The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-02-07

less spicy scents of September, the
acrid odor of ragwecd and goldenrod,
the fragrance of sweet fern and the
perfume of mint waited from the marsh
lands, strikes not unpleasantly upon
the sense. In mid-August the tobacco
field is a broad, billowy stretch OF vivid
vcr.lur.; but as the days wax and
wanc. the emerald sea seems to catch
and +. fleet the gold of the summer sun
shine GIints of yellow begin to fleck
the vcrlant foliage; the brilliant hues
of full summer take on the paler au-
tumn tin,s, and the vivid green of the
leaves fades to a dull greenish gold.
Then the grower knows that the field
is ripe for cutting.
Early in September, the growing
plants are cut and strung in lunches
of five or six on sticks of uniform
length, which are placed on rude scat
folds in the open fields in order to
allow the tobacco to wilt thoroughly
before being hauled to the barns.
Tn, ST. barns are construct,d with 4
view to admitting to the housed tobac-
co he air and moisture it requires
alternate planks of the side walls being
swnng on hinges to form tall. narrow
doors Which may be opened or closed
at will So long as the stalk Of the
tobacco remains green, the leaves suck
substance from it. 1t is well, on this
account, to defer the stripping as long
as possible, as the leaves are constant
ly gaining in bulk and mellowncss.
Tobacco requires a certain amount OF
moisture to render it soft and pliable
tor str,ppny; otherwise it would he
ha, sh and brittle. and crush and tear
in the shippers hands. When in such
condition it may. if desired, he hulked
down, carefully covered to retain its
! moisture. pending the leisure of the
stripp",s-
Tolmcco-.rowing, like all other pnr-
suits, has vcrnacular peculiarly its
own, which is Ineligible only to the
initiated. The grower talk firing
"frenching,' ''frog-cyc," ''in case,
'l.igh in order,' &C., is about as lucid
to the layman as the jargon of the golf
links "Frog-eye" is Il pale yellow
blight which. appears on tue ripe leaf.
marring its perfection and decreasing
is market value; "lrenching" and
"i,ing' are conditions of the growing
piani--the one the result of too much
moisture. the other of protracted
drouth; tobacco is said to he "ln case'
when soft, moist and pliable, in the
best possible condition for stripping,
and 'high in order when it has be-
come tough from the absorption of too
much moisture. When ready for the
proct SIS the tobacco is "stripped" or
torn from the stalk (Which latter is a
valuable frr,ilizer) and tied UP in
lunches or hands" 1t is usually late
in October before the process cfcuring
is fully accomplished.
When thoroughly cured, the tobacco
is "pr'z d. or packed closely in hogs
heads which may hold anywhere from
500 to 1900 H., and shipped to one of
the warehouses at the nearest mart.
The warehouses charge a fee of 81 so,
and per cent. commission on all sales.
The shipper is allowed fonr months
free storage, after which he is charged
so cents storage per month on each
hogshrad. He may hold his crop as
long as he desires, or may ''order it up"
for sale at a few hours notice. The
sto'a"e business of the great ware.
houses is conducted with the utmost
system. Each hogshcad is entered by
number on the books, and clerks are
employed whose duty it is to take ac-
count of e:c, crcp shipped in; to make
ca r,tul note of The tier and section in
which il is |, cat, Il. and on re,.' pit of
the shippers order to sell, to get his
entire stock on he selling floor within
few hours fol owing such notice.
The hulk of the tobacco crop is sold
at auction on the breaks, though a por
ton of it is disposed of by private sale,
either in the field, IT shipping time, or
after it has been shipped in.o the ware
house. Spectators, known in the
vernacular of The trade as ''pinhookers,'
frequently buy an entire crop from the
shipper who has cons gnrd it to the
war, house, the spccula'or assuming
the risk of its bringing him a money
making price when put up at auction.
IN official auctioneer goes from one
warehouse 20 another, followed by the
various bnyers, sellers and brokers.
The hoe>l ead~, ranged in long rows on
the selling fl ,ors are unhooped and
| lifted off from the tobacco they contain,
thus leaving it cxl os,d on all sides to
the scrutiny OF prospective purchasers.
A sample drawn from each hogshead
by the warrEouseman is also exhibited.
There are of course d.shonos ST practices
tricks of the tradr-in this rs in all
other pursuits. The most common of
these is ''ncstiny" or sccrcting inferior
tobacco in the hogshead where it may
possibly escape observation. Detcc-
tion in this drbars the perpetrator of
the fraud from the privilege OF selling