The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-06-07
TOBACCO CULTURE.
What Theo, Edwards says About it in
Southern Tobacco Journal.

IS TO De exercised. iNIS suOu4u NC ooue
BY the best man available q do this
myselD. l don't know that topping is
SO important when you prime as when
you cut; still to get the best results |
think Judgment and discretion IS to be
used. l top to an average Of ten to
twelve leaves, and make 500 to 1000
pounds per acre. Some top fourteen to
sixteen leaves, and get from 1000 to
1900 pounds. They do not get so much
colory tobacco, however, when they top
high AS to worms, they make their
first appearance the last Of May or the
first Of June or about full moon in
June. Then plants put out, say. the
first week in May will be about twelve
to fifteen inches high. We usually be-
gin to set about 25th Of April, and try
to finish by 9th of May-anyway by
the 10th. After the latter date it does
not do so well either in field or curing
barn, and besides you will get the Au-
gust showers of rain, which are trouble
some and do great damage. Tobacco
put out by or before 10Th Of May miss
these showers, because it is cured and
in packhouse. I use nothing to keep
off or destroy worms but Guinea chick
ems. I prefer them to turkeys because
turkeys are difficult to raise. | follow
after Guineas and destroy all eggs and
kill such worms as they do not get.
With early planting and these chick
ems I do not consider worms amount to
much.
Now comes priming, as soon as your
lugs show they are ready for the curing
barn. I first cut my tobacco, believing
as I was told by buyers, it was better
tobacco and would bring Inc more mon
ey. I did not find it so. Comparing
my sales with those who primed I found
they got more money than did, aud it
was because they had more yellow to-
bacco than I got by the cutting process.
l then took TO priming, and soon saw
that was right; that almost all my to-
bacco was colory tobacco, and that my
averages were better. I still think,
however, something is lost in weight by
priming, but the color will more than
make up for difference in weight. My
crop last year was late, did not get it
set until about 18th Of May, yet itaver-
aged me eleven cents net. was not
fortunate in striking the market at any
time when it was at its best. [ have
never been fortunate in getting fancy
prices for my crops, and have never
made a higher average than fifteen
cents-that was four or FIVE years back.
Yellow tobacco did not do so well last
year as inferior grades, and I find
inferior grades are generally heavier.
After priming off leaves they are
taken to the barn, or some place and
sheltered from the sun, where the loop
ing is done or the sticks. For this
purpose use No. s stocking yard and
put from two TO four leaves together,
according to size. and thirty to thirty
FIVE bundles to each stick. These are
placed in the barn from eight to ten
inches apart, when fire is built in fur
naces and heat run to 80, 95 ar 100 de-
gress. Here it is generally allowed to
stand until leaves begin to wilt, gradu-
ally moving on up as the appearance Of
the leaf indicates that you may do so,
until we reach ITO degrees, Here We
stand until we get on what color we
want, or until We get bright pea green
which is generally from ten to fifteen
hours in July, when We first begin to
cure. 1t takes some longer as the
nights begin to get cool, and you so
hig CHER up the plant. Rarely, however
does it take SO much as tTenty-iour
hours to put on color. After leaving
ITO degrees move up at rate OF 2! de-
grees per hour, or as fast as the leaf in.
dicates that it will take the heat. |
seldom dwell long at any given point.
If the leaf takes heat all right before
getting to l25 degrees and from this
point to 135 or 40, l dry out my leaf
never advancing, however, more than
g degrees per hour. When the leaf IS
dry and the sap is in the stem, | move
on up gradually at this same rate, halt
ing and standing two or three or four
hours at 145, then on up to $50 by this
slow process; then stand two or three
hours; then on up at same rate to 100,
and finally on to ITO. At this point l
kill out the stem. I don't think it
safe to 90 higher than 40 to stay any
length Of time: in fact, think that this
season will kill out at 100 and believe
that l will get better tobacco than l
would by running higher heat or even
or 770 degrees