The Rutland weekly globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1876-09-29
TOBACCO.
Its Culture in tho Connecticut Valley.

owns on the river within the last fifteen |
'ears know how completely the farming |
industry was revolutionized, and how great |
las been the reaction. Much distress has |
,ome upon individual rasers, and In some |
,ases, notably that of North Hadcy, the
whole village hiss felt the loss severely.
The general reyulsion of 1878, and the sub
,equent depression, has only INTENSIFIED the
TALL from the high tide of prosperity From
4 review of the situation in the Springfield
Union the following is taken:
Ia the early days Of tobacco cultivationIt
brought but small pricea, six cents pound
being the quotation for lime. But, az
wages were low, the crop aid to'crGbly
even Mt those low figures. Ia 1861, at the
opening of the war, the southern crop was
cut off, the demand grew suddenly i'm
mense, and prices took n fabulous jump.
AS high as forty cents pound was paid IN
1863 The crops were good, and tHat of
1864 s, to this day, referred TO as the most
remarkable ever known, both as to weight
and quality. The crop of 1865 was poor
one. That Of 1866 was only medium rs TO
growth, but it cured very fairly. The crops
Of '67 'GS ard 90 were good. That of
1870 made good growth but cured very
poorly, and dealers who bought early paid
twenty-five and thirty cents per pound ard
lost immense amounts of money, being
obliged to sell for five and ten cents. The
crop of II was Of good weight and was
well cured. That OF ~ WAS also well
grown, but the weather Of the early fall
was warm and muggy, and the crop sweat
lady on the poles. The season of 1873
was wet one. The crop was of medium
growth and cured fairly, but was not a
wrapping crop" Most of the "A crop
was sold carly on the police, but the dealers
claim that it sweat badly, and they did not
realize one-third of what they paid. The
crop Of 1875 was of fair growth, though it
suffered in some sections from dry weather.
A large part of this crop is yet unsold. The
prices have fallen flat since 1872, and lc-
cent sales of 1875 tobacco have been at
from eight 10 liftcca and eighteen cents,
the latter beng the highest price paid for
choice lots mp the valley, though some extra
lots in Sutiield and vicinity were sold early
for twenty and even twenty-five.
Moderate prices ruled ia the tobacco
market till the outbreak Of tho war, when
they suddenly rose 10 such hight as to set
many Of the farmers of the valley fairly
beside themselves. They increased their
acreage of tobacco inordinately, built ex-
pensive barns for curing the crop, put the
manure OF the whole farm upon their to-
bscco land and then bought more at el4 q
cord, and patent fertilizers without limit.
The corn crop, the hay crop, the grain CROP
and everything else, was made subordinate
to tobacco. Help was hired at extravaganl
wages. Money came and went in a perfect
food. The yield Of tobacco was often q
ton to the acre, and it brought $500 OF
even $500 Expenses were allowed to in
crease without much thought, both in the
household and on the farm. Loose bust
ness habits were formed. Merchants Of
fered unlimited credit tn farmers who had
not sold their tobacco, and were holding it
for better prices. Everything vert smooth
ly. Prices shrank little, but still the
profits of tobacco raising seemed enormous.
Men who had, during the previous decades
Of low prices, entertained conscientious
scruples about raising the vile, useless,
hurtful weed began to be greatly exercised
in their minds lest they had judged tier
tobacco raising neighbors harsdly, and had
too z.alously denounced as unrighteous a
perfectly Legitimate business. Prest ntly
they raised little themselves, iust for an
experiment or to pay thtic minister tax,
and soOu they had as lsrge and fine fl tlds
of tobacco as any one In 1871 and 1872
there came a crash. Prices toppled down
almost out of sight. Some sold early al
barely paying figures, but many more held
for rise.
By no means all the numerous and ter
rible bankruptcies in the valley during the
past three or four years were direct V
caused by tobacco, though some people
have been eager to fix all the blame upon
that crop. Several of the worst failures of
Hampshire county farmers were caused by
outside spcculations IN manufacturing and
hotel stock at Northampton, which took a
turn the wrong way. But there is no de-
nying that, more or less directly, tobacco
IA been at the bottom of the larger part
OF the financial emhaIra-sments and COM
plexities in the agricultural portions of the
valley. In many cases the farmers have
their own cupidity or lacl of judgment to
thank for their ruin. When prices began
t. drop they held on to their crop in IA
licipstion of rise 1t didn't come for a
year, and they held on to the next crop
also, living On credit and borrowing money
1T high rates of interest, and "shpving up'
their real estate az security. Ony the
deepest purses could endure such drain,
and the weakest, and those who were
strongest, but heaviest loaded, vert to the
WALL One party in Hadley had thirteen
tons of 70 tobacco, for which they were
offered twenty-five cents Just before the
Chicago fire. They held it till 1875. when
it Melted them ten cents. In one building in
a Connecticut town are stored IS cases OF
~ tobacco, purchased in that vicinity,
for which the deslcr once refused fotty-two
cents. He has just been offered ten cents,
and rewcigh it, aud the shrinkage will be
very large. So it is that dealers, as well
as farmers, fail. LODGED. most of the fail
ures in Connecticut have been of farmers
who undertook to speculate by buying the
crops of their neghboIs. Another cause
of failure was the extravaganza induced by
the abundance Of money at enc time, the
farmers and their families not realizing
that there might ever he an cbb 70 the tide
Many laborers thought to do better than
to work by the day, aud bought small
farms on mortgages, expecting to pay for
them in few years by tobacco. In the
midst of their hopes came the crash, fore
closures and ruin. On the other hand, we
have in mind one man in Hampshire coun-
ty who bought farm in 1850, and was not
worth 5000. A friend Endorsed for him,
and he began on borrowed capital. In 1861
he had, by frugality and shrewd invest
ments, become worth SIC, 900 Then came
the high prices, and he made $4,000 a
year for some time by tobacco raising, and
he has stood the gale. The qualifications
of the failure were almost infinite, and ex-
tended to merchants, manufacturers and
institutions
There are intelligent and experienced
men, some of them large tobacco raisers,
who say that their town is, on the whole,
better off for the raising of tobacco. They
generally admit that other places have
been injured by the business, but they
"don't know as we are any worse off.
For instance, men In Deerfeld say "This
town was conservative; didn't 90 into the
business all over as Hadley and Deerfield
did, and was frugal with the money made
in it. This is a great hay town." In the
towns which have apparently suffered
worst there are those who FAY that on an