporation, and a shed built in this way can be more easily controlled than a shed with per- pendicular doors, and with such horizontal ventilation as we have described. The shed could be built tight, boarded with strip lath, and avoid weather-beaten Tobacco. The driveway can be arranged to drive lengthways. It is very important to have a tight roof In Pennsyl- vania a cellar is built under the whole shed, the walls being built so that the first floor will be about three feet above the ground. Part of this cellar is partitioned off and a floor put in ; this room is used for stripping and assorting, the rest is a damp, dark cellar, which is used for storing the Tobacco after stripping, which keeps it in splendid con- dition for assorting. Mr. Geo. W. Price, a builder of a great many tobacco sheds, furnishes the following lumber bill for a regular barn shed having a capacity for five acres. Size of shed 28x70 feet, 18 feet po.sts. Six pieces 6x8, twenty-eight feet long ; eighteen pif.-ces 6x8, eighteen feet long ; six pieces 6x6, twenty-eight feet long ; six pieces 6x6, twenty-four feet long ; three pieces 6x6, twenty-six feet long ; sixteen pieces 4x6, fourteen feet long ; 46 THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. twenty pieces 4x4, fourteen feet long ; seventy -two pieces 2x6, eighteen feet long ; 4,000 feet dimension boards, eighteen feet long ; 2,500 feet roof boards, sixteen feet long ; twenty thousand shingles ; 175 pieces, hangers 2x6, fourteen long. CURING TOBACCO. An important and exceedingly interesting feature in handling tobac- co is the process of curing, and it is one which calls for the exercise of the best judgement of the planter, and will readily yield him the desired result for intelligent application of approved modes and principle's. Ex- perience shows that abuse of these fixed rules as quickly results in in- jury and degradition of the crop. In the curing the planter is to get out of the crop whatever of profits he is to have on his money and labor put in ; therefore after the tobacco is safely hanging in the sheds, increased care and watchfulness are necessary, and the best approved rules are to be followed. The Dayton (Ohio) Journal urges that an even curing of a crop can only be had by a steady process that must not be checked, and to re- tain quality and obtain desirable color, should not be too rapid. That curing may be in perfect control of the grower, everything ordinarily depending upon ventilation. The Journal further says that the best authorities agree that when the weather is cool and damp the sheds should be left open, with no danger that the curing will be too fast, and that free circulation then will go far in securing dark colors. Of course, it is understood that the ventilators are to be kept open in fair weather until the curing is quite completed, making sure that the top leaves may dry out and green ones cure before freezing cold weather comes, always having caution against pole sweat and shed burn. When the crop is well cured down, except the stems, it is recommended that the doors be opened during moderate rain, as the color will be improved by moisture. The grower using his judgement as to the necessity for control of the temperature of the shed, may build pit fires in the ground floor, but the smoke should not pass through the tobacco. A covered flue could be made along the ground through the centre of the shed to a pipe or chimney at the end. A better plan, however, would be to have the fires in stoves, with pipe passing through the shed from end to end, the more pipe the better. A steam boiler may be located in the shed, but the heating must be done by coils of pipe, as steam direct would greatly injure the tobacco. In hot, sultry damp weather, when there is no air stirring, the sheds must be closed tighly, and to prevent pole sweat, it may be necessary to start the fires, for if such murky weather continues long, the stems are liable to rot. Leaf tobacco will ciue down rapidly in extreme dry, wind)' weather, therefore the effort in such dry season must be to retard this drying out, so that even curing may slowly and regularly progress. The doors and ventilators are to be kept closed, a number of tubs of water should THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. 47 be placed in the shed, or the floor be thoroughly saturated with water, and the operation be often repeated while the dry spell shall continue, the farmer making frequent examination of crop to see that the air in the shed is not too damp and soggy, that the leaves do not become so moist as to entirely stop the process of curing, the desire being only to secure cool, damp atmosphere. Ventilators and doors ot sheds should be closed during a storm, but again opened as soon as it has passed. Winds do damage by cracking the leaves, and carrying in dust. Cattle and poultry should also be shut out. With open sheds the tobacco is entirely exposed to the changes of weather, now damp and soggy, then dry and dusty, the strength and merit of the crop being thus wasted. Such sheds are but little improve- ment over the pioneer way of hanging tobacco in beech trees. The rickety old sheds are but monuments of the ignorance and slovenliness of the owner, and evidence of poverty-stricken crops that it is beSt to shun. What is left of such trashy crops after storms have blown through and heat dried out, becomes gritty with dust and poultry ma- nure, and foul with rot. It is not necessary that fine tobacco barns be built, but every grower should have a weather proof shed, or quit. A writer in the Wisconsm Tobacco Reporter says: "It is pertty certain that the weather has much to do with curing. It is well known that, in some season, the tobacco in a certam section will rule light in color, while in another year dark colors will prevail, and at other times heavey losses result from pole burning. These variations of quality probably result from the general character of the weather during the process