The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-19

place in the market, if produced in suf- hcient quantities and at reasonable prices. The tobacco being an entirely new product, and having at the pre- sent time no fixed status in the mar ket. 1t is to be expected that its intro duction will be more or less slow and tedious. and the growers of this Texas leaf must not at first look for the highest prices. On the other hand, Judging from the character of the leaf grown and cured under the supervision of the Bureau. the prices should in- crease considerably as the trade be- comes acquainted with the tobacco. and channels for its distribution be- come established.
 The value of this tobacco, as far as the Bureau has informed itself to the present time, varies considerably, the prices for the finished product ranging from 25 to 40 cents a pound, according to the grade and quality of the leaf but the grower can 1ot expect to ob- tain at the outset more than 15 or 20 cents for the unfermknted leaf From computations based on the past work of the Bureau, 1t is estimated that the cost of growing the tobacco. under normal conditions, should not exceed 10 cents a pound. The average yield Is es- timated to be 500 pounds or more per acre.
 During the past two years the Bu- reau has also conducted experiments in Perry County. Ala. and in Darling ton and Orangeburg counties, s. C., up on the same types of soil as in Texas. The tobacco grown in Alabama, while not considered qiute so good as the Texas product, meets with much ap- proval from the trade, but the leaf so far produced in South Carolina Is pro- nounced less satisfactory and while the Bureau will continue it's experi- ments in that State on small scale, in the hope that methods for the improve ment of the leaf produced there may be discovered, 1t does not for the pres ent recommend that the farmers enter into it's production.
 In Texas and Alabama, on the other hand, the indications are so favorable that the Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Soils. will en- courage the farmers to undertake the growing of the crop to a limited extent. As preliminary step an effort Is to be made to have a limited number of far mers undertake the production of a relatively small area of tobacco. with the advice and supervision of the Bu- reau experts. It is not thought advis- able to grow more than 150 acres in Texas, to be distributed on the Orange | burg soils in Nacogdoches. Anderson and Houston counties; nor more than | fifty acres in Alabama, to be limited to the same soils in Perry County, Ala; ! and the area planted by one person | should not exceed ten acres or be less than two acres.
 As indicated above, 1t is the plan of the Bureau to give, during the present season, expert advice and general su- pervision to those growers in Nacog- doches, Anderson and Houston coun- ties, Texas, and in Perry County, Ala, | who apply for such advice and super vision. Those who desire to cooper ate with the Bureau must be men of l means adequate to take care of a crop of filler tobacco, for the Bureau will assume no financial responsibility and will render no financial assistance. They must have soils of the Orange burg types within their farms and barns suitable for curing the tobacco. Tn the event that such barn facilities are wanting, they should erect build | ings for the purpose. barn at least sixty feet long and thirty feet wide would be required to accommodate the | tobacco from a five-acre field. Such a building would cost about $400. For a crop from ten acres, building 100 feet long by forty feet wide. with a dist dHCe or twenty rect between sllI dnO plate, would suffice, and in the locali- ties referred to such a structure should not cost over $500.
 Copies of the soil survey reports
 showing the location of the Orangebure
 sandy loam and Orangeburg clay
 which the Department believes to bt
 the best soils for this Southern to-
 bacco-so far as these surveys hay,
 been extended around Nacogdoches an,
 Palestine, Texas, and in Perry County
 Ala. can be obtained upon application
 to the Bureau. The report on the sur
 vey of Anderson County, Texas, ha
 not yet been published. and the surve.
 of Houston County is still in progress
 Inquiries regarding the co-operatiol
 of the Department in the growing o tobacco in any of these areas, includ
 ing the two areas for which the re ports are yet unpublished, may be mad
 of the Chief of the Bureau of Soils, o
 of Mir. G. T. McNess, the chief tobacc expert of the Department in Washing ton, or Mir. w. M. Hinson, expert i
 charge of the work in Texas, who's , present headquarters are at Nacogdo
 ches, Texas
 Milton Whitney, Chief of Bureau. , Approved:
 James Wilson,
 Secretary of Agriculture.
 Washington, D. C., Dec 29, 1904