The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-08

@A@(A A0tA1~
begin to eat tobacco. and within a week or
50 they arc more than an inch In length
aid as big around as your little finger. A
full-grown worm will eat up a tobacco leaf
"a a night. and II not watched they will
destroy the crop
How is the crop harvested?' ! asked.
This is done when the leaves begin TO
tern yellow. Some farmers strip the leaves
from the stalk and string them on wires.
Others cut of the stalks and string them
on sticks. which are stuck in the ground.
They arc then carried to the tobacco barns
and hung up 90 nc cured. These barns are
closed houses Each has a set of fiues and
pipes in IL. so that IL can be heated. and BY
a thermometer the temperature is kept
just at the right point till the tobacco is
cured. This requires days and nights of
firms. and the tobacco must be watched
steadily during this time. When the tobac-
co is cured all the moisture has been
dried out OF IL. 1t has turned yellow. and
It is ready TO be prepared for the market.
1t has 10 be sprinklsd to make the leaves
scft that they may be stripped from the
stalk and sorted Different parts of the
plants go into different piles. The leaves
nearest the ground are placed in one class.
these next higher in another. and so on 70
the top. Then a half dozen or more leaves
are tied together by wrapping another leaf
about their stems. and in such bundles the
whole crop is carried to the market or
auctions. where 1t Is sold and the farmer
at once gets the cash for IT. A thousand
pounds TO the acre would be a very good
yield"
GREATEST TOBACCO MARKET.
I shall not soon forget the auction rooms
at Danville. which / visited to-day with
Col j. NJ. Neal, one of the Oldest of the
tobacco buyers. There are here eleven i'm
mense warehouses. each OF which covers
several acres. in which thousands of pounds
OF tobacco are sold at auction every day.
The sales during the tobacco year which
closed last month amounted to 40. 900. 600
pounds. which brought more than 50. 900. 600
In cash. The warehouses are under the
control OF the Danville Tobacco Associa-
ton. and everything is done by rule. The
tobacco. raised as Colonel waIke has de-
scribed It. Is brought in by the farmers
and laid in long rows Of piles each about
as big around as q washtub, upon ire floor.
Each mans crop is separate, and each pile
Is marked with a card which bears the
name OF the owner. The warehouses are
lighted by many skylights and windows.
and the lemon-colored tobacco shines out
In all its beauty. \ rich tobacco aroma fills
the room. 1t is not like that of a store to-
bacco. but sweeter and purer. Walking
about among the piles are scores of tobac-
CO buyers. They are STRENGTHENING men
who nave been in the business for many
years. and who in the dark could tell to a
cent the value Of tobacco by the smell and
feel The sales so on from warehouse TO
warehouse. each taking its turn. Now the
aunffDnaar nna0r1 T. - 4. ho-l eo-x--
buzzsaw-voiced man CT forty. He begins a,
one end OF the room and walks down a row
Of piles. selling each lot as he goes. The
crowd follows him. They pull out the
punches and smell and feel them. He talks
all the while In that high, rasping voice. his
Jaws going like a corn shelter and making
much the same sound. He has to talk fast,
for the rules are that he must auction of
10 lots every hour, or almost three to the
minute. Still some of these lots are worth
hundreds OF dollars. and each is the years
work of at least one farmer. The bidders,
however, are accustomed to the work and
they speak quickly. After finishing one
row the. auctioneer starts down another,
and SO on to the close, when he takes an
other warehouse and talks on. As soon as
a sale Is made a oookkeeper, who follows
the ~auctioneer. marks it down, and within
two minute thereafter the farmer can get
- cash from the warehouse. which acts.
as IL were. as a clearing house for the buy
ers. The prices of tobacco so sold range all
the way from l cent up to 80 cents 4 pound.
and the best of judgment is required in the
bidding.
HAVE A CHEW?
Leaving the warehouses. 1 next visited a
large tobacco factory where the yellow leaf
Is converted into the toothsome plug. The
chewing OF tobacco, so far from decreasing,
seems to be increasing yearly, and millions
OF pounds Of plug and fine cut are sold
every year. st. Louis has to-day the big
Eest plug factory In the world. but plug
tobacco OF different grades is made In many
places. and the factors tell me there is
money In II. The factory / visited is do
Ing a good business. and this seems to be
the case with the tobacco establishments of
North Carolina. Plug tobacco is as diff
ferent in its qualities ss coffee or tea. 1t
Is made in different grades and sold at diff
ferent prices. The tobacco has to go
through many processes before it is ready
for chewing. First. Ii must be stemmed. or
stripped: that is. the stems must be pulled
from the caves. This is done by negroes
In a room at a warm temperature. and the
probability is that the p~erspiration of the
employees aids in the flavor of the plug.
The next process. however. removes the
evidence of any such odor. The tobacco
chewer Is not satisfied with the pure leaf.
His chew must be sweetened and favored
to taste. A black liquid composed of
licorice. sugar. glycerine, salt and fiavoring
extracts is evenly sprayed on the tobacco.
as il is carried through an immense copper
cylinder. 1t is then taken to the rolling
room, where hundreds OF colored men and
women. boys and girls stand at tables and
press the leaves out into shape, and then
roll them into bundles. a little larger than
the size OF the plugs which are to be made
from them. Here the bundles are weighed
as they are made. and are carried of TO be
squeezed by hydraulic pressure into the
plugs of the chewer.
II was at Durham, ~. c.. that 1 saw the
process of making smoking tobacco. / went
through rooms where the leaves are cut
into the bits composing the granulated to-
bacco used for the pipe. Parts OF the fac
tory were almost suffocating with their
smell and dust. and / sueezed again and
again as i made my way through them.
The machines which handle the tobacco
make you think of those OF an immense
Touring mill. The tobacco is raised by ele-
vators from one floor 10 another. and 1T
the top il lies in great piles as big as hay
stacks and containing hundreds of thou