of curing, and serve to indicate laws which rarely fail. These are that rapid curing tends to produce light colors, and slow curing dark colors. With the light colors there is likely to be other undesir- able qualities, such as rust, white veins, poor texture, etc. It is general- ly believed that very rapid drying tends to produce undesirable qualities in the cured leaf, and therefore the curing barn should be so arranged as to prevent rapid curing during dry weather. In damp, murky weather there is also danger from pole burn while the tobacco is green and care must be exercised to prevent this. "Right here is a point where a difference in opinion occurs. It is my practice to keep the ventilating doors of the curing barn open dur- ing hot, iowry, damp weather, so as to encourage a circulation of air among the plants. There are good growers who follow the reverse course, and keep all doors closed during periods of damp weather, whether the weather is damp or cool, their argument being that, by keeping the building tight, the hot, damp air is excluded. Which of these opinions is right I do not know, but it is pretty certain that a certain degree of heat and dampness will affect tobacco seriously, whether the doors are opened or closed, and for this reason few or no 48 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. trrowers are exempt from damage to their tobacco from pole sweats. The best advice that I can give on this subject is to keep the curing barn closed tightly during the periods of dry, windy weather, and to encourage a free circulation of air during damp weather." The American Cultivator attributes pole sweating to hot, sultry, damp weather. When moisture collects on the hanging plants, and remains there without a sufficient wind to dry it off, then we expect and look for pole sweating, and, if of long continuance, oftentimes stem rot is found. The rain will be of great benefit to late pieces of tobacco, where but recently topped. We think, if the frosts do not interfere, that the late set plants, where the plant has not ceased to grow, will be greatly benefitted by a rapid growth, as well as by helping to mature the plants. Says the Maimsburg Bulletin : Anybody can dry tobacco, but cur- ing is a process requiring intelligent supervision. The whole secret of successful curing is comprehended in the slow and uniform evaporation of the juices of the plant. The elements involved in this delicate change are light, air, heat and moisture. It is rare indeed that the curing sea- son throughout continues so favorable as to relieve the planter of all re- sponsibility in the management of the elements that affect his crop in the shed, but if the methods heretofore presented to the growers have found favor among them they are now in position to take advantage of the vicissitudes of the season and reduce the work in cur- ing to a minium. Closed sheds, with openings only around the bottom and under the eaves, exclude the tobacco miller that bores the leaf, the light that bleaches it, the storms that pelt and the wind that whips it, while at the same time it establishes a circulation of air, to be attained so perfectly by no other means, and permits the planter to control the conditions necessary to perfect curing. The application of water to the ground under the sheds in protracted drought, and burning fires in pits when the weather is extremely wet, are means that the intelligent planter will not neglect to maintain the conditions necessary in perfect curing which, in this day, is a positive, unvarying, systematic process, and not a ques- tion of chance at all. SHED BURNING. Some seasons this cannot be avoided. We have seen a single stick hanging in an open shed, injured in this way. The most of this results from crowding on the sticks, or in the tiers. It is not so much the want of drafts of air, but the pressure of one leaf or stalk against another. As the sticks are placed in the tier, the stalks should occupy its entire length and swing clear of the tier below. The idea is, to occupy all the space possible, but avoid pressure. During the process of curing give all the sun and air possible. Close up in rainy weather. Should house burning set in, it can be readily detected by the rotten, pungent smell when to the windward of the barn. We think there is no alter- THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. 49 native but to let it burn. We can not advise the use of fire, because the smoke is ruinous ; nor scaffolding out, for, when once in the sun the life and color seem to depart in the drying. For fear that some may think we over-draw in the importance of good handling, we propose to give briefly the reason of our faith. We hope we may not be deemed egotistical. During the last fifteen years, be- sides taking more than a thousand dollars in premiums, our tobacco has averaged twenty cents per pound or more. Four years of that time it has brought twenty cents or over. Two years it has fallen be- low fifteen cents — the dry weather of 1881 being one of them. As poor as this crop was we gave it all the attention and care we would give the best. Our farm has no fresh fields of bluegrass or woodland pastures, but the most of the tobacco has been grown on fields that have been in alternate crops for fifty years. We give in a nutshell the principal causes of our success : Handle while tresh from the knife ; scafford either in the barn or at the barn ; allow no rain to fall on it, or high winds to shake it up ; select into five classes ; order your tobacco in your own barns ; pack into hogsheads honestly ; sell in August or September, after the effect of the "sweat" is determined. These have been our rules during our whole experience in tobacco growing. We can not close without a word in behalf of the tobacco lands of our State. Other crops grow so readily after it that many farmers follow it with one or more crops of corn. The land being in a high state of cultivation, is easily washed by rains, and the