Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-11-13

how important Il factor toIatco IS il
the accumulation of the wealth. of the
nation it seems somewhat remarkable
that 10 systematic attempt has ever
been made to ascertain where it can be
produced at a profit. The department.
of agriculture has expended enormous
sums i'll attempts to introduce the Gull
ture of the tea plant and in trying to
build Up a sugar industry in the north
ern States, but it has done very little
toward increasing the production of
tobacco or in ascertaining where the
plant will succeed. Very. few. of the
State agricultural societies or. boards
have done anything toward
ing the production OF, the crop which is
a vast source of wealth to the country.
The adaptability of the soil and eli
mate OF any locality to the production
of tobacco OF good quality has gener-
ally been determined by accident. Some
new settler coming from q part of the
country where tobacco is a leading
crop, brought a little seed with him and
planted it in a garden bed. He raised
a few plants which he cured in a. shed
and found the quality to be good. The
next year,he planted more and demon
strated that it would succeed as a field
crop. Having succeeded in finding a
market for,it, he engaged quite extern
sively in its cultivation. His neighbors
then followed his example and in a
few years tobacco became a leading
product, in the neighborhood. In the
course of time its culture extended into
all the adjacent sections of country
having a similar soil and climate. 1t is
likely that the Indians showed greater
enterprise in Introducing tobacco into
new localities than the whites have.
Had the national department of .agri-
culture shown. as much interest in to-
bacco culture'as it has in the raising of
tea and sorghum the value of every
county in the country for the produc-
ton of this crop would have been de-
termined years ago. But tobacco has
never been a pet crop with any OF our
commissioners Of agriculture.
1t is not likely that tobacco will ever
prove to be a very suitable crop for the
large unprotected prairies. The tobac-
go plant may make a very rank growth
on black prairie soil, but the quality of
the leaf will not be likely to be g God.
1t maybe used for making plug tobac-
co, but it will not be tit for cigars. The
high winds that sweep across the large
prairies are almost certain to injure the
leaves Of tobacco so-that they will be
unfit for cigar-w4appers. Observation
shows thatya broken, partiallyswooded
country, where there is protection from
winds, is the most suitable for tobacco
raising. Cheap lumber, suitable for
the erection of drying barns, is essen
tial to the success OF the tobacco in
dustry, as is a supply OF timber for
making poles to hang the plants on.
Tobacco-raising requires no expensive
machines or implements. A common
pillow, hand-hoe, and a large cutting
knife are all the tools necessary for
raising and harvesting the crop. In
many respects it is Il good crop for
farmers Of small means to raise. Most.
of the work of raising and harvesting
the crop is light. The operation Of
printing, topping, worming, suckering,
and stripping can be performed by per-,
sons too young or too old to do" most
kinds of field work. !