New-York tribune., 1873-12-13

and az tho plant had here very long season to grow
ana mature, the leaf thick and very strong The
nam features Of the Culp process are he said to let
the tobacco when cut wilt the field; then take 1t
NJ once to the tobacco house and pile il down, letting
IT heat on the piles TO 1902 for Havana. II must no
thinks come TO 1000, but il it rises to 1O2o
II is ruined. Piling, therefore, requires great
Judgment. The tobacco houses are kept
al temperature Of about 70c aud late in the Fall,
10 cure late second or third crop they sometimes
use a stove to maintain proper heat In the house.
ior the tobacco must not lie in the pih without
heating. When it has had its first sweat, 1T Is hung
UP on racks; and here Mr. Culps process is peculiar
lie places the stalk between two battens, so that II
SUCKS out horizontally from the frame; thus each
ieaI hangs Independently from the stalk; ana the
RACKS or frames arranged that all the leaves
on all the stalks have separate access to the air.
Inc tobacco-houses are frame buildings lOOXGo
feet with usually four lows of racks, and two
gahgways for working. On the rack the surface
moisture dries from the leaf; and at the proper
tiine II ls again Piled racked, ana so
on for three or even four tunes. The racks are Of
rough boards and the floor of the houses is OF EARTH
After ping and racking for three weeks. the leaves
are stripped from the stalk and put into " hands"
and they are then "bulked," and lie thus about
'A'NN h4ohluS, hutu INC loudCto 10 p"~''' A'""'
the time Of cntting from four to six months are re-
quFed to make the leaf ready for the manufacturer.
"Png' appears to be the most delicate part of the
cure, and they have often to work all night to save
tobacco that threatens to overhead. Mr. Cup thinks
the dryness of the climate no disadvantage. l was
told that they find it useful sometimes to sprinkle
the floors of the tobacco-houses.
saw racks, too, IN the feds-portable, and easily
carried Vb nj those n lrpat uunutIfV of
Florida tobacco used for chewing and smoking, had
been was getting cured. 1t piled in the field
where 1T was cut, and the whole curing process, up
to "bulking' is carried in the open air. Havana
filters" they also in the field as the fine color
is not needed for that Mr. Culp thought his method
of horizontal suspension allowed the pieces from
the stalk to be carefully distributed among the
leaves. He told me that a fair average crop was
about 500 pounds Of Havana or $500 pounds OF
Florida per acre, of merchantable leaf. In favor
able localities this was considerably exceeded, he
said For chewing tobacco, the cut plant IS piled
but once.
For 400 acres Of tobacco, about i2j Chinese were
employed in cutting and curing. After planting
and up to the cutting season they had but 90 men
employed The Chinese receive 81 day and board
themselves, living an apparently jolly life in shan
ties near the fields.
They get their Havana seed from Cuba. The
Patent Office seed did not do well. They do not like
TO risk seed Of their own plantsS He used home
grown seed for nine years; he could not say that
there was serious deterioration or change IN the
quality of the tobacco but singular change IN the
form of the leaf took place. That from homegrown
seed gets longer, and the veins or ribs, which III
Havana tobacco stand out at right angles from the
leaf stalk take an acute angle, and thus become
longer and make up greater part OF the leaf. vi
Florida tobacco the homegrown seed comes trne.
In Summer the roads get very dusty in. California
and this dust is disadvantage to the tobacco
planter. On the Culp farm found they were plant
ing double of shade trees along the main roads
and grayelng the interior roads; also they seem TO
feel the high winds which sweep through the Cali
fornia valleys and were planting almonds and cot
tonwoods for wind-breaks in the fields. II seemed
odd to see long rows of almond trees used for this
purpose
The Culp process has so far won the confidence 0f
experts in tobacco in this State that company
with large capital has undertaken not only the
raising of tobacco by its method, but also the manu-
facture into cigars, and plug smoking and fine cut
chewing tobacco. They are just beginning opera
tions in Gilroy, on a scale which will enable
them to manufacture all the tobacco grown
this year on about 600 acres, and they
mean to plant next year 1000 acres,
and expect that from 1900 to 1900 acres
will be planted and cured by others under licenses
from the patentoe. Commercially, of course, their
undertaking is yet an experiment, though excellent
cigars and tobacco have been made already; but
this Winter and next Spring will declare the result
and if it should prove successful as is hoped, and
as thero is good cause to believe it will, new aud
very profitable branch of agriculture Will be opened
for the farmers OF tins State for tobacco viii grow
In almost all parts of it, C.N