difficulty of securing a stand of grass is largely increased. We sow to wheat, then to bluegrass and clover. — Ky. Grower. PREPARING THE CROP FOR MARKET. Nothing is gained by selling on the poles except to be among the first sales, for the tobacco must be delivered in good condition or the grower is responsible for at least the full damage. He may as well wait until his crop is in condition 'to sell, especially when the supply is short. The possession of a fine crop on the poles is quite different from having sold and delivered the whole crop in good condition, for many accidents are liable to happen to it by a warm or-cold sweat. Large quantities are yearly damaged by lack of knowledge of the prop- er condition it should be in when taken down, but more from neglect. The sooner tobacco is taken down after the stem is cured the better. If the colors are uneven, they will become as near uniform in the pile after it is stripped as by hanging, if taken down in proper condition and kept so. Some crops will allow of a damper condition than others. Leaf of good body and strong fiber can be taken down when damper, than a thin and papery leaf Early in the season it should not be damp as after. The only good rule to determine when it is in proper condition to take dow;j is to clasp the leaves near the tip of the plant and squeeze tightly ; when the pressure is removed and they expand in a few seconds and are stained but very little, the crop is just right to take down. It 50 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. should be watched while dampening to guard against rain driving in at the doors. If the outside plants get wet or too damp, hang them up until dried sufficiently. Make a floor of sawed poles, plank or boards laid on the ground edge to edge, and pile the plants, a small armful at a time, about two feet high. If early in the season, lap the tips about one-third the length of the plants, using only the hands to press them down. If the stalks are frozen, do not take it down until it stops drip- ping, as the juice will stain the leaf The sooner it is stripped after taking down, the better, as the leaves are liable to stick to the stalk and get stained and be torn when stripped. If it is warm when taken down it will soon heat and should be examined frequently. On the first in- dication of heating, carefully lay the pile over, making it about one- half as high as before and lay as loose as possible. In stripping keep the butts even and free from suckers. If an occasional fat stem is found lay them on poles until cured ; do not tie them. Lay the leaves straight in boxes made of plamed boards seven or eight inches at the bottom and eight or nine at the top, eight inches high and three feet long. Such a box will hold bundles to weigh twelve to sixteen pounds. Press the leaves with the hands or lightly with the knees. Making single bundles, using two strings, one about five inches from the butts, the other near the tips, but where the bundle is full size. Lay the bundles on their side and don't pile them until thoroughly cooled through. Make the platform for bundles three to six inches above the ground, of straight edged poles or plank, and cover it with paper (most any old newspaper will do). Lay the bundles tip to tip on the paper and cover the pile with paper first and then with boards. The paper keeps the tobacco clean and prevents evaporation. The outside will be in good condition however drj' the weather may be. Let the butts be exposed to the air to dry or cure. When the weather becomes cold pile the bundles three or four high, choosing a mild or damp day to pile them. Examine the pile frequently, and if it be- gins to get warm, air the bundles thoroughly. If it should get quite warm, untie and spread them, turn them often, and don't leave them until thoroughly cooled and covered, but don't pile the bundles again for a while. — New England Homestead. ASSORTING TOBACCO. Assortmg tobacco is so essential that a few suggestions from us in reference to the subject may not come amiss. We would suggest to as- sort in four qualities. Make what are called long wrappers — then short ones, and after these selections make binders, or B's ; then follow the poorest grade called ordinarily fillers, or C's. The long and short wrappers should be sized, by which we mean the leaves in the respect- ive kinds should be made the same length as near as can be. W^e learn that in Pennsylvania some of the growers use measures in sizing up their wrappers, and in this way they make their long and short wrappers look neatly, the leaves being of nearly the same length and THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. $1 color in making up the hands. And again, there should be good sense and discrimination used in selecting the colors so that they will be about the same in each case. In other words, keep the yellowish or light colored leaves by themselves and pack them also by themselves. By doing this the assorter will be able to make the colors run even. We think some sorters have measures on their assorting tables by which they are enabled to classify their selections very accurately and preserve uniform length by so doing. At all events, it is well to keep the lengths even of the respective kinds if one wishes to have neat and uniform looking hands. The binders — third quality — should also be selected with care and with reference to making them run uniformily the same as to size ; but there is no need of being so particular about colors in selecting them, since the B's are made from an under wrapper or binder, and the colors, of course, do not show in the cigars. The B's should be cleanly and neatly assorted and should be free from unmerchantable tobacco. The fourth quality, or the fillers — in these days of h'gh prices — are of much con- sequence to all concerned. When crops are brought "round," or so much per pound through, they cost the buyer just as much per pound as the higher grades in the same purchase. They