The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-12-18

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to the tobacco as soon as the worms APP
pear will etfectually kill them. 1t should
be remembered, however. that it takes
much less poison to kill the young worm
than the old one and while tobacco will
not be hurt by Il small application OF the
mixture, quite sufficient if promptly used
it may be injured when delay necessitates
the employment of large quantities Be
sides, while the worm is growing the Leaf
is being eaten and destroyed. To proper
ly cure, tobacco should be cut when 1t Is
ripe. Of course, a stalk which contains
say twenty leaves, cannot be equally ripe
in all its parts. The leaves must ne
cessariy be advanced in maturity in the
order that they have been formed. But
if topped early, when two-thlrdS OF the
leaves are fully ripe, tho remaining thlrd
will be in such state that they Will con-
tinue to ripen on the stalk after housing,
whereas if the plant be left in the field
until these top leaves ripen, the rest VIII
spot and be materially injured.
| Two methods of housing tobacco are
practiced by our planters after cutting
Some spear the tobacco in the field, and
haul it to the barn upon the sticks; others
let it kill down slightly, then load it upon
carts, carry it to the barn, dump 1t, and
there spear it. The advocates of the first
and bruised when carted to the barn and
there dumped, while the friends of the
| other method insist that when speared in
! the field the tobacco kills down too much,
| frequently is Sun-burnt, and becomes
clammed to gether inthe load, in which con-
dition careless hands hang it in the barn.
and thence result inferior color and stain
ed leaves. Most planters prefer to spear
in the field in connection with barns
through which the wagon can he driven.
| While the objections urged against TINS
method are valid ones, they can be over
come by proper management. Ii the sun
be hot, the tobacco should be speared as
| fast as cut and housed as soon as speared
a wagon being kept at hand for the load
when ready. And in housing, every stick
of tobacco should be well shaken by each
person who handles it. thus separating
| the leaves which may have stuck together.
Large tobacco should be hung Oh the tire
at least six inches apart, and the barn
should be SO constructed as to furnish per
| feet ventilation-whie warm damp spell
of protracted length will greatly injure
tobacco, heat and certain amount OF
| moisture are necessary to its well-curlnS
Above all things, exclude the wind for
tobacco must not dry up. If it does the
green color will become fixed, and then it
will remain such or turn black in the
course of time. When the tobacco is
cured, if of fine quality it should be stow
| ed closely together to hold the color; If
common, if should be left as it was hous
ed, until the following summer, whereby
considerable improvement will be effect
| ed by the climatic changes. Then it should
be stripped, hung up for short time, and
| thereafter put down in Il condition bulk
| heavily weighed in which it should re-
main at least three months. and longer if
possible. After passing through the usu-
al sweat or fermentation the color and
| quality will be much improved. at least Il
cent or two per pound. Indeed tobacco
which would not be saleaDle at all will
thus become marketable, provided it is
carefully assorted and packed uniformly.
| say carefully assorted for money can be
made by throwing away the very common
tobacco. There is no sale for it, and the
person who strips. conditions, packs and
ships it only receives his labor for his
pains Thousands of hogsheads of tobac
co have been sent to Baltimore, of late
years, which have only brought one cent
pound and thousands more, which are
now in the State Warehouses and cannot
be disposed of at any price. These tobac-
cos necessarily break down the price for
the grades next above them and the mar
ket is demoralized without the slightest
resulting benefit.
1t will bear repetition to say that the
farmer will help himself in the present,
and in the future, by keeping at home,
and spreading upon his land, all tobacco
which will not bring two cents per pound.
When crop has been housed and cured
the profit and loss can be known; and it
is folly to increase the loss by stripping,
| anl-i nd CHI
| saleable tobacco, which of themselves,
will cost nearly two cents per pound.
| France is the most important market
for Maryland tobacco. The government
| there assumes to itself the monopoly of
manufacturing tobacco, and derives i'm
| menSe revenues therefrOm. About twelve
thousand hogsheads of our tobacco are
taken annually, being used for smoking
tobacco and cigarettes.
Four grades or types are required,
known as s, A, B and c. Type S, calls
for the finest of our reds; type A, for fine
red; type B, for good, long dull leaf; and
type c, for sound medium dull leaf This
tobacco is not accepted on the samples
| furnished by our State Tobacco Ware
houses, lin fact the samples thereof are
not sent to France but is re-inspected by
| the French officials in the most thor
ough manner, layer after layer being lift
| ed up, and the whole cask examined
| Each of the above mentioned types is
composed of bundles of tobacco practical
| ly alike, so that a hOgshead to be accept
| ed must contain tobacco of uniform quail
ity and color, Any mixing of leaves in
the bundle or of bundles. in the hOgshead
| of different grades, means not that yea
eral average will be taken but that the
hogsheads will be graded down to tae
| worst tobacco it contains; and should the
worst tobacco not equal the standard of
type c, it would be rejected although a
large quantity of tobacco of the finest
quality were mixed with it. The reason
for this is that there are certain brands of
manufactured tobacco known to the trade
and gratifying the established taste of con-
sumption. Uniformity in the quality of
these brands is necessary, and any varia
| ton must be for better and not for worse
| Hence mixed tObaccoS are not desired
and if used at all, the worst must be equal
to the required type while the better grade
is Il gift to the consumer to the extent of
its superiority over that type.
1t frequently happens that hogshead
of tobacco intended by the French con-
tractor for one type is graded by the
French inspector t0a lower one but when
absolutely rejected the loss to the con-
| tractor Is neaFy lOT tne Cost OF FeSnlplnenI
to some open port added to that already
incurred often equals the price subse
quently got.
In other countries than France our to-
bacco is sold upon the sample received
| from our State Tobacco Warehouses. But
the manufacturer who buys it, rc-inspects
it himself, and if the tobacco is not as good
rs the sample, complaint is at once made
to the manufacturers agent in Baltimore
| Formerly no redress could be had. and
| freedom from responsibility coupled with
competition for inspections, te npted the
inspectors to over-sample. Now, under
the law which allows recamations to be
made upon a warehouse, sef-interest ex-
acts greater prudence in sampling, and
fewer complaints arise from this source
1t may be stated, however, that the
amount allowed upon successful COM
plant, is the difference between the actu-
al value of the hogshead and that shown
by sample. This of course, does not ne
cessarily indemnify the buyer for his loss
| becauSe he wanted one art jrlp and pot an