Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1850-06-26
AGRICULTUR u r AL.

"A u Il l u u l. Il u II "A L..
From the Plough, the Loom and the Anvil.
sALT-ITs USE RECOMMENDED IN CUR
ING TOBACCO WITH NOTES BY THE
EDITOR.
TYE-RIvER MILLS. NELSON, Va.,
.April II, 1850.
Mr.. JOHN S. SKINNER: Dear Sir
Thinking that an experiment of curing To-
bacco with salt nigh, no, be unacceptable
to you, inasmuch as it would possibly in
terest some of your readers who are en-
gagged in its culture, will endeavor to de-
scribe it.
All agricultursts know that TO place We
getable matter IN such condition as to pre-
ven. speedy decay, j. is necessary to dry it:
salt having a powerful attraction for water
seemed to me applicable for sha. purpose TO
la plant SO abundant Of water as tobacco, and
from the size Of the stem so much more diff:
fcul, to cure than the ordinary plants Of the
farm.
! felt disposed, however, to try i. frs, on
,ha. of the most Indifferent, quality, in order
that the loss nigh, be small if the expert
ment failed. In 1885, very we, year with
US, had some tobacco growing on a flat
piece Of land which suffered exceedingly
from repeated and heavy rains; and as il
was certain, if cured in the ordinary way
by fire, it would furnish only indneren,
lugs, ! resolved 10 try it with SALT 1t was
cut, put on sticks, and hung on scaffold
near a curing house. few days after j.
was taken down, laid on the grass, and sal,
from SITTER applied, first Oh one side, then
on the other, to as great an extent as would
adhere. The tobacco was then hung on
the ,ier-poles in the house to the amount OF
six hundred sticks, being as much as the
house would hold, and more than would
have been placed there if fire had been in
tended as the curing agent. ln shor. time
after the salt was applied drops of water ap-
peared on the stalks, stems, and leaves of
the tobacco, and few hours after it was
hung in the house the water commenced
falling on the floor. The dripping con,in-
ued several days, and the ground below was
been from light shower Of rain.
After the dripping ceased the tobacco be-
gan to dry, and was soon cured, nothing
more being done. Not leaf was lost by
house-burning, i. e. decay The following
winter j. was stripped and bulked, and in
the spring pressed (or priced, as the plan
'ers properly] express it,) for market. A,
that time it possessed fragrance far beyond
tobacco cured by fire, and was always more
moist and flexible than the fire-cured. The
hogshead that contained it was sent to Rich
mond, with the residue of my crop, in lS47,
it being my intention to ship the ssl,-cured
to England. A, Richmond it was refused
by the inspectors for being TOO moist. The
succeeding fall it was shipped to house
in Liverpool to which J had previously ship
ped some tobacco Of far better original
quality. Tobacco being very low in Eng
land at that time, the house was instructed
not to press it on the market |, arrived in
England Gin good condition, free from
mould" according to the statement of the
English merchant. From circumstances
unnecessary to detail here, it was not sold
until February, l649, two years after it had
been placed in the warehouse a, Liverpool
From the account Of sale now before me il
sold for 3 lad sterling per pound. Two
other hogsheads Of tobacco Of superior quail
ity, cured by fire, sold at the same time, one
for 'he same price, viz: 3 Ia sterling per
pound, the other at 3-4.
In order 10 tes, the matter still further !
obtained the favor Of an eminent manufac
'urer Of tobacco al Lynchburg to make some
experiments with portion Of it, to ascer-
tain its capacity of resisting pu.refaction
His letter TO me Of August, 1S47, says -
"The parcel of tobacco have had manu-
featured. The condition Of it was veay
good. II was not manufactured until twelve
or fifteen days ago, for the reason that |
wanted to see how it would stand for a
while with the stem in. 1t made no differ