should be assorted with due reference to this fact as well as with regard to having them neatly, cleanly, systematically and honestly tied and packed up. We are very glad, indeed, to know that our growers in this section at least are making marked improvements in putting up their C's, or, as the growers sometimes call them, 'iufjs." The tobacco should be in first- class order when it is taken down from the poles, and kept so until it goes in to the case for market. The hands as fast as made up should be taken care of at once, placed securely in the hank or cases so as not to dry out by careless exposure. When once in good order .strive to keep your tobacco in that condition. Some people get nervous and take their tobacco down from the poles when it is not fit, and to all such we would say that when once in bad condition it is very difficult to get in order again. In assorting make the respective sorts good, and we think it a bad plan to make more wrappers than there really are. Make the wrappers strictly good, and the others ditto. — Baldwjns- ville Gazette. From an experience of many years I believe it is best that the aver- age tobacco grower should sell his crop in the bundle. As a rule, he is not sufficiently versed in the business to assort the crop in a proper manner. He does not fully understand the requirements of the trade. Though assorted ever so well by the growers, such tobacco will sell as farmers' packing. Again, the leaf requires to be packed at a uni- form degree of moisture, at least when of the same quality. Nice dis- crimination is needed to secure the best results. The average farmer, who raises from one to three acres of the weed annually, probably only packs his own crop, and often this is done in a very unworkman- 52 THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. like manner, thus causing considerable damage to what might other- wise, with good packing, sell for from one to three cents more per pound. Oftentimes there will be even more difference in prices. A dealer knows that much depends on the appearance of his packing, if every hand lies straight and compact and round in the box it looks well. Under the packing of experts, the boxes will be of the proper size and uniform in appearance, each box containing just so many pounds. In fact, everythmg will be done systematically. The farmer should also recollect that there is a loss in assorting of from two to four pounds to the lOO pounds. That the assorting properly costs about one and a half to two cents per pound, and the boxes about one- fourth of a cent per pound. So the shrinkage and labor in assorting is fully equal to two cents per pound, hence eighteen cents in the bundle is fully equal to twenty cents packed. When satisfactory prices can- not be obtained, then the farmer has to pack his crop, in which case he should do everything squarely and in a workmanlike manner. When the tobacco is tied up in bundles, short ones are the most convenient to handle. It is better to have them of pretty good size, say from fifteen to twenty pounds or even more, in weight. When the bundles are packed, care must be taken to pack them as closely and compactly as possible, to prevent their drying up. When the pile is so arranged that the leaves dry up and get broken much damage is done. And if the pile doesn't show proper care, it rather has the effect to give the dealer an unfavorable first impression. — Hill Top in American Culti- vator. STRIPPING OF TOBACCO. Many superstitious and erroneous notions as to the proper time for .stripping are still entertained, not only by planters, but among buyers also. Planters are inclined to listen to and adopt the opinions of any man who presents himself as a buyer, though he be utterly ignorant of the scientific cultivation and care of the weed. It must be remembered, too, that buyers, as well as planters, are classed as first, second, third, fourth and fifth rate in the hair-splitting head centers of the trade. Sound advice will always commend itself to reason, or at least time will commend or condemn the claims of all "tobacco talkers" who as- sume to speak with authority. We submit the following propositions : I. — There is but (jne projjer time to strip tobacco — all others are wrong. 2. — The proper time to strip tobacco is when the rib is cured — not sooner ; nor later. You will admit the truth of the first proposition, but with some the second may be open to doubt. Let us inquire a little further. When tobacco is cured, it is cured, and that is end of that. U al- lowed to hang longer, the same elements that wrought the con.structive change in the greenleaf and presented the beautiful, dark, glos.sy color THE TOBACCO GKOWKKS' GUIDE. 53 when cured, will contkiue to act. If, for any reason, you fail to move it at the critical period in any of the successive stages during the per- fection of the leaf, you can never recall your opportunity. Let the planters of tobacco lay this verity to their hearts — Tobacco never stands still ! It will not wait your convenience, in the seed, in the field, or in the shed. We hear that some ignorant persons are advising planters to leave their tobacco hang, and we are in receipt of inquires from growers of Spanish as to the proper time to strip. The talk about let- ting tobacco hang after the rib is cured at the butt is nothing short of nonsense. Take it down and strip it — the sooner the better. The essential oil, which gives lustre, flavor, sweating and burning quality in the leaf, is leaching out, slowly but surely, every day it is left hanging after the curing process is perfected. Look at in this way : Suppose you let your tobacco hang two years — what would be the result? Can you imagine how it would look? Many of you remember that tobacco left hanging in the shed too long, a few years ago, molded at the tips, and all of you are aware that tobacco was left too long last year. Crops tiius treated lost twenty- five per cent of their luster and vitality, and went