Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-12-21
TOBACCO.
Hts Cultivation. Curing. Handling,
priximT, etc.

HIS Cultivation. Curing. Handling &
Prizing, etc.
Western Farmers Almanac, louisville KY
In growing crop of tobacco tn,
| first and most important thing is Il
secure good seed. While there ar.
many good kinds of tobacco, we de
clare our preference for the :" Blue,
and '' yellow Prior" Our reasons
are that it makes a rich leaf of goOC
size and small fiber, and is certainly
/ cultivated andImore easily cured anC
managed after it is cut and housed
OF this kind the finest and brigh
| wrappers and filters are made; anC
by different process in curing, from
it is made the best black wrappers
filters, and rich export leaf. O
course the foregoing remarks refer
exclusively to lands suitable fol
growing rich, dark tobaccos. The
preferred seed for the cutting tobac.
| COS are the /" White" and " Red
| Burley," and " Yellow Twist Bud y
although the Prior Tobacco is often
grown IN the cutting districts with
marked success. But each farmer
should by experience find out what
suits MS peculiar SOIL.
The serious difficulties in the way
of good prices the first few years
have arisen from the Indifferent cul-
tivatiOn, planting too much to the
acre, or planting it too close to-
gether, topping too high, and not
priming high enough. Our judg-
ment is that generally eight, and
never more than ten, leaves should
be left, on a plant, and often where
it is late, and the season bad for its
growth, six leaves would make
more pounds and better tobacco
than eight. We would suggest as u
general rule, that tobacco should be
planted at least three and a half feet
apart one way and three feet the
other way, and where the land
is not strong and good, or not well
manured i'm the hill or otherwise,
we would suggest even a greater
distance. OF course in the" cutting
districts tobacco is planted much
closer together and topped at from
twelve to eighteen leaves; the OBJ
iect being to get fine, silky, thin
leaf; while in the sections growing
heavy tobaccos the object is to get
thick, heavy-bodied leaf with fine
texture. Every farmer must by eX-
perience determine tor himself the
time for topping his crop, being con-
trolled in "A great measure by the
character of the season and the
strength of his soil.
Curing is by far the most difficult
part in making tobacco. For al
most all uses the charcoal and fiue-
cured tobaccos are preferred, eSpe-
cially for filters and wrappers. Next
TO these two methods comes the nat
ural or air-cured tobacco, which of
course requires more barn-roOm and
special care. By this method all the
cutting tobacco is cured. A great
many persons believe that rich,
heavy tobacco must necessarily be
fired and smoked to cure them per-
fectly, but we claim that the same
tobaccos cured without the smoke
coming in contact with twill find a
more ready and profitable sale.
The next and almost equally inn
portant thing is to classify or assort
the crop closely before prizing; Sc
lecting each length, color, and kind,
and if possible prizing each length,
color, and kind separately; but if it
should become necessary Il. mix two
sorts in the same hOgshead, prize one
part of the cask, and put piece of
paper or other mark between, and
then prize the other. Be careful to
avoid packing long and short tObac-
co together, putting the long in the
center layers and the short in the
layers, and around the edges
or sides of the hogshead. All the
markets of the country have guar
anteed inspection, consequently the
will show each kind, and
where there is mixture of length
and quality it shows an ugly sample,
no special demand, and on
of its want of uniformity
sells lower than the same
grades would sell if each sort was
priced separately and the samples
showed uniformity.
The general trade at home and |
abroad now wants all leaf tobacco |
free priced, weighing from ], 400 to |
to open freely when sampled. In |
deed all good select lug filters should |
also be free priced. Common lugs |
and nOnedescripts sorts may be made |
TO weigh heavier. Tobacco put up |
for bright or fancy wrappers may be
priced in any weight, from 500 to |
200 pounds, but must he very |
closely selected and assorted. AS
general rule all tobacco should be
priced in good, dry keeking order;
and yet where tobacco is put up for
winter or spring sales order makes
but little difference; but where to-
bacco is intended for summer sales,
dry keeping order is sire qHd none.