The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-03-10

WEDNESDAY. ...... MARCH 10, 1869.
Il. Forthe Dispatch.
Profits OF Tobacco Culture.
It is more, perhaps, than any one can
reasonably expect to convince planters that
the cultivation Of tobacco at present prices,
and under the imperfect management Of
the present day, has ceased to be remune-
rative, except for o very few grades. The
force Of old habits is apt to continue long
after the circumstances which led to their
formation have given place to new order
Of things, It Is certainly creditable to the
agricultural enterprise Of our people that
the crops Of this staple grown eince the war
approach 80 nearly to what they were IN
the number Of hogsheads when the labor OF
the country was under systematic controi:
) There Is, indeed, q smaller proportion OF
ase tobacco grown now than formerly, put
!, FICTITIOUS circumstances induced high prices
for all, and so great has been the effect IN
stimulating production in other countries
That che markets of the world appear to be
oIntted. Virginia planters might, however,
, even sustain themselves against all compe-.
tition but for the monstrous oppression 0,
the Government in taxing all manufactured
tobacco in so exorbitant manner. All our
finer descriptions Of leaf go to supply the
domestic markets, and the leaf OF no other
country can effectually displace it. Such
descriptions will therefore maintain their
value against all rivalry, while the lower
grades sink to the level of those Of other
States; and so far as We are able to judge
from the daily offerings at the warehouses
and tobacco exchanges, the proportion OF
inferior to fine is about as ten to one.
Allowing, therefore, that the higher
grades for manufacturing, and the heavy
grades for shipping, may be grown to Proht,
! what shall wo say of the vast amount OF
Tugs and inferior leaf-Lght, chatfy stuff
selling at from four to eight or even ten
dollars hundred
Considering the requirements Of the to-
bacco crop-that it monopolizes all the fer
tilizine material on the form, and that IL
demands unremitting attention for whole
year in the cultivation and preparation for
market, to say nothing of the casualties 10
which it is liable-less than hundred
dollars per acre cannot be considered TAR
return. This would necessitate the produc-
ton of thousand pounds at ten dollars,
seven hundred pounds at fifteen dollars, or
Ave hundred pounds at twenty dollars.
Now, thousand pounds to the acre is the
maximum product on any land, but on
strong, heavy soils, with liberal manuring,
1t may be had. :,
d Seven hundred pounds of fine leaf, worth
fifteen dollars, may also be obtained, but
perhaps only on virgin soils {; and the same
NAV be said Of the five hundred pound pro-
duct at twenty dollars. To achieve these
results requires also the most skilful encour-
agement, which the great body of our plant
ers can hardly be said to possess.
If, then, these results only can be re-
parded as profitable, and moreover seldom
obtained, the question recurs, What profit
can planters promise themselves by raising
the inferior grades worth less than ten dol
lars hundred? They cannot reasonably
calculate on cutting more than six hundred
pounds to the acre, and, averaging Tugs
and leaf OF seven dollars, the gross profits
will not amount to more than about forty
dollars-out of which has to come the ex-
pense of hand hire, guano, rent Of land, and,
above all, the planters time, which is mo-
ney. With oil these deductions, if he clears
nirepence day for his own attention and
labor it is probably as much.
Through long succession of years we
have invariably noticed that Immediately
following o season of high prices planters
enlarge their crops, and many not planters
by profession 60 into the culture Of tobac-
co. As consequence, the market is over
stocked, and prices come down to low
figure. We see an illustration of this ct
the present time; fer though the Virginia
crop may not have increased, because plant
ers could do no more than they had done
already, yet the prices Of '67-'6S stimula-
ted production in States more faVorably
situated and we find that Kentucky, with
her rich soils and teeming labor, has en-
tered the field. In 'G7 tho crop of that
State was not more than half as great as
the Virginia crop. We have no data by
which to estimate accurately the crop of
last year, but from oil We can learn she has
probably doubled, if not trebled, the crop of
the year before. There can be no wonder
then that prices have been so much affected,
when not only Kentucky, but Tennessee
and Missouri, enter the field of competition,
with their millions of acres Of rich land
against our exhausted plantations.
Unless We have misstated the case, and
drawn unfounded conclusions, the lesson
we have to learn from all this is that plan
tiers should liberate themselves from de-
pendence on any one crop, though at times it
may be the most profitable Of all; that they
should only aim at the better grades and
Furthermore, that those who are not skilled
in the culture Of tobacco should engage eau
tiously in it. Our agriculture needs diversi-
flying, to which our climate and geographic
cal position invite US in unmistakable terms.
More attention is needed in improving our
farms, in planting orchards, cultivating the
grasses, raising stock, and not less in rela-
ton to many small things which enter into
the uses and comforts Of daily life. To
give ones time to one overshadowing crop
whether cotton or tobacco-has q tendency
to dwarf everything else and to retard
general prosperity.
suPERINTENDENT's OFFICE, }
EASTERN LuNATIc ASYLUM,
WILLIAMSBURG, VA, March 6, 1869. }