into the warehouses, dry, husky and in bad shape generally. Tobacco, especially the fine grades, will require close watching from this time forth, the object being to avoid the extreme of temperature and moisture, and to preserve an equitable state. This is best accom- plished in tight sheds with vaults and comfortable stripping rooms. — Bulletin. HOW TO TIE TOBACCO HANDS. It used to be a custom some years ago to tie the hands of tobacco too large entirely. The}^ are now tied much smaller. This is right. We have contended and still contend that from fifteen to twenty leaves in a hand are enough. The growth and size of the leaves, however, may make some difference in regard to the number of leaves that should be put into a hand. The suggestion, however, is a wise one that hands should not be made too large — should not be made up in a bungling and awkward manner. When the stems of the leaves are thoroughly cured out so they are dry, the leaf which is used to tie the butts, should in all cases be tied closely to the ends of the butts in or- der to make the hands look neatly. There is nothing like neatness and s)'stem in putting up tobacco, if one desires to find a ready market for it. A neatly assorted and handsomely tied up lot of tobacco will always command attention and sell well, provided the leaf be naturally good. It is the badly assorted and heedlessly and carelessly tied up lot that is neglected by the buyer. Only in cases of this last resort, when there are no finely assorted lots in the market to be had, does the dealer seek for the bunglingly handled parcels of tobacco. He seeks for those parcels first which are known to have been well handled in 54 THE TOBACCO GROWERS GUIDE. every respect. There is much to be gained by tying the hands well. Some growers tie them one and one-half inches doi^n from the ends of the butts, while those who wish to make their hands show a good length of leaf and carry with them "an air of neatness," tie them close to the ends of the butts, say not over one-half to three-fourths of an inch down. Then after the assorter has tied up his tobacco neatly, \vc think there is much to be gained in keeping the hands in good shape and first-class order. A sprawling, fan-shaped hand, always looks bad- ly. The hand, in our opinion, should be kept in sound, straight form — and then let it be placed either in the case, if fit to be packed, or in the bank or "rank," where, if the butts are not properly cured out, the air and weather will soon effect the desired result. After tobacco is assorted and tied up in accordance with the most approved methods, the next important thing we have to perfortn in re- spect to its care, is to see to it that it is immediately placed in a non- exposed condition, so that it will not be injured by drying out, and then become harsh and non-pliable. When once in order, we believe it ought not to be neglected. The growers of Onondaga county have a bright future before them in making this the banner county for raismg fine tobacco, if they put it up beyond fair criticism. — Baldwinsville (A. Y.) Gazette. A HUVERS' E.KPERIENJCE. Mr. Albert Tag gives the following as his experience with growers : There is almost the same difference betw(*en different crops ot tobac- co as there is between a like number of men. Tliose who are con- scientious, careful, and divide their labors between their brain and hands with honesty of purpose have invariably delivered then- product in a very satisfactory shape and have not had a word, while others, who fortunately are in the small minority, thought all there was necessary after their tobacco was sold, was to throw it from the hanger on to the jiiks and tear off the leaves; and all the leaves, whether good or without value, walk over them, bundle the tobacco, bring it in and get their money. The.se men can be easily recognized by the manner in which the\' keep up their farms — or rather, keep them down — by the manner in which they do everything slovenly, and these men are the most diffi- cult to deal with. They do not want to see that their neighbor, who has given his time, attention and labor to the handling of his tobacco, is entitled to better treatment at the buyers' hands ; they have the trouble and annoyance which is more laborious and disagreeable than the little extra work it would have taken to do things right in the first place. So, one who delivered his trash, sweepings and everything, bearing only the faintest semblance at having been connected, at some period with a tobacco plant, when asked, replied that he "supposed that every- thing that crrew on the stalk was bouijht under the contract." THE TOBACCO GKOVVKKS' GUIDE. 55 It is essential that the farmers in this neighborhood should be thoroughly posted on the handling — that is sortnig their tobacco. If they once know this they will not be at a loss to know what to do with their tobacco. It is bound to happen sooner or later that they will be obliged to hold their tobacco through the summer. Those who con- tinue the handling as poorly as tiiey commence it, will have nothing to sell in September ; and if they once know what loss of time, of weight, their carelessness occasions in the warehouses, they can no longer be excused on the plea of ignorance, but become accusable of downright dishonesty, and naturally get such a reputation that it will be a difficult matter for them to market their tobacco. The first thing to be observed with brashy, sandy leaves, is that they weigh but very little ; that they deface the appearance of the whole crop in the shed ; that in dry- ing the sand drops off on to the better leaves and that they appear to be in much greater numbers than they really are, thus reducing the crop in tiie eyes of the j^i-ospective buyer whose experience teaches him to put but little confidence in the assurances of the grower that he will not attempt to deliver anything but what is exactly as it should be. The better plan is — cut the stalk higher up from the