The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-04-20
WEEKLY DIGEST OF EXPERI-
MENT STATION BULLETINS.
TIMELY POINTS ABOUT ToCACCo.


tion, imparts much valuable informa-
tion about tobacco culture. Tt is a
timely bulletin. The wars in Cuba
and the PHILIPPINE Islands have de-
stroyed the plantations from which the
world has drawn large per centage
of its supply Of tobacco, and this will
give decided impetus to the industry
in this country. The preparation OF
seed beds will begin in the lower South
in February and progress northward
till it ends in Connecticut and Wiscon.
sin in April.
Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition
found the Indians cultivating tobacco
around Albemarle Sound in 1884, and
the whites began its cultivation on
commercial scale in 1916 It soon be.
came the most important product of
the Virginia colony, and its use and
production have increased till to day
tobacco is grown in AZ of the 80 States
and Territories of this Union.
The census of 1890 show that, ex
Guiding the counties that produced less
than one acre, there were 692, $50 acres
in tobacco in 1889 which produced
4SS 255 696 pounds-an average of 705
pounds per acre, which brought the
growers $34O, 844, 449 an average of a
little more than cents a pound, or
$50 % per acre.
Kentucky produced nearly half of
the total yield, Virginia standing sec
ond, Ohio third, North Carolina fourth,
Tennessee fifth, Pennsylvania sixth,
and Wisconsin seventh; and these
seven States produced 95 of every 100
pounds of the entire product of the
Union, though Maryland, Missouri,
New York, and Connecticut produced
more than seven million pounds each.
The total number of planters was 2O5,-
962.
OF the seed leaf types Cigar tobaccos)
the average yield per acre varied from
854 pounds in Ohio to 1 4O2 pounds in
Connecticut The average yield per
acre of the manufacturing and export
varieties varied from 375 pounds in
North Carolina to $50 pounds in Mis-
souri,.
The average price per pound in 1889
varied from A cents in Missouri and
AZ 10 in Maryland to IL 5 in Connecti-
cut and 1415 in North Carolina,
though the Louisiana product, which
was less than $4,000 pounds, brought
the growers an average of 1915 cents
per pound. In Louisiana, Florida, and
Southern Texas the cultivation of the
finer types of Cuban tobacco has de
veloped considerably since 1889 The
above prices are averages; the finest
crops often bringing 80 cents to 81 per
pound.
| To beginners in the culture of to-
bacco, the bulletin gives this warning
''None of the other large agricultural
crops requires such careful and intelli,
gent culture; and none yields so readily
| to the varying influences of climate,
soil, fertilizers, cultivation, harvesting,
curing, and handling; and there is
scarcely another farm product the
money value of which is enhanced to
such a degree by a practical and intel
ligent knowledge of these agencies"
On the other hand, let it be remem.
bered that the very fact that unusual
care and skill are required insures q
limited competition and a reasonably
certain remuneration to those W no do
exercise the necessary care and skill.
In this connection we recall 6 Louisi-
ana bulletin digested in these columns
some months ago, in which the opinion
is expressed that careful farmers OF
average intelligence may readily learn
to plant, fertilize, worm, sucker, cult
vate, harvest, cure, and handle tobacco
so as to turn out the best product OF
which his soil and climate are capable.
The method followed in the introduc
tion of the tobacco industry into the
hill country of northern Louisiana was
most intelligent one and it brought
immediate success. Experiments were
made on small scale to test the adapt
ability of the soil and climate to the
production of the various types of to
bacco, and to test the virtues of vari
GUS mixtures of fertilizers. These
having resulted satisfactorily, joint
stock company of planters and mer
chants was formed for the erection oi
factory, and an expert, well endorsed
was secured from the tobacco-groWine
region of North Carolina, to instruct
the farmers in the best methods and tC
} superintend the construction of the
factory and the operation of the same