The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-16
TOBACCO UNDER COVER

| Arthur Goodrich contributes to the
/ February number of the Worlds Work
| very interesting account of the expert
| ments in cultivatng tobacco under
| cover in the Connecticut Valley. The
farmers in this section have for some
/ years been practicing this method or
| protecting their plant beds. but 1t has
! never been applied to cultivation in the
! fields. 1t was first tried with some
success in Florida and then it was TAX
| en- up by the wide awake farmers IN
/ Connecticut. The tobacco produced
| there is used chiefly for cigar wrappers
| and brings high price. 1t comes into
/ competition with the Sumatra wrapper,
| which is considered the best on the
| market The Connecticut farmer has
| the advantage of being protected by
| a duty of a hundred and eighty five per
! cent on the imported Sumatra wrappers,
| 1t may we'll be imagined that the cuitl-
| walton of tobacco under cover is an eX-
| pensive business. Mr.. Goodrich esti-
mates the cost of erecting tn frame and
| covering it with cheese cloth at $3.50 per
! acre. Last year eighteen acres were
| cultivated in this way and the success
was so encouraging that many other
| farmers will adopt the same plan TINS
year. We quote:
| Early last spring they began to place
posts nine feet high above ground and
| road apart on four different tracts or
! land amounting in the aggregate to
eighteen acres. Over these posts on
| c-alv fnpY
stretched the cheese cloth covering clos
| ing in the field above and on every side.
When the entire cumbersome structure
with it's 1876 posts to an acres, its string
| ers. wire. cloth. snap hooks and rings
was erected. it cost about $3.50 an acre
| Again VIC quote.
"As the plants grew, the advantage OF
raising under shade became easily evil
dent Most patent of all was the fact
I that the many insects which prey upon
the leaves were Kept out by the cover
| ing So strongly was the tight tent OF
cloth built. moreover, that the toughest
winds necessitated but few repairs. and
| the plants usually dashed and torn by
| the storms, were entirely protected. IN
| der the cloth also, uniform tempera-
| ture was possible, varying from three to
| FIVE degrees warmer than that of the
open field. The cold nights of the spring
which deter the growth of the plants in
/ the open aid did not influence the grow
, ing under cover. Within the tents
| continuous tropical climate existed The
hot sun that bakes the soil was temper
J ed and a considerably larger percentage
of humidity was kept under the cloth
than was possible in the fields. The ef-
fects of heavy rains were also modified.
The leaves were not harmed by the swift
drops. nor did the soil become packed and
hardened into a crust. Instead. the wa
/ ter, beating upon the cloth, sifted through
and fell in fine. warm mist upon the
plants. The growth seemed to have the
advantage Of both the open air and the
! hot house gaining the health of one and
| the protected fineneGs of the other. With
! the idea of getting the finest possible
| leaf the plants were not topped. In the
early summer the long stalks. standing
up like rows of sturdy polls, and bearing
their broad leaves, of vivid green were
: touching the roof of their house of cloth.
. And the frame OF tented tobacco fields
and plants nine feet high went out among
the growers
/ 1t should be stated that the seed used
were of the Sumatra variety, which had
had one years growth in Florida. The
seed were carefully selected, only those
being used which grew on the central
stem. The mode OF harvesting in Connec-
! ticut is very different from that which is
, practiced here as will appear from the
! following description: When the time
for picking came, instead of cutting down
ho MIA ha a -
ously picked one by one and piled upon
1 the ground. Placed back to back. and
: thrty-fiye in string. they were thread
ed with long steel nfdle and stretched
upon lath and hung up indoors. For
sixteen days they were allowed to dry.
i Then they were taken upstairs to the
! sweating room, where under blankts for
six weeks and with many turnings. the
uneven colors were shaded 10 rich Gin
namop tint. This done they were sized.
sorted and packed in big bales ready for
shipment In the barns. as nnder the
| cloth every rrccaution was taken for alb
lsolute cleanliness. So thin were the
leaves that it took between two and three
hundrd of them to weigh a pound, while
+, fifty or sixty of the outside grown leaves
have the same weight. But the fine
| leaves are elastic and strong. The stalks
| meanwhile had been chopped up to be
used for fertilizer The first trial field
under the shade of one third of an acre
| yielded ZOO pounds and tho crop sold for
! S473.70. Outside grown tobacco seldom
| brings more than twenty-five, cents a
: pound.
! Though the duty on Sumatra tobacco
is so enormously nigh. yet that variety is
so highly priced that the people of the
I United States pay from five to six mill
lion dollars every year for the imported
! article. 1t is the desire OF these Con-
necticut farmers TO capture the home
market under the protection of tho tariff
| which so heavily bandicaps the importer
/ The cultivation of tobacco under cover
! is intensive farming highly developed
. but although it is so expensive, still il
will be seen fro mthe figures above gwen
that it pays the Connecticut farmer a
! handsome return for his outlay of money
! and labor. In view of all these facts il
!; is pertinent to inquire whether it would
not be worth while for some enterprisine
| farmer in the bright tobacco district o.
! Virginia and North Carolina TO expert
I ment along the same line. 1t may be that
! the same method might be attended by
lsf,,, e1nx. u.