ground. It reduces the bulk in the shed to some extent, thus securing the better ventila- tion and avoid danger of pole sweat, making a clean looking crop which everybody will be anxious to secure. And should it not be prac- tical to cut high from the ground, the poor leaves can be removed very easily hangmg in the shed. PRICE vs. CARE. Growers claim, and in this they are supported by the trade, that the crop of 1884 when fairly handled was of unusual merit. Yet a great many are grumbling because the price is not greater. It should be re- membered when this question of price is considered, that prices for to- bacco are more nearly up to the standard of 1883 than any other pro- duct. Hard times and the tumble in everything has affected tobacco less than any other product of the soil. Then again, the skill and painstaking efforts of the grower afifect the price more than anything else. A man don't need to be thoroughly versed in the tobacco busi- ness to see that. All that is necessary to a man of ordinary business sense is to visit a tobacco market and note the difference in the handling of tobacco by different men, and then look at the differ- ence in price they get. it is with tobacco ju.st as it has been with the butter business. 1 he difference in the price is caused almo.st wholly by the difference in the men who produce it. There are hundreds of but- ter makers who are glad to get eighteen cents a pound for their butter, and right beside of them are men who are getting thirty cents. The cost of producing the poorest butter was just as great, yet a little good brains, patience and skill makes one pound worth twelve cewts more than the other. 56 THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. One tobacco grower cares for his tobacco as it ought to be done and handles it rightly. He puts good sense into the work every step of the way, and sells his crop from one to five cents a pound more than his neighbor, who is too smart in his own estimation to "putter around over a little tobacco." A great many men terribly hate to take a little pains; ter- ribly hate to bestow a little care, time and attention on any given work. They seem to think it beneath their dignity to look after small things. They propose only to deal with large matters. Such men usually sell their butter for twelve cents less a pound than their neighbor, and their to- bacco from one to five cents than the man who is not ashamed to "putter." A poor judgement causes poor execution, and both may be often traced to this foolish despising of the day of small things. A thorough man is one that insists on finishing a job. If it requires "puttering" or fine work, at it he goes. Tobacco raising and handling is essentially full of fine judgement and fine painstaking work. Butter making is the same. A lazy man and one of coarse judgement had better keep out of either. — Ft. Atkinson Union. HOW TO SAMPLE TOBACCO. When sampling, after removing the case from the bunch, it is generally broken first about a third of the way from the bottom and two hands drawn, then about the same distance from the top of the bunch, and two or more hands taken out. Then go to the other end of the bunch, it is broken about in the middle and two more hands drawn, and from these hands thus drawn a sample of the case is made up. Now it is very evident that if all the low grade hands are packed in the centre it will not show as it should. Suppose that twenty-five or thirty hands that do not rank with the rest, but are better than No. 2, are all placed in the centre, or where the break is made, some of these hands find their way into the sample. We had better far put them on the outside of the case, where they can be plainly seen. Outside hands do not sweat as hard as those on the inside, and it is better that these should be of the poorest quality that is to be packed in the case. They are scarcely fit for wrapping cigars, unless it is resweat, and then perhaps on a cheaper article. Do not, however, infer from anything here said that we favor siding with low grade seconds. By no means ; only use the kind you have made. In this you will always find the class we are speaking of This we call packing honestly for both seller and buyer. -SELLING. Anybody can grow a good crop in a good season, but in periods of drought or flood the reading, thinking, enterprising planter will be found on top. If you have faithfully and intelligently observed the methods you have a fine crop and are ready to sell. The old way of selling was to wait until your neighbor sold, see what he got, and demand the same price for your crop. The buyers soon learned to bu}' a poor crop to begin with, or to secure a good crop THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE, 57 at a low figure of some planter who was in desperate need of money, and thus established a price for a whole neighborhood. There is such a thing as asking too much as well as too little for a crop, and as both defeat a sale one is as bad as the other. To fairly estimate the value of a crop one must learn the purpose for which it is used, the source of supply and demand and the causes which influence th«ii. Such information is furnished by trade papers. The intelligent planter who has read these papers carefully during the season is acquainted with the condition of crops in competing states as well as his own, and has had such facts presented to him from time to time during the year as will enable him to fix such a price upon his crop as he will be able to realize. WISCONSIN CAN RAISE THE CIGAR WRAPPING TOBACCO FOR THE WORLD. It may seem to many an extravagant statement but we believe never- theless true, that to-day the profits in the culture of tobacco in Wis- consin are greater than any other state in the Union. There is a limited section in the North Carolina district producing the finest qualities of the "bright" leaf where prices rule higher than here, but the yield per acre falls far below that of our own state and the average