The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-10-29

ing American plug: considerable OF II
goes to Liverpool; some Of it gets into
cigars as filters, some is smoked and
even some Is made up into Egyp-
tian cigarettes. Switzerland county re-
mains the center of this Indiana dis
trict. with Ohio and Dearborn on the
east and Jefferson on the west.
T%elegraphic advices from Vevay es-
innate 5000 acres Of tobacco was
raised In Switzerland county alone
this year, and it is a small county. II
this estimate is correct, 1t Is prac.
tically double the acreage Of last year.
The report is that the crop Is the
largest in the history Of the county
and the quality up to the standard.
All of this seems to indicate that
there are tobacco belts" the same as
gas fields and oil belts. There Is no
doubt that certain soils are preferable
to others for tobacco culture, and that
as Illinois cannot raise wheat, SO some
sections cannot raise tobacco. But 1t
has certainly been proved in Indiana,
and within sight of the dome OF the
Indiana state capitol, that there ia
much good tobacco soil in this state.
And it has also been shown that prob
ably the man, rather than the SOIL
is the prime factor in making a to
bacco field"
It seems that the culture of the
weed is being introduced into many
new parts of Indiana-even in b
northern counties, among them not
ably Allen county. Owen county farm
ers also were successful this year.
Also the farmers along the Whitewa.
ter. from Richmond south, have been
attracted by the increasing tobacco
market prices. They imported Ken
tuckians last year and this year they
had more than FIVE hundred acres
planted, and the gross yield is esti-
mated at 500 an acre for the crop.
which will probably mean $50 net.
But it is said that many Of the farm
ers are harvesting their crop at the
future expense of the soil.
This seems to have been done In
Kentucky, and the result is that the
production in that state has fallen of
And this has contributed to the higher
market prices for tobacco which have
been the stimulus for converting to
tobacco Indiana acres that have been
given to corn, oats, wheat and pasture.
The Kentuckians, however, have be-
gun to realize the folly of their course
in the past and to apply restoratives
to their soil.
But in tobacco production as in
grain and in meat production, it seems
that the demand clearly is outstrip-
ping the supply and ven should Ken
lucky regain all its vigor, it is believed
that the prices will remain high
| enough to be alluring to the sections
north of the Ohio where it is found
that tobacco can p~roftably be grown.
It is interesting to find. in the sum-
mary of leading tobacco producing
states, that in 1908 Wisconsin had
raised to fifth in the list, and that
Pennsylvania and Ohio and Connect
cut are ahead Of such venerable tobac-
CO producing states Is Maryland,
while Indiana, Massachusetts and New
York are ahead of Florida and West
Virginia in production and Georgia,
Louisville, Missouri, Alabama and Ar
kansas are not eve in the list of the
Is leaders. The star of empire may
be moving west all right, but the to-
bacco leaf is moving north, and Indi-
ana SENS to be in the path Of its
journey. e. l. LEWIS.