The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-05-02
TOBACCO CULTURE.
Its Importance and Isxtent as Producs Of
1"as t. thts Country. ~ aij s.

Il. Il
TO whateztent is the cultivation of
tobacco expanding in the United States,
and what Ia the ratio of our production
ether. interesting questions relating to-
our chelI etsples are answered by some
curious and valuable statistics collected in
Q late report of Col. j. B. Killebraw,
Commissioners Of Agriculture for Tennes.
see, on the cultivation of tobacco In that
State. The report also contains valuable
and interesting statistics, showing ita
commercial importance, etc. Colonel
Killebrew says that it Is believed that
With proper encouragement Tennessee
can be made the largest tobacco growing
state in the Union, aud that the exteu-,
sion Of the erea la cultivation would
add largely to the income Of tef citizens
and without dearacting from tho fertility
6f the soil to the sans extent that cot
son or corn does. That its cultivation is
femunerative ia evident from the fact
that the. people Of the tobacco growing
counties ara In easier circumstances than
those in any other localities. Besides
tobacco does not interfere in any consid-
ersble degree with the cultivation of the
GRASSES or the bread grains. The busiest
g sa1n iH l0IaoUo 00iTie5 ON in August
ana September when the other crops are,
laid by or harvested. The tobacco, crop,
Is ip o degree an extra crop which,
while 1t supplies the planter ready
money, does not interfere with his ~ sing
abundant dupplies. q, n41o ss~ot
The. ceEa Esissioner claims superior
qualities for Tennessee tobacco as being
rich in nicotine, the active principle ID
tobacco, and that 1t can bid defiance to
thatgrown in Illinois, Indiana and his.
souri,, and says that the effect of increased
culture will be to drive these poorer
grades from market and leave. o broader
field for that Of Tennessee. AS an article
of general use it ranks first, being more
generally used than any othsr single
lerticle, being used by 200, ,000, 900 OF
people or 8-l2 OF the population Of che
world, while Chinese ten Is consumed by
goo, 600 900, Paragua tea by 100000
human beings, coca By 10, ,000, 900, chicory.
by 100000, coca by 100000 900, and
coffee by 100000, 900, 1hasheosh by 80O,-
600, 900, and opium, in one or another
form, by 100,000,000. In tho brief
period of three centuries, tobacco, like
the potato, las made tho conquest of
the world; and if We accept bnt one
half the amount Of per capita consump.
ton asserted by competent statisticians,
the total annual domand fF0T si;o 7TTssaa Tss;a
from the whole population of the globe
will still reach 1895, 100000 pounds, or
1,312,500 tons. Admitting that 800
pounds Is raised to the acTe-and this az
an average is very liberal allowance
tho stupendous quantity of TOBACCO inst
estimated would require upWard Of
three million acres cf good land 10 be
kept under culture. The use of this plant
appears therefore to have become univer.
sal. Iudeed, next to salt, it 10 supposed
by some to be the article most exten,
sively consumed by man. tea alone heing
the competitor. 9.iis'9 9d! "a
OF the 1925, 100000 pounda required
for the worlds consumption, let us SEQ
how much 10 contributed by the United
States. Il. 1860 we produced 434, ,209, ,48I
pounds, but ten years afterward the
yield of our plantations had dwindled to
about 260.000.000 pounds valued at more
thanIS26, ,005, 900. We add, that accord.
ing TO the United States Bureau ofSta:.
tistics, we sent out Of tho country in tho
year ending June, 1877, leaf tobacco
valued ut nearly $2C,OO0,000. These
figures would make tobacco rank sixth
in tho list of exported staples, cotton,
breadstuffs, PETROLEUM and the precious
metals alone exceeding 1t in Importance.
Before making the distribution of our
surplus among foreign customers, 1t may
be we'll 20 note now far the latter are able
to meet their respective den;ands from
domestic eoiirces. Prussia, for example,
raises 10000, 600 pounds iAustria-H Hun.
gary about as much, and Franco some
$4,000, 900. Among the countries which
have en- excesa for export may be named
Brazil, which sends out upward Of 30,.
600, 600 pounds Japan, whose shipments
have amounted 10 40,000,O00; and Ney
Granada, which can spare about t2,0O0,-
600. The whole average crop Of The
Philippine Islands is set down at 22,.
100000, much of which 10 exported,
and the came may be saidof java, whose
yield Is estimated ut 33,000,00 From
China, on the other hand, while the
home consumption is enormous, the ex.
ports are only about 1000, 900, and even
Cuba can ersre only about 100000
pounds Of leaf tobacco, although abe
sends out, of colrse, o vast quantity of
cigars. If We except, indeed, those fine
qualities of leaf employed in the man
nfacture Of Cuban, and como would add,
Manila cigar Il saayy be ss!a that tho
tobacco raised in the rest of the world
is merely grown to supplement the
American crop, since no varieties except
those of the district uamed vie with IL
il richness and flavor. msg
It appears that in 1875 our best cus.
toner was Germany, notwithstanding
the large quantity grown, as we have
seen, in Prussia. Our exports Of tobacco
to the German empire exceed sc, ,O00, 900
pounds, while England which produces
none, took only 54,0OO,00o. TO Italy
we send about 32,000,000, and to France
81 100000. Spain too Notwithstanding
the inflow from her colonial possessions,
required nearly 14,O00,000 pounds of the
American staple, buying for the most part
Vi tho virgiuin anu Tennessee ieai. IL
10 equally curious that the Netherlands,
in spite Of the large crop Of Java, should
have drawn almost 1?,00G,0O pounds
from the United States. Our next largest
customers are the Austrian empire. Can.
ada and Belgium, in the order named,
In the same year we exported some 40, :.
600 pounds to Cuba, double that amount
to Poto Rico, and considerable quantities
to oil the South American republics.
We may also mention that the British
and French West Indies, and even Hayti
a.e relatively &. .hSS:: population population ys;s
large oo5anofs of our staple.
In almost oil countries tobacco 10 made
to contribute G notable share OF the na.
tional revenue. In Germany hitherto
the duty. on American leaf has been four
shalers p6E iG1 pGxinds. but Bismarck
now proposes to largely augment this im..
post. In Austria, France, italy and