profits much smaller. We have before us a circular of a Clarkville, Tenn., firm who quote prices on a very large proportion of Southern tobaccos, running from 4 to 12 cents and averaging not over 8 cents per pound.' None of the cigar producing tobacco states have sold their '84 crop at higher prices than Wisconsin growers, while many are receiving much lower prices, while the cost of producing the crop in any of the states exceeds that of this state from 50 to 100 per cent. To go farther into details let us here present a statement produced at a club of tobacco raisers of Chemung Valley, New York, considering the cost of raising tobacco. They were men of larg^ experience and it was decided that several processes in the cultivation should be estimated carefully by each one, and their estimates then grouped and an average struck. Here is the result of their work: Rent of land including maniu-e, per acre ^^40.00 I'lowing twice, harrowing and ridging, per acre 5'<^0 Plants, per acre 3.00 Setting plants, per acre 3.00 Re-setting, per acre 1. 50 Cultivating five times, per acre 3.75 Hoeing twice, per acre 7-00 Worming, per acre 9.00 Topping, per acre .75 Suckering, per acre , . 4.75 Cutting aiul hanging, per acre 8.00 Shed room, per acre lo.cx) 'i'wine for hanging, per acre .50 Total cost up to the time of taking down $96.25 Cost oi taking down, stripping, assorting, packing and casing, on a basis of 1,500 pounds per acre — about an average — at two and a half cents per pound 37-50 58 THE TOBACCO GROWERS' GUIDE. Total expenses of raising one acre ■$^33-7S Cost per pound on a basis of 1,500 per acre .89 If this estimate is worth anything, it shows that tobacco ni New York State can not be grown for less than nine cents a pound. By slack cultivation and careless handling, the tobacco grower may neglect manuring one of two seasoas, and produce it cheaper, at the expense of his land. To make a proper comparison between the east and the west on to- bacco raising, let us here introduce the reports of three successful Wis- consin tobacco farmers and in doing so have selected one from each of three different counties. While these reports show better average than the majority of our farmers obtain, they are not exceptional cases, and though much more startling figures could be produced these answer the purpose of comparison equally as well. 1st. Mr. H. R. Hoag, Walworth, Walworth Co., makes the following report of his '84 crop recently sold: Sixteen acres were planted and harvested producing 24,353 fts., which was sold at 15 cents in the bundle. The total cash receipts for the crop were $3, 65 1.45. The cost ot growing and marketing the crop, every item of expense included, was ^65.20. The gross cash return per acre was ^228.15, leaving a net profit of ;^i 62.95. The cost per pound to raise this crop was four and two-tenths cents per pound. 2nd. Mr. Ed Corcoran, of Dunkirk, Dane county, grew a field of seven and a half acres which yielded 12,512 pounds or 1,668 pounds per acre. The crop brought ;ig2,o64.48 or $275.26 for each acre of the field. The price obtained was sixteen and a half cents per pound. Mr. Corcoran enjoys the reputation of being a most careful grower, putting an unusual amount of labor and expense upon his crop. This he estimates to be $75 per acre or four and three tenth cents per pound. 3rd. Mr. John A. Decker, residing near Janesviile, Rock Co., from eleven acres of tobacco grown by him the past season and sold at eighteen cents per pound, received jg2, 834.28, a yield of $2^^.66 per acre. Estimating interest on his farm at $500 per acre and manures purchased in Janesviile at high figures and every other expense that entered into the Cost of his crop, he figures the total at $75.00 per acre. In the way of supplement we might add that Mr. Decker's farm consists of seventeen and a half acres, including streets and build- ings, and from this place during the season has received in cash $3.- 367.54. We are also prompted here to ask the question, how many farms think there are in the state controlled by one man that can show receipts equal to this report ? Is there another seventeen acre farm that can approach it? While the three cases above recited show cash receipts greater than the average tobacco farmer, they also show the cost of producing greater than the average. If Mr. Decker can grow tobacco on land valued at ^500 per acre, purchase his manures in a high marl*:t, and show figure* that places the cost below $75.00 per THE TOBACCO GKOVVEKS' GUIDE. 59 acre, we are led to believe that the average farmer whose land is valued at ;^50 and less per acre, and who produces his own manures at a nom- inal cost, can reduce the cost far below this figure, varying perhaps, from 3 to 4 cents per pound. It is quite generally conceded, we think that a very large porportion of the tobacco of this state is produced at a cost not to exceed $50 per acre, and in some instances the expense is reduced to even $t,o per acre. Compare this with the table first pre- sented showing the cost in New York and other eastern states, and it can readily be seen what advantage Wisconsin tobacco growers really have over eastern competitors. From a recent issue of a Lancaster, Pa., paper, we clip the following which fully substantiates the position taken on the point : "Wisconsin has advantages over her eastern competitors that stand her in good stead. Her soil is deep, rich. Lancaster county farmers often put more money on an acre of tobacco in the shape of manure alone than it costs the average Wisconsin farmer to grow an acre. His land does not cost more than one-half what ours does, and in these two items alone he has advantages we here cannot overcome. When, therefore, the frosts of spring cease early and remain away until late in the fall the Wisconsin tobacco growers can undersell us. But other things may arise at any time to change all this and place our own growers more on an equality with the western ones." Wisconsin tobacco