The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1909-02-11
ABOUT GROWING WHITE BUR-
LEY TOBACCO.

/ vi Tue oOi<D LEAF bilio WEN al al IL
Gle from the Richmond Ifmes-Dis
patch, which should be of interest to
our tobacco planters. 1t is an ac-
count of a sale of Virginia grown
| White Burley tobacco and something
of the success that has attended the
| efforts of some farmers in that State
to raise this type OF tobacco. We
publish the article believing that it
would be we'll for our farmers to in
vestigate the matter and experiment,
on small scale at least, with grow
ing White Burley in our soil. The
planting and cultivating, from the
seed bed to cutting time, is the same
as with our ordinary type OF tobacco,
the chief difference being in the cur
ing. White Burley is cured by airing
instead of fue curing. After cutting
it is hung in sheds until it becomes
partially seasoned Or dried when It
may be hung up in the ordinary fue
curing barns already built until
thoroughly cured. The saving in
wood and the extra trouble OF "sit-
ting up" with the barns to keep the
fires going will more than cOmpen-
safe for the building of extra shed
room (where such provision has to
be made) and the additional hand
ling inf removing the tobacco from
these sheds to the told fiue) barns
which are among the equipment OF
every tobacco farm.
The J. 2. Taylor alluded to in the
Times Dispatch article as the pioneer
White Burley grower on his farm in
Orange county, Virginia, is our
townsman, Mr.. J. p Taylor, of the
J. p. Taylor Tobacco Co. He has
given considerable study to the ques-
ton and as a result Of his investiga-
tions he is fully convinced that much
of the soil in Vance county is adapted
to the growth OF White Burley to-
baccO. and he sees no reason why
Virginia and North Carolina may
not become strong rivals ofkentucky
in the production Of this type. With
a desire to aid any who wish to make
the experiment Mr.. Taylor will fur
nish the seed, select the soil which he
thinks best adapted to White Burley
and give any information as to cult
walton, curing, handling, &c, that he
can.
In this connection the following
editorial in the Times Dispatch of the
Bird, is timely and informing:
There is happy augury in the sale of
10000 pounds of Orange county
White Burley on the Richmond to-
bacco market yesterday: This is the
first homegrown crop OF the popular
Burley ever marketed in this State
Tentative experiments made in re-
cent years had not demonstrated
that this grade could be successfully
raised here and probably agricutu-
raj opinion generally was pessimistic
as to such IA possibility. Yet the leaf
sold Yesterday brought good prices,
and pronounced by experts to be
easily the equal of the Kentucky pro-
duet. A fine testimony to its quality
is found in the offer OF one tobacco
company to guarantee il minimum
purchase rate for all Burnley grown in
Virginia.
White Burley is largely used for
plug and fine cut chewing tobacco,
as we'll az for some grades of pipe to-
bacco. In point of consumption it
ranks fourth among the five great
leading types of tobacco grown in
this country. The conditions of soil
and climate necessary to produce it
have hitherto been supposed to exist
only in Kentucky and Ohio. Just
yesterday n bulletin OF the Depart
ment OF Agriculture informed us that
the tobacco-using world will have to
look for its smoke principally to Ken
tuckyand the bordering States. These
States monopoly of Burnley had
much to do with such an assertion.
The demonstration that this State
can grow this type must therefore
be regarded as an event of genuine
Importance in the tobacco trade. 1t
will open II great new market to Vir-
ginia, and should enable her to close
up some of that gap that now sepa-
rates her from Kentucky III the ranks
OF the tobacco growing States.