Omaha daily bee., 1883-01-05
A PENNSYLVANIA TOBACCO
FARM.
How the Lancaster Farmers Culti.
vate and Cure the Weed.
Philadelphia Press.

Philadelphia Press.
The crop of 1882 is now in the
sheds and barns nearly ready for
stripping aud packing, and while not
ranked as exceptionally good, it is at
least up to the average. The nam, of
Jacob NJ. Frantz having been given
as q su:ceSsful grower of skill and
long experience, a visit to his farm,
four miles from Lancaster City, was
lately msdo. Unfortunately, Mn.
Franta himself vas not at home, but
from Mrs. Frantz, and after wards her
son, who vas found In Lancaster,
many interesting facts were OBJ.
tanned. The farm contains about
eighty acres, aud from twelve to ifs
teen are usually devoted to tobacco,
although III general only from 3 to b
per cent OF the acreage of Lancaster
farms are devoted to tobacco, the
great care the crop requires in all its
stages having shown growers that
when they attempt more han can
well be done, they lose by it. They
are very careful to conduct their To-.
bscco culture 30 that fertility shall
not be impaired. Stable anu ia
regularly and heavily applied, with no
chemical fertilizers; most of the other
crops grown are consumed on the
farms in stock feeding, and in
addition to the large amounts thus
made at home, stable manur 10 i'm.
ported in great quantities from Phila.
delphia by rail, and even Pittsburg.
This shows the enterprise which to.
bacco has melted. The amount APP
piled to tobacco land is not all appro.
priated by that crop, but tells admira.
bly, on wheat, which always folio VS. to.
bacco, and which often yields when 1t
does not lodge, from thirty to forty
bushels per acre. The fall wheat
sown at the present time has a splen.
did appearance, which adde to the
charm of the country. In this way
Lancaster farms are improving under
the stimulous of tobacco culture, In.
stead of retrograding, as they do, or
did, at the south.
Mr.. Franz's culture must be I &C. ed.
ingly careful, as his crops generally
equal or exceed 1000 pounds per acre,
while the average for the whole state
rarely exceeds 1000 pounds. His
main tobacco barn is ninety-six feet
long with a width of probably forty
feet and posts Gig hteen feet long. The
ventilators are horizontal instead a
perpendicular, and about four feet
apart, 30 that each of the four tiers Of
tobacco stalks as they hang in the
barn can receive a current of outside
air at the same time. An ipgeniouI
arrangement opens all the ventilatorI
above each other at the same time
and holds them in place. A few day
OF drying weather will f
the crop for stripping ant
packing, although this work can b,
left if desired until winter. In tn,
case of very drying weather for a lon,
time the leaves become so brittle tina
they crumble in handling, and then
II packing must proceed, artificial
dampening must be resorted to, whicl
is done by the use of steam In a clos
room. The glowers pack in bundles
making three qualities generally. TIL
? lower leaves, which have more or les
sand or dirt In them, are used fo
"fllers" In cigar. making; anothe
: grade goes as seconds an
the best as wrappers. The latte
are again assorted In lengths of fou
sizes. Last year the buyers, who ar
. usually as sharp rs buy ers need be
used a little sharp practices which hs
left some soreness behind. The
= agreed to take all the wrapper
according to specified lengths, an
, named a liberal price for the longe'
] say those VINO would measure 2
inches, while those for % or 90 an
Is inches would be considerably lese
1t was a now mode Of buying, an
. growers found "where the laugh cam
in" wken the shrinksge came t
be 81 )kdered. When the bar
gain was made each grove
calculated on q certain amount a
the No. l price, but when they cam
to deliver probably two-ffths of tn
longest had shrunk a trife below 2
inches, and the buyer thus claimed |
at the second price, although just a
good for wrapping as If it had been g
inches or more. The operation Ca
not be repeated.
The crop is contracted VS..
farm by agents of hos Al ~ kIeo
c;t;es -somati.se5 as distant even nj
San E,ar s.soo, where the very bee
cst-D goes. The delivery is made a
the Lancaster packing houses, when i
Ia weighed and checks given.