growers accept the situation cheerfully and take their chances upon any condition of things that is liable to change its inequality. COST OF GROWING TOBACCO IN ILLINOIS. James Ritzell, of Nora township, an experienced and successful grower has furnished the cost in labor of growing twelve acres of to- bacco The estimated cost per day was the price paid for extra labor hired, except in stripping and setting a small per cent, was hired for less than the amount estimated. Manual labor at ;$i.OO per day and JS2.50 per week for board, and team work at ^1.25 per day including board. Mr. Ritzell informs us he has always raised 1 ,000 pounds or more per acre. LABOR FOR MAN. 2 (lays preparing seed bed $ 2 00 10 days wedding plants lo 00 10 days hauling manure lo 00 7 days plowing ground 7 00 5 days harrowing, marking, preparing 5 ^^ 29 days setting plants 29 00 ly^days cultivating 17 5° 9^ days hoeing 9 5° Sj^days topping and worming 8 50 68j^days harvestjng 68 50 41 days taking down, stripping, and baleing 41 00 8 days hauling to market ^ 8 00 216 days manual labor $ 216 00 6o THE TOBACCO GROWE-RS' GUIDE. LABOR FOR TEAM. 8 days hauling manure $ lo oo 7 days plowing 8 75 5 days harrowing, marking, preparing 6 20 13 days cultivation 16 25 1 1 ^days harvesting 14 37 8 days hauling to market 10 00 52^days for team work $ 65 62 34j/^weeks' board 85 83 Total $ 367 45 Cost of labor per acre 30 62 Received for 12,500 pounds of tobacco at 10 cents per pound $ 1,350 00 Cost of labor and board 367 45 Total, net $ S82 55 Net per acre 73 54 Rent of land, cost of manure, and rent of shed to be taken from ^73.54 per acre, will give the net income of the crop. We think the shed as a shelter for stock will pay a good interest on the investment, and the manure will give quicker returns used on a tobacco crop than any other. Everyone can draw their own conclusion. PROSPECTS OF AN OVER PRODUCTION OF THE TOBACCO CROP. Doubtless many of the readers of this Pamphlet have often been tempted to ask this question: If tobacco growing is really as profita- ble as the figures often presented in these columns would seem to in- dicate, will not the farmers throughout the whole state and northwest rush into tobacco, and will there not be an over production and prices drop to an unprofitable figure. There are several reasons why we think there is no immediate danger of such a calamity, some of which we will present. I St. Wisconsin tobacco has an excellent reputation. Manufacturers have learned that it is the best cigar-wrapping tobacco grown, and the trade consequently must buy it. It has one virtue which no other state tobacco possesses in so high a degree, viz: — it burns well — and without this quality no tobacco, however fine its flavor, is mapketable. What- ever other evils it may possess, it has never yet been charged that Wisconsin did not burn well. We have a reputation now gained that will sell our tobacco for years if we are careful to preserve it by im- proving the varities grown and the methods of handling. 2d. We can grow tobacco here so much cheaper than our eastern competitors, that we can continue to raise tiie weed in Wisconsin at a profit when they have been frozen out of the business and retired. We have great confidence that Wisconsin is destined to become the largest tobacco growing state in the union. When we have crowded out the East, we can double and trible our product without any danger of over production. Already the Conn. Valley farmers talk of retiring because of slow sale and unprofitable prices. THE TOBACCO GKOWKKS' GUIDE. 6 1 3d. The secrets of successful tobacco growing cannot be trans- mitted by word or mouth Hke those of the Masonic or Odd Fellow order ; they must be learned by actual experience and often by expen- sive experiments. The shiftless, lazy or careless farmer need not ex- pect to become a successful tobacco raiser for he will make a miserable failure of it if he tries. It needs brains, it needs untiring energy and activity, and above all it needs men who can adapt themselves to cir- cum.stances and learn and profit by experience; men who read and keep posted on markets and information pertaining to their business to make tobacco growing profitable farming. 4th. History shows that many who start in at tobaco growing make a failure, become disgusted and fall out by the wayside. In 1881, prices were high; farmers everywhere caught the craze and the follow- ing season there was an increase of nearly 3000 acres in the state. The season of '82 proved a partial failure, and the crop of '83 was less than that of '81. The high prices of '83 when sales were made at 25 cents per lb. caused a relapse of the craze, so to speak, and again last season the acreage increased nearly 4000 acres. We believe that the crop of '85 will show a further increase of over 5000 acres. So that it will be seen that a partial failure or low prices act as a sort of check upon an over production. In ten years the tobacco section of the state has hardly extended beyond a strip of country 40 miles across. It will take another ten years before tobacco can become a general farm product. 5th. New beginners have no reason to expect they will receive as satisfactory prices as the old and more experienced grower who has attained a reputation by years of hard labor. It is the skill and pains- taking effort of the grower that tells when the crop is marketed. The wide varation of prices is oftener due to the difference of men in hand- ling them than any other reason. Buyers tell us that surely over 10 per cent, of the tobacco is ruined hj careless or ignorant handling, even in the old districts. What the reputation of our state needs more than an increase in the number of growers is men who will bestow more care, time and attention to perfecting the methods they now put into practice. It can truly be said that tobacco culture is one of the fine arts of agriculture and patience, perseverence and care are the three graces which lead to success. l'B D '05