The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-05


leaves are in part free from holes.
The different grades should never be
mixed in packing, but kept to themselves.
In packing into boxes or bales the tips
should lap each other and care should be
taken to pack firmly and evenly. The
ends of the packages should not touch the
box sides, for ventilation in needed here to
some extent to prevent molding, When
boxed keep on a board floor and under no
circumstances allow the box or package to
remain on the ground or in close prox-
unity to kerosene, commercial fertilizers,
or obnoxious scent. The boxes should be
as light as possible and uniform in size,
but the dry goods boxes of merchants
serve an excellent purpose.
BULKING THE CROP.
I mean by bulking that the farmers of
a county would, think, find it to their
interest to store their crop in their
county town for assortment and sale Sc
curing or building a house for this pur-
pose, An expert should be employed who
will carefully resweat, assert and bale the
tobacco in the same way as the Cubans
do. 1t would be better to take the to-
baccO to the tobacco expert to be sweated
Just after it is stripped and assorted,
than to wait until it has passed through
the barn sweat. Wrappers, binders, and
filters should be packed and sweated to
themselves. In this way the crop would
realize more money, amply repaying cost
of. expert On this line much could be
said
EXPERIMENTS OF 1892
A large number of experiments were be-
gun this year both in the seed bed and
field. The objects in view were:
l. To find the best method of raising
plants.
2. The use of various kinds of fertiliz-
ers, as to their effect upon texture quality
and quantity per acre, embracing soft and
hard phosphate, potash, nitrogen, single
and in various combinations commercial
fertilizers of different brands, and COM
posts made on the station. These composts
were in part based on the analyses of
Cuba soil and Cuba tobacco, as given be-
low
3. To test the quantity and texture of
tobacco cut and cured at different stages
of growth the distance between rows and
the space plants should have in drills.
The season was most unfavorable to
success, since from Jan to May 20 there
was no rainfall at any time sufficient
to lay the dust. 1t was with much trou-
bic that plants were grown, and
when transplanted to get them
to live, water them as much and often as
possible. But by reason of much trying
we succeeded in getting quite number of
experiments in good shape, considering
the. dry season.
On May 30, when one expert
ment was just ready in which to com
mence the harvest tornado, followed by
an unusually hard rain and hail. destroyed
it and every other tobacco experiment in
the field, and also the seed beds to a
large extent. The result was that only
the naked stalks were left This storm
was so severe as to entirely wash away
the soil and fertilizer of another expert
ment. With what was left us we did the
best we could under the circumstances,
on which a report is made below.
In March we made a trip to Cuba in the
interest of tobacco culture While there
we learned that the methods of culture
differed from ours not only in the distance
between the rows, but the distance be-
tween plants in drill 1t was observed,
also that the plants were topped at an
earlier stage of their growth, and that
they were taken from the field, being con-
sidered ripe by different signs and condi-
tions than those governing US AS near
as we could, under the unfavorable
circumstances, we tried to gather and cure
our experiments, which were mainly
from second growth, by the Cuban rule
The only thing left US was to test the
quality of texture and flavor This to-
bacco, in connection with lots from diff
ferent parts of the state, we have re-
sweated and manipulated, by the assist
duCC Vi Il EGublG euuDlONCu LOT IHb puf-
pose, a native of Cuba, and we had cigars
made from it and tested, and the uniform
testimony is from different persons capa-
BILE of Judging living in different parts of
the state, that they will compare favor
ably with the best made from Cuba TO-
baccO.
The other samples from other parts of
the state have also be similarly tested and
and pronounced to be of very fine quality
is conceded that rpcvvaa finn, and bot,4r
ing very greatly improves our Florida to-
bacco after il has passed through the barn
sweat. The uniform testimony of cigar
manufacturers is that our Florida tobacco
is not ready for them as il is prepared by
our growers. Being appraised of this, for
nearly two years or more, it was with
the object in view, that of learning the
methods of preparing cigar tobacco for
market as the Cubans do, that we sought
a man who understood the process, and
from him learned it in order to teach it to
our agricultural students, and also to
those farmers who felt sufficient interest
in the industry to under take the neces-
sary course. Togive the process to the
public would crafty curiosity and pos
sibly induce some to attempt TO sweat and
betune their own tobacco. This might
mislead and be attended by loss. Like
everything else of value and Importance
the knowledge has to be attained by
patient care and attention, and also by
diligent application to the details. For
these reasons it would be better to wait
the process of further experiment and
thus obtain a more accurate and through
knowledge before it would be wise to try
and teach the farmer the process by
means of bulletins. The fact that the
generally do not know how to
prepare their tobacco for market, and the
difficulties in the way of their learning,
win necessitate the establishmentofs sweat
ing houses in every section of the state,
to growers, and those houses
must be in charge of men who under
stand the art of sweating Until the
farmer learns how to prepare his tobacco
for market those who understand the
business must do it for him. The present
crop, for which there is at this writing,
no demand, should be resweated and it
does appear that unless it is thus handled
there will be no demand.
The station is preparing the next sea-
son to make a large number of expert |
ments in tobacco, and on more extended |
scale than heretofore.
Ghaar and