The evening times., 1899-11-24

The tobacco exhibit, which has been in
preparation by the Department of Agricul-
ture for the Paris Exposition, is practical
ly complete, and in the opinion of experts
who have examined it, ii is the finest COL
lection of leaf tobacco ever arranged for
| exhibition purposes.
| The exhibit includes the varieties, grades,
types. and qualities Of tobacco from all the
| principal tobacco-g growing sections of the
United States. The display comprises speci-
| mems of the raw material, samples illustrat-
| ing the different stages of tobacco in the
process of manufacture, and large gallery
of photographs.
The exhibit is under the direction of Prof.
Milton Whitney, chief of the division OF
Soils of the Department of Agriculture, as
sisted by Marcus L. Floyd, tobacco expert
of that division
In the collection of samples now being
packed for shipment the variety OF shading,
from the bright yellow and white Burley
TO the dark wrappers and African black,
Immediately attracts the eye. The uniformi
ty, the arrangement Of the samples, the
difference in texture of the thin and heavy
leaves, the various qualities. and the large
play The lover of the plug, the cigarette,
the pipe, and the expensive Havana, will
find his especial weed in the raw ma
terial The stogies, snuffs, and pipe -smok-
ing tobaccos are also represented in the
collection.
The exhibit contains E,any foreign types.
These are not foreign in the sense that
they are grown in other lands, but in the
sense that they are cured and manipulated
according to the demands OF the foreign
trade To the general public such differ
ences are often hardly perceptible, but in
the trade the slightest shade of color or
thickness or body of the leaf, and often the
length. is taken into account England
takes all kinds of tobaccos, while Austria
prefers the medium colors, with long.
broad. silky leaf with small fbres. The
dark brown types find the highest favor
among the Italians. and the French like
still darker leaf. long and smooth, about
the same in quality as the Italian, but
made darker by stemming and hard press
ure. Spain prefers fine, leafy lug. such as
is grown in Kentucky and Tennessee, while
Portugal requires a medium sized red leaf
Belgium, Denmark, and Norway use all
grades of the bright tobaccos. and Holland
and Sweden prefer the dark. heavy types
The low grades find favor among the Ger
iudHS, JdpaHese anu IuiHtst. WHY tHe
African demands a black. oily type.
All OF the tobacco sections have displayed
much concern in this exhibit and have
shown much pride in the arrangement OF
the samples contributed. Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mary
land contribute to the display of what is
known as the manufactured and export
types such as are used for cigarettes, snuff,
plug, chewing and pipe smoking and export
tobaccos. The finer grades, the cigar types.
are represented by samples from Texas,
Connecticut, Florida, New York. Pennsyl-
vania, Wisconsin. and Ohio.
The finest types, so far as price is con-
cerned, are furnished in the form of the
Cuban and Sumatra varieties, which are
equal in quality TO the imported goods. The
exhibit will also be supplemented by to-
baccco in the various stages Of curing.
manipulating and fermentation, and by
literature relating to tobacco in all its
branches.
The collection will include about one
thousand samples and will be ready for
shipment early in November. The ex-
hibit is TO represent the various tobaccos
OF the United States, rather than the dis
play of any particular firm. With few
exceptions the samples are in duplicates.
the duplicates to be reserved for the judges
of awards. The tobacco exhibit will be ac-
companied by many photographs ilustrat-
ing the tobacco industry from seed bed TO
finish.
Prof. Whitney. to whose control the ap-
preparation by Congress of $4,000 for to-
! bacco Investigations was confided. proposes.
as work to be carried on under that appro-
priation. to map the tobacco soils of the
United States, to secure a change in the
methods of supplying tobacco 10 the 'regie
countries 10 investigate the soils and con-
ditions of growth in Cuba. Sumatra, and
other competing countries, to originate i'm
proved varieties for the principal tobacco
districts of the United States, and to in
vestigate and study curing, manipulation.
and fermentation of tobacco in all its
branches. In the recent soil mapping in
the Connecticut Valley district an inter-
esting feature was observed in the fact that
there were found soil conditions existing
in the valley which are the same as those
in Florida, where the finest quality of Gu
ban and Sumatra types are produced, but
these types can not be grown with the same
success in Connecticut. The division is
making a study Of this problem to dis
cover just what causes the difference in the
product.
1t is the purpose of the division to send
field party to Louisiana early in 1900 to
make a study of the soils Of the perique-
tobacco district in that State. Preparations
will soon be made to equip a room where
experiments in the fermentation and cur
ing of the various grades of tobacco may
be carried on. By these Investigations
Prof. Whitney hopes to make improvements
in the tobacco products and in the trade
as they exist today. Special attention will
be given to the Cuban and Sumatra types.
as it is desirous to produce in this country
quality equal to the imported article, so
that the United States will not have to de-
pend on foreign goods.
Several bulletins on tobacco investiga-
tions have been published by the division.
the most recent being THE Cultivation of
Cigar-leaf Tobacco in Florida by Marcus
L. Floyd. This gives, from a practical
standpoint, the demands Of the cigar trade
and shows how the growers have tried to
meet this demand in the culture of the to-
bacco in Florida. When 1t is considered
that the tobacco industry stands second in
the amount of revenue brought into the
United States the importance of the work