The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-05-29
THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY.
Taking tho Leaf to Market-The Iroc>
Of Curing tho Weed.

!
| Of Curing tho Weed.
There is no happier being on earth TIA
the negro farmer riding into southern
town behind half starved steer. with Il
load Of tobacco in his prairie schooner.
1t represents the product Of small patch
in favored part Of his farm. but ii may
bring him 81, 900 or more.
At one of the sales at Durham. the
busy little town in the center of the
bright yellow North Carolina tobacco
belt, or the Golden belt, as they call it,
q gray haired old colored man stood
watching the crowd Of buyers as they
bid against each other on the piles that
represented. his crop. AS the amount
rose higher and higher his eyes grew
larger and larger, his limbs shook, and
he changed his quid of tobacco from side
to side so quickly that he didn't have a
chance to chew 1t. When the price
reached 81. 300 he could no longer con-
tain himself, but shouted: stop right
there, gemmans; OATS enough! Dis
| nigga can't stand no more. Never had
SO much money in all my born days"
And he might well be surprised, for his
old steer had drawn it all TO the sales
warehouse at one load.
These tobacco auctions are lively spec
tacles. In one of the largest warehouses
in Durham as many as 1000 piles of to-
| bacco are laid out at one sale. The auc
tioneer steps from pile to pile as he sells,
the buyers following him. He never
says word about the quality of the leaf,
but simply rattles off the figures, never
stopping till the pile is knocked down.
| The buyers know the quality as soon as
their eyes rest on it. Occasionally they
will run their hands into pile, select n
| bunch and feel Of it, but usually pile
after pile is cold without a person touch
ing it. The rapidty of the selling is re-
markable. The bids run right along,
each bidder knowing just what he is
| doing. These bidders are the most ex-
pert men in the business and represent
houses in the surrounding section and
| distant manufacturers and dealers. The
] New York and all the foreign markets
are represented at all the tobacco sales in
Durham, n. c., and Lynchburg and
! Danville, Va.
The North Carolina bright yellow to-
bacco industry has proved a mine of
wealth to the planters. When Shermap'S
army stopped near Durham the boys got
| some of the tobacco to smoke in their
pipes. They were SO delighted with it
that when they reached their homes they
| g. 4 Ia.
best kind of advertising.
The crop is a troublesome one to han
| die. There are three kinds of worms that
| like to feed upon it; OF these the horn
worm likes the plant SO well that il has
to be picked off by hand, and the field
hands 20 searching for it by lantern light
at night Then tie matter of curing the
leaf is a very delicate one. a whole crop
may be spoiled altogether or precipitated
| several grades lower in the scale by
| little carelessneSs or unskillfulness in reg
| uating the heat. The barns are usually
| seventeen and a half feet square, just
| holding 45J sticks. The heat is raised
| from the yeliowing heat at the rate of .
| degs. every two hours. When the heat
reaches 13j dogs. it is kept there twelve
hours. 1t is then raised dogs. every
hour and half until it gets to $50 dogs,
which cures both stem and stalk IN
| short time.
Kentucky with her III, 900 900 pounds
of tobacco, equals the next four highest
states. Leaving out Virginia's 10000
900 pounds, Kentucky's product equals
those Of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee,
| North Carolina, Maryland, Connecticut
and Missouri which are the principal to-
bacco states, although New York looms
up with the respectable product Of G,4Si-
| 43l, Massachuset 5,369,436, Indiana
1872, SAP and Illinois 1886, s2j pounds